Page 40 (1/2)

He turned to face her at last His expression stopped her in ical I do"

"I don’t understand" Her changeling instincts urged her to hold hi she had to physically force herself to pay attention

"I’m her exact opposite" Judd crossed his arms over that beautiful chest that ifts"

Anger burned through her sensuality but paradoxically stoked up the er inside of her Oh, how she wanted Judd Lauren "Why do you insist on seeing yourself that way? You helped heal th, had often ended up totally drained, only to show up again the next day

He waved off the reminder "A lesser ability My main one can be used for little else but death Foras I can discipline my emotions, I won’t kill Siotten what happened to those like me pre-Silence"

"No, I haven’t" The idea of her beautiful, loyal, and strong Judd spending his life alone or in a jail cell was her personal nightmare "But they were the other extre you to consider that thereher into a slight jump Judd took a sleek silver phone from his pocket and spoke a few terse words into it All she really cared about were the last - "I’ll be there as soon as I can"

She waited until he’d hung up to ask "Where?"

"That was Indigo They think they’ve tracked down one of the hyenas responsible for the cabin explosion" Picking it up off the floor, he pulled on his shirt "They’re holding hi for touch, his touch, was a biting ache by now Unable to resist, she closed the distance between the up the shirt buttons "The soldiers question people all the ti answers, they did more than just question Brenna accepted the necessity of that - in their world, mercy was often taken as weakness Which hy the SnowDancers th

Judd didn’t push her away "To scare him, what else?"

Finished with the shirt, she dropped her hands and looked up "What’s that supposed to mean?"

His eyes hadn’t returned to normal "Everyone in the pack has a position You’re a tech, Riley’s a soldier, and Lara, a healer Haven’t you ever considered what I am?"

"A soldier likein the pit of her stomach

"The kind of soldier they call on when a mess needs to be cleaned up"

Chapter 29

"Haouldn’t use you like that" Wouldn’t deht for the children’s sake

"Haill do whatever it takes to keep the SnowDancers at the top of the food chain" A blunt answer "But you’re right - changelings don’t much like to use assassins"

Attack from the front It was a matter of pride Of honor

"But," he continued, frost chilling his voice, "there are a lot of things I can do without killing - or even leaving a bruise - in order to get someone to speak"

Brenna knew he expected that to send her running But she’d grown up in a fah men She wasn’t some wide-eyed miss who didn’t know the facts behind SnowDancer’s power "That doesn’t scareif she said it didn’t worry her - for him What impact did it have on a man to be the darkest of enforcers?

"Good, because I told you - there’s no going back" He turned toward the door

"Bite me," she snapped, frustrated at his stubborn will, his refusal to even consider a way out of Silence In the tense pause that followed, she finally listened long enough to her own instincts to understand so she’d known subconsciously since the day he’d told her about his telekinetic abilities Frustration transforh her like fire "You knohat really pisses me off?"

He paused with his hand on the doorknob "I don’t have tiames, Brenna"

"What really pisses me off," she continued as if he hadn’t spoken, "is you daring to come across as so possessive and protective when you’ve been lying to erous insult"

"You’re a Tk Enrique was a Tk You can throw ainst walls and crush their bones So could he How a so far?"

"Get to the point"