by Nalini Singh
So she understood that Akshay Patel hadn't come out of the womb this way. Neither could it be a simple case of nurturing designed to skew his viewpoint--his predecessors had all been happy to work with anyone who brought a good offer to the table. Even Akshay had followed the same path in his youth. Something had drastically changed his viewpoint. Knowing what that was would give Ena the upper hand.
It took her another three hours to find the answer.
That was when she got in touch with Kaleb. As expected, he didn't blindly obey her request. His implacable will was part of why she'd once thought Kaleb and Silver would make an extraordinary power couple. She should've known neither would follow the well-trodden path, both masters of their own destiny.
After explaining the situation to Kaleb, she said, "I'd like to speak to him in a place he can't control but that is civil." Violence wasn't always the best tactic with someone of Akshay's power and likely arrogance. "I have a location." She sent him a telepathic image.
Kaleb asked several further questions before saying, "When?"
"Twenty-five minutes." That would give Ena enough time to prepare a pot of tea and make her way to the windowless cellar bathed by a lighting system that made the room glow as if in sunlight. Set up like a conversational nook, it was welcoming but private. If necessary, it could also become a cage.
"Do you need backup?" Kaleb's cardinal eyes spoke of power most Psy could never comprehend.
Ena was nearly certain he was a dual cardinal, a creature of Psy myth, but she'd never been able to confirm. "No, I'll handle this. But I need you to find another piece of information for me."
Giving a curt nod when she stated her request, Kaleb signed off. Ena made her way to the cellar, was seated in one of the six antique chairs in the room when Kaleb teleported in her guest. He left without a single word. "Please," Ena said to the man behind the attempt to poison her granddaughter. "Take a seat."
Tawny brown eyes scanned the room before settling on her. "Ena Mercant, I presume."
Ena inclined her head. "Would you like a drink?" She held up a bone-china teapot that sat on the graceful white table between them. "Tea?"
Taking a seat across from her with no sign of concern, one of his feet propped on the knee of the other leg, Akshay Patel shook his head. "Nothing personal. I don't trust Psy."
Ena wasn't startled by the elegantly spoken rudeness. She'd expected that after having researched his bargaining tactics. "How can you know the motives or personal beliefs of all Psy?" Lifting a cup of the herbal tea she'd already poured for herself, she took a sip out of the delicate china.
Akshay Patel tugged down the sleeves of his pinstriped navy jacket, aligning them with the pristine white cuffs of his shirt. "Maybe I'm psychic."
Ena lowered the fragile cup to a saucer as delicate. "You have no fear."
"Of an old woman with delusions of power?" A mask of faux civility, the smile on his handsome face silent mockery to accompany his insult. "Why should I?"
"How do you expect to get out of this room?"
A gun was suddenly in his hand, the weapon sleek and metallic. "Psy, human, or changeling, a bullet punches through flesh, spills blood hot and red."
"As occurred with Bowen Knight?" Ena lifted her teacup again.
Akshay Patel's mask slipped, revealing turbulent emotions. "He wasn't the target--Bo has done a lot for the human race, but he was being sucked into this takeover of our race described as cooperation. I just wanted to give him a wake-up call."
"I fail to see how a human-on-human attack would've woken him up."
"They'll find data on his phone linking the hit to a meeting with Krychek." A tight smile. "Bo would've already been acting on it if he wasn't so badly wounded. That's my fault and I take full responsibility for the fallout and the damage to the Alliance--I should've sent the shooter after Lily when Bo wasn't around to protect her."
"You didn't do it yourself? I wouldn't have thought you'd trust anyone with such a critical task."
A shrug. "I'm no marksman, and there are people I trust with all I love. Not something you'd understand."
Ena's research gave her the answer. "Your brother-in-law, a former special operative and close friend. He is, I assume, driven by the same motive as you--the psychic rape of your wife."
Akshay Patel's eyes grew hard. "Connecting into that Hivenet of yours, I see. How are the plans for the subjugation of the human race going?"
The fact he didn't deny her supposition, added to his body language, gave her the answer she needed. That answer cleared the Mercants' debt to the Alliance and to Lily Knight in particular. Ena telepathed the data to Silver, shutting down the link before her granddaughter could ask any questions. "Is that why you're so against Trinity? You believe it'll leave humans in a worse position?"
"It'll leave humans in a position of no power." Akshay's hand remained on the gun he'd placed against his thigh. "That's what the Psy have always wanted, always done."
"From your recent business moves, it appears you believe the changelings will come to feel the same way."
The mask back on, he lifted a shoulder. "They're sure getting chummy with Psy these days. Lucas Hunter pretends to be evenhanded, but he's the father of a half-breed child. Psy and changeling. Not changeling and human." His expression was granite. "Now I hear the precious Mercant scion has mated one of the two most powerful changeling alphas in Russia. What a stroke of luck for you. I guess the poor schmuck will never know you fucked with his mind."
Ignoring the latter part of his rant because she wasn't ready to talk about Silver, Ena sipped more of her tea. "Lucas Hunter has multiple packmates who identify as both changeling and human. One of his senior people is mated to a human."
"It doesn't matter." A blood vessel stood out prominently on his temple. "Now that the changelings have access to Psy corporations, I can see them cutting off human contracts."
"Has that happened?"
"Not yet, but it will." Lifting his weapon, he deactivated the safety using his thumbprint. "Now, I think our conversation is over."
"Talking of conversations, my granddaughter had an interesting one with your cousin Jai recently." Ena's cup made a quiet clinking sound against the bone china of the saucer when she put it down.
Akshay's left eyelid flickered. "He's always been a disappointment to the family. I used to think he'd be at my side as I took us to greatness, but he never quite achieved what he should have."
While Ena respected Akshay Patel's desire to avenge his wife, that he'd insult a member of the family to an outsider lessened his standing in her eyes. "Yet you used him to get to Silver."
"Why not? He was available and in the right area."
"And disposable," Ena guessed.
"That, too. It was worth the gamble--and it'll be worth other gambles in the future. If I take down Silver, I crash EmNet for long enough that certain other measures can be taken and will be far more successful than if Silver's pulling in help more efficiently than any computer program." He aimed the gun at her head. "Sorry. Can't risk you telepathing the information."
He pressed the trigger.
Or he tried to.
Grimacing, he tried until the veins in his temples began to pound, the finer blood vessels in his eyes bursting to give them a crimson tint. Ena poured herself another cup of tea with tranquil precision. "It doesn't matter how hard you try," she said in the same tone she'd used the entire conversation. "You won't break my hold."
Akshay Patel spoke through gritted teeth. "I have a natural shield."
Not answering, Ena drank her tea.
Sometimes, the win came from perception rather than reality. Akshay Patel thought she was a telepath, which she was; however, she also had just enough of a strange little power for it to be useful. A power so erratic in its appearance in the population that it had no official subdesignation. Not quite telekinesis, but on the spectrum. She could affect a specific number of elements, including those used in the manufacture of weapons
.
The human CEO thought she was controlling his mind. What she was actually controlling was the weapon itself--it was repelling Akshay through a little subtle manipulation on Ena's part. "You'll give yourself an aneurysm if you keep attempting to break free."
Akshay finally threw aside the weapon. But rather than giving in, he jumped up from his seat, his hands reaching out as if to strangle her. In his eyes, she saw the moment he realized he could move freely. Ena shot him with the stunner she'd kept in her lap. His body spasmed as he fell to the floor, his limbs twitching with residual energy.
Looking down at him from the table, she held the bloody tawny brown of his gaze. "You're about to die. You know that and so do I. Will you protect your co-conspirators?" That he couldn't have gotten to Silver on his own wasn't in doubt.
To cut off electricity to an apartment building that secure with that many redundant systems would've required help from various highly placed sources. The Patels might control a large number of energy systems, but they had no footprint in Moscow. Kaleb held the controlling interest in the largest energy company, and the smaller ones serviced areas that didn't overlap with Silver's apartment.
Akshay Patel simply could not have arranged for the power to be disrupted in a company under Kaleb's banner unless he had someone on the inside. Even then, he'd need a second person inside the building itself who could override the redundancies.
Ivan would take care of unearthing that individual, but as for the employee at the energy company, Ena had requested Kaleb check the records to see if any of his hires had connections to the Patels. He'd telepathed her the results ten minutes ago, having found three employees who'd previously worked in businesses held by the Patel Conglomerate--not an unusual circumstance in the same industry.
Crucially, however, none of the three had been on duty the night the power went out in Silver's apartment. Kaleb had seen that, dug further, and discovered that the workers on duty at the time of the blackout were all long-term, experienced, and skilled. One of those employees had a wife who'd received a six-figure payment into her account immediately prior to the incident.
That employee was Psy.
Yet Akshay Patel made it a point not to have Psy contacts. "Do you think your co-conspirators would be as loyal to you?" she asked conversationally when Akshay didn't speak, his eyes boring into her. Hate foamed in their depths.
A spasm crossed his face.
"The pain will continue to increase," Ena told him. "The muscle spasms will eventually cause you to lose control of your bladder, then your bowels. You'll begin to drool. A second blast on the same setting will ensure you lie in your own waste for hours before your brain finally shuts down."
She took a sip of tea. "Or you can answer my questions, and this ends with me putting a shot directly into your brain. You'll die before you know it. And it ends with me and you. I won't go after your son or daughter."
Fear crawled across his face. "You wouldn't," he managed to grit out between spasms. "They're children."
"Silver is the child of my child." Ena let him see her implacable will. "Like for like. Except I'll be successful in my extermination efforts."
"Y-you're a monster."
"Perhaps, but I'm a monster who's giving you a choice. Will you sacrifice your children to protect your co-conspirators?" Ena knew the choice she would've made, though no one outside the family could ever know that. The Mercants were safe and successful partially because others believed that while they worked together as it was more effective, they were snakes who'd swallow one another should it come down to it. "You have ten seconds before the offer is off the table."
Water shone in the human man's eyes, his will broken. "Don't let my family find out I died this way," he said, his vocal muscles having relaxed enough for him to form the sentence.
"Give me what I want and your body will be discovered in a vehicle, broken beyond repair as a result of a single vehicle crash."
A shudder that didn't seem controlled, rather the product of the voltage still arcing through his body. "No faces, no names. Consortium."
Ena was unsurprised at the words, but she wasn't certain she believed them. "I thought you were against interracial cooperation."
"Don't have to like them to use them," Patel said, his breathing starting to turn jerky. "Consortium is short-term. Psy in charge pretends to be evenhanded, but she'll betray us all to hold on to power."
Ena's senses went on high alert. "She? The head of the Consortium is a woman?"
"No faces, voices distorted, that's how it works." His chest spasmed, his hands drumming against the floor before he brought himself under control. "But her software glitched for a couple of seconds once. I record everything. Went back and listened. Woman."
It was far more information than anyone else had about the individual behind the Consortium. "How did she contact you?"
"Hard-copy letter. Inviting me to join because I'd been public in my distrust of Trinity."
"Did you keep the letter?"
"I keep everything." His eyes held hers, his will impressive given the hit he'd taken. "Bottom left drawer of my satellite Amsterdam office."
Ena put down her cup again. "Do you expect me to take this on faith? Your son's name is Vahan, isn't it?"
A shuddering panic. "Please. Don't hurt my children. I've told you all I know."
"How do you communicate?"
"Internet. Throwaway e-mail addresses. A defunct chat room about entertainment stars." He gasped a breath. "If we need a comm conference, we leave a message there, with the current channel settings. Different every time." He gave her the web address without prompting. She didn't look it up, in case there were safeguards in place tracking where a member was logging in from.
"I requested a power failure in a certain wide area. Someone with the right connections organized it." His breathing was a touch better now. "I handled Silver's building myself."
"How did you find a traitor in the security team?"
A sudden smile with a touch of arrogance. "Not security. Maintenance. Lower pay, but had the right access and skills after I got him a coach. Psy junkie who's good at pretending to be normal. People never do penetrating security checks on maintenance staff."
Ena telepathed the information to Ivan. "You're a clever man, Mr. Patel." She meant that sincerely. "Tell me about HAPMA."
"They asked for money, I gave them some." He flexed his hands as control returned to that part of his body. "I thought they might be useful, but they've exceeded my expectations."
"You expect me to believe you're not the founder?"
Fear turned his face bloodless. "Please. They're only children." He stopped trying to regain control of his body. "HAPMA's grassroots. Only contact I had was with a man named David Fournier. Survival trained." He swallowed. "I was open in being anti-Trinity, caught his attention like I caught the Consortium's. Only difference is that the Consortium bitch is stone-cold sane while I'm not so sure about David."
"Yet you gave him money."
"Fanatics aren't always the sanest people in the room."
"Unfortunately, that's all too true." She picked up the stunner and shot him again.
Chapter 48
I had a five-year plan once. It was a good one, too. Then life happened.
--Unknown street philosopher
SILVER.
Silver sat up straight at her grandmother's telepathic voice. Grandmother.
Across from her, Valentin tapped the side of his head. He'd asked her if she had time for a date that afternoon and, since EmNet was currently in standby mode while Ena was dealing with Akshay Patel, she'd said yes. He'd told her to change into StoneWater clothes--she'd chosen jeans and a fine vee-necked sweater in palest green with narrow horizontal stripes of silver that Nova had given her and told her to keep.
When Valentin arrived, it had been with a truckful of cubs excited to go to an amusement center where they got to play in a pit of foam balls.
Now she nodded
to confirm she was having a telepathic conversation. He grabbed hold of the two cubs who'd been seated beside him and said, "Who wants to be thrown into the pit?"
"Me! Me!" The cubs next to Silver scrambled out, too, running after Valentin as he carried his gleeful cargo toward the large pool made up of colorful balls that were soft enough to do no damage to children, but deep enough that the kids could get "lost" in them if they ducked down. Which was why Valentin had booked this pool privately--so he knew exactly how many kids were in there at any one time.
Anyone caught ducking down to hide would be summarily banished to the benches to watch mournfully while everyone else played. Valentin's threatened punishment was apparently an effective one. As she watched, the kids thrown in popped immediately back up, laughing and asking to be thrown in again.
Grandmother? she said again when Ena stayed silent after that initial contact.
My apologies, Silver. I'm having to deal with a secondary telepathic matter. I'll get back in touch once that's completed.
The contact cut off.
Not surprised by the interruption--Ena was the matriarch of their family and, as such, was the first port of call for all of them--Silver was nonetheless . . . impatient. It had been hours since Kaleb confirmed he'd delivered Akshay Patel to Ena. Since rushing her grandmother was an impossibility, Silver slid out of the bench seat and headed toward the pool.
Watching Valentin's arms move in his old white tee, his biceps bulging and his face full of laughter as he picked up the cub who'd just scrambled out of the foam pit, she felt a strangeness in her stomach she remembered from when she hadn't been Silent.
Silver stopped, listened.
Nothing beyond the children's voices and the sound of their play.
"Throw me, Mishka! Throw me!" The words were delighted, the childhood nickname used in innocence.
Many a man would've chastised the cub that he was speaking to an adult--that he was speaking to his alpha, and should be more respectful--but Valentin pretended to growlingly bite Arkasha before doing as demanded. He had no need to worry about respect. She'd seen how he was treated by the teenagers and older children. They loved him as deeply as these cubs, but they never called him Mishka. It was understood that was a privilege reserved for the very young, the very old, and his sisters.