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"But if youa beat, "or if you atteoals in any way, I will put you in a cell until this is over"

She studied him as he spoke so stiffly, watched his robotic movements and the way his eyes never lit on her fora party to this, maybe as much as she did But only he held the power to end it

"It’s not too late to stop this now, Kellan Obviously your friends are on edge about this crime they’ve committed, afraid of what the Order will do They should be afraid Treason charges are a capital offense, carrying a capital penalty You have to know that"

Kellan didn’t answer, but she watched a tendon tick furiously in his rigid jaw

"You can release Ackoes any further" She took a deep breath, still trying to process hoas possible that she could be standing in front of Kellan Archer, pleading with him to turn himself in as a rebel mastermind, before he died a second tiht, Kellan, and I will tell Lucan and the GNC that you were remorseful That you and your followers treated us well"

He swung an arch look at her, one dark brow quirked in bleak hu"

Mira gave a slow shake of her head The ache in her breast was sharp at the thought of Kellan facing charges, but what he’d done - even so far - could not be excused without some kind of recompense "Lucan will be fair, you know that As fair as he can be"

Kellan grunted "And if Ackh her "You said you didn’t kill hirees to my terms," Kellan reminded her "But if he doesn’t"

Mira’s throat constricted at the et what you want fro him in cold blood"

"To save thousands, maybe millions of other lives?" Kellan nodded "I’ve killed for less than that under the banner of war So have you"

"But this isn’t war, not yet" Mira stor it all but iainst his broad chest She steeled herself against the urge to strike at hier - would only te she could not afford to feel for hiain "It doesn’t have to be war, Kellan Not if you stop this, right here and now It’s not too late - "

His snarled curse abruptly cut her off "It is too late It was too late ain, ely this time, and stormed over to a trunk at the foot of the bed He dropped down on his haunches, yanked the lock off in his hand, and threw open the lid "You’ll need a change of clothes at some point" He tossed a folded T-shirt at her, followed by a pair of his orn sweats "If you need anything else that I don’t have, Candice will get it for you"

"When what began?" Mira asked, inching toward hio What happened?"

He rose, standing face-to-face with her now "How much do you know about Jeremy Ackmeyer?"

Mira shook her head "Beyond his basic resuave an abbreviated list of his scientific achievements and accolades as best she could recall Kellan didn’t flinch or react, apparently hearing nothing that surprised him "And obviously you’re well aware that he’s been tapped to receive a big cash award froala in a few days"

She watched his lack of reaction and realized so now "This isn’t about political dissent or disrupting the peace su you want"

Kellan held her searching gaze, his eyes no longer bright with a, the level hazel that always see "Three unned down in the street by hu or cause, by ht back, frowning, skeptical "There have been no such killings, certainly not that recent It would’ve made headlines Hell, it would still be in the news"

"No body No witnesses," Kellan replied "Or so they thought"

"What do youShe watched it from her apartmentover the alley where the rim "There was no body because it was ashed on the spot, Mira The rounds these human bastards shot hiht, converted to liquid for vaave an incredulous laugh "Come on, Kellan You can do better than this Governy is pure science fiction It doesn’t exist"

"Doesn’t it?"

"No," she insisted "For one thing, it breaches the ban on potentially catastrophic aret past the GNC for approval For another, the Order would personally never permit that kind of weaponry to be developed They would destroy it before they’d let so as UV bullets coed, unconvinced "And yet it has been, obviously"

"Then prove it"

He said nothing,into the pocket of his dark jeans and withdrew a spent bullet casing "The woman recovered this from the ashes of the dead vampire He was her lover She said he didn’t have any ene home before sunrise when the hu him with anti-Breed slurs, then shot him dead like an anier in her throat as she looked at the unmarked, spent round and pictured the horror of what the wo him killed before her eyes

"She didn’t knoho to trust or where to go," Kellan said "So she came to us"

"Who is she?"

"You saw her in the other rooo - Nina She’s a friend of Candice’s, now one ofshe was hearing "Are you trying to tell me that Jeremy Ackmeyer is responsible for this so from her and slipped it back into his pocket "It’s his technology It took all this time, but we finally traced the tech back to Ack to raid his lab, but the place is a fortress - even more so than his home But then word arrived that Ack a security escort at his house"<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>