Page 27 of Their Defiant Mate

“Perfect. Busy work is the best distraction.” Jon walked over to Tara and gave her a kiss. “I’m not sure how you convinced Akari to cooperate, but thank you.”

“There was no convincing involved,” she insisted. “I just offered the information and let her choose.”

Jon nodded and turned to Isaac. “This is your show, brother. How should we proceed?”

Isaac motioned toward the center of the room. “Usual configuration. As soon as you and Jon create a densely shielded opening, I’ll get in and out as fast as possible.”

“Understood,” Jon responded.

They moved to the middle of the room and stood back to back. Tara kept a good distance between them, clearly trying not to distract them. Jon wanted to laugh. She could leave the planet and he would still be distracted by her. Each time he closed his eyes, his nose filled with her scent, and her taste rolled across his tongue. He could feel her pressed against him and wrappedaround him. And he hoped it would be like that for the rest of his life.

“Ready?” Isaac prompted sharply.

Jon gave himself a firm mental shake. They hadn’t even begun to create the opening. He glanced at Kyle, who smiled knowingly and then closed his eyes. They shifted their focus inward and channeled energy into their psychic abilities. Jon immediately took the lead. It was impossible for him to behave any other way. His basic personality had been assertive before his transformation. He was intensely dominant now. Kyle considered himself a leader also, but unlike Jon and Isaac, he was able to play a supporting role when necessary.

Easily locating Akari, Jon sank into her mind a millimeter at a time. Jon constructed a basic shield first. Not only did they need to prevent her from sensing what they were doing, they also needed others with paranormal abilities to remain unaware of the invasion. Once the perimeter shield was in place, Jon carefully created a small opening for Isaac. Kyle protected the opening with additional shielding, creating a barrier so dense that no one would sense what was going on inside.

The procedure was familiar. Each Shadow had been created with a specific purpose in mind. Kyle was a psychic scout, Jon was an assassin, and Isaac was an interrogator. For the last three years of their captivity, Nuevo had leased them out to various governments and military forces. They were controlled with powerful drugs and explosive implants that ensured they remain within a designated area. Having freedom over their skills made life tolerable. However, this sort of task always dredged up unwanted memories.

Kyle signaled to Isaac that the pathway was ready, and Isaac slipped into Akari’s mind. Moving stealthily, Isaac rapidly located the memories of her attackers. The first two images were vivid. The villains were easily identified, but the rest was just shadowy impressions. Akari had been so traumatized by the brutality and the pain of her beatings that her mind shut down, drawing her into a protective haze separate from physical reality. Kyle was relieved that she remembered a small fraction of what had been done to her, but the reaction compromised their goals.

As soon as Isaac and Jon had withdrawn, Kyle sent a cleansing pulse through the shields, restoring Akari’s mind to the way they had found it.

Isaac blinked repeatedly as he refocused on the present. His expression was thunderous.

“Did it work?” Tara asked, moving closer to where Isaac stood. “Were you able to see her attackers?”

“Yes and no,” Isaac admitted with a sigh. “The first two images were undeniable, but they are also surprisingly unhelpful.”

“What does that mean?” she cried, crossing her arms over her breasts. “If you saw them, that can’t be ‘unhelpful.’”

“I clearly saw Elias and Armando,” Isaac told her.

“Elias is the wolf leader.” She sounded as if she were reminding herself. “Who is Armando?”

“Armando was his second in command,” Jon told her. “He shot one of Diego’s coalition mates, so Diego killed him.”

“And everyone presumed that Elias was one of her attackers all along, so you didn’t learn anything new,” Tara deduced with a sigh. “What the hell am I going to tell Akari?”

“You’ll tell her the truth,” Isaac stressed. “I was able to see some of their faces, while others were distorted. However, we have enough information now to move on with the investigation. As far as she knows, her cooperation was invaluable.”

Tara nodded. “That sounds good. I’ll go talk to her in a little while.” She indulged in one final sigh before asking, “What does this really mean? Is there nothing more we can do?”

“There are all sorts of things wecando,” Jon said bitterly. “The question is what will the councilapproveus to do.”

Isaac shook his head, looking nearly as frustrated as Jon felt. “Kyle, escort Tara to the bakery. Jon and I are going to drop in on Zion and his advisors.”

Kyle tensed, but all he said was, “Is that wise?”

“Probably not, but we’re going,” Isaac said. “We’ve been patient long enough.”

Thrilled to have Isaac join his side, Jon grinned. “Let’s go cause some trouble.”

Kyle and Tara headed off in one direction while Isaac and Jon went in the other. The afternoon was bright and cool without being cold. That would change rapidly as soon as the sun went down. They walked quickly, more than ready for the conversation.

“Stick to the new information,” Isaac advised. “We’re there because of what we just learned, not because they all need a firm kick in the ass.”

Jon laughed. “I’ll let you do the talking. We both know I’m spoiling for a fight.”

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