The tests weren't so hard, definitely not the hell Merinus had warned her that they would be after mating. Rachel consented to allow the blood to be taken from Amber, more concerned with the fact that Jeffrey Amburg felt he'd found some "anomaly" in previous tests.
The Breeds had more anomalies going on in their lives than a gardener had seeds to plant.
Once the tests were finished, Rachel had re-dressed a sleepy Amber and handed her over to the lynx Breed assigned as caretaker. Then the real problems of the evening began. And they began with the Leo.
Moving into the large family room of the estate house, Rachel followed the subtle directions of Jonas's hand against the small of her back as he led her to a settee to the side of the large fireplace, across from a matching settee shared by Leo and his wife, Elizabeth.
In the two large chairs next to Leo and Elizabeth, Leo's son, Dane, and his bodyguard, Ryan--or Rye, as they called him--Desalvo sat, with Callan and Merinus in a sofa facing the fireplace and Kane Tyler and his mated wife, Sherra, in a matching sofa beside them.
Dinner had been filled with discussions of the latest protests against the Breeds, the surge in protestors at the gates of Sanctuary, and a future still uncertain where Breed peace was concerned. It was a discussion still under way.
"The Congo has a lot of hiding places, Callan." Leo sat in the corner of the settee, his arm thrown over the back behind his wife, his gold eyes fierce as he stared into the identical ones of his son. "My compound there is completely secure and not so damned easy to get to. The mat
es there live in relative peace. The tribes surrounding us are loyal to us. It's a good place to raise and train our children to meet the future."
"Virginia's a good place to raise and train children as well," Callan argued.
"My grandson has nearly been kidnapped twice now," Leo argued. "Each time, David has had to face the death or injury of a friend entrusted to protect him. It's beginning to affect the boy."
The light chastisement wasn't lost on Callan or Merinus.
"David has to learn to accept the dangers in his life." There was a note of regret in Callan's tone. "There is no utopia for us, Leo, you know that. He's in danger, no matter where we are, just as our twins are."
"They'll be in less danger there."
"This argument is moot," Kane interjected, his tone brooking no refusal. "We've set our course here, Leo. We're not willing to change it, and this argument grows weary."
Leo didn't so much as look in the other man's direction, his gaze staying on Callan, his expression demanding.
Callan shook his head. "Kane's right; our future is here."
"Your people are dying daily," Leo argued. "Three Breeds were beaten to a bloody pulp in California last week. You want to pretend you're safe here, and you're not."
"We prefer not to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that hiding is the same thing as freedom," Jonas spoke up then. "We've given the Breeds here the option of joining you in Africa, or staying. They choose to stay."
"They follow Callan," Leo snapped back at him. "They'll go where he says to go--we all know that."
"Leo, let it rest." Elizabeth laid her delicate hand on his knee as she looked up at him, her expression disapproving.
"Each visit is filled with this argument and I grow weary of it. We hid because we had no choice, and we've built a society we're very happy with, and a life that holds a measure of safety. Callan has simply chosen the path you would have chosen then if you had had that option."
He grunted at the statement before his eyes turned to Rachel. She watched his nostrils flare, the narrowing of his eyes. He'd done that often throughout the evening, just as the others had in a less direct way.
"Ms. Broen, what's your opinion of safety for your daughter? If she were a Breed child, would you prefer life here, or one where she would be allowed to blend into society and to live without the threat of capture and torture?"
Which would she choose?
"I have to agree with Callan," she stated sadly. "Better that they know the price of freedom and what they're fighting for than to learn to hide and to lie. The battle isn't one that will be accomplished overnight. Just as it isn't a choice one man or Breed can make for many."
"But you agree that this life," he waved his hand to include the room as though it were the entire Breed society, "is one far less safe for your child than the one I propose."
Rachel frowned. "I agree with nothing of the sort. I simply believe it's a choice as individual as the man or the Breed making it."
He stared at her as though she should be squashed beneath the heel of his very expensive boots. No doubt, that was exactly what he felt as well.
"I've had enough of this conversation." Jonas rose to his feet, the tension that had burned inside him most of the day shimmering around him now. "Are you ready?"
It was asked politely enough, but Rachel saw his face. Being ready wasn't an option; it was time for Jonas to leave.