Violet sat up, coughing heavily, dragging clean air into her lungs, her body trembling. She took the glass of water Cayenne held out to her and drank deeply. Cayenne stood and leaned down to take her elbow. Violet drew back as if contact with Cayenne might contaminate her.

“I would prefer not to be touched,” Violet said, her voice haughty in spite of her coughing. “I have an aversion to…” Her gaze swept up and down Cayenne’s body. “Insects,” she finished, clearly meaning to insult.

“Fucking bitch.” Trap reached down, caught Cayenne’s arm and yanked her up and to him. He enfolded her in his arms, sheltering her against his body, against his heart.

“Actually, Senator,” Cayenne said, turning in Trap’s arms to face the woman. Trap locked both arms just under her breasts, holding her in place so she couldn’t help Violet up. “A spider is not an insect. It’s an arachnid. I’m neither. But then you know that. You were striking out because Trap scared you to death, although I know you’re telling the truth when you state you have an aversion to me – to what I am. I suggest you tell us why we’re here so we can leave before someone gets hurt.”

Violet struggled to get to her feet. She had to use the chair to pull herself up. Her breasts were heaving, nearly coming out of the tight bodice of her gown as she continued to struggle for air. She collapsed back into her chair and gulped more water from the glass she’d refused to relinquish while she fought to get up.

When she had her breathing under control and she could speak again, she waved toward the chairs. “Thank you, Cayenne, I appreciate you coming to my assistance.” Her voice was stiff and the senator didn’t look at her when she forced herself to be polite.

Cayenne nodded, but Trap didn’t allow her to move. He kept her at a distance, holding her, back to him, facing the senator.

Violet moistened her lips, took another drink of water, her hand shaking. She noticed the water moving in the glass, giving her away, and she put it down on the little table beside her chair.

“I thought you were paired with Whitney,” Wyatt said. “If that’s the case, why are you opposing him? Why aren’t you showing him the same devotion you did your husband?”

Violet’s gaze swept over him. “You know why.” Her voice was low. Still shaky.

“Because pairing gives a powerful physical attraction, not an emotional one,” Trap said. He felt Cayenne’s gaze burning into him, but he didn’t look at her. “Whitney can’t control that. He doesn’t understand the emotional because he doesn’t feel.”

“He feels other people’s pain,” she corrected, wiping her mouth, taking the last vestige of lipstick. “He knows that I know he is responsible for Ed’s death. He likes the idea that I’ll serve him all the while aware that he killed the man I love. He knows that it hurts me, but that’s his enjoyment. The only time he’s truly happy is when someone else is in pain. He prolongs it, so he can watch.”

“So these experiments of his are more self-serving than patriotic?” Wyatt asked.

Violet frowned, hesitating. Finally she shook her head. “I wouldn’t say that. He’s a patriot. He honestly believes he can cut down on the deaths of American soldiers. He absolutely wants to create soldiers who are elite and have far better chances of survival. His ultimate goal is that those soldiers will create the next generation of soldiers. He believes in what he’s doing.”

She was obviously reluctant to admit that. “Saying that, he despises women and feels they are disposable. The same with female children. Any girl in an orphanage is at risk if she has the slightest psychic ability. He ‘sees’ the ability. I don’t know how, but he knows. He also ‘sees’ what he calls a ‘true’ pairing. He thinks in terms of soldiers and what they can do together, but I think it is more like Dr. Fontenot suggests. The pairing is both emotional and physical as well as psychic. That’s why it’s so deep.”

She pressed her closed fist to her mouth. It was shaking. “Ed wasn’t psychic, but he loved me. He truly loved me. Whitney didn’t understand that bond. He isn’t capable of feeling it, so he can’t really understand it.”

“Your husband set up the Norton brothers, sending their team into the Congo, straight into an ambush. You knew about that, didn’t you?” Trap asked.

“You don’t understand. Whitney wanted a diamond. It was important to his research. In order to get what he wanted, he used my husband.”

“In order to get what your husband wanted, the two of you sent our soldiers into an ambush knowing the likelihood of their survival was very slim,” Trap snapped.

Violet sighed. “You deliberately don’t want to understand. Politics is a road of sheer treachery. You have to have allies. You have to tread carefully. It’s all about making the right connections, and in doing that, you often have to compromise your code of ethics. That’s the way the game is played. It’s been that way forever. I didn’t make up the rules. It could have been any senator Whitney approached with his offer.”

“You know, Senator, even though I think some of what you’re saying and how you’re acting is genuine, there isn’t any difference between you and Whitney,” Trap snapped. “He tortures little girls and forces them into sexual slavery in order to get what he wants. He believes the end justifies the means. You know that’s all going on and you let it, you betray those women and you send in soldiers with children around…”

“Vipers. Made in a petri dish. You know what he does. You know none of you, including the children, are truly human anymore.”

“There it is,” Trap said. “You didn’t give a damn whether or not the girls lived through the attack. All you cared about was making sure what you wanted happened.”

Wyatt leapt up and stood over Violet, his fingers curled into fists.

Stay calm, Wyatt. Trap’s already a hothead. I don’t need both of you to lose it in there. We have to find out what she wants. Joe’s voice was devoid of all feeling.

Wyatt swore and turned on his heel, shoving the chair out of his way so he could stalk across the room.

“To take down Whitney,” Violet emphasized. “If we manage to rid this world of him, the girls will no longer be in danger. He has seven laboratories he uses for experiments. Laboratories where he and his people create genetic mutants. Disgusting, nonhuman beings. Creatures that kill without mercy.” There was sheer revulsion in her voice, in her mind. She actually shuddered, not even seeing Trap’s reaction. She was too busy trying to persuade them that she was right.