She looked at him out of eyes that continued to hold a golden edge. “Shower and I’ll let you sleep with me. I did a night shift.”
He moved immediately out of the way. “Why didn’t you say so? I wouldn’t have kept you from bed.” He scowled, the protectiveness he felt toward her trumping everything else. “I’ll be out in five.”
He was as good as his word, rubbing his hair dry as he walked naked into Mercy’s bedroom. She was curled up, half-asleep below the sheets, but waved him over. “Bruise cream.”
“I’ll put it on.”
“Shuddup and lie still.”
Throwing aside the towel, he lay down on top of the sheet. Her fingers felt like perfection on his flesh, feminine and strong and uniquely Mercy. When she’d put the cream over all the bruises, she yawned and got up to wash her hands before crawling back into bed. He was waiting for her beneath the sheets, and to his surprise, she didn’t say a word as he spooned his body around hers, their lower limbs tangling, his hand flat on the warm skin of her abdomen.
“Take off the T-shirt,” he murmured against her ear.
“Pushy.” But she gave him what he wanted, surprising him once again.
Mercy, he thought, was an intrinsically generous woman. He’d known that, but today, he saw another facet to that part of her nature. She was angry with him for fighting with Joaquin, but even so, she was giving him what he needed. She could’ve made him beg—he was so starved for her, he might just have done it. Instead, she’d allowed him into her bed, allowed him the most intimate of skin privileges.
That truth made something in his heart unsnap, unlock, and he wasn’t quite sure what it was.
A feminine hand curled over the arm he had around her waist. “Sleep.”
Holding her tight, awash in the warmth of her, he did as ordered. And unlike the night he’d spent awake and walking the halls of the den, this sleep was utterly peaceful.
Mercy was smiling that afternoon as she sat in DarkRiver’s business HQ. Sleeping with Riley again had been nice. Really nice. They’d woken together, made love with a lazy slowness that had turned her blood to treacle. It had been tempting to stay in bed, but Riley had an afternoon shift on the patrols they were running in the city, and she had to complete several of her security reports.
She’d just finished a call with a firm specializing in high-tech intrusion detection systems when the phone rang. The ID was exquisitely familiar. She answered by switching the clear screen of her computer to comm mode. “Riley?”
His response was audio only, with a little icon that told her he was on a cell phone. “Mercy, you still in the city?”
The sound of his voice crawled inside, touched the cat . . . and wasn’t immediately clawed away. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“We got a tip that something odd was going on in one of the new warehouses they’re building along the Embarcadero,” he said, referring to the long stretch of road that ran around the eastern edge of the bay. “Near the Bay Bridge.”
Excitement sparked. “I’ll be there—”
“No rush. I went in with a small team, checked things out. They—”
Mercy tried to counsel patience and failed. “You what? This is our op, Riley. Not yours. You knew I was in the city, that I could’ve been there in minutes, but you still didn’t call until after you’d gone in?”
He didn’t bother to lie to her, to make up something about using their resources wisely or some other crap like that. He just said, “I made the decision. Deal with it.”
Deal with it? Fine. “What did you find?” she asked, hand curled into a fist so tight, she could see tendons push up white under skin.
“This particular warehouse is almost complete and the foreman says no workers have been inside for two weeks. But someone was here and very recently,” he said, sounding a little guarded at her apparent calm.
Good, she thought. “Alliance?”
“From the human scents and the fact that we found some bomb-making apparatus, I’m saying it’s a good bet.”
“Damn.” She tapped her fingers on the desk. “They’re actually going to do this, blow something up in our territory.”
“I fucking hope not. If they do, it’s war.”
Mercy took a moment to think. “Maybe the target has nothing to do with us—could be they’re here to eliminate Bowen’s group.”
“With a bomb?” Riley’s disbelief was obvious. “It’d be easier to shoot them in some dark alley. They blow something up, it’s about getting everyone’s attention. Right this second,” he continued, “their motivation matters less than finding them. From all the evidence, they’re staying on the move, but we’ve got a scent now.”
“I’ll get some leopards on it, too.” She was already making a mental list of those in the city or close by with the necessary tracking skills. “I’m on my way.”
She kept her anger contained on the drive over, and said nothing when she first saw Riley in the warehouse. Instead, she confirmed his findings, then set Aaron, Jamie, Barker, and Kit to tracking. “Kit, I want you paired with Barker.”
Kit opened his mouth to complain but she shut him up with a look. “I know you’re a good tracker, but you’re still in training. Seriously, boy, do not give me any shit today.”
Kit blinked. He carried the scent of a future alpha, and one day soon, he’d be able to overpower her in a fight—but she’d be his senior until he became alpha. And not only did Kit know that, he knew how to deal with dominant females, having grown up with Rina for a sister. “Someone made you mad today,” he murmured, hands up. “Glad it wasn’t me. Is Barker here already?”
“Should be outside. Check in with me by phone every fifteen minutes.”
“Will do.” Nodding, the young soldier headed out.
The warehouse was clear of everyone but Mercy, Riley, and the scene processing people ten minutes later. Leaving the scientific types, Mercy headed out to her car, Riley by her side. “I’ve got one question for you,” she said as they walked, “what was the tip?”
“That there was a lot of late-night traffic in and out of a warehouse that was meant to be off-limits to anyone but the construction crew.”
“That’s it?”
“One of the soldiers patrolling this area thought she smelled something dangerous—probably caught a whiff of the chemicals. Rats came through with the same info two minutes later.”
Mercy knew he’d received that data directly because he was in charge of city security at the relevant time. “So you knew you were going into danger.” She put her thumb to the car door to unlock it.
“It was a possibility.” His eyes were calm when he looked at her, but the hand he closed over her door when she slid it open and back, was white-knuckled.
“And is that when you made the decision not to call me?” she asked, holding his gaze without flinching. “When you realized it might be life-threatening?”
“We had no idea what we might be walking into,” he said. “The place could’ve been rigged to blow.”
“Answer the question.” She didn’t break eye contact.
“Yes. I didn’t want you exposed to that unstable a situation.”
She was so angry she was trembling inside. “That’s what I thought—and it wasn’t your call to make, Riley.”
“What the fuck use would it have been to put us both in the line of fire?”
“Again, not your call.” She tried to breathe, but her throat was knotted up with too much fury and air barely seemed to get in. “We’re allies. If you start holding back information, that alliance falls.”
His jaw tightened. “You know damn well this had nothing to do with the alliance.”
“Yes,” she said, “it did. Everything we do impacts our packs.”
He didn’t answer, but she could feel the pulse of his anger.
“Don’t you dare treat me like your woman ever again,” she said, teeth gritted. “Not when it concerns the safety of my pack. Which is all our ‘relationship’ is going to concern as
of this moment.”
“No,” he said, grabbing her elbow. “You don’t get to end us. Not over this.”
The cat growled and she let the sound travel up through her vocal cords. “I get to do whatever I want.” She wrenched her arm from his. “I invited you into my home,” she said, nose to nose with him. “I trusted you. You just shit on that trust.” Sliding into the seat, she pulled the door shut.
He refused to let it close, leaning down to look at her. “I did not break your trust.”
“Tell yourself that if it makes you feel better.” This time, she pulled hard enough to make her muscles scream, kicking out at his shins at the same time. His grip loosened in surprise, and she got the door moving, sliding her leg back inside in the nick of time. Then she got the hell away from Riley before he did something else that made her heart hurt.
Her eyes burned and that only made her angrier. “God damn you, Riley!” She slammed her palm on the steering wheel hard enough to leave bruises.
CHAPTER 33
Sascha split off from Lucas as they entered the SnowDancer den. “What did Mercy say?”
“They found what looks like the Alliance’s bolt-hole, but the mercenaries are long gone.” He thrust a hand through his hair. “We can deal with this before we go down. Mercy’s got things under control.”
She nodded. “I need to speak to Toby for a few minutes. You go talk to Hawke.”
A quiet nod. “I’ll back you, whatever you decide. But, kitten, this could be serious.”
“I know.” She wouldn’t make the decision lightly. “Go on.”
As he followed the soldier who’d met them at the door, another led her to the schoolroom where Toby was doing math. “I’ll be fine now.”
Sing-Liu gave a nod. “See you around.”
Watching the other woman leave, Sascha was struck by the changes wrought over the last year and a half. The first time she’d come here, Hawke would have never allowed her to wander freely. Even now, she knew there were certain sections where she’d be denied access, but all in all, it was a definite improvement.
Toby’s teacher glanced her way right then and, a short conversation later, the boy walked out to meet her in the corridor. “What’s the matter?” he asked at once, his E senses telling him she wasn’t as calm as she appeared.
“Come with me.” She walked him to an empty classroom and, closing the door, took a seat opposite him. “Toby, I need to talk to you about Sienna.”
“Oh.” She could almost see the struggle in him. “Loyalty’s important.”
“I know, kiddo.” She took his hands. “I don’t want you to betray her. I just need the answer to one question.” A question Toby could answer better than even the adults in his family.
“Just one?”
“Just one.”
“Okay.”
She held his gaze. “Does Sienna need help?”
Toby bit his lip and nodded, the movement jerky with emotion. “She’s so afraid, Sascha. It’s breaking her in here.” He fisted a hand and circled it over his chest.
“Oh, baby.” Getting up, she knelt down to hug him, stroking her hand over his back. “Have you been trying to help?”
A nod against her, boyish arms holding on tight. “Before, she was afraid but it was okay. I could help her. But now she’s all shut up. I can’t get the rainbows inside.”
“You did good, Toby.” He’d no doubt helped Sienna far more than he realized. If the girl was splintering on the psychic plane, having a brother with empathic abilities would’ve leached off some of the pressure. But now Sienna wasn’t allowing even her adored baby brother inside. That meant serious trouble. “Okay, sweetheart, I want you to go back to class and try not to worry.”
“Will you help her?” Cardinal eyes looking solemnly into hers.
“I’ll try my hardest.” She wouldn’t lie to him. “But Sienna’s stubborn. She’ll fight me.”
That actually made Toby relax. “Yeah. She’s fighty.”
Sascha laughed. “That she is.”
Dropping Toby back in class, she made her way through the SnowDancer tunnels to Hawke’s office. She needed to speak to Sienna, and for that, she’d need Hawke’s permission. Which was going to be a hurdle in itself.
Frowning, she stopped, realizing she’d gone completely out of her way. Strange. She knew how to get to Hawke’s office, but instead she was heading toward the paintings that lined the entranceway. It would’ve been logical to turn and put herself back on the right path, but she was no longer in the Net. Logic didn’t rule supreme.
Trusting instinct and her growing abilities, she continued on toward the hallway lined with an amazing array of images of wolves at play, at rest, even in combat. She wasn’t as surprised as she should’ve been to see Sienna Lauren at the farthest end of the tunnel—the part closest the door. The teenager’s face was stark white, her free hand clenched rigidly enough to hurt. She was running the fingers of the other over what looked like some kind of a fracture in the wall.
“Sienna.” Sascha kept her tone soft, able to sense the distress coming off the girl in waves. It was the first time she’d seen her this close to breaking. Sienna had turned eighteen that summer, but except for her run-ins with Hawke, she acted with a maturity beyond her years—unsurprising, given what Sascha suspected of Sienna’s abilities. The girl’s training had to have been brutal. “Sienna,” she said again, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder.
Sienna jerked away from the wall. “I didn’t mean to.” On the surface, it was an angry declaration. “I didn’t, Sascha.”
Sascha wasn’t close to Sienna, but she was coming to realize that as an empath, she had a shortcut to people’s trust. It was a responsibility she intended to honor . . . no matter what. “It’s okay,” she began, trying to soothe.
“No,” Sienna interrupted. “Hawke will go crazy.” There was no fear in her, just a staggering sense of having done something bad. Something very bad.
Hawke? Sascha frowned, then looked at the wall. The fracture, the crumbled paint. “You did this?” she asked with utmost gentleness, taking the girl’s hands in her own and turning them over—powdered stone clung to her skin.
“I didn’t mean to,” she said again. “I only wanted to look at them—they’re important to Hawke. I—” Her voice hitched, her breath broke. “My emotions are going haywire, Sascha. And without control, I can’t—” She cried out, wrenched her hands away. A second later, power filled the air. It was so strong, it raised the hairs on the back of Sascha’s neck.
Fear threatened to take over but she stood her ground. Panicking would just make it worse. Everything about Sienna pointed to a combat ability—which one, Sascha wasn’t sure, but one thing was certain—such Psy were very, very, very unstable until trained. Before Silence, many on the extreme end of the scale had died when their powers turned on them. “Sienna,” she said, drawing the girl’s attention. “Look at me.” She infused her voice with command, made the girl meet her eyes. “Focus.”
Sienna blinked eyes that had gone inky black, drowning the white stars, and nodded in an uncoordinated jolting motion. A minute later, her hands uncurled and the sense of power disappeared. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief. A single, clear tear escaped Sienna’s phenomenal control. Her heart twisting up, Sascha gathered the teenager close. “Shh, we’ll figure this out.”
“I’m the horror in the closet, Sascha, the nightmare even Psy hide from.” She held on tight, her face pressed to Sascha’s shoulder.
“Don’t be melodramatic.” Sascha couldn’t believe the pain contained in the fragile body she held. Sienna’s emotions were so tormented the girl was close to shattering. It made no sense, not when she had to have been fully conditioned before she left the PsyNet. “You have combat-grade abilities. It’s not limited to mental combat, is it?”
A shake of the head. “No.”
Sascha had the sense that Sienna was hiding the whole truth, but now wasn’t the time to push. “Your uncle has e
xtremely powerful abilities—he’s learned to control them. So will you.” Judd’s stated ability was telepathy, but Sascha had a feeling that that was a front for other, deadlier gifts. The man had been an Arrow, an assassin no one ever saw until it was too late.
“I’m not like Uncle Judd.” A flat statement. “I’m worse.” No more tears, no weakness in that voice, only a truth so painful no one should have to endure it. “You know it and so do I. One slip and boom, I take out the entire den.”
Sascha knew that wasn’t teenage grandeur at work. “Your cardinal status isn’t telepathy, is it?” As with Judd, that was the skill everyone knew her to have.
A pause. The answer was less than a whisper. “No.”
My God. Sascha held the girl closer, disbelieving. Cardinal Psy with furious combat abilities were beyond deadly. Sienna could possibly take out the SnowDancer den if she lost her grip on her powers. “You’ve been trying to manage it?”
“I shut up everything inside. Everything.” Words ground out through clenched teeth. “I thought if I could hold it, just hold it, it would be fine. But it’s not.”
“Why?” she asked. “Why are you losing control this badly?”
The answer, when it came, broke Sascha’s heart.
“Hawke.” It was an almost soundless whisper.
“Oh, Sienna.” She stroked her hand over the girl’s hair, even as her mind worked at piercing speed. “Has it been cumulative?”
Sienna nodded. “The second I met him, everything crumbled, my shields, my conditioning, everything! And Sascha, I need that conditioning. Judd showed me how to short-circuit the pain controls but I haven’t—I’m not like him, I don’t think I can stop without the pain.”
Sascha squeezed her eyes shut, sending Sienna soothing waves of reassurance. But she didn’t brush aside the girl’s words. Silence had been undertaken for a reason. It had become perverted over time, but at the start, the Protocol had been their salvation—it had saved people like Sienna, Psy who couldn’t think for the virulent strength of their gifts. It was possible the girl simply couldn’t exist without Silence.
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