Lily shrugged. “He talked about the necessity of removing her from society several times, yet he continued to allow this training to take place. I studied the tapes as he must have, and she doesn’t attack unless she believes she is forced to defend herself. So certainly, during her teenage years, she’s gained some semblance of control over her abilities.”
Lily put on the remaining tapes, one after the other. She had watched them already, the heartbreaking scenes of the woman she was certain was the missing Dahlia doing martial arts, anticipating every move before it was made, defeating every opponent in spite of her small size and lack of weight, but inevitably collapsing in a heap of muscle spasms, with a retching stomach and blood trickling from her mouth and even her ears at times. She never cried out; she merely rocked back and forth, pressing her hands to her head before her ultimate collapse. The tapes depicted training that could possibly be used for undercover work, and each time the woman called Novelty ended up the same way, curled up in a ball in the fetal position.
Watching it made Lily sick. Once her father discovered Dahlia couldn’t work under the conditions they were expecting, he should have pulled her from the training immediately. Unfortunately, she always performed the given task before she collapsed. Remembering the earlier tapes of the stubborn and vengeful child in the laboratory, Lily wondered what they held over her head to get her to work for them when she was so clearly strong-willed enough to refuse.
Instead of watching the tapes she watched the reactions of the men. She wanted to send the most sympathetic after Dahlia. The woman had suffered trauma for years. She needed the safety of the Whitney home, with the protection of the thick walls and a compassionate and kind-hearted staff, all of whom had natural barriers so they couldn’t project emotions to the GhostWalker team. Her father had provided the safe house for her, and she had, in turn, chosen to share it with the men her father had experimented on.
Lily looked at their faces and for the first time felt the urge to laugh. Why had she thought she’d be able to read them? They hid their thoughts behind expressionless masks. They were well prepared by the military, each of them receiving special training long before they were ever recruited for duty in the GhostWalker squad.
She waited until the last tape had been played and the impact on the men was the most profound. Dahlia Le Blanc was the kind of woman most men would want to protect. Very small, very slight, with enormous sad eyes and flawless skin. She looked like a doll with her skin and eyes and wealth of jet-black hair. Lily knew Dahlia needed help, a tremendous amount of help, to adjust to living in the world again. She was determined to give Dahlia everything Dr. Whitney had failed to provide. A home, a sanctuary, people she could call family and count on. It wouldn’t be easy to convince Dahlia to come back to the very place where the original damage had been done to her.
Ryland swept his arm around Lily and bent his head to hers. “You have tears in your eyes.”
“Everyone else should, too,” Lily said and blinked rapidly. “My father took away her life, Ryland. No one would adopt her and give her a home. No one could adopt her. I don’t even know if we can help her. And why would she trust me?”
“I’ll go after her,” Nicolas said suddenly. Unexpectedly. And unwanted.
Lily tried not to gape in horror. She took a deep breath and let it out. “You just came back from that mission in the Congo, Nico. I know it wasn’t pleasant. You need rest, not another mission. I can’t ask you to go.”
“You didn’t ask me, Lily.” His black eyes pinned her. Held her. “And you wouldn’t ask me, but it doesn’t matter. I’m an anchor, and I can handle her. I’m here and on extended leave. I’ll go.”
Lily wanted to protest but couldn’t think of reasons to stop him. It annoyed her that she was so transparent that Nicolas could see she was uneasy around him. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him, but he frightened her with his too cold eyes and his implacable resolve. It didn’t help that she knew his expertise. “I thought Gator would know the area better and find it easier.” It was the best excuse she could come up with.