Sentinels: Leopard Enchanted by Doranna Durgin

Author:Doranna Durgin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Ian sat silent before the camera, waiting with the patience of the big cat.

Even aching and battered from the inside out, he heard things they probably hadn’t meant him to hear, drew conclusions they likely hadn’t meant him to draw.

They were packing up. Preparing to withdraw and relocate.

It meant that brevis was coming. Was maybe even here.

It meant Lerche wouldn’t have as much time as he probably wanted—and the man would cut his losses rather than risk moving Ian.

But not until he’d wrung as much as he possibly could from the situation.

In the midst of the bumping and thumping of the packing, Ian easily heard when Lerche approached—knew there were three of them altogether and that Ana wasn’t with them.

She’d been gone for hours.

The door opened to reveal Lerche and his soft-sided amulet case. He put it aside on the creaky little desk and faced Ian with some satisfaction. “It’s time for a little blunt conversation.”

“I hadn’t noticed any particular niceties so far.” Ian flexed his wrists against the restraints, finding them as snug as ever. He didn’t waste energy on shields. His had never been profound, and Lerche had already demonstrated he could dispense with them at will.

“Nonetheless,” Lerche said, “Ana has a propensity to interrupt, as you’ve seen.”

Ian looked not at Lerche but at the two walking walls he’d brought for backup. Not a bad thing, perhaps, to have the man so wary of him that he brought muscle even under these circumstances. “What is it about her, Lerche? Why keep her so close, when you don’t think much of her at all?”

“I see she did this particular job well, if nothing else.” Lerche smiled in a way that made Ian want to hit him. Hard. Nothing of the leopard behind it, and everything of the man. “She betrayed you in the worst possible way—she continues to betray you—and still you care. One of your Sentinel weaknesses.”

“I consider it a strength.” Ian spoke as evenly as he could. He didn’t defend Ana. No matter how impossible her situation, or his belief that she’d been misled and used...

Her choices had been hard, but she’d still had choices. She was still responsible for them. And the ones she’d made still hurt like hell.

“As you will.” Lerche unzipped the case, flipping it open. Amulets gleamed more brightly than the limited window light should have allowed; a sickening ochre taste oozing out into the room. “Although the truth about Ana might amuse you.”

Ian doubted it. He flexed his fingers, his ankles...tensing and relaxing the long muscles of his legs as he’d done all morning. Tied he might be; willing to let himself stiffen, he wasn’t.

“Once upon a generation or two ago,” Lerche said, running his fingers over the amulets with appreciation, “one of our drozhars met one of your Sentinel bitches and found he had a point to make. The incident resulted in a child. Naturally, he couldn’t allow such a child to remain in Sentinel hands, so he took it, and kept its mother on hand until the child was raised far enough along to be interesting.

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