Their leader, Ivy Jane Zen, apparently sat on the Psy Ruling Coalition, but who was her lover but Vasic Zen—a member of a death squad that was attempting to rebrand itself as heroic. Loyal as empaths were known to be, she’d probably accept anything he told her as gospel and pass that on to her fellow empaths.
Bowen should’ve known that the empaths’ information had to be treated as compromised.
HAPMA responded to his message: He must be made to see reason.
Yes, the Patriot wrote back. Bowen is too important to lose, but there are others around him who are disposable. That was how the Psy thought of humans, after all. I will make him see that the future holds only pain if he trusts the Psy.
How?
The Patriot wasn’t beholden to HAPMA, but he answered because they were dogs on a leash who had to be kept fed so they could be controlled. There must be no hint of HAPMA involvement. We’re going to pin this on the Psy. It’d take some planning, but he was good at that. Do not waste this opportunity by being impatient. I’ll handle it personally. When I’m done, Bowen Knight will hate the Psy to his dying day.
The Patriot’s eye fell on the image of Lily Knight that he had on the pinboard he used to map out his plans, her uptilted eyes a huge dove gray in a fine-boned face framed by a blunt black bob. Picking up a red marker, he used it to X out her image. “Sorry, Lily, but your death will ignite his fire, make him realize that he can trust only those of his own race.”
Chapter 35
Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love.
SILVER SLEPT DEEPLY that night, peaceful in a way she’d never been. She’d made her choices and she would stand by them. Neither her grandmother nor Arwen had contacted her. Though she’d shielded the bond with Valentin the instant it formed, they would’ve known nonetheless. Even if her grandmother had somehow missed the change in Silver, Arwen wouldn’t have.
Yet he hadn’t contacted her.
She smiled. Of course he hadn’t. He was an empath and he was her brother. He understood that this time was precious. Arwen rarely went against Grandmother, but he had a spine as steely as Silver’s when required; he’d no doubt made Ena agree to keep her distance, too.
She’d talk to them both, but not now.
This morning was for lying skin to skin with Valentin while the clan woke around them. She could hear many voices, could still make out the individual conversations, but the pressure, it was building. It was just as well that Valentin had made her get in touch with Ashaya Aleine the previous night, both of them aware Aleine would be awake—it had been early afternoon in San Francisco by the time they returned to Denhome.
The scientist had been shocked to learn of Silver’s secret, had promised to keep it. “I can re-create the implant for single-brain use,” she’d said, a shadow of horror in the blue-gray of her gaze as she revealed her own secret, one that could make her a target for the likes of Ming LeBon.
“I can’t forget the details,” the scientist had added, “no matter how hard I try.” Folding her arms over the deep green of her long-sleeved top, she’d said, “Before anything, I need thorough scans of your brain—and I have to be there to supervise those scans, to ensure we get the necessary information.”
It was then that Silver had made a decision that held nothing of logic. “Not tonight, Ashaya. I need tonight.”
Expression softening with the knowledge of a woman who understood exactly the loss Silver was facing, Ashaya hadn’t argued. “In the morning your time is soon enough. I’ll spend the time till then resurrecting the specifics of the chip with Amara.”
A pregnant pause had followed. “I also need the scans to make sure you’re telling the truth. The only reason I’ve taken your words on faith to this point is because you’re mated to an alpha my own mate and my alpha both trust. I need to know I’m not creating something that could be used to do harm.”
“I understand. The implant is a piece of tech many would kill to possess.” Especially the modification that permitted certain chipped individuals to control the minds of others who were similarly implanted.
“If you’ve seen the classified files, you know there’s also a serious degradation issue.” Ashaya had rubbed her forehead. “So while I can re-create the chip, I won’t be putting it in your brain—that’d be a death sentence. We’ll use the chip as a starting point to create a solution tailored to your needs.”
“Is a solution possible?”
“We never begin a project assuming we’ll fail.”
It was akin to Silver’s own philosophy. “My audio input is increasing hourly.”
“Amara and I will make this our priority.” Shadows under her eyes. “I’m currently banging my head against a brick wall in another time-critical project, going around in circles. This may help me think in different patterns that could save more lives than just your own.”
“The human implant to block psychic intrusion?” At Ashaya’s raised eyebrow, Silver had shrugged. “I’m a Mercant.” Information was their business. “I know you can’t discuss the project, but you have my full support. If humans can block Psy intrusion, the world becomes an even playing field, and Trinity might actually succeed.”
On this morning, however, a morning that might be the last one she had when her mind wasn’t in danger of a catastrophic breach, Silver pushed all thoughts of politics and treaties out of her head and snuggled closer to her bear. He grumbled at her. “I’m mad at you for the bond.”
“Can I have naked skin privileges anyway?” Turning in his possessive hold, she drew her leg up the hair-roughened skin of his.
His erection was stone hard against her thigh, but he scowled at her, dark and beloved. “You’re not taking this seriously.”
“I’ve decided to adopt the bear approach to life.” She kissed him.
He kept scowling but he still kissed her back, he still touched her with rough tenderness, he still loved her until she was limp and drenched in sweat. Silver knew Valentin would always love her—even when she forgot the meaning of love.
Her heart broke.
THE next twelve hours were a blur of scans and tests.
Aware of how much Valentin carried on his shoulders, Silver had convinced him that she could handle this phase on her own. “I’ll call you when I need you,” she’d said in a tone with which even a bear couldn’t argue. “Treat me like a simpering fragile flower at your own risk.”
He’d given a short bearish roar before pressing his nose to hers, his eyes narrowed. “You,” he’d said, “are an impossible woman.”
“Exactly what you need.”
After dealing with her bad-tempered mate, she’d told Kaleb what was happening, and he’d provided both the medical facility and the teleport for Ashaya and Amara Aleine and their guard, a white-blond male with lethal blue eyes who Silver recognized as Dorian Christensen.
A leopard sentinel and Ashaya’s mate.
With Silver’s permission, Ashaya had also looped in Samuel Rain, a brilliant scientist who worked in experimental biofusion. As for the telepathic scan to verify the truth of Silver’s request, Ashaya did that herself—the scientist was only 1.1 on the Gradient when it came to telepathy, but as Silver was cooperating, she didn’t need anything but basic telepathy to do the scan. For it, Silver had to drop her external shields, but she could only keep them down for three seconds before the telepathic noise of the world threatened to crush her.