Bengal's Quest

He heard a small sigh from Jonas.

“Our enforcers are searching for Orrin Martinez,” Rule said. “Neither he nor the other chiefs have been found yet, but they will be.”

He’d start with Lincoln Martinez, Graeme decided. When he made it to the Unknown, he’d go for Lincoln first. Claire’s brother had been there. He’d been the one to take Cat from his arms, staring back at Graeme in regret.

“I’ll bring her back,” Lincoln had whispered. “Once the passing’s complete, I’ll bring her to you.”

“Please . . .” he’d begged, unable to stop the warrior from taking her. “No . . .”

Still, Lincoln had taken her. Holding her gently in his arms, he’d walked away without looking back.

Blood.

He would take blood for this. The thirst for it was already building in his senses, the monster, cunning and brutal, plotting the best course of action. As soon as Graeme could make himself believe.

“Jonas, understand now I’ll fight you if you try to pull Breed Law and take him,” Lobo stated from where he stood at Graeme’s side. “Our agreement gives me complete autonomy within my lands. Don’t try it.”

“Reever, if I’d wanted him, I’d have taken him when he and Rule were taking care of Rule’s little problem months ago,” Jonas snorted. “Don’t insult me. I retaliate in ways you don’t even want to experience.”

Graeme had known Jonas was aware of who he was, Jonas just been unable to prove it.

“Then why the hell have you been pretending to hunt him down?” Lobo snapped. “The search you’ve conducted for him has drawn on every Genetics Council soldier, Breed and scientist in existence.”

And that was exactly the point.

“That was our plan,” Graeme stated absently. “We met after Amber’s last dose of the therapy. I couldn’t leave him and Rachel tormented with questions regarding her changes. Cat would have been angry with me if she learned Rachel was crying in fear for her child. Before that, we communicated often, though he rarely trusted my claims and refused to cooperate. Still, the intensity of the search was never what it was perceived to be.”

He’d taken a risk and he’d known then he had. But the mother’s tears had reminded him far too much of the tears Cat’s mother had shed when talking about the loss of her daughter, Catarina.

His Cat.

Helena believed Cat had died in her arms at three days old from the genetic anomaly she’d been born with. And she still cried to speak of it.

“Son of a bitch, you two should have been twins,” Rule cursed in disbelief. “One of these days, Jonas, your games will get you killed.”

“Learn from it.” Jonas didn’t sound at all understanding. “If you want to take my place at some point, then you better learn how to do it.”

Yes, Jonas was grooming Rule and several others. They were natural gamesmen, the Breeds Jonas was slowly attempting to bring into his world. Too slowly, Graeme had often mused.

He’d planned to help the director to teach his chosen directors how to manipulate the world around them and the information that came in. It would be incredibly easy for them once they pushed past their opinion of Jonas’s machinations. That wouldn’t happen now. There was simply no will to continue.

No will.

This was why he was not combing the desert for vengeance now. Why the monster had retreated into silence. There would be no vengeance because there was no will to fight. His Cat was gone.

“What was the point in all the deception, Jonas?” Lawe asked then. “The supposed search for an insane Breed you were conspiring with?”

But it wasn’t Jonas who answered.

“Lines of communication between spies,” Lobo answered for him. “Distracting the enemy into searching for what they thought Jonas was desperate to find while Jonas was slipping beneath the radar to acquire information himself. Identifying moles and rogues and those he could trust so he could begin strengthening Breed ties to communities, politics and infrastructures.”

In a nutshell.

“If we’re going to survive, we have to look past distaste for manipulations and games to ensure we strengthen the ties the Breeds have in the areas that will ensure we can’t be wiped away easily,” Jonas agreed. “Right now, our position is tenuous as hell. The world could turn against us as easily as they backed us. Unless we want to find ourselves hunted, then we have no choice but to be smarter, more cunning and deceptive than those who believe they created us. And the choices in doing so are limited.”

To survive, those Breeds with the clarity to see beyond just survival had to make the hard choices. Graeme had once been one of those Breeds.