“No, I see it.” Valentin took the cutting-edge device; his expression turned unforgiving seconds later. “At a guess, I’d say this is designed to badly disturb Psy neurochemistry.”
“Valentin has a master’s degree in psychology,” Silver told her startled brother. Valentin’s academic choice had always intrigued her; it seemed so opposed to his forthright nature. “As he was so academically proficient he was strongly urged to do a doctorate, I’m guessing he’s aware of certain chemicals as they interact with the brain.”
Valentin’s expression softened, delight apparent in his eyes at her knowledge of his academic success. “Not something we studied in depth, Starlichka, but I know enough to make sense of this.” Handing Arwen’s prized piece of tech back to her brother, he said, “It’s the combination that’s the key, isn’t it?”
“Yes, the dosage was precisely calibrated to be devastating to the Psy system.” Arwen gave them a précis of the report because he’d already had time to digest it.
“The poisoner,” Silver said, “is either a highly skilled chemist or has access to the same.”
Valentin’s eyes glinted amber. “It’s a scent, a place to start.” He went to say something else when his phone rang.
The person on the other end had news of a highly unexpected nature.
The Human Alpha
BOWEN KNIGHT TOOK a second look at the header of the e-mail his assistant had forwarded to him. He had an open-door policy to every member of the Alliance, having learned that an out-of-touch leadership could destroy an organization from within. However, with that policy came an avalanche of messages no single human could possibly read. He’d finally agreed with his sister’s suggestion that he get an assistant.
Lily had also provided him with the CV of an eminently qualified person.
Not only was Neha trained to the highest level, she was extremely intelligent. Filtering his messages—everything apart from those that came directly to his private address—was just one part of her complex duties. At first, he’d checked the messages she’d filtered out from his inbox; he’d found not a single decision with which he disagreed.
These days, he trusted her judgment.
Which was why he was surprised to see the subject line of the message she’d forwarded, not just to his inbox, but also to his phone, so that it would pop up for his immediate attention.
IGNORE AT YOUR PERIL!!
It seemed like the kind of scam/junky header designed to get people to open questionable mail, but Neha had clearly seen something important in it, so he didn’t ignore it.
Scanning it as he stood on his balcony overlooking a canal, he frowned.
Consider this fair warning. If you do not stop your efforts to DESTROY the human race by taking part in this ELIMINATION EFFORT disguised as a PEACE ACCORD, you will pay the price. You are important to the Alliance, have just been led astray. See the ERROR of your ways.
The first one will be a WARNING. The second will be aimed at you.
There was no signature line, nothing in the generic free-to-get address to show who might’ve sent it. What was clear was its threatening nature. Bo immediately contacted the tech team that was part of his larger security team and put them on the job of seeing if they could track the sender.
“Also, issue a yellow-level warning to all staff,” he ordered. “A crackpot like this might actually turn up and take a shot.”
Yellow was appropriate and would be taken seriously. Red was saved for an emergency, orange for when they had details of an actual event that was nearly guaranteed to take place.
After he hung up, he considered the message again. At first glance, it appeared to be written by someone of limited education, but when he looked at it more carefully, he saw that there were no misspellings and, except for the odd capitalization, the grammar and syntax were perfect.
Unfortunately, the writer’s pattern of speech wasn’t enough to track them down—there were a whole lot of intelligent, unhinged bastards on the planet.
The alert would have to stay at yellow until he had further data.
Closing the message, he was about to slide away his phone when it rang. He answered with a smile. “Phoenix. How’s work going?” His closest cousin in age, who also happened to be one of his best friends, had relocated to Mozambique eight months earlier on an engineering contract.
“On schedule, all good to finish in two months,” the other man said quickly. “I called you about something else.” Before Bo could ask what that was, Phoenix burst out with, “I got mated!”
Mated.
That word had very specific usage.
“A changeling?” Bo grinned. “One of the gazelles you’ve been admiring from afar?” Phoenix was brilliant and hardworking, but he was also shy to the point that Bo knew he hadn’t ever had a girlfriend—despite the efforts of his friends to find him equally gentle women to date. “You actually went up and introduced yourself?” Gazelles tended to be gentle and shy, too, so it’d be a perfect match.
“Not quite.” Phoenix sounded like he was grinning so hard his face was about to crack. “Janika came up to me, hauled me into a kiss, and the next thing I know, I’m naked and happy and waking up with the most beautiful woman I’ve met in my entire life.”
Bo blinked. “Not a gazelle then.”
“She’s a bear.”
This time, Bo had to sit down. He did so on the balcony floor. The idea of sweet, blushing Phoenix with one of the toughest predators on the planet . . . “You’re sure you’re mated and your beautiful bear’s not just taking you for a delirious ride?”
“He’s mine and he’s delightful.” Those words were spoken in a throaty female voice that dripped with possession. “You can’t have him back.”
“I don’t want to go anywhere.” Phoenix’s voice, the timbre unexpectedly solemn. “You’re it for me, Jani.”
“Ah-hem,” Bo said before the two forgot he was on the line. “Congratulations to you both.” His happiness for his cousin was no less, despite his shock. “When do we get to celebrate with you?”
“I can’t leave the project at such a critical time, but plan for a huge party when I get back. Jani’s got a lot of relatives.”
Bo felt a scowl coming on. “Your Janika can keep you, but tell her you belong to us, too.” Changeling packs and clans had a bad habit of absorbing people; Bo wasn’t about to lose touch with a member of his own clan.
“Possessive, aren’t you?” The female voice again, her accent distinctive.
Very distinctive.
Bo sat up straight. “StoneWater? You mated a bear from StoneWater?” The bear clan controlled an immense chunk of Russia—and its members were notorious for the way they managed to nab business deals right out from under their opponents’ noses. Someone in that clan had one hell of a strategic brain.
“Tell my brother I said hi when he calls,” Janika said. “I’m now going to ravage my adorable mate.”
From the masculine laugh Bo caught before Janika hung up, Phoenix was more than willing to be ravaged. “Jesus. Phoenix with a StoneWater bear.” It was like putting a fluffy kitten with a saber-tooth tiger.
He hoped to hell his cousin knew what he was doing.
His phone flashed again. This time, it was a call being redirected from the number the Alliance had on file with Trinity. That it was being routed directly to his phone told him it was important. “Bowen Knight,” he answered.