He really was protective. It surprised her, the warning and fierce protectiveness in his voice.
Jonas’s silver eyes flicked to Tanner before returning to her. “And here we thought he was the calm Breed,” he commented. “Go figure. ”
“Jonas, I’m going to kick your ass,” Tanner warned him.
“No. ” Scheme tightened her hand on the arm surrounding her. “You don’t understand, Tanner. ”
“Probably because you never explained it to me, Scheme,” he bit out mockingly.
“I tried. Right before you left me alone with Cabal. ”
Silence filled the room.
“He saved my life,” she told Tanner then. “Right after I lost the baby. He found me. ” She swallowed tightly, trying to dislodge the grief in her throat, the memories of the loss and of her own weakness.
“We were trying to get a few bugs in her home at that time. We thought she and St. Marks both were still at the Tallant estate. Scheme had returned. ” Jonas began the explanation only to stop as Scheme shook her head harshly.
It was her weakness and it was time she faced it. “I was sitting in the dark, in the living room, staring at a handful of pain pills. ” Her lips twisted in disgust. “I couldn’t run. I would have been found and punished. I knew that. And I needed to escape. I just wanted to escape. ”
She remembered that night clearly.
A shadow had moved at her side. Her gaze had lifted to meet the silver eyes of what she knew was one of her father’s greatest enemies.
Go ahead and kill me, she had whispered. Saves me the trouble.
He had crouched to sit on his heels, staring at the pills in her hand.
I can take you out of here. The offer had been tempting.
Finally Scheme had shaken her head. I don’t have the information you want, Breed. Not enough to stop him. Not enough to convict him. Saving me is more trouble than it’s worth.
Then get me the information, Scheme. Find it. Get what we need and we’ll take him down together. Do you want to die? Or do you want to see him suffer?
“I wanted to see him suffer,” she whispered then, refusing to see the effects of her explanation on Tanner’s face. “I wanted to see him destroyed. So I stayed. And I worked for Jonas. And he never knew of the punishments I received. He never knew the lengths I was going to. All he knew was the proof I sent him. And I could never get enough. ”
Her father had been smarter than she was, it seemed.
“Why did you call for pickup?” Jonas asked then.
Scheme breathed in roughly. “In roughly one week, the spy at Sanctuary will have everything in place to kidnap the pride leader’s son, David Lyons. I found the reports on this just before I called you. ”
And then she waited. There was so much information she didn’t have. Promises she had made to Jonas that she hadn’t kept.
He watched her now, his silver eyes flashing with satisfaction
.
“You have enough. ” He suddenly nodded. “We’ll get you back to Sanctuary and you can start making the lists of contacts and resources that you can pinpoint. You did good, Scheme. You know that, don’t you?”
Had she? Tanner hadn’t said a word. He was silent behind her, his hold on her less fierce now, though the tension in his body was much higher.
“I did what I could,” she answered faintly, suddenly feeling self-conscious, and terribly aware of Tanner’s silence. “I wish it had been more. ”
“We have the heli-jet waiting outside,” he announced. “We have to get you back to Sanctuary. Then we can make our plans from there. ”
“Not yet. ” Tanner’s voice was frightening. “Scheme and I have a few things to settle before we leave. Wait outside. ”
“Tanner. ” Jonas’s voice was warning. “We need to leave. ”