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  "Did you ask your father why?" Kadan asked.

  She shook her head, her gaze shifting away from his. She withdrew her hand and even stepped back from him. "I was in the middle of some pressing problems of my own, and whether my father decided we needed added security or not didn't really matter to me." She sounded defensive to her own ears and moved farther away from him, out of reach, not wanting questions--or sympathy.

  She had known she was losing her mind. She hadn't slept in weeks, afraid to close her eyes, terrified she would drown in blood. The whispers never stopped. The voices spoke night and day, and ugly, haunting images crowded into her mind. She felt covered with oil, unable to draw a clean breath. There had been no reprieve, no Kadan to kiss and stroke her until her vision focused solely on him, until her body became his, until her mind was so full of warmth and caring and desperate need that there was no room for anything unclean.

  "My mom is very fragile, Kadan. We've always sort of protected her. She's a brilliant woman, and too caring. Things can crush her very easily. Fredrickson's betrayal will have devastated her." She took a breath. "She might not be able to walk out of there." She made herself look at him over her shoulder. "And you'll frighten her."

  She really hated admitting that to him, but his expressionless mask and cold eyes would terrify her mother. She didn't want to hurt him, or to present her mother in a bad light, but she shouldn't have worried. Kadan didn't even blink, shrugging his powerful shoulders as if whatever her mother thought of him mattered very little.

  "I'll get her out."

  "I'm saying she might get hysterical," Tansy confessed.

  "I got that, baby. You don't have to worry." His voice soothed her, that same warm velvet that made her ache with need. Now she felt caressed and touched, although he was across the room.

  The phone rang. Kadan snatched it up and listened, scribbling notes as whoever was on the other end talked. Curious, Tansy moved back to Kadan's side, very conscious of the other men huddled around the table. She wore the gloves, but even so, she avoided touching their coffee mugs or anything else she'd seen them handle. These were men of violence and each of them had killed. She would have picked up some impressions whether she wanted to intrude on them on not.

  They were silent for the most part, no unnecessary talking. Once in a while, Gator broke out in a grin and nudged one of the others with a teasing comment, but they stayed intent on their plans, committing the diagram and layout of the house and security to memory.

  "Tucker and Ian are back at the safe house. We have a go. The security near the cliff has more than doubled, and Ian says it looks like they may have brought in some mercs. They aren't rent-a-cops, for certain. All of them handle themselves as military or ex-military." Kadan pulled the estate diagram to him and began marking X's at various points.

  Tansy looked over his shoulder, watching the growing number of red X's with dismay. There were too many of them. Four men against so many trained guards. Not just trained, men probably trained in Special Forces. Her breath hitched in her lungs.

  Kadan. She breathed his name in fear, not meaning to, but terror gripped hard.

  He was going to save her parents when he didn't even trust them, risk his life because of her. She didn't want that from him. She didn't want to use him that way, use the cold, driven part of him that always demanded justice or revenge.

  She felt the flicker of warmth in her mind grow and blossom until he filled her with . . . him.

  Kadan, you can't. We'll do this another way.

  Kadan turned from the map of the estate, away from the other men who were talking over various plans, and looked down at her, into her enormous, frightened eyes. She was afraid for him. That struck him as amazing--that anyone could worry about him. And it was genuine. He searched her mind, because even with the stark look of fear for him on her face and in her eyes, he couldn't quite believe it.

  Damn it, Tansy. You're turning me inside out.

  He knew his voice was too gruff. He was growling at her to keep from pulling her into his arms and burying himself in the haven of her body. To keep from giving it away that she had consumed him and he was nothing without her. He didn't know any other way to show her, didn't know how to say it; there were only his hands and his mouth and his cock. There were no words inside of him, and if his body couldn't win her, couldn't let her see he was loving her with every touch, every stroke, he was damned. Truly damned.

  He stepped in to her, crowding her even though he knew he shouldn't, needing her warmth when inside he was as cold as ice. His veins were ice, rivers of it, small chips floating like small shavings on the surface. He could feel the cold deep inside, the stone that was his heart, the space that was never filled, never warm, unless her heat surrounded him. He put his hands on her hips, that sweet curve that could only be Tansy. Deliberately he ran his palms up under the hem of her tank top to that small strip of bare skin. He rested his hands there, letting her heat soak into him, feeling it pour into his heart and soul and melt the ice in his veins.

  Thankfully, she didn't pull away from him, sharing her body even in a room full of strangers. He loved her all the more for that sacrifice, her shoving aside her embarrassment for him. Her gaze clung to his.

  "What am I going to do with you, Kadan?" she murmured softly.

  He knew her question had nothing to do with sex, but he filled her mind with a graphic answer, complete with graphic images--her sprawled naked on his bed, his mouth and hands all over her, his cock buried deep inside her--and yet really, truthfully, for him his answer had nothing and everything to do with sex.

  She blushed, glanced at the other men, who were staring at the drawings, not paying any attention, and shook her head.

  "I don't want you to go."

  He took her hand, tugging until she followed him out of the room. "I don't think they'd kill your parents after the twenty-four-hour deadline, Tansy, but they might wound one of them. And if they move them, it will make a rescue much more difficult. Once they've moved them, they could do anything to them. We have to go now."

  "Then use the other two men. I'll be fine. I know they're part of your team. They've seen the layout of the estate. Let them go with you."

  One hand cupped the nape of her neck, his thumb sliding over her jaw in a little caress. "If something happened to you, Tansy, there wouldn't be much point in any of this. I'm not so far away from that edge myself. And you've seen it. Don't pretend you haven't. There would be a bloodbath the likes of which no one has ever seen. I refuse to take chances with your life--or my honor. Are we clear?"

  She swallowed hard, tears burning behind her eyelids. "I don't want anything to happen to you or your friends."

  "This is what we do, baby. And I've got someone to come home to. I wouldn't blow it now." He leaned down and took a tear from her face with his tongue. "Don't be afraid for me. I want you to pack up everything you'll need just in case we have to move fast. We'll keep this house as a base, but we'll need to go at a moment's notice. I want to be on the next scene the moment we get word."

  He wanted there to be no mistake: She wasn't going to be staying with her parents. She'd be with him.

  Tansy nodded. "I travel light, Kadan. I'm used to the life, remember?"

  He didn't want to remember the horror in her mind, and he sure didn't want her remembering it either.

  "It won't be like that. I won't let them take your soul again."

  She rested her forehead against his. At least he understood. Her parents had tried to understand her, but it was impossible when they couldn't know what was happening in her head. Just don't think about it, Tansy-girl, her father had said. Why can't you just push the bad things out of your head and think good thoughts? her mother had chimed in. As if somehow, if she just tried, she'd stop the killers and victims from sticking in her head and sucking out her soul.

  She looked up at Kadan. He seemed so strong. Invincible. Standing between her and evil. She believed him. She believed that q
uiet confidence, the implacable resolve she found in his mind, but most of all, the ice running through his veins and in his mind and heart. Because he could match the killers move for move, like players on a chessboard, and they couldn't defeat him with their immoral, malicious inhumanity as they had her. They couldn't eat him alive and take him over. And he was standing in front of her.

  "We really have a chance of stopping them, don't we?" she asked.

  "We will."

  Tansy nodded. "Okay then. I'm with you."

  "Then let's get your parents back."

  Kadan squeezed her hand and let her go. There would be no more touching her mind until it was done. Maybe once, maybe one more time when he kissed her good-bye and left her with her guards at the safe house across the narrow canyon from her parents' house, but that would be a luxury. She couldn't be anywhere near him when he ran a mission--especially this mission. Because if her parents were in any way involved with Whitney, he would fulfill his promise to her: She would see them one more time, and then they would disappear.

  Kadan still had possession of her cell phone, a fact she had long forgotten, and he hoped it stayed that way, because there was no way she was getting it back until this thing was over. As a precaution, there was no phone in the safe house he was taking Tansy to, so if things went wrong she couldn't try to call and make a deal with Fredrickson, exchanging her life for her parents'. Ian and Tucker had strict instructions on what to do if the mission went south. They would get Tansy out of the area fast, that night. They had the necessary drug and would use it if push came to shove.

  Kadan had given orders that they weren't to tell her, just drug her and get her out. They could deal with the grief and anger later, but they weren't to let Whitney get his hands on her. Tansy was not going to end up in his macabre breeding program, not if Kadan could do anything about it, and that was a promise he'd made to himself.

  CHAPTER 10

  The three GhostWalkers waited patiently while Nico went to high ground, establishing a position where he could cover them all and give them the location and movement of as many guards as possible. The wind had picked up a little, coming in off the ocean, rustling the leaves in the trees and bringing with it the smell of sea and sand. The moon was a mere sliver, spilling very little light on the ground, although the night was clear and that meant stars were out in full force, illuminating more of the landscape than any of them wanted.

  The estate was on five acres overlooking the ocean. A high privacy fence surrounded the beautifully landscaped lawns. Weeping willows formed graceful sentries around a shimmering pond where a low, arched bridge spanned the water, lending it a fairy tale quality. The house rose up with majestic grace, surrounded by balconies, columns, and inviting porches. Masses of flower beds and carefully trimmed hedges led up the stamped walkways and surrounded the house itself. The estate looked the picture of elegance and tranquility.

  From the outside, it was impossible to see the second set of fences where the guard dogs patrolled, or the artfully hidden cameras that were scattered around the grounds. At night laser beams crisscrossed the grounds along the walkways. Guards at the front gates were alert and visibly held guns cradled in their arms.

  Kadan made certain to shield his team's presence from any other psychic in the vicinity, keeping the waves of energy close to him. He stood very still, his breathing slow and even, his heart rate normal, his mind calm. This was his world, and there was no anxiety in it for him, only a strong sense of purpose and resolve.

  The air moved in and out of his lungs in perfect rhythm. This was when he was most alive--when he was hunting. He could inhale and scent information, sort through data with the same precision as a jungle cat. Men moved along the inside of the fence, staying within sight of the dogs, on alert for the slightest reaction from the canine guards. They patrolled the grounds, along the garage and house, making it difficult to keep the laser beams on. They turned them off while conducting a manual search and turned them back on when they left the area.

  "In position," Nico's voice sounded in Kadan's ear.

  Nico could shoot the wings off a butterfly if he had to, even in a high wind. Kadan had every confidence in the sniper.

  Kadan pointed at Gator, and the Cajun instantly went to the ground, belly-crawling across the open space between their position and the first fence. They'd chosen the southernmost part of the estate as an entry point. From there, they had access to the helipad and garage, two places absolutely necessary to control if they were to succeed.

  Gator made it across the rocky terrain, pushed through the saw grass and rolled up against the privacy fencing. He lay quiet, his mind reaching out until he found the dogs. There were eight of them. Big German shepherds. Intelligent. Well trained. They paced along the fence in strict formation, each dog so many feet apart from the next so they could complete the circuit of the property so many times per hour.

  Gator's first touch was tentative, finding the leader of the pack. There was always one. The good handlers always recognized that fact and dealt with the most alpha of a dog team a little differently. Each dog was trained to make decisions, but none had been exposed to Gator's talent. He could influence animals fairly easily, matching his brain waves to theirs and bending the dogs to his will. In this case, he wanted no alarm raised as they went into the compound.

  It took a few minutes to connect with the alpha, to find it in the midst of all the animals, each with its own personality. The moment he merged, Gator was in a different world. His sense of smell was instantly heightened a hundred times. He scented the individual guards, the squirrels in the trees, and even a rodent that had made a home in the nearby grass. Colors dimmed, the spectrum narrowing, so that his sight was altered.

  He could see the grounds now, his connection with the alpha strengthening by the moment so that he was seeing what the dog saw as it paced in between the chain-link fences. The guards moved systematically over the yard in a typical sweep, making certain no one had penetrated the interior. The dog continued moving at a steady pace, alert and a little confused with Gator sharing his mind.

  He calmed the animal, joined forces, and dominated, taking control and issuing orders. One by one he connected with each animal. They were not to give away, by sound or alertness, that a stranger slipped through their ranks. He was one of them. A member of the pack. They were to continue their patrol and alert only when told.

  Once he was certain the dogs would obey him, Gator signaled to Kadan. "Green light."

  Kadan had dressed for the occasion, his clothing reflective, his skin mirroring the color of the ground, and his equipment locked in place for quick use. Drawing his skin-tight hood over his hair, he made his way to the fence. It was about twenty feet high, straight up, no toe-or finger-holds. He studied it for a moment and then leapt high, catching with the pads of his fingers. He went up the smooth side easily, using his enormous upper body strength to climb, only the sticky pads of his fingers preventing him from falling.

  "Guard twenty feet from your position. Hang tight," Nico reported.

  Kadan clung to the side of the fence, his skin matching the darker tones, his clothes blending seamlessly. Even the hood mirrored the images around him, so he simply disappeared. The human eye couldn't spot him. The dogs knew he was there and reacted with a restless sidestepping, but Gator's outpouring of influence kept them from giving the GhostWalker's presence away.

  "All clear. He went around the side of the building. Laser's down near the helipad. You have a go now," Nico murmured.

  Kadan pulled himself to the top of the fence, changing skin color to match the surroundings as he took a quick look before he vaulted the double chain-link fences holding the dogs. He landed in a crouch, waited a heartbeat, and then began moving through the dense shrubbery, relying on Nico to be his eyes as he crossed to the back of the garage.

  "Coming at you, thirty yards. Two guards and they know what they're doing."

  Mercs. Kadan's lip curled as he san
k down and went still. Fredrickson had blanketed the estate with mercenaries, and either Don and Sharon Meadows knew and approved, or they had gotten themselves into a mess they couldn't handle, but it was fairly difficult to hide the kind of men guarding the estate. Kadan watched through narrowed eyes as the two men covered the ground fast. Every now and then their gazes touched on the dogs pacing in the fences. The men's gazes shifted constantly, on the alert. Fredrickson definitely was expecting trouble.

  One merc paused only a scant few feet from Kadan's hip, talking into his radio. "Everything is quiet, Boss. The dogs aren't showing signs of nerves."

  "Keep everyone alert," a voice, probably Fredrickson's, snapped.

  The two men rounded the corner of the garage and were out of Kadan's sight. He remained where he was, his breath moving through his lungs with a steady rhythm. A third man emerged from the garage, looked left and right, and then walked over to the chain-link fence to stare at the nearest dog. He muttered something, picked up a rock, and flung it through the open links. The rock hit the other side of the fence and the dog showed teeth. Kadan slipped the knife from his boot and waited.

  "The son of a bitch is teasin' the dog," Gator complained, his voice a whisper in Kadan's ear. "Can Nico put a bullet in the bastard's head?"

  "No," Kadan hissed firmly and eased his body out of the brush, his gaze on the man who now jabbed at the dog with a long stick. "We need complete silence."

  "You kill him, Kadan, and our surprise is gone. I'll take him out after you get Fredrickson," Nico said, his voice cool and confident.

  Kadan cursed under his breath. He wanted to do the bastard. He detested men who preyed on anything or anyone who couldn't fight back. Looking at the dog, with its snarl and bared teeth, he realized the dog just needed one moment for revenge. It was obvious this man tormented the dog on a regular basis.

  Another time, buddy, he promised and sent the dog a silent apology before he began to inch his way across the yard. He was running out of time. The moment the guards moved their sweep to the other side of the estate, they'd be activating the lasers.