Shards of Hope

by Nalini Singh

  Blake wanted to crush them for their stupidity, but he'd never previously taken Psy victims on his own. His prior Psy targets had been Ming-sanctioned. As such, Ming had created a solid shield around those minds so that their death agonies wouldn't alert the Net and draw unwelcome attention.

  If he took these two, it would be without the benefit of that shield. Either one could shout out a telepathic scream, so he'd have to do it fast, as with that boy on the beach. An interesting challenge, he thought, his decision made. He waited until they moved just past his hiding place in a shallow recess in the wall, was a heartbeat away from striking when a mind knocked on his on the PsyNet.

  Nerida.

  Throttling his urges, because ignoring the Arrow in charge of security assignments wasn't an option if he wanted to remain undiscovered, he stayed where he was and the stupid Psy couple with their sickeningly weak bodies walked past and into the night.

  Forty-eight hours, he promised himself as he stepped out onto the psychic plane to speak to Nerida. Forty-eight hours and not only would he be able to assuage his need, he'd own Beatrice in the doing. Because it wasn't Blake who'd take the victim's life. No, he'd save that pleasure for Beatrice.

  Once she did that, she'd be his.

  Chapter 46

  ELEVEN HOURS AFTER his phone call with Aden, Judd was at the San Francisco waterfront with Hawke and Riaz. Lucas and his senior sentinel, Nathan, met them at the Embarcadero warehouse both packs used for meetings with BlackSea.

  It was SnowDancer that had taken point during the initial negotiations with BlackSea, since the water-based changelings had reached out directly to the wolves. The DarkRiver leopards, their closest allies, had agreed to remain in the background, though the lines of communication between the two packs had stayed open throughout. Prior to the final alliance, however, all three alphas had met face-to-face, because SnowDancer would not ally with anyone who did not also ally and deal with DarkRiver and vice versa.

  The two packs had a blood bond that went deeper than any relationship they had with another pack. While neither alpha would admit it, Judd had the sense that the packs were becoming one while remaining distinct and separate. They were two branches of a powerful family, a truth that would be sealed the day Mercy gave birth.

  "No seacraft spotted," Lucas told them as they stepped out of the back of the warehouse and onto the private pier protected from prying eyes by high fences on either side. "We did sense a disturbance in the water a few minutes out. They're on their way."

  Hawke folded his arms, pale blue eyes narrowed. "Since when can you sense disturbances in the water, cat?"

  "Since we placed sensors in a deep perimeter into the bay, wolf." Lucas's own eyes glinted panther green in the quickly falling darkness. "Seemed smart if we're going to have water changelings coming in and out on a regular basis. Wouldn't want to miss an invading force."

  "So little trust."

  "Exactly the same amount as you."

  Both alphas grinned. Because an alliance was one thing. True trust took years to form. And a blood bond such as that between SnowDancer and DarkRiver was so rare that most other changeling packs couldn't believe it was real. Especially given that both were predatory packs.

  Respect, Judd thought, was the bedrock of that relationship.

  The water stirred in front of them at that moment, a woman in a sleek black wetsuit rising out of it, her eyes a translucent hazel uptilted a tiny bit at the corners and her black hair slicked to her skull. Two others rose with her, men Judd tagged as Malachai and Griffin from his premeeting briefing by Riaz.

  Malachai dwarfed Miane's five-foot-five or five-foot-six height, his shoulders broad and his body muscular. Griffin, by contrast, wasn't much taller than Miane, but he moved the same way Judd had seen the most dangerous DarkRiver cats move. Light on his feet, his muscles fluid.

  The two males were wearing only wetsuit pants, their chests bare, while Miane Leveque's suit appeared to have no zippers or other fastenings that Judd could see now that she'd hauled herself out of the water and onto the pier.

  No one had moved forward to offer help. In time, the BlackSea alpha might accept Lucas's or Hawke's assistance in such a situation, but that would take a friendship that hadn't yet formed. Until then, like any alpha, Miane Leveque would not appreciate any such courtesy--would, in fact, see it as an insult.

  "Welcome to DarkRiver territory," Lucas said, as Miane made eye contact with him and Hawke in turn. Her eyes were no longer a human hazel, but an intense, endless black that echoed the deepest part of the ocean. So pure was the onyx of her irises that it made it appear as if she had no pupils.

  Stefan had once described the silken darkness of the depths to Judd. Living on Alaris gave the other Tk a unique perspective on the world. Judd wondered if Miane Leveque swam that deep, looked in through the portholes of the deep-sea station financed in large part by BlackSea.

  "Thank you for the welcome." Miane inclined her head in a regal move. "We tried not to damage any of your sensors."

  Lucas's lips kicked up at what was very much an alpha comment, challenge and amusement entwined. "I appreciate it." A nod back toward the warehouse. "Would you like to come inside? My packmates can bring in towels."

  "We do not mind being wet." Miane's expression remained cool. "My people and I have investigated the members of BlackSea involved in the attempt against the Psy squad you term allies."

  The Arrows weren't yet full allies, but Judd appreciated that neither Hawke nor Lucas had made that distinction when asking for information. He knew it had to do with family: the Laurens were packmates, the Arrows their family, and thus by extension, due some measure of loyalty so long as they didn't act against either pack.

  "And?" The silver-gold of Hawke's hair caught the fading light, the strands afire. "Find anything useful?"

  Miane Leveque nodded at Malachai. The large male, who was standing with his hands clasped in front of him, spoke without moving an inch out of position. "Jim fell away from BlackSea eight months ago. Though he remains a technical member, paying a percentage of his income into the pack fund so that he can access BlackSea's resources, he hasn't attended any Gatherings in that time frame and, as far as I can ascertain, has broken contact with all his compatriots but three.

  "Those three," the sea changeling continued, "are scattered over remote parts of the world, so his connection with them is distant. None have heard from him in the past two months."

  Lucas slid his hands into the pockets of the black pants he wore with a dark green shirt open at the collar. "He's turned loner?"

  Miane Leveque was the one who answered. "Many sea-based changelings are loners by nature, or tight with only a small family unit. Prior to eight months ago, Jim was part of a pod of ten."

  "His pod doesn't know why he went his own way," Malachai said, following on so flawlessly from Miane that Judd wondered at their relationship. It wouldn't be the first alpha-lieutenant pair he'd heard of since becoming part of SnowDancer.

  "Olivia's story is nearly identical," Miane said in that cool voice that was almost Psy but for the icy anger Judd could sense in her words. "She fell away from her peer group around the same time and made it clear she wanted no contact."

  "She even ignored her siblings' messages and attempts to find her." Malachai paused, and only when Miane nodded slightly did he add, "She had a mate, and a child who would now be two. The mate's body was found six months ago--it was almost all bone and we know his identity only because of DNA. The child remains missing. Her name is Persephone."

  The BlackSea lieutenant's words made Judd's gut tighten. He saw the same concern and anger on the faces around him. If sea changelings mated like the wolves or the leopards, then it was for life. The death of a mate could shatter the one who remained and, in this case, perhaps lead her to make dangerous and unstable decisions.

  Malachai's next words, however, seemed to point to a far more sinister truth.

  "You were right to assume these event
s are connected to the disappearances that led us to seek an alliance with you," the BlackSea lieutenant said into the tense quiet. "Jim and Olivia were two of those who vanished--we didn't know their location until you sent us the data."

  Judd had been briefed by Riaz on why the sea changelings had decided to change their isolationist policy. Part of it had to do with the changing political climate, but the most important driver was that a number of their pack--such as it was--had vanished without a trace. Because of BlackSea's unusual structure, it had taken time for Miane to realize what was happening. BlackSea wasn't anywhere near the biggest pack in the world, but it was the only one that had members worldwide; those members were scattered across great bodies of water, including lakes and the largest rivers in the world.

  Also affecting the record was the fact that many of the sea-based changelings swam alone, only meeting up with others of their kind once a year. In some cases, as with Olivia and her mate, couples had disappeared, meaning the one person who might have reported the disappearance had also been taken. At last count, at least twenty-seven members had been confirmed as missing.

  "Given what you now know of Jim's and Olivia's actions," Hawke said, "is it possible your missing went voluntarily?" His voice held the undertone of a growl, but it wasn't a threat, simply an indication his wolf was very much present and listening.

  Miane's changeling eyes didn't reflect light like those of terrestrial changelings, instead seemed to suck it in. "No," she said immediately. "The missing are all solitary by nature but they have intense ties to others despite the fact that they may only have met up once or twice a year. One confirmed missing member was half of a pair, would have never left his mate haunting the sea, searching for him."

  Judd tried to imagine being away from Brenna for so long, only seeing her after long stretches, couldn't. It made him understand why the water-based changelings had stayed separate and alone for so long--it must be frustrating to not be understood, to have outsiders constantly finding fault with a life most simply could not comprehend.

  "We want a chance to talk to both Jim and Olivia," Miane said. "They will not be able to lie to me."

  Hawke glanced at Judd.

  He stepped forward. "The squad wants to keep them under surveillance, as they may lead the Arrows to a bigger player--and, I'm guessing, to the people behind these vanishings."

  Miane Leveque's cold black eyes held his. "We'll be patient. But they are my people."

  Judd wasn't about to be intimidated, but he could understand her response. "The squad has little interest in them beyond the contacts either might make." His phone vibrated at that instant, in the pattern he'd assigned Aden. "Excuse me. I have to take this."

  Aware of the others continuing to talk as he put the phone to his ear, he listened to what Aden had to say, felt his blood ice. "I'll pass on the news. BlackSea will want to come to Venice."

  "Vasic is happy to complete a 'port if requested."

  Hanging up without further words, Judd returned to the meeting. When he caught Hawke's eye, the alpha leaned closer. Dropping his voice to the subvocal level that he couldn't actually hear himself, Judd passed on the news. Hawke's features grew hard. "Miane," he said, interrupting the other alpha midsentence, "your man is dead."

  The BlackSea alpha went eerily motionless. "The Arrows?"

  "No," Judd responded. "Jim jumped off his balcony onto the street. The Arrows on watch went immediately to his assistance, but his neck was broken." Since the balcony wasn't that high off the street, the working conclusion was that the other man had either landed wrong or been dead when he was thrown over the edge. At this point, however--"There's no evidence of outside involvement, though the squad will be performing an autopsy to check for signs of psychic coercion."

  "Tell your friends to treat him with respect."

  "Aden has offered a teleport should you request it."

  "No. We'll make our own way there." Returning her attention to Lucas and Hawke, she said, "I must leave. We'll talk further after I discover why a bright young man is dead and another member of my pack is suspected of a terrorist act while her daughter remains among the missing."

  The three sea changelings disappeared into the water seconds later, no bubbles coming up to betray their presence as they swam their way out.

  "I think," Judd said slowly, "you should seed sensors even deeper out."

  Lucas crouched at the edge of the plascrete, looking at the water that kept its secrets. "Yes. These allies are a little too quiet to trust just yet."

  *

  ZAIRA looked around Jim Savua's small apartment. It was anonymous, the furniture the kind of hard-wearing and inexpensive pieces a landlord might use to furnish a place. Zaira was no expert, but she'd learned how to judge such things as part of her Arrow training. A person's surroundings could tell you a great deal about that individual.

  What this apartment told her was that the man hadn't lived here long. When he had, it had been a place to sleep, nothing else. His clothes still lay in his suitcase and his cooler held no food, though there were a couple of take-out containers in the trash. Also in the trash were multiple disposable injectors.

  Like long-use injectors, these could be placed against the skin or pulse point, depending on the drug involved, and the drug punched painlessly into the bloodstream. The only difference was that they were much cheaper and sold by the box. While disposable injectors did have legitimate medical uses, they were also popular with recreational drug users.

  "Did his body show signs of long-term drug abuse?" she asked Blake Stratton, who'd been on watch with his partner at the time of the incident. She hadn't been pleased to discover his presence. Nerida had made a last-minute substitution when the squadmate Zaira had cleared for the op broke a femur quite badly. The other woman should've contacted her, but hadn't--a mistake Zaira would make sure Nerida knew not to make again.

  She didn't trust Blake, did not want him in her city.

  When he came to stand beside her, the tiny hairs on her neck and arms rose in primal warning. "It was difficult to tell with the damage caused by the cobblestones, as well as the blood," he said. "But I did notice he had scars from what appeared to be healed scratch marks, and his skin was yellowish, in the way that occurs with users of Halcyon."

  Halcyon was the street name for a highly addictive substance that worked on all three races, though on Psy, it had a tendency to lead very quickly to psychosis. It did also cause some users to scratch their skin bloody. Breaking away to make a call to the pathologist, she asked him to do a complete drug profile.

  "Thank you," she said to Blake afterward. "Your shift is complete. Return to Central Command and check in."

  The other Arrow left without comment, but she didn't turn her back until he was gone. About to return to her survey of the apartment, she glimpsed Yuri coming toward her. He was one of the people she'd chosen, a forty-seven-year-old Arrow who'd been with her in Venice since the start. Pragmatic and reliable, he wasn't flashy in his abilities or even in the way he carried himself, but she knew if she asked Yuri to do something, it would get done and get done well.

  Zaira, we may have a problem.

  Chapter 47

  SINCE, OTHER THAN Yuri, the room held only her and two trusted forensic people, the fact that he'd used telepathy was a sign of something serious. What is it?

  I was on watch with Blake when this happened. I was on the street side, Blake on the other side so we could cover all exits.

  Zaira didn't need him to spell it out. Do you think he pushed the dead male?

  I don't know. Yuri put his hands behind his back. I know we considered that the victim might've been thrown dead over the balcony, but from my perspective, it appeared as if he jumped. However, he could've been trying to get away from a threat inside the room.

  Alert to the fact that her strong dislike of Blake could color her viewpoint, she said, See if you can find any surveillance images from street cameras.

  I'll do it no
w. A pause. I apologize. I should've kept him in my sights.

  Zaira's eyes met Yuri's and she saw in them the same deep unease she felt when it came to Blake. If it was him, we'll make sure he doesn't have a chance to do it again.

  A nod of agreement.

  As the older Arrow walked away, Zaira considered whether to pass on Yuri's suspicions to Aden and decided he had to know. If the squad had a traitor in their midst, he had to be rooted out.

  She called in a quick report once she was out on the street alone. "We need to watch him."

  "I'll make sure of it. He's down to run combat sessions over the next three days, so he'll be under the eye of a number of senior people."

  Zaira wanted to smash Blake's mind open, uncover the truth, but she knew it wouldn't be that easy. "He's too well trained to break under interrogation, but he is arrogant enough to lead us to his handlers if he's somehow part of a larger conspiracy." They both knew that even if he had caused Jim to die, Blake might simply have been acting on his own distasteful urges.

  "Yes. What about the woman?"

  "Safe and alive, though she is acting erratically." Zaira was aware that if they showed their hand, they'd lose all hope of tracking the woman back to a handler, but they also wouldn't have anything if she was dead. "I say we bring her in."

  "Do it," Aden said. "Judd's also just passed on the information that Olivia Coletti has a child aged two. Look for any signs of her."

  That data immediately affirmed Zaira's decision to act. She did not want a vulnerable child in the hands of a Halcyon user. Giving the order to the team watching Olivia, she walked back to the compound through the early morning streets. It was only four thirty; even the bakers didn't appear to be up yet.

  She wasn't surprised to see Aden heading out of the laboratory hidden in one wing of the compound. "Pathologist find anything definitive?"

  "No signs of a struggle, no mind-control lesions on the brain. Tox screen is pending but he's certain it'll confirm Halcyon--the body shows all the outward signs of long-term use." He walked into the courtyard with her to wait for the second target to be brought in. "If Blake is working against us, he's renounced his status as an Arrow."