by Nalini Singh
Tiny lines appeared on Cruz’s forehead. “I can almost hear something.” He shook his head. “It’s gone now. He scared it away.” Making a face, Cruz fluffed his pillow and glared at the doorway.
Eyebrows raised, Dev opened the door and walked out—to find himself toe to toe with Tag. The big telepath had a thunderous look on his face.
Since the other man usually made an extreme effort to appear nonthreatening, Dev’s instincts went on full alert. “What?”
“Close the door.” His voice shook with fury.
“I’ll sit with Cruz.” Walking in, Glen shut the door behind himself.
Dev met Tag’s eyes. “You look like you want to kill someone.”
“That would be you,” Tag muttered succinctly. “I should fucking pound your stubborn head into the ground.”
“You could try.”
“Pretty boy, I could crush you with one fist.” Releasing a huge breath, Tag pointed up. “You’ve got a goddamn powerful telepath up there and you didn’t think to warn me?”
Dev froze. “What’re you talking about? She’s midrange, weaker than—”
“Bullshit,” Tag interrupted. “Your little secret is closer to the very high end of the spectrum.” Tag shook his head, rubbing at the sides of his temples. “I just caught her mind as it brushed mine. Don’t know what she was looking for, but I hope to hell I gave her enough of a scare that she stopped.”
Dev was already moving, anger rising inside him in a scalding wave. A telepath that strong could do a massive amount of damage. Katya could tear apart the shields of the weaker members of Shine, leave his people nothing more than vegetables. And he’d brought her here. He’d kept her safe.
Slamming out with his senses, he touched every drop of metal in the building. As a result, his fury had turned into a cold kind of rage by the time he reached Katya’s suite. Using his abilities to unlock the door before he got to it, he pushed through with every intention of flaying her with his tongue.
That was before he saw her collapsed in an armchair, blood leaking out of her nose.
What had Tag done?
Putting his fingers on the pulse in her neck, he breathed out a sigh of relief. Why, he didn’t know. Her death would’ve made his life considerably simpler. Pushing aside his violent repudiation of the thought, he pulled out his cell and called Tag. “She’s unconscious.”
“She should be,” Tag said. “I sent through a scream along the telepathic line.”
Dev’s hand clenched on the phone. Tag had done the right thing, but damn if he didn’t want to punch the other man in the face for it. God, he was fucking pathetic. This woman had played him from day one, and still he wanted to protect her. “Is she going to come out of it soon?”
“Won’t be long. It’ll teach her a lesson.” Tag’s voice changed. “No telepath should ever leave themselves that open, Dev. She should know that. If I’d wanted to, I could’ve sent in something more than a scream.”
Even with rage an icy inferno inside him, Dev knew why Katya had taken the chance. “I put her in a prison. What would you have done?”
“Probably the same.” Tag took a deep breath. “That doesn’t mean we can afford to feel sorry for her. Your shields are titanium, but she’s strong enough to break the shields of half the people in Shine.”
“I’ll make sure there isn’t a next time.” Closing the phone, he slid it into his pocket before walking into the bathroom and returning with a damp towel. There wasn’t much blood, but he left the stained towel on the little end table as he waited for her to come out of it, an explicit visual reminder of what she’d just chanced.
As he waited, he slid a critical glance over her face. Impossible as it was, it seemed as if she’d dropped several pounds in the short time since he’d last seen her. But that, he thought, rejecting his natural instincts, wasn’t his problem. This time, he wasn’t going to let her use his weakness where vulnerable women were concerned against him. If she wanted to starve herself, he’d let her.
Katya’s head was a pounding bruise, dark and mottled, when she finally managed to open her eyes. Her stomach revolted at almost the same instant, and she pitched forward, feeling her gorge rise.
“Breathe!”
The snapped command cut through everything, chilling her with its utter control. When a glass was pushed under her nose, she took it and rose slowly back up into a sitting position.
“Drink,” Dev ordered, his face ruthless in a way she’d never before seen. “It’ll get your system up and running faster.”
Since she felt like she’d been hit by a truck, she wasn’t going to argue with anything that made her feel better. Bringing the glass to her lips, she drank deep. It tasted slightly sweet, with a strong medicinal aftertaste. Guessing he’d laced the water with vitamins, she finished the entire glass before putting it on the table beside the armchair. “Whose blood is that?” she asked, seeing the damp towel.
“Whose do you think?”
She swallowed and looked at the very dangerous man sitting in the armchair across from her, one foot hooked easily over the opposing knee. It made him no less intimidating. In fact, the sheer calm of him set her pulse to clamoring. He was angry, so angry that her very cells spiked with fear. “Dev,” she began.
“When precisely,” he interrupted, “were you planning to tell me you were a telepath with enough power to conceivably blow out a mind?” Cool tone, flawless enunciation, eyes that tracked her with unflinching focus.
“I didn’t know.” She wrapped her arms around her torso, feeling unaccountably exposed. “I swear to you I didn’t know until just before I decided to go exploring.”
“Exploring?” He raised an eyebrow. “Let’s leave that aside for a minute—exactly how stupid do you think I am?”
“I don’t—”
“Stop.” It was a single terse word that cut off her very breath. “The amnesia thing isn’t going to fly anymore.”
Emotion rose in a cresting wave. “It’s the truth. I’m remembering more, but it’s not—”
“I don’t give a shit.” Said in that same scarily calm voice. “All I’m interested in are your orders.”
“I. Don’t. Know.” The swell of emotion was filling her limbs, turning her voice husky. “And it doesn’t matter how many times you ask me—I’m still not going to remember until the memories come back. I might not remember even then, depending on the programming.”
“We’ve been over this—as far as Shine is concerned, you’re a fully functional covert operative.”
Shine.
Not Dev.
“And you?” she asked. “What do you think?”
A cool glance, with a dark edge she’d never before seen. “I think I’ve been made a patsy.” He stood. “But no one can say I don’t learn from my mistakes.”
“Dev—”
He bent down to put his hands on the arms of her chair, blocking her in. “Don’t ever try to scan anyone at Shine again. I’ve authorized the use of deadly force against you.”
All the air left her body. Her heart felt as if it had turned into rock. But she refused to let him see, refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d savaged something barely grown inside of her. “Understood, Mr. Santos.”
His face, his expression, none of it changed. “Good. Make sure it stays that way.”
CHAPTER 22
Katya found herself staring at the door long after it closed on Dev’s back. Not that long ago, she’d asked him to kill her if it became necessary. Now, the thought of living was a rebellious pulse inside her. She’d beat this—if only to show Devraj Santos that she wasn’t an inconvenience he could lock away out of his sight. She was Katya Haas, and she was a person. She’d bled for her right to be a person. She’d survived!
Picking up the glass on the table with cold-blooded precision, she threw it at the door. It made a very satisfying crashing noise. She hoped Dev wasn’t wearing shoes the next time he walked into the apartment. In fact, she thought, p
icking up a vase from the coffee table, she hoped he shredded his feet. Another crash, the porcelain shards mixing with crystal.
As she searched for another breakable object, a drop of water fell on her hand. She glanced down, confused. Where had it come from? The ceiling was dry, and the water, when she raised it to her mouth, tasted of salt.
Tears.
She was crying. Lifting trembling fingers to her cheeks, she brushed wonderingly at the dampness. She’d cried before; she knew that. In that dark room where Ming had buried her, she’d cried so many tears. But none had been like these. Clean. Angry. Determined. This time, she didn’t feel a victim. She felt very much a woman who’d been wronged and who was going to get her vengeance.
Devraj Santos didn’t know who he was messing with.
Dev was still riding the red edge of fury an hour later when he coded in a call to Ashaya.
The M-Psy answered almost at once. “Is Katya alright?” were her first words.
“Did you know how powerful a telepath she is?”
Ashaya’s eyes went wide. “Yes, but she’d never use it to do harm.”
“The woman you knew might not have,” Dev snapped. “You have no fucking idea what she might do now.”
Dorian’s face replaced Ashaya’s. “That’s enough.” It was a snarl. “You fucked up in not asking the question. Don’t put it on my mate.”
Dev’s anger whiplashed back on him. He knew Dorian was right, had known before he called. Taking a deep breath, he said, “I apologize.”
Dorian waved it off. “Did she hurt anyone?”
“Not this time.” Pure, blind luck that Tag had been on-site. “I need to talk to Sascha.”
“She can’t do much about a telepath.”
“We’ve got a kid with shielding problems.” And according to the info DarkRiver had allowed Talin to share, Sascha was one of the best shield builders in or out of the Net.
“Call Lucas,” Dorian said. “Not worth my life to give you Sascha’s cell number.”
“Why?”
“Just call Luc. Here’s the code.” A pause. “And the next time you yell at my mate, I’ll rip your throat out. We clear?” Leopard eyes looking out of a human face.
Dev stared into those eyes, knowing a show of dominance when he saw it. “Crystal—but don’t consider me easy prey.” When talking with predatory changelings, appearing weak could be fatal.
Dorian’s eyes gleamed. “Long as you don’t pull that shit again, we won’t have to find out which one of us is more deadly.”
Temper now on a leash, Dev input Lucas’s number on the main comm panel. The DarkRiver alpha’s face appeared on the screen an instant later. “Santos,” Lucas said, cat green eyes curious. “This about Noor and Jon?”
“No.” Dev shook his head at the mention of the two Forgotten children Talin had adopted. “I need a favor.”
“You do realize we keep track?”
“Yeah.” DarkRiver hadn’t become one of the strongest packs in the country by being soft touches. “We’ll owe you.”
“So?”
“I need Sascha’s help.”
Lucas’s gaze went quiet, intent. But all he said was “Explain.”
Dev gave him a bare-bones outline. “I’m hoping Sascha can teach him to build some shields of his own. I don’t know if it’s possible, but if she’s as good as Talin says—”
“She’s the best,” Lucas interrupted, pride in every word. “But you’re telling me this kid is damaged—if the damage is in the brain itself, Sascha won’t be able to do anything.”
“All our scans show that his brain is functioning at a hundred percent. He took the hit on the psychic plane.”
“Psychic injuries can be as brutal as physical ones.”
“But,” Dev said, “there’s a slightly better chance of recovery.”
Lucas nodded. “I’ll ask Sascha.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” Lucas’s eyes stayed human, but Dev knew it was the panther who was speaking. “Even if she says yes, and knowing my mate’s heart, she will, she’s not stepping one foot out of DarkRiver territory.”
Dorian’s earlier words suddenly made sense. “Sascha’s pregnant, isn’t she?”
A small nod. “Keep it to yourself. We don’t want the Council turning eyes in her direction.”
“You’re saying I’m going to have to travel to you if I want Sascha’s help.”
“I feel for the kid,” Lucas said, “but Sascha comes first. As it is, I’ll probably have to hog-tie her to make sure she doesn’t get on an airjet and head to you.”
“But you’ll tell her?” Dev asked.
“When you get hitched, try lying to your mate and see where it gets you. I’ll call back after I talk to Sascha.”
Knowing he’d done all he could on that front, Dev stepped out to talk to Maggie. “Tell me which fires I need to put out and which ones can wait.”
His secretary, an elegant forty-eight-year-old with naturally silver hair that she’d turned into a fashion statement, raised an eyebrow. “Well, where do I begin? Jack and the others want another meeting.”
Dev only just stopped himself from gritting his teeth. “When?” Avoidance would get none of them anywhere—and this way, at least he could keep an eye on the problem.
“They’re in the city.”
“Slot them in this afternoon.” Head aching, he nodded at her to go on. “Next?”
“Glen says he’ll ensure Patient X will have high-calorie foods delivered to her.” There was no curiosity in her tone. Maggie likely knew every single detail about Patient X—there was a reason he’d hired her over the shiny new graduates who’d applied for the position.
“Next.” He was still so angry he could barely bring himself to think of the woman who’d slipped under his defenses . . . then knifed him in the heart.
CHAPTER 23
Even as Dev hung up on Lucas and turned his mind to other matters, something inexplicable was taking place in the DarkRiver alpha’s territory.
Judd Lauren, Psy rebel, former assassin, and fucking dangerous son of a bitch according to all who knew him, looked mystified at the little girl who was staring up at him, all huge eyes in a heart-shaped face. “Yes?” Crouching down to the forest floor, he tried to appear nonthreatening. “Did you want something?”
She shook her head, glossy black curls bouncing on her shoulders.
Judd had become better with kids since leaving the PsyNet, but right that second, he felt utterly clueless. Normally when he came down to train with Dorian, it was only Keenan he encountered. And Dorian’s son was more interested in copying their moves than chatting. “Noor,” he tried again. “Are you looking for Keenan?” He knew the two were fast friends.
Another shake of her head.
He glanced behind her, hoping Dorian would come out and rescue him. No such luck. “Do you want to play?” It was generally what Ben, one of the SnowDancer pups, wanted when he trailed after Judd.
But Noor shook her head again.
Desperation took hold. “Ah . . .” He had nothing.
Then she smiled, pure trust in the sparkle of her eyes. “I have a present for you.” She lifted a little fist.
“Oh?” Startled, he held up his hand, palm up. “Why?”
“Because we’re the same.”
Judd closed his hand over the river-smoothed stone she put in his hand, knowing he was nothing like this bright innocent. His ability had made him an assassin, then a healer, but it would still be so easy for him to kill—only his love for Brenna, for his family and friends, his pack, kept him from crossing that brutal line. “Yeah? How do you figure that?”
A beatific smile. “I just know.” Then she leaned forward to wrap her arms around his neck.
Hugging her back with all the gentleness he had in him, he rose to his feet, taking her with him. And as he walked back to Dorian’s, he wondered what similarities a little girl whose name meant “Light,” saw between them.
Once, he would’ve brushed it off, distanced himself. Now, he kissed her cheek and accepted the gift of her trust.
CHAPTER 24
Katya ate everything sent to her over the next three days. She didn’t try to escape—though she did secrete away the over-the-counter pain and flu medication she found in the bathroom, not that it would do her much good—and she didn’t try to use telepathy. Instead, she concentrated on strengthening herself using exercise routines she downloaded off the computer console on the wall. That computer only allowed her to access the most basic of sites, but that was fine. She had what she needed.
Pushing all the furniture in the living room to the walls, she made a space where she could stretch out and begin to put her body back into shape. She even cleared away the glass and porcelain shards, loath to let Dev see how deeply he’d hurt her. Her focus was on getting strong enough that she could take the opportunity to escape when the chance came.
And then . . . she had a nightmare to face.
On the fourth day after she’d been knocked unconscious, Dev finally returned. She ignored him as she began to go through her stretching routine. He came to a stop at the edge of the cleared space. “Pack your stuff. We’re moving.”
Excitement uncurled in her gut, but she kept her face expressionless. “Where?”
“You’ll be near Ashaya.”
She was already shaking her head. “We discussed this. I can’t be trusted around her.”
“That’s why you’ll voluntarily take a mild sedative.”
Her stomach dropped. “No.” It would disorientate her, leave her helpless. And she was through with being helpless.
Dev folded his arms across that chest she’d slept so peacefully on mere days ago. “Fine. Be ready by ten.”
She could feel her fingernails biting into her palms. “Who’s going to punch me to put me to sleep?” she asked, furious enough to draw blood. “You?”
He walked out without answering, shattering her new-found calm.