Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
He had to be honest. He was a predator through and through. Whitney had made him that way. All of them were. They’d started out with the aggression already in them. If they hadn’t had it, they wouldn’t have survived on the streets. Those instincts had been honed as they’d grown, fighting for their needs and keeping human predators off them. Once Whitney had performed his experiments on them, they were exactly what he wanted: killing machines. Gideon had considered himself one long before Whitney had gotten his hands on him.
“Gideon.” Javier spoke quietly. “She wouldn’t feel a thing if it was me. She’d never see it coming. I would make certain she would never know.”
Gideon’s gut clenched and he couldn’t sit. He was up and pacing until his dangerous energy filled the room to overflowing. The walls trembled.
“Not you,” Gideon bit out. “It would be best if I took her away from here.”
“It would be best if you trusted your family.” Mack’s tone was mild. “It’s clear that she’s yours already. A part of you. That makes her ours and affords her the protection of every one of us. She’s family. We don’t let go of family, no matter what Whitney has devised. And, just to be clear, if there is a decision to be made on when someone in our family can’t be saved, it is my responsibility alone to handle that. I make that call and I take care of it—not Javier, not anyone else.”
Mack met Gideon’s stare unflinchingly from across the room. There was no backup in him. “Rory is your woman. That makes her family, so she will be saved. There isn’t going to be any other possibility. We start with that premise. Let’s all calm down and listen to Paul. His idea has merit.”
Gideon took a deep breath. Mack didn’t mince words and he meant what he said. He understood that Rory belonged with him. It didn’t matter that they’d only been together a couple of times. Mack was aware that Gideon’s mind and body recognized her. Sometimes, with GhostWalkers, that happened. For them, it was the one. The only. They didn’t know if some of the changes Whitney’s experiments had made in their DNA had contributed to that strange phenomenon. However it happened, they recognized that some of them became aware of their mates instinctively and the bond happened fast and irrevocably.
“What are you saying, Mack?” Kane objected. “Even if we’re all right there, if Whitney programmed her as a bomb, who would be fast enough to save Paul? Or for that matter, if we were here, Rose and Sebastian?”
“I’m either part of this team, or I’m not,” Paul said unexpectedly. “I go on the same missions. I see the same things all of you do, and I make sure to pull my weight, although you make that difficult for me, just as you’re suggesting now. I don’t like the fact that you continue to treat me like I’m an outsider simply because I didn’t grow up with the rest of you. If you don’t trust me, you need to say so, and I’ll ask for a transfer to another unit. I’m damn tired of always being put with the women and children instead of being treated like I’m part of the team.”
Gideon could hear the resolution in his voice. He might speak softly, but he meant every shocking word. The team exchanged long stunned looks. It might have taken them a little time to trust Paul when he’d first been assigned to them. He was young and didn’t seem to fit into their well-oiled team, but after getting to know him, they all felt differently. They’d grown fond of him. More than that. He was family to them. How was it that he didn’t feel that from them?
Gideon knew they all protected him. Paul wasn’t wrong about that. They tried to shield him from the worst of what they encountered, mostly because he was very sensitive. He had to be. He was a healer. His psychic talent was one of the rarest, if not the rarest. No one spoke of it. It wasn’t documented and it never could be.
“Paul, I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Mack said. “You’re considered a very valued member of our team. You’re trusted by everyone here. It isn’t that anyone doesn’t want you here because they don’t trust you; it’s because none of us wants to risk your life.”
Gideon had never seen such a stubborn look come over Paul’s face. “Each of you has an expertise. Gideon’s woman needs someone to see inside her. That’s my expertise. Why would you send me away when no one else can see if she’s programmed with a bomb inside her? I can see what’s wrong with her lungs. I can tell you if she has a second skin or a cloaking device of some kind. It’s ludicrous to have me slink away like a child and hide while all of you take the risk when you won’t find out anything at all. Gideon’s already questioned her. He can compel answers, and he didn’t get any satisfactory ones because she doesn’t know the answers.”