page4 (1/2)

She nodded “Father and the scientists make that decision They norh”

Her father was head of security and training, and he listened to her opinion, he valued it The fact that she was betraying him haunted her often The fear that he could pay with his life for her actions was a constant

“You won’t kill ain She asked him each time they met, to be certain “You won’t hurt him?”

“Your father won’t die,” he promised her “I promised you I wouldn’t harm your family, Anya”

She inhaled heavily “I’ll et word to you when it’s arranged”

“Be brave, Anya” He surprised her with the words, with the deepening of his voice “Nothing worth having comes quickly”

She nodded bleakly “Freedo for”

Her friends weren’t animals The Coyotes created in the labs she worked and lived within were created to follow orders, to be cold, to be hard, but Anya had seen so much more in them over the years She prayed she would soon see them free

FOUR YEARS LATER

Del-Rey stared at the young wo on the other side of the table as he and his lieutenants studied the diagraht with her Electrical lines, water pipes, tunnel access beneath the labs, security weaknesses—she had brought everything they would need But one crucial key was , and he dared not tell her that

An ace

Every great mission needed an ace That one card that he kneould trump all opposition—that trump was Anya herself Her father was head of security and training Two cousins were team leaders in security Various relatives worked within the labs She was the baby of the family, cherished by father and cousins, and by the Coyotes that rereatest treasure

They would die for her, die with her or die trying to save her It wouldn’t h hell for me, then those men and five women within that damned lab would head to the bowels of the earth with a smile

There were twenty left When they came out, they would join the forty men he had already amassed over the years All Coyote males, hardened and cold as death They had only their honor, which they had been taught had been bred out of theether

Hiswhen he took the ace, the Breeds in those labs would cheer There wasn’t a one that was co her behind