by Nalini Singh
“You’re a low-rank soldier,” he repeated. “Your job is to follow orders. Dorian, where is Rina supposed to be?”
“Standing watch on the left side of the house with Barker.” Dorian’s tone was considerably harsher than Lucas’s, a whip of vibrating anger.
“So you can’t even follow orders.” Lucas let go of the girl’s chin. “Do you think we posted you there for fun?”
Mute, Rina shook her head. Sascha could feel waves of humiliation and shock coming off the girl. That alone told her neither of the men had ever before spoken to her like this. Unable to remain silent any longer, she said, “I think that’s enough.”
“Stay out of this.” The markings on Lucas’s face stood out in stark relief. “This is Pack business.”
Her hurt at the clear exclusion was beyond proportion. “Do you usually rule by humiliation?”
“This isn’t the perfect, clean world of the Psy. Cruelty is sometimes necessary.” He looked back at Rina. “This isn’t the first time you’ve disobeyed a direct order. You want to be independent that much, I’ll let you walk away from DarkRiver.”
Rina shook her head. “No.” It was a whisper.
“Then do the job you’re supposed to.” He glanced at Dorian. “She’s under your command as of now. Don’t sleep with her like Barker did. It’s obviously affected his ability to treat her like a soldier.”
“Don’t worry. Spoiled little girls aren’t my type.”
Sascha saw the girl’s face turn bright red and her lower lip start to tremble. “Stop it, both of you.”
“Dorian, take Rina and close the door behind you.”
Without a word, the other two leopards left. Sascha waited until the door was closed to speak her mind. “How could you do that to her? Nothing she said was bad enough to merit that ritual shredding of her pride.”
“She questioned my authority.” He reached out to touch her face but she pulled away. His jaw tightened.
“No one has the right to do that? You’re protected from scrutiny?”
“There are men and women in this pack who’ve bled for me, who’ve followed orders to walk into dangerous territory without a single question. They’ve earned the right to say what they think about me.” Anger flickered in the green of his eyes. “Vaughn, Clay, Mercy, Tammy, Dorian, Nate, Desiree, Cian, Jamie, and even that idiot Barker are some of the ones who have the right to question my decisions. Rina doesn’t.”
“Why?” She was still angry for the put-down he’d delivered to the girl. It felt too much like what people had done to her—not good enough to be a cardinal, not powerful enough, not anything enough to matter. “Aren’t you supposed to be a family?”
“Families have hierarchy.” He pulled her into his embrace with such speed that she couldn’t escape. She froze, wondering if this was a good time to show him that she had a few tricks he didn’t know about. “The safety of the entire family depends upon that hierarchy being followed.”
His words made her think. “If she questions you and you let it go, then she might not do as you ask when it’s necessary.” Against her cheek his heart beat strong and powerful, another indication of his physical strength.
Some of the anger in his voice lessened. “Yes. Today, she walked off her watch. That could’ve meant death for some of us if anyone unfriendly was out there.” He dropped his chin on her hair. “The newly mature males and females who are strong and independent enough to make good soldiers are also the hardest to control. If I let them have their way, they’d cause chaos.”
“You were so harsh.” She gave in to her own need and slipped her arms around the heat of his body. For the first time in her life, she didn’t have to worry about revealing herself. Lucas knew. The wonderful thing was, he didn’t think her flaw a flaw at all.
“I’ve treated Rina gently in the past because I thought it would harm her to do otherwise. But she’s old enough to handle real discipline. If she can’t, then she’s not soldier material and we’ll have to drop her rank.”
The simple practicality shook her. “I guess you’re not so different from the Psy—only the strong survive.”
“No, Sascha darling.” He ran his hand over her hair. “We’re very different.”
The endearment felt like another caress. “How?”
“We don’t kick out our weak,” he said. “We don’t destroy those who are different. It’s true that soldiers have high rank, but Tammy’s rank is even higher, as high as a sentinel’s. In some circumstances, she has the power to give the orders.”
Sascha hadn’t known that. “Sentinels?”
“My seconds in command.”
“Dorian, Nate… Clay?” she guessed. There was a sense of power around the three men that set them apart. Even Dorian’s pain didn’t dim his internal strength.
“Yes. You haven’t met Vaughn or Mercy yet.”
“Are there other ranks?”
“Yes. For example, certain of the maternal females also hold extremely high rank, because without them, the soldiers would have no family to protect.”
“I see.” If she’d been born part of this race, she might not have been driven to madness.
“Our laws might seem harsh but we’re not inhuman. We treasure every unique individual. We make room for difference.”
And that was the one thing the Psy would never do.
CHAPTER 15
Lucas watched Sascha walk out to the yard. She was creating her mask of Psy uniformity even as she moved. And though it enraged his beast to see her shutting him out, he knew he had to let her protect herself her way. It rubbed him raw that he couldn’t keep her safe, yet he was also proud of the strength in the fragile body of his mate.
“Rina?” he asked Dorian, who was standing on the verandah.
“She’ll be fine.”
“I was serious, Dorian. Don’t sleep with her.” Like many of the leopard females who’d recently achieved maturity, Rina was very sexual. Her scent was compelling to males and he couldn’t fault Barker for falling. “The second you do, she’ll try leading you around by the balls.”
Dorian raised a brow. “And I meant what I said. She’s too young and too soft.”
Lucas looked at his friend. “Sascha’s worried about you.” So was he. Dorian was growing harder and harder to reach, in spite of the way he’d recovered after they’d found out about Brenna’s abduction.
“I can take care of myself.”
“You’re Pack—you don’t have to face the loss alone. Kylie was ours, too.” She’d been like Rina—a little wild, a little rebellious, and utterly loved. That was why Lucas had put Rina under the sentinel’s control. Dorian might be a hard taskmaster but he’d never do her any real harm.
“I need to feel his blood run from my teeth.” Dorian looked out to where Sascha stood by the car. “She doesn’t understand our need for vengeance.”
“I think she understands a lot more than we give her credit for.” He’d seen a depth of compassion in those night-sky eyes that he’d never felt from any other being. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“I’ll keep them safe.”
Lucas dropped Sascha off around the corner from her apartment. “How are you going to explain the absence of your car?”
“I’ll say it was stolen when I parked it near a changeling area. I didn’t bother filing a report because the area is populated by DarkRiver leopards and I decided the car’s value wasn’t worth antagonizing you.”
“They’ll believe that?”
“Most of the Psy consider changelings to be a lower species, so yes. I’ll have a new car within a few hours.” Her crisp tones held no hint of the woman who’d wrapped her arms around him. “Is there any information I can share without making you vulnerable?”
He tapped the wheel with his finger. “I can’t know what they might use the information for.”
“I’ll stall.”
“Is that safe?”
“I don’t expect to be around long enough for them
to get impatient. A couple more days might irritate Enrique but I can’t see it escalating into anything major.”
He caught the edge of something in her voice that he couldn’t quite understand, but she was already opening the door. “Stay safe, Sascha darling.”
For a second the mists fell from her eyes and he saw the real woman. “I wish I’d been born in another time, another place. Then maybe I could’ve escaped fate… maybe I could’ve been your darling.”
She was gone before he could speak. He watched her walk down the street and turn the corner. She never looked back.
Enrique hadn’t left Sascha a message the night before. He hadn’t needed to. Once again he was waiting for her in her mother’s office.
“Sascha,” Nikita said from behind her desk, a certain hardness in her eyes. “I hope the amount of time you’re spending on this project will prove justified.”
It was an odd thing to say, especially since Nikita had been the one who’d first suggested that Sascha oversee every detail. “It’s going along very smoothly, Mother. I believe changelings appreciate the personal touch.”
“Very true.” Enrique turned from the window to face her. “You appear to have a good handle on how they think.”
Careful, Sascha told herself. She couldn’t let them get suspicious about just what she knew and wasn’t telling. “I’m not sure the praise is warranted, Councilor. I’m merely using well-known Psy techniques for dealing with their species. As I said, they’re extremely wary about sharing any information with me.”
“Are you saying you still haven’t penetrated their defenses?” It was almost a taunt and it came from Nikita.
Sascha’s suspicions about Nikita and Enrique being a team grew stronger. “It’s difficult. The leopards use emotions as their social glue.” They could hardly fault her for being what they’d made her.
Enrique stared at her, cardinal eyes unblinking. “Unfortunately that’s true.” He looked at Nikita. “Perhaps we’re putting undue importance on Sascha’s ability to gather information.”
We’re.
So they were in it together, whatever it was. Instead of defending her skills, she let them make up their minds without interruption, as if the sly insult mattered nothing. Of course the insult was only in her mind. To Enrique it had probably been nothing more than a summation of her ability.
“Thank you, Sascha,” Nikita said. “It appears this venture won’t allow us to collect as much factual data as we’d hoped.”
Sascha said her good-byes and left the office, a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Throughout everything, she’d been trying to ignore the fact that her mother might be assisting a killer escape justice, inventing fairy tales where Nikita somehow remained free from the rest of the Council. Seeing her with Enrique had slapped her awake. The Council was divided in some matters but when it came to the outside world, they were a solid wall.
If one knew, they all knew.
It was equally obvious that Sascha had been meant to be a mole from the start. Nikita had been the one to pursue a deal other Psy avoided and she’d been the one who’d suggested Sascha’s ongoing involvement. Her earlier acquiescence to Sascha’s reporting to her, rather than to Enrique, had likely been nothing more than a power play. What Sascha didn’t know was what they’d hoped to learn.
She tried not to let her turbulent emotions filter through to the surface as she waited for the elevator. Nikita was her mother, the only mother she had. Her heart didn’t want to accept that she was involved in something as dirty as covering a murderer’s tracks.
A whisper of sound reached her ears the second before a heavy hand fell on her shoulder. If she hadn’t been warned, she might’ve jumped and given away the game. Sliding smoothly out from under that hand like any normal Psy, she turned to face Enrique. “Was there something further, sir?”
“I find you to be an… unusual young woman.” The Councilor’s gaze didn’t leave hers for a second.
At the word “unusual,” Sascha’s heart jumped into her throat. “I’m extremely ordinary, sir. As you know, my cardinal powers never developed.” She confessed the truth she hated because it might be the one thing that would get him uninterested in her.
“Perhaps I can help you develop them.” He smiled that cold, meaningless smile. “I’m sure Nikita would permit it.”
Sascha felt a hole opening up beneath her feet. “I’ve been tested many times.”
The elevator doors parted in a smooth swish at her back. Enrique glanced over her shoulder and took a small step back, his smile fading. “Latham.”
“Councilor.” The older Psy walked out and around Sascha. “I was told you’d be here.”
“If there’s nothing else, sir…?” Sascha stepped backward into the elevator.
“We’ll continue this later.” Enrique’s expression was bland but there was something piercing about the quality of his gaze.
She fought the urge to collapse as the doors closed, paranoid that every public space was monitored. The Councilor had detected something about her, something that had set him on her trail. He’d be relentless until he’d discovered exactly what it was that had set off his senses and then he’d show her no mercy. She’d seen his star on the PsyNet. There was no emotion there, no feeling, no flaw. Nothing but the coldest intelligence she’d ever glimpsed. He was the most perfect product of Silence.
Lucas didn’t head back to the safe house after dropping off Sascha. He had to give the appearance of normality. No one could suspect that the changelings were quietly preparing for possible war.
Leaving his car in the parking lot outside the DarkRiver building, he headed inside to see Zara. She had some things she wanted to talk to him about and he spent a good hour with her. Since she wasn’t leopard, she’d been kept out of the loop. They’d protect her if it came to that, but there was no reason to pull her into the mess. Not yet.
Because of that, she was continuing on with her designs, unaware the buildings might never be erected. On the other hand, if they averted disaster by finding Brenna alive, this deal could become vitally important.
Despite those thoughts, his mind was almost fully focused on Sascha. Just what was she planning? There’d been something very determined in her gaze as she’d stepped out of his car, and he wasn’t sure he’d liked the look of it. She was a stubborn female.
That didn’t mean she wasn’t breakable.
He knew she was going to put herself in danger and it infuriated him that he had no right to stop her. The beast in him growled, wanting those rights. The human half didn’t disagree. He’d had it with trying to be civilized. Sascha Duncan was about to be marked.
“Lucas?”
He looked up to find Clay at the door. Excusing himself from Zara, he walked with the sentinel until they were out of earshot. “What is it?”
“We might have a lead. One of the wolf juveniles broke the rules and went goofing off downtown—he’s swearing up and down that he smelled Brenna’s scent near a building.”
Lucas’s hackles rose. “Strong?” Surely the serial couldn’t be keeping Brenna in the city.
“No. Weak. Like it had come off someone who’d been near her.” He handed over the address to Lucas. “Since the building was a Psy one, the kid freaked out.”
Lucas somehow knew what the piece of paper was going to say. “The Duncan HQ.” Sascha was in there right now. His instincts screamed at him to go and get her out but he knew that drawing that kind of attention to her might get her killed. “Did he catch anything else?”
Clay shook his head.
Lucas looked at the piece of paper again. “If we combine the residents and the day staff, that building handles close to five hundred people daily. Add in the visitors and narrowing things down is going to be almost impossible.” To be so close without being close enough had to be killing the wolves. It was gnawing at him, and Brenna wasn’t part of his pack. “What did Hawke say?”
“His people are trying to get into the
building’s mainframe—those Psy high-rises record the IDs of everyone who enters or exits.” The sentinel raised a brow. “Sascha could get that info without any problems.”
“No. She’d leave a wide-open trail leading back to her.” Lucas screwed up the piece of paper in his hand. “Anyone done a physical check?”
“Hawke went in.” Clay’s eyes said it all. “He didn’t find a scent but he believes the juvenile. Kid’s not the kind to make things up.”
Staring at the computer panel built into a desk they were standing near, Lucas made a decision. “I’ll work the computers, too.” It’d give him something to do instead of standing by helplessly while Sascha put her life on the line. “Tell Hawke I’ll let him know if I get anything.”
Clay left without questioning Lucas’s plan. Both of them believed in knowing the enemy. In the case of the Psy, that meant knowing computer systems inside out. The psychic race depended upon computers for everything. It was one of their only physical weaknesses.
But before doing anything else, both man and beast needed to make sure Sascha was safe. He pulled out his phone and punched in her code.
Her cool tones came on the line at once. “Mr. Hunter. What can I do for you?”
“You know the details I asked you to look over? Perhaps you’d better hold off on them.”
“Why? Didn’t you say you needed an answer ASAP?”
“We’ve had indications that there might be a leak in your team. We’d like to change certain elements to ensure commercial security.” He didn’t want her risking herself if the killer was nearby.
“I assure you, our security is foolproof.” She wasn’t backing down. “Please don’t worry about your designs.”
“It’s in my nature to worry. Be careful.” He wanted to reach through the phone and drag her to safety, wanted to keep her within the panther’s protective embrace.
“Always.”
He swore as the phone clicked off. Attempting to hack into the Duncan mainframe didn’t make him forget what Sascha was doing, but it helped keep his mind busy. Unfortunately, he had a feeling that that was precisely what this was—busywork.
