The Psy-Changeling Collection (165 page)
Terror spread through Talin’s veins. “Did I hurt him?”
“No, no, it’s like a blood donation,” Sascha assured her. “If you’d been taking in that much constantly, it
would
have hurt him.”
“Can it kill?” Talin asked, mouth full of cotton wool.
Sascha’s eyes grew poignant. “Yes. For the PsyNet born, yes. But you don’t need as much. You would have simply made Clay very tired. As it is, you only took a big bite”—she smiled—“from him once, and he’s had time to regenerate. With the bond settled in the Web, you’re soaking it in from the general extraneous buildup, like me and Faith. It harms no one.”
“Okay.” Now that she knew Clay was fine, it was all she could say, her mind numb.
“Clay,” Lucas said, “how about we pick this up tomorrow?” His eyes were intent on Talin. “I think your Tally needs time to recover, and my Sascha darling needs to work off some of her excitement.”
There was a gasp and a chuckle from someone, but Talin was barely aware of it. As she was barely aware of Clay ending
the call, peeling off her robe, and dropping it to the floor along with his own clothes. But when he kissed her, it was as if a switch had been thrown inside her. She came to life and what exuberant life it was. She laughed and they played and when it was over, she lay with her head on his heart, and thought about forever.
In the PsyNet,
the third emergency session of the Psy Council was taking place.
“We can’t have a repeat of the situation we had last year with Enrique,” Shoshanna said, referring to the Councilor whose death had led to Kaleb’s ascension. “We need to swear in a new Councilor before anyone starts questioning the true circumstances of Marshall’s death.”
“Yes,” Tatiana agreed. “Though the populace does seem to be accepting the explanation of accidental death very well.”
“There’s one more thing we need to discuss,” Ming interrupted. “We may have a situation with Ashaya Aleine.”
“She’s controlled,” Kaleb said, brushing the issue aside. “We have her son, correct?”
“Yes. However, I’m not sure how long that’s going to hold her.”
“But it does for now,” Nikita responded. “Shoshanna’s right—we need a new Councilor fast.”
“Agreed,” Ming replied. “But unlike with Kaleb, there’s no one ready to step into the role. We considered Gia Khan in the last round, but she’s since proven weak, unable to stop unrest in her local region.”
A taut silence.
“I have a suggestion,” Kaleb said. “He was once a Council candidate, is now powerful enough that he defies us, and he’s strong enough to take on Marshall’s responsibilities.”
“You’re talking about Anthony Kyriakus,” Shoshanna said. “The man is a thorn in our side, but you could be right. Make him Council and we gain access to his considerable resources and business network.”
“He turned down a Council seat once before,” Nikita reminded them. “He may not accept now.”
Kaleb considered his next words with care. “After the confirmation of Marshall’s death, I had a discussion with Anthony.”
“Without Council authorization?”
“Give me credit, Ming,” Kaleb responded. “There are ways to gauge interest without saying anything of the least note.”
“Your conclusion?” Tatiana asked.
“He may be willing.”
Shoshanna’s mental star swirled in thought. “He has considerable contact with changelings—he’s still subcontracting work to his daughter, Faith.”
“That,” Nikita said, “could be another advantage. He has to have gained a lot of knowledge about the cats.”
“A good point,” Ming acceded. “I have no reservations against him as a candidate.”
“I have one,” Henry said. “Like Nikita, he also has a daughter who has dropped out of the Net. Will that weaken the Council’s image?”
“In my opinion, no,” Kaleb responded. “He’s already proven he can hold us at bay. He has more businesses backing him than any of us.”
“I agree,” Shoshanna said. “I vote yes.”
One by one, the others all agreed.
A day later, Anthony Kyriakus, leader of the influential NightStar Group and father of the most powerful F-Psy in the world, accepted their offer.
At the same
time, Ashaya Aleine unfolded a plain pen and paper note hidden inside the latest batch of equipment she had
requested. Keenan would be flown in for his next scheduled visit, but the one after that would be by car.
She hoped the man who had held a gun on her the night she’d set Jonquil Duchslaya and Noor Hassan free had told the truth. Because they would have only one chance. Ming was watching her. She had overplayed her hand, and now the Councilor was inches away from enforcing her obedience through the most vicious of mental violations.
Two days after
the night that had given her forever, Talin met with the specialists at Shine and they put her through a rigorous series of tests that confirmed Clay’s hunch and Sascha’s diagnosis.
“Your need for the feedback is so small,” Dr. Herriford exclaimed, “it wasn’t picked up on the initial tests we run on every Shine child.” He shoved a hand through his hair, making the bright orange stuff stick up in untidy tufts. “We’re going to have to redo that testing. If you slipped through, so will others.” His distress was open. “We’ll need to start doing periodic checks as students age, too, rather than just the intake scans.”
Talin had every intention of helping reboot the system, but first she wanted solid answers. “So I don’t have to worry about any of the symptoms?” No more fugues, no more having her sense of choice taken from her. Her hand curled around Clay’s, held on tight.
“Everything you’ve told me,” the doc said, glancing at his small electronic notepad, “the fugues, the lost memories, even the mysterious allergic reaction, they’re all symptoms of Process Degeneration.”
“Doc,” Clay said, cutting to the heart of the matter, “is she going to be okay?”
Herriford beamed. “Whatever you’ve done to address the feedback issue—and if you changelings ever decide to share, please let me know—”
Clay growled.
“Right.” The doctor smiled on, undaunted. “I’m happy to say that Ms. McKade is in perfect health. No Forgotten weirdness—you wouldn’t believe the things I see.”
She jumped off the examining table. “Thanks, Dr. Herriford.”
The doctor’s handshake was warm, solid. “By the way, did Dev have a chance to catch you up on everything?”
Talin shook her head. “We got the CliffNotes version. Why?”
“Well, this isn’t common knowledge,” Herriford said, “but Dev told me to be honest with you. You know about the power discrepancy?”
She nodded. “A rare few descendants have a massive amount.”
“Yeah, but that’s not the interesting thing.” The doctor’s eyes were sparkling. “These kids, they’re not being born with a lesser version of Psy abilities, they’re being born with completely
new
abilities.”
“How is that possible?” She glanced at Clay and suddenly had her answer. “Mixed blood. The genetics are intermingling and creating something new.” Something beautiful.
The doctor nodded. “There were instances of such spontaneous abilities appearing in the PsyNet pre-Silence—our theory is that these changes stopped because the Council has a firm line on eliminating any mutations from the gene pool.”
“But that’s not happening with the Forgotten.”
“No.” The doctor’s smile grew. “What we’re now seeing are the results of a long-term genetic shift. In some cases, it’s as if the Psy genes express themselves by intensifying the bearers’
human
strengths.” He gave Clay a pleading look. “Are you sure you can’t find me some changeling—”
“No.”
The doctor sighed. “As I was saying—these new abilities
aren’t Psy or human but a mesh of both, perhaps even all three where the individual has changeling blood as well.” Another hopeful—but futile—glance at Clay. “Very, very exciting.”
Talin scowled. “And all I got is this stupid need for feedback.”
The doctor winced. “I sympathize. Technically, I’m twenty percent Psy. But in terms of my physical and mental abilities, I’m one hundred percent human. That’s the good thing about Shine—we don’t discriminate between descendants. Lots of mostly human kids pass through these doors.”
At least that definitively answered Talin’s question of why she’d been chosen. “Good. But I still think I should have superpowers to compensate.” When she’d finally calmed down enough to process everything, her need for biofeedback had made her feel like a vampire or succubus.
She’d gotten all teary about it to Clay … until the idiot male had started laughing so hard he couldn’t talk. He’d bought her a pair of “genuine vampire fangs” that day. She was smiling at the memory when Clay wrapped an arm around her neck. “What are you talking about, Tally? You have special powers.”
“I do?”
“Yeah, you have the power to bring me to my knees.”
That made her blush. Then it made her kiss him.
“Isla,” she said
that night.
“What?”
“That’s what I want to name our child if it’s a girl.”
A heartbeat of silence. “How about Pinocchio for a boy?”
“No,” she said, scowling but aware the comment was his version of “thank you.” Isla had been broken, but she had loved her son and Clay had loved her back. Talin would honor that. “You don’t get to pick if you’re going to sentence our poor child to a life of humiliation.”
“Brat.”
“Bully,” she said, smiling lips grazing his as he lifted himself over her, his body a protective wall. “How about Fabien?”
“Sissy name. Even I can do better.”
“So?”
“Joshua.”
She smiled. “I like it. Joshua and Isla.”
“How many kids are we having again?”
“Lots.”
“I guess I can always add more rooms to the lair.” He ran his lips over hers in a quick caress. “Anything you want.”
“In that case, I want you.” She melted into the possessive heat of his kiss, the magic of his love. It was nice belonging to a leopard who would never let you go, she thought as logic surrendered to emotion. It was perfection.
A few hours
later, Sascha woke to the awareness that something was happening in the Web of Stars. Snuggling into Lucas’s warmth, she opened her mind’s eye and looked at the strands of light that made up the Web. It took her several minutes to realize that the bonds had become exponentially stronger, the resulting feedback well above any projected rate. Startled, she checked and rechecked for the reason why, but the only difference was Talin’s vibrant, and very much human, presence.
And she understood.
The Web of Stars was now fed by the thoughts and dreams of all three races. Their world was a triumvirate, and for the first time in a hundred years that triumvirate was complete on the psychic level. Sascha didn’t know what that meant, but she knew it was a good thing.
She slipped back into sleep with a smile.
NALINI SINGH
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