A/N: Huge fan of Lora Leigh's Breed series ever since I read Megan's Mark and was struck with the similarities between the Breeds and the X-series. This is one of my first attempts. Hope you like it.
Most guys would have a problem taking orders from a girl. Period.
Most military guys would rather shit bricks in an Iraqi desert surrounded by Taliban that voluntarily follow orders from a five foot nothing slip of a thing.
And most guys would straight-up shoot themselves before following a wild child with hair all the shades of cotton candy.
Jondy adored her men – doted on them like a fuckin' mother hen – but she was badass through and through, even with the hair.
Right now she was being badass in a fucking tree with a state of the art sniper rifle.
She and her crew had been hired seventeen hours ago to perform a rather harrowing rescue of an industrialists only daughter in the Montana mountains.
The bad guys were Council scientists, the good guy was a very stressed friend of one Mr. Leo Vanderale whose support of the Breed cause was wearing thin on a whole hellalota people's nerves.
Jondy could play the cold bitch to a T but the second this job had come across the wires she'd snapped it up without so much as a by-your-leave to the rest of her crew. Not that they would have protested but she understood better than anybody that it was the little things that counted.
Between the five of them they had the whole house covered.
It wasn't a terribly difficult operation despite the brevity of the time they'd been allotted to accomplish it but the hair on the back of Jondy's neck was moving from half-mast of mission ready to full on mission creep. Only she was pretty sure there was something out there, watching her, legitimately giving her the willies.
There were five bad guys – one fugly old guy who had obviously taken the stereotype of mad scientist a bit too far that was really starting to bother Jondy. He'd been waving a needle in front of the hostage like a serial killer with a knife and if the way the girl kept shoving herself backwards away from him was any indication, she wasn't thrilled either.
There was a younger guy who had the look of someone who'd pick a fight with God given the chance and three Coyote's.
When the Breeds had first popped up on the national radar she'd been eleven. Two years on the outside and in complete paranoia of anything and everything with a pulse. Her first thoughts hadn't been warm and fuzzy 'Oh look, family' kind of feelings.
Justified paranoia – from what she'd managed to collect, scavenge, bribe, cheat, and steal on the Breeds genetic sequencings they were facing a chicken and the egg kind of question – which came first, the Breed or the X-series?
The problem was that she was really, seriously, very loath to go digging in Manticore's past and just about as reluctant to start poking at a possible different branch of the family tree. Especially with those weird freakin' tabloid reports going around.
Movement below drew her attention and she watched as one of the Coyote's stepped out onto the back porch to light a cigarette.
Hello, stupid, was Jondy's immediate first thought, followed immediately by 'Shit' because she'd seen the fucking reports on the Coyote's – smart, lethal, cold, emotionless, and deadly.
They didn't make mistakes.
Ever.
Well that seals it, Jondy thought pessimistically as she pulled back slightly from her scope to give her surroundings another glance. Definitely gonna be a party tonight.
No way, no how was this guy blowing smoke for her team which meant somebody else was on this mountain, somebody this guy was obviously expecting. Well, just because they were his friends didn't make 'em Jondy's.
{OK?} The question came across the tiny screen at the bottom of the sniper scope, the only message she was gonna get from her team.
{TO} was her reply. Task Oriented – in other words keep your head in the game, stick to the plan.
The plan was to maintain radio silence until the rescue was complete, a plan that was fucked straight into the fiery depths of hell.
She was good – damned great – but it was like fuckin' Houdini rose again. One second she could feel the eyes from a distance, the next she was tumbling to the ground, dodging fuckin' bodies as her perch was hit.
He came down on top of her, literally, the displacement of air directly above her only warning as she tumbled from the tree.
She landed on her feet, gun drawn and pointed before he could do the same.
"Don't fuckin' move," were the first words out of her mouth, words she immediately wanted to take back when she caught movement in her peripherals.
Eyes. Glowing bright and deadly in the lingering twilight.
Hello, boys, she felt her nerves of steel kick slightly as she picked up four, five, seven…
"Right back at you, sweetheart," the voice was smooth and accented, like well aged whiskey. Definitely worth a second sip.
"Hey now," she murmured easily enough despite the fact that the eyes now had faces and even more importantly, weapons. "No need to name call."
"Put it down," came the growl from somewhere to her left where a silver eyed nasty looking son of a gun stood looking like he was deciding whether or not to shoot her.
"Oh, yeah, like that's going to happen," she replied with a snort. "The only thing between me and you is my gun pointed at his head."
"I'll kill you," was the cold as steel promise.
"You can try," was Jondy's honest reply. A lot of people tried to kill her – it was practically an Olympic sport at this point. But somehow she had the cold gut-punched feeling like this guy might actually be able to do it.
"Feeling a bit left out of the conversation here, mate," her hostage broke in playfully enough. "Since it's my head and I'm the one currently attached to it, don't you think I should have a say with matters concerning it?"
"Shut up, Dane," came the growling reply.
The sound of glass breaking carried over the wind. Every muscle in the clearing tightened at the noise and Jondy's senses flared to life as she tried to make sure her men were alright.
Her nostrils flared and she could smell blood on the wind but not her guys.
{Jonas, this is Cavalier. We have the hostage, secure and unharmed. Two wounded, three killed}
Grey eyes smiled now, coldly, and Jondy knew, knew he was about to shoot her.
"Come on, sweetheart," Dane smiled charmingly in the darkness. "Just put the gun down nice and easy and nobody has to get hurt."
"Call me sweetheart one more time and somebody's going to be bleeding," Jondy promised, half-serious.
Jonas' finger tightened on the trigger, half a pound of pressure away from blasting a hole through little ol' her.
She had options, slim as they may be. Surrender, fight, live, die – a varying combination of the same themes.
Personally she had this thing about being held against her will and she wasn't exactly in a hurry to push up a couple of dozen daisies, so that left fighting.
"Don't, sweetheart," came the edged warning.
"Seriously," Jondy breathed out in honest aggravation. "Sweetheart? I have a gun pointed at your head and you call me sweetheart? Are you brain damaged or something? Did your mother drop you on your head one time too many?"
"Or something," came the reply, his lips quirky in the most interesting kind of smile before he was suddenly moving.
She had lightning reflexes – the best genetics could engineer – but that was body and she was mind. Even instinct had her hesitating from pulling the trigger which was the only reason he managed to get the gun from her.
He didn't get to hold it long.
Dane was important to Jonas and the others – if he hadn't been they would have shot her dead without hesitation. So in the milliseconds it took him to move she was already countering.
She came at him in a blur, booming straight into his body with enough momentum to send the two of them tumbling down the side of the mountain at a good slide.
She could hear angry shouting erupting from above as Dane tried to get a grip on her and stop their free fall in one fell swoop.
The bottom of the slope leveled off and she was on her feet and scrambling with him hot on her heels.
Her men would be gone by now – disappeared back to the rendezvous in the wake of this circus which deserved a definite thank fucking God.
Footsteps pounded through the forest behind her and ahead of her she could just smell a trap. So she went left.
There was a river there and she was one hell of a swimmer but it was gonna take a bit more than a little water to get the freakin' lions, and tigers, and whatever the fuck else there was out there off her ass.
She could hear them ranging around her, practically growling smelling more like animals than man as they hunted.
Jondy fuckin' hated being prey but she didn't have the option of being the predator – they had numbers on their side and her only advantage at this point was her slightly more unique genetic structuring.
Thank fucking Manticore, she bit out as she saw the gap in the trees, feeling a spurt of dark humor flow through her veins as she pushed herself those last few feet and flew.
The shock of the cold water was hell on the system but her body moved without thought, sliding instinctively deeper into the water. Somewhere in her motley bag of genes was a coding sequence for shark and it just loved the water.
The average length of time an X5 could hold their breath varied unit to unit. Jondy's genetic mixture lended itself to a couple of extra minutes that were abso-fucking-lutely invaluable as she coasted along the bottom of the riverbed, heading for her escape route even as bodies hit the water behind her.
She wasn't worried, at least that's what she told herself. But she still swam a little faster.
"You saw that, right?"
The question echoed through the clearing as Jonas bared his teeth at the water below and fought the urge to snarl.
"Goddamn idiot," he breathed, his eyes picking out Dane's form amongst the occupants of the river below.
Yeah, he'd seen that – 'that' being the freakin' icing on his cake of a day. Tiny little girl in a tree.
Dane hadn't even bothered asking before going after her. And now look where they were – three enforcers shit up a creek without a paddle and no girl in sight.
In everybody's defense, not that it helped, but that tiny little girl had been fast – a whole hell of a lot faster than anything he'd ever seen and he'd seen a damn lot.
"Get them out of the water," he ordered one of his Enforcer's as he turned from the river. "And get me Merc. I want to know if we've still got the others."
There'd been four other men up here in addition to the spitfire, all four of whom had disengaged when his men had breached. They'd taken off much like the spitfire but unlike her, they hadn't managed to disappear quite as effectively.
"Affirmative," came the reply a few seconds later. "They're still moving."
"Let me know the second they settle," he snapped. "I want them for questioning."
It was unspoken that he wanted the girl more than anything. The four men were chump change – human. But the girl was something completely different. His nostrils flared, taking in the scents of the clearing. Lion, jaguar, cougar, wolf, and coyote, and something that completely defied explanation.
Dane appeared next to him, a wet sodden mess of stink that had the other Enforcers giving him a wide berth.
"Where is she?" He asked wringing water from his shirt.
"They've stopped," came the answer from Jonas' Enforcer.
"Get the heli-jet ready," Jonas ordered, already moving. "We'll come back for the others later."
"What took you so long?" Edge asked the second she walked through the door, a dripping sodden mess of irritation. He smiled at her growl.
"Cute."
"Fuck you," she snapped, stepping past him and heading for her pack in the corner. "Move out in two."
"Yes, ma'am," he drawled, pushing away from the counter he'd been leaning against.
"What happened?" Shadow asked as she stormed past him.
"Goddamn Breeds in the hills," she bit out. "Fuckin' bastard knocked me out of a tree."
"And into the river?" Zero's question was ignored as Jondy grabbed a towel from a counter top and yanked the cap off her head, letting her swirled hair drop down in dripping waves.
She gave a few ineffective swipes at it with the towel, growling under her breath before storming towards the truck.
"Let's move."
Famous last words flashed briefly across her mind as glass shattered and doors were busted down and suddenly instead of the five of them it was the five of them plus about twenty others.
"Hello again," Jonas's smile was unpleasant and Jondy really wanted to kick him in the nuts or something but she had more important things to worry about.
"Stand down!" She ordered Nico as he reached for one of the knives at his back. His eyes flashed with irritation but he obeyed – they all did. She wasn't any more thrilled than they were at being cornered but like hell was she gonna get them killed.
"Sweetheart, love the hair." Jondy's lip curled in pure annoyance as Dane came to a strolling stop at Jonas's shoulder.
"I should have shot you," she murmured more to herself than anybody else. His smile widened, a lethal glint in his eyes.
"No use crying over spilt milk now. What do you say – up for a chat?" Her lip curled up at him, her body tensing as her instincts screamed.
"Jondy," Edge murmured.
"Jondy," Dane latched onto her name with interest. "Nice to meet you, sweetheart."
"Oh, hell," she heard Zero wince before she was moving.
For the second time she barreled into Dane only this time he was ready. He had her by the arm, shoved to the ground and almost pinned but almost didn't quite count.
She twisted, defying the laws of reality to come back to her feet and send him stumbling back a few steps as she planted her fist in the face of another Enforcer before turning towards Jonas only to find Dane in front of her once more, eyes full on furious.
"First one's free, sweetheart – that's it. You want to play we play my way." He settled in, eyes flashing with fight and Jondy felt a grim smile forming on her face.
"You think you can take me?" she murmured, the sound of her men's fight background noise as she focused on the male in front of her.
"Oh, I know it," came his reply and he was moving – faster than she expected, hitting her with enough force to leave a definite impression.
She dodged, jumping and slamming back down as he caught her mid leap and dragged her down, kicking and cursing under his weight as they both scrambled for purchase.
His hand slid into her hair and jerked and she snarled and went for his balls. He released her with a curse twisting away from her knee just in time to avoid a complete emasculation and swearing when she head butted him next.
"Enough!" The yell was accompanied by the sound of a gun cocking and Jondy froze, hands firmly tangled in Dane's hair in a strange twist of fortune, eyes on Jonas and the gun he had leveled at Zero's head.
"Band her," he ordered Dane, eyes hard and full of threat. Just as quickly as it started the fighting ended as Jondy let herself be hauled to her feet and banded, almost trembling from rage.
"Take her to Haven," Jonas ordered.
"And them?" The Enforcer asked, motioning to her men. She tensed, planting her feet and snarling as she made her position clear. Jonas's eyes flicked to her for a moment, holding her gaze before he nodded once.
"Take them in the truck," he ordered. "I want them separate but alive."
"Come on, sweetheart," Dane tugged her and she 'stumbled', her foot driving straight into his shin with a well aimed kick that had the nearest Enforcer placing a hand on his taser in warning.
"Call me that again and I'll kill you," she promised once more feeling just about pissed enough to follow through. The dark look Dane shot her made his own opinion clear.
"Not if I get you first."
It sounded like more than just a warning. Her eyes caught his as she was hauled from the building and out of the sight of her men and what she saw there had his words spinning with a whole different meaning.
Jondy was calm and pretty as you please the entire ride back to the compound – a grand fucking total of twenty minutes by heli-jet.
She was practically an angel as she was hauled from her seat and hustled towards a building, only just dragging her feet as Dane's expression grew darker and darker.
She only punched one person as she was patted down, her every weapon stripped from her along with her boots and her jacket. Her hands were freed by then but there was always a taser aimed her way.
And then they shoved her in a cell and left her there.
She had her own damn internal alarm clock and she could hear the seconds ticking away as she sat on the floor, slowing drying in the slightly too cold room.
Worried out of her mind for her men and fucking hating the feeling of no control, she amused herself by comparing her prison with Manticore.
Less screaming, was on the list of pluses.
More camera's was on the minus.
Thirty minutes passed before the door opened.
An Enforcer entered first.
"Up."
Jondy arched an eyebrow from where she was sprawled on the floor.
"Make me."
She collected a couple of extra bruises mostly from sheer obstinacy and uncooperative attitude but they managed to haul her into an interrogation room and strap her to the chair without her killing anybody which was practically a miracle in her opinion.
She tugged at the restraints on her arms as she sorted through the information she had.
Jonas wanted her alive and cooperative which was why he'd taken her men. Her options in that regard were limited – she knew of Haven but she didn't know its layout. She had no idea where her men were of if they were even still alive.
Right there was the key – first thing Jonas was going to do when he got sick of his waiting game was prove to her that her men were alive and well.
The waiting game lasted twenty minutes and ended with the opening of the door and the silent entrance of the one thing that could make Jondy forget her men.
"No."
One word and Jonas's eyebrow was arching.
"You're not in the position to be making decisions."
"Touch me and I'll kill you." It was the umpteenth time tonight Jondy had made the threat but it was the first time she was completely serious.
"I'm just drawing some blood," the doctor promised and Jondy let out a bark of laughter at that.
"No, you're not." The doctor eyed her carefully before glancing over at Jonas who simply stared at Jondy.
"Do it." The doctor moved and so did Jondy.
Adrenaline was a fuckin' miracle of a thing when someone was motivated and Jondy was a hell of a motivated person as she used every ounce of power she had in her body to pull her arms free, yanking the cuffs straight off the chair and latching onto the doctor in the same instant, tossing her clear across the room as she yanked a foot free next and kicked the tray of needles straight after her.
"Fuck," someone breathed.
"Hold her!" Came Jonas's snapped command as the room flooded with Breeds.
They plowed into her with all the force of a semi and Jondy fought like a gutter fighter, arms, legs, fists, and knees doing significant damage until the press of bodies became too much.
"Get the blood," the Breed on top of her ordered, his breath a heavy pant as she surged up against the weight on top of her, dropping back with a pant and focusing instead and curling herself as tightly as possible to keep the needle from finding a vein.
"I can't find a vein," the doctor knelt next to her, expression focused as she did her job.
"Stygian," came the hoarse growl from Jonas who was somewhere in the pile of bodies above her.
"Got it," came the grunt before a fist smashed itself against the back of her head, not hard enough to knock her out but hard enough to daze her.
She was maneuvered in those precious seconds, pressed upright and against the wall with both legs restrained, head yanked back by the hair, one arm secured flat against the wall, the other held by three breeds as the doctor shoved the needle home.
Jondy screamed and struggled fruitlessly as the doctor filled two vials, storing them safely before slamming her case and scrambling from the room.
Jondy strained to go after her, snarling as she felt something stab into the side of her exposed neck.
"Nighty, night," someone breathed.
"Like fuck," Jondy snarled, straining even as the sedative flooded through her system. Her muscles loosened from her command, going limp against her will as reality dipped. Her hair was released and her head fell limply to her chest but she was still aware, still trying to fight.
She hurt everywhere inside and out and oblivion had never looked so inviting but it wasn't in her nature to give up or give in. She fought until the last of her muscles went limp, her eyes rolling up as her brain surrendered to the darkness.
"What the fuck is she?" was the first question Wolfe asked, storming into the room as the females body slumped into the waiting arms of an Enforcer.
"That's what I'm hoping the blood tests will tell us," Jonas breathed, watching the girl with troubled eyes.
"Is she Breed?" Hope asked, entering right behind her mate and earning her a snarl in response.
"She smells wrong," another Enforcer stated, answer enough.
"Where did you find her?" was Jacob's question as he studied the unconscious female.
"Montana," Jonas replied. "She was camped out outside of the cabin with her men."
"Friend or foe?" Jacob asked.
"Don't know," Jonas replied. "Her men pulled back and Kin didn't mention a back-up team on the Council's part."
"Where are her men?" Wolfe asked.
"The other side of the building," Jonas replied.
"Are any of them like her?"
"We've already gotten blood, saliva, the works," Jonas shook his head. "None of them had this reaction."
"What are we going to do with her?"
"Keep her sedated," Jonas ordered, wiping blood from his chin. "We need the results of the blood test before we decide anything else."
"Doesn't make any damn sense," Nikki repeated. Katya had already agreed with her and Alexei was still too in awe of the sample in front of him to give his verbal opinion.
"What is it?" The full Ruling Council had been called to deal with their unexpected visitor including the First Leo who Nikki suspected had bullied his way rather than wait for an invitation.
"Look." Nikki pressed a button and a DNA assay appeared on screen.
"This is Jonas' chromosomal map," Nikki stated. "This is Wolfe's and that's Del Rey's. This," she pointed to a specific area on Jonas's map, "is the lion DNA, wolf, coyote, and this," and new slide appeared looking like a complete and utter mess.
"This is her DNA," Nikki's voice was completely awed.
"I see Lion," Del Rey stated. "And wolf. What's everything else?"
"Avian," Nikki stated, pointing to another section. She could tell that much from the rare samples they'd been given concerning the fourth species of Breed. "What kind we don't know."
"And the rest?"
"It's a fucking tangle," Nikki replied. "We've managed to pull three more cat Breeds and another strand of wolf but the rest…"
"So she's a breed." Nikki was shaking her head even as the statement is made.
"We've done the cross comparison's," Katya took over the explanation. "Breed DNA and Human DNA have a ninety-nine point eight percent match-up to each other. Breed DNA and her DNA have a ninety-nine point five percent match-up."
"Meaning?" Merinus prompted, peering down at the female with sympathy. It'd been three days since her capture and she was still unconscious, looking like a broken doll lying in the bed she'd been strapped to.
"Meaning she's more like a cousin than a sister," Dane supplied from the back, his expression tight.
"It's possible that the Breeds and whatever she is were created from the same basic DNA template following two different paths," Alexei hypothesized, turning his attention from the slide to frown down at the girl. "Which begs the question – who came first? You or them?"
"How do we know if there's even a them?" Anya asked, staring sadly down at the girl. "She could be the last of her kind."
The thought hung in the air.
"We have to wake her up," Leo stated, frowning down at the girl.
"She's dangerous," Jonas pointed out.
"She's the only one with the answers we need," Leo replied dryly.
"Have you gotten all the samples you need?" Jonas settled on asking Nikki, answer enough concerning his intentions.
"For now," Nikki replied.
"Then take her off the sedatives. It's time we had a chat."
Darkness held her captive in a drugged stupor, dragging her under like the tide every time she started to rise.
X5-210 drifted closer to the surface, a memory of a child before Jondy became a person.
210 remembered the darkness and the pain that came with it. There would be doctors and needles and lasers if she opened her eyes and they would start cutting her open and breaking her bones to see how fast she would heal. And when she screamed – because she always screamed – there would be the laser and the lesson, the reminder. 210 was a soldier and soldiers did not show weakness.
Pain was a phantom of the mind – what the mind can conceive, the body can achieve.
Jondy swam below the surface of 210, reaching upwards to catch the younger versions hand and hold it.
I'm here, she promised, gently breaking the surface first. I'll keep you safe.
210 was comforted by this as she settled back to wait.
The first thing Jondy saw was the bright light above her.
"You're awake," came the surprisingly soft voice nearby. She started to turn towards it, wincing as the light raked over too sensitive nerves.
"Oh, sorry!" The apology was quick and the lights dimmed to a more acceptable level. It was such an un-Manticore like action that Jondy actually blinked in surprise.
"Who are you?" She asked, dry-mouthed and incredibly groggy.
Drugs, 210 supplied from just under her consciousness.
"Psy-Ops," Jondy answered, closing her eyes and feeling a tear leak from the corner of her eye.
She'd failed. She'd been recaptured, her men were dead, and she was about to be tortured back into being a good little soldier.
"What?" came the confused question. Jondy felt a jolt of familiar defiance and opened her mouth as she turned her head back towards the voice only to draw up short as she caught sight of her surroundings.
"Where the hell am I?" She tried to sit up only to find herself firmly strapped to the bed and too damn weakened by the drugs to do more than tug ineffectively.
"Haven," came the reply. "In the medical facility. You were hurt pretty bad in the confrontation and required treatment."
It was a lie – Jondy couldn't smell shit around the acrid stench of antiseptics but she knew a lie when she saw one.
"You just wanted your human pin cushion where you could keep on eye on her, didn't you?"
The woman flushed guilty but the victory held little meaning to Jondy – she was still strapped to the goddamn bed with no real hope of going free any time soon.
"Here," a straw appeared in her line of sight and Jondy could see the cup of water on the other end and suddenly she was parched.
She hesitated only a moment before taking a sip, swallowing past a dry throw and drinking until the cup was taken away.
"How are you feeling?" was the next question which just struck Jondy as so many different kinds of ridiculous that she settled her head back on the pillow with a noncommittal grunt.
"Your bruises are already starting to fade," the doctor continued on and Jondy could hear a little bit of awe in her voice that had an eyebrow arching.
"Haven't figured out why yet, have you?"
"Your DNA…" the woman sighed, leaning back with a shake of her head and a somewhat dumbstruck look on her face. "I could spend the rest of my life plus ten working with Breeds and still only understand a fraction of their genetic coding. Yours would take an eternity."
"So what have you found?" Jondy asked, a note of curiosity entering her voice.
"Bird, wolf, and cat. Lots of cat. And a bunch of other stands from dozens of unknown sources. Did you know you have DNA traces of the English royal family?"
"Really?" Wasn't surprising, really, considering the vast stores Manticore had had at its disposal. A little weird, though – made her curious as to what possible plans they had had for her.
No use thinking about that, she reminded herself carefully, feeling the fraying edges of her temper start to stir once more as a pulse of fear pumped through her.
Not Manticore, she snapped down to 210 who was still hovering.
Then why are you tied down? Came the snarled reply.
We've been here before, Jondy reminded 210 patiently. Peru, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand…caged, trapped, and hurt. She'd escaped then and she'd escape now.
Yeah but those had all been intentional. She was the original Trojan horse – a petite package of death that nobody ever saw come.
Except Breeds.
They'd know better than anyone else what they were dealing with.
"How long was I out for?" She asked, changing the subject, fists curling in agitation against the restraints.
"Three and a half days," was the doctors careful response.
"And why am I awake now?" The question was a test – Jondy had perfect recall, especially when unconscious. It'd been part of their resistance training, the ultimate test. Trained to forget and trained to remember everything.
Advanced comprehension capabilities fast-forwarded through most of the past couple of days and Jondy paused on the important bits, ending with the part about them wanting answers.
"We have some questions for you," was the carefully worded response.
"So where is everybody, then?" Jondy asked, tugging at the restraints pointedly. "Cause no offense Doc, but I'm bored."
"On their way."
"And my men?"
"Safe and secure," came the drawl from the doorway. Jondy turned her head, peering at smiling smug-faced bastard in the doorway.
"Nice," he smiled at her restraints, a hard edge glinting in his eyes. "Love the accessories."
"God I should have shot you," Jondy murmured with all sincerity. His smile widened and darkened.
"Dane," a female voice spoke from behind him full of censure that had him pulling a face even as he stepped aside and let her pass.
"Hello, Jondy," the woman spoke pleasantly enough. Hell, she was even smiling as she approached.
"Hello strange new person," Jondy replied, watching her warily.
"I'm Elizabeth," the woman introduced herself. "That's Nikki. We've been taking care of you while you were unconscious."
Another spurt of irritation and rage that had Dane tensing from where he stood, starting forward only to stop at the warning look Elizabeth flashed his way.
"How are you feeling?"
Jondy stared up at her a moment before smiling tightly.
"Oh just fucking peachy," she replied all sugar sweet and bitch in one go.
"Sweetheart," Dane drawled in warning and Jondy let the aggravating screech that had been building in her chest escape, her head slamming back on the pillow before she twisted it to glare at him.
"Next time I get my hands around your throat I'm not letting go," she promised in silky tones. His canines flashed as he smiled again.
"Promises, promises," he teased, head turning as several Breeds wearing the Enforcers uniform appeared in the doorway.
"They're ready for her," one of them stated, addressing the doctors but keeping his gaze on her.
They started for her, two with weapons drawn and pointed while she eyed them angrily.
"We're going to undo the restraints," the lead Breed informed her blandly. "You make any threatening moves and we'll shoot."
Jondy grunted her understanding as her legs were carefully uncuffed. Her arms were next and she resisted the urge to shove upright as the Breed carefully stepped back.
"No handcuffs?" she tsked, shaking her head as she rubbed her wrists. "You're playing a dangerous game here, boys and girls."
"That's what I'm here for," Dane replied, drawing her attention his way. She eyed him dispassionately for a moment before swinging her legs over the side of the gurney.
"I have to pee."
"Let's get this over with," were the first words out of Jondy's mouth as she settled herself in the chair, swinging her legs up on top of the table in front of her as she waited for the first barrage of questions.
"Hands on the table, feet on the floor," came the order from her Breed babysitter. She rolled him a look but obediently let her feet fall to the floor, instinctively hooking her feet around the chairs of the leg and letting her hands settle on the desk at two perfectly parallel angles.
She frowned even as she did so, quickly undoing the motion so she was sprawled backwards, feet kicked negligently forward and hands resting at the wrists on the table top.
Manticore flashbacks were never a good way to start a day.
"Where are my men?" she asked the first question, desperate for some sense of control and hating herself for the weakness as she stared up at the faces in front of her.
"Safe and secure," came the repeated response and she curled her lip at Jonas in response.
"I want to see them."
"You're not in the position to be making any demands," was his sharp response.
She smiled at his irritation, equal parts amused and deadly calm.
"Wanna bet?"
The Enforcers surrounding her shifted at her words, grips on their weapons tightening even as Jonas shot them a sharp look.
"You'll be allowed to see your men once we're done here."
"I call bullshit," Jondy shot back. "I want to see them now."
"You'll see them when we're finished and not a second before," Jonas snarled, grey eyes practically glowing as he stared down at her, trying to assert his dominance.
She glared right back up at him, her lip curling.
"Enough, Jonas," Dane Vanderale ordered, ignoring the sharp look Jonas shot the other man as he stared down at her. "Bring in her man."
She kept her surprise in check as a side door opened and Edge shuffled in, cuffed but clean and in otherwise good health. Her nostrils flared slightly and she could smell his displeasure but there was no fear and no pain.
"Hey boss," Edge greeted her with a quick nod of his head. "Heard you gave 'em hell. Nice."
One of the Enforcers guarding him growled in response.
"Everybody good?" was her only question as she twisted to get to her feet only to have the lead Enforcer shake his head, hand on his weapon.
"Pissed, hungry, horny – the usual." Edge shrugged his shoulders in a 'what-the-hell-can-you-do-about-it?' kind of manner and Jondy relaxed back with a sigh.
"Times up."
Edge was shuffled out of the room as quickly as he'd been brought in and Jondy tensed in her chair, frowning but feeling a little less angry as she faced them.
"Ask."
"Why were you in the woods?"
"My team was hired by Evan Gardner to rescue his daughter. He should have already verified that with you."
"Who do you work for?"
"Myself." Jonas leveled a look at her that made it clear that wasn't what he had meant and she blinked back at him in perfect innocence.
"Why did you run when you saw us in the woods?"
"A man jumps you and knocks you from a tree. Seven guys appear with guns and one of them threatens to kill you. Doesn't exactly inspire warm fuzzies now, does it?"
"You drew a gun on one of my men," Jonas replied evenly.
"He tried to squish me," Jondy defended herself, completely dead pan. Somebody in their audience snorted and though she couldn't pinpoint the exact source she had the distinct impression it had been Callan Lyons.
"What are you?" The question came from the side where Dane had taken up residence, his green eyes watching her dispassionately.
She'd been expecting the question, waiting for it with absolute relish. If he'd been trying to surprise her he'd failed quite spectacularly.
"What do you think I am?" She shot back.
"This isn't a game, little girl," was Dane's dark reply. "Answer the question."
She smiled, a quirk of her lips and nothing more as she settled back in her chair once more.
"The scientific term is Transgenic," she answered calmly. "Sometimes referred to as a Chimera. Recombinant genetics with animals and humans to create the perfect killer. The usual."
"Are you Breed?" Jondy arched an eyebrow at Hope Gunnar's question.
"No."
Judging from the tightening of their expressions that had not been the answer they'd been hoping for.
"Where did you come from?" She quieted at that question.
She knew exactly where the base was. She knew its insides and outsides like the back of her hand and she'd skirted around its edges enough times since the escape to know it was still very, very active.
She'd tangled with the Breeds now, answering one of her basic curiosities concerning the other animal/human transgenics. And she knew she was stronger and faster, not by much but by enough.
The Breeds had worked damn hard to build a home, to band together to become more than the monsters they'd been created to be. Jondy could respect that, could respect their strengths and cunnings as fighters and soldiers but she didn't want them anywhere near the Manticore program. Cause if they started digging their spies would start digging. It was damn near impossible to get your hands on a loyal X5 which left slim pickings. And slim pickings were her and the others.
"Don't know," she replied, half-truthfully. She remembered in the recesses of her mind a place before the barracks in another facility. It had been nice there, warmer. There'd been a smiling woman and calm quiet. No bullets, no shouting, no blood or violence.
"We can smell lies, Jondy," Wolfe Gunnar reminded her unnecessarily. She shot him a look as she sat forward in her chair.
"I'm not lying, Mr. Gunnar," she intoned carefully, staring at him with unnerving intensity, making her position clear.
"How many of you are there?"
"I'm one of a kind," Jondy replied with an honest smile as she made a show of relaxing her shoulders.
"How many others like you are there?" Now that was a simple enough question to answer.
"I don't know."
A/N: This is all I have so far. Hopefully more will follow.