Valentin knew what she was going to say. "Psy manipulation? The clan thought of that at the time, but there were no signs of incursion into the territory, and Psy can't manipulate changeling minds that way."
"Kaleb gave me access to highly restricted files when I took over EmNet," Silver said, her tone quiet. "Including to files he dug up himself."
Valentin just waited, his heart thundering.
"At the time of your father, a fringe group of scientists was running experiments on changelings. In almost all cases where they were successful, it took significant time and effort and a large number of Psy. And the change was never long-term. The changelings either self-destructed or went 'active' without warning."
His throat was dry now. "Who? Do you know?"
"The subjects had no names, but I remember seeing Bear Subject M in Moscow."
The thunder in his heart turned to a raw hope. "What was the purpose to breaking the changelings?"
"To use them as sleeper agents to harm the pack or clan. The experiment was shut down after all of the subjects failed to act as programmed."
Harsh laughter escaped his throat. "Oh, no, they didn't fail. My father's chosen victims were Psy, but he nearly succeeded in murdering StoneWater, too. My clan is split in two. The ones who've left Denhome believe I'll go the same way as my father, my blood tainted."
"They're fools." The words were icy.
"You sure about that, Starlight?"
"Don't make me hurt you, Valyusha."
Bringing her hand to his mouth, he pressed a kiss to her palm.
"Clearly," Silver said in a tone that made it plain he wasn't yet forgiven, "they don't feel the same way toward your sisters, or you'd have torn off their heads by now."
He was glad she understood that; no one hurt the people Valentin loved. "It's because I'm male. Changelings hardly ever spawn serial killers, but the rare times it happens, it's always a male. Stasya likes to torment herself by doing research on the topic, and she's found no mention of a female serial killer. Murderers, yes, but not serials."
"And you're alpha, hold the same power as he did."
"Yes, they're afraid I'll finish what my father began and poison StoneWater from the top." He kissed her palm again. "You really think that was my papa? Bear Subject M?"
"It's possible. The timing is right. I can dig further."
"Will it put you in danger?"
"No, it wasn't an official Council project. Even if they did secretly support the experiments, the Council is gone, and the Arrows are no longer bound to protect their secrets."
"Ming LeBon is still alive," he said, referring to the brutal Councilor who'd made more than one changeling enemy. "So are Nikita Duncan, Shoshanna Scott, and Anthony Kyriakus." No one knew what had happened to Tatiana Rika-Smythe--the Councilor had disappeared off the face of the earth.
"I'll be sure I don't make any waves that could attract dangerous attention."
"No risks, Starlight."
"Mercants are used to getting information. Trust me."
"Do you think you ever have to say that?" he grumbled at her, his bear scowling inside him.
"Are you sure you're not a grizzly?"
"Grr."
They were quiet for a long time after that, Silver's fierce, unconditional love healing broken things inside him.
"Even if the Psy broke my father," he said at last, "there must've been a seed in him to turn him into a murderer."
"No," Silver said. "That's partly why the program was shelved--because the results were so unpredictable. Messing with a changeling brain takes too much effort, and the results are nonlinear. If they did this, they broke a fundamental part of him."
Valentin had been so angry with his father for so long. Today, for the first time, he hurt for the man who may have been murdered, too. "If I accept that possibility, Starlichka," he said, his tone raw, "I also have to accept that maybe he was born that way."
Accepting only the good and ignoring the bad achieved nothing. "I have to consider whether he was just really, really good at fighting his psychopathic instincts, good enough that he convinced himself he didn't have them, burying them to the point where he was able to mate, have children, take up the position as alpha."
Silver didn't try to argue that he was wrong. "We Psy are our minds to a large extent, so we understand the mind better than any other race--it is an extraordinary organ and it has an ability to compartmentalize that can stun. Your father may have so totally compartmentalized away his psychopathic tendencies that even he may not have been aware of them."
"Until the dam broke."
"Yes." A kiss on his neck. "It's also possible his bear balanced out his psychopathic propensities in some way for most of his life. Psy have often studied changeling mental health patterns, and most haven't been for nefarious reasons--it's because changelings have so few serial killers. My race wanted to see if they could duplicate that result."
"'Few' isn't 'none,' Silver."
"Let me do my research before you condemn him. Let me give you this closure."
He released a harsh exhale. "No unnecessary risks. Promise me."
"I promise."
The next time she spoke, her words had nothing to do with psychopaths or serial killers. "Consider this, Valyusha: if the mating bond is so powerful, it might survive the excision of my emotions."
"If it did, it would eliminate the whole aim of the operation," Valentin pointed out, instead of bellowing his claim then and there as his bear rampaged to do. "The mating bond is a thing of primal emotion, no logic, no control."
"We're talking a physical operation to block my emotions, not a psychic shield. The mating bond would either break--and the pain would be violent for you--"
"I'd take any pain for you," Valentin snarled.
"I know." A hard bite on his shoulder that told him to stop growling at her. "But if it doesn't break, it could provide a nucleus from which my emotions can regrow."
"No." It was a rumbling refusal. "I won't risk the operation not working." That operation was theoretical right now, but for Silver's audio telepathy to be blocked and stay that way, she had to stop feeling. How could she do that if he were inside her, loving her with bearish ferocity? "You can't leave the PsyNet, either, and you said it yourself--mating with a dominant changeling seems to pull Psy permanently from the Net."
"It'll be harder to do what I need to do from outside the PsyNet," Silver said, "but I'll adapt. There must be a way for non-PsyNet-linked mates to have access to the data in the Net."
"No." Valentin had to fight every one of his instincts to say that, but this was about Silver's life. "It's not worth the risk."
"It's not your choice, Valyusha." The soft words were his only warning.
Silver dropped all her shields.
Man and bear both knew, felt the roaring openness of the connection deep inside him. Before he could fight the draw, before he could control his heart's joy to protect her, the mating bond smashed into them, a slender hand reaching out and clasping his heart, as his hand cradled her own heart.
It was the most wonderful moment of his life.
It was the most horrific moment of his life.
He might just have killed her.
"Damn you." It came out a harsh whisper.
Silver's response was to hug him tight from the back, her breath hot against his ear. "I feel you deep inside me." Her voice was as unrepentant as a bear's. "So big and dangerous and mine. Always mine."
Her ice and fire burned inside him like a steel candle, a flame his bear curled its big body protectively around. His mate was everything he'd ever dared dream. He scowled nonetheless, refusing to cuddle her back for at least a minute.
He lasted ten seconds before taking her hand and pressing a kiss on her palm. "Are you still in the PsyNet?"
"Yes." Stunned surprise, followed by a pause. "It's strange--I can see a bond to you, I know you're at the other end, but it disappears into the fabric of the PsyNet like it's
entering a part of the psychic plane I can't access."
The terrible, disobedient Mercant who owned him body and soul kissed his neck. "People say the psychic plane is alive, that the neosentience that guards it makes more decisions than we know. Maybe it decided I needed to stay in the PsyNet."
Valentin had nothing to add to that, but he did have certain things to say to his mate. Flipping over onto his back with a speed that meant he caught her before she tumbled off, he glared at her. "Do you know what you've done?"
A cool-eyed glance. "Yes, Valyusha. I've loved you."
And damn his heart, it melted all over again. "You may have killed yourself."
"No." A single--and very alpha--word. "The chances of my survival are infinitesimal. I weighed all the factors and decided I'd rather know what it is to belong to you than reject that gift because it might gain me a little more time."
He gripped her arms, shook her. Gently. Very gently. "Stubborn, willful, infuriating--"
"Stop calling yourself names."
"Argh!" Driven to distraction, he hauled her down to his mouth and kissed her wet and deep and angry.
She took it, gave back as good as she got. His mate was Silver Fucking Mercant.
The Human Patriot
HE LOOKED AT the data HAPMA had sent him, saw the e-mail exchange with Bowen Knight, and felt his gut clench. Damn it. Bowen had always been a good man; he'd done more to raise humanity's profile and increase their strength than anyone.
He sent HAPMA a quick reply: Do not harm him. He can still be saved.
He didn't believe Bowen had been psychically compromised. The other man had an experimental chip in his brain that blocked psychic interference. No, Bowen was simply being led astray by Psy he thought he could trust. Yes, the empaths were probably trustworthy--they were the only Psy the Patriot had any time for--but the empaths were getting their information from others.
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.
--From Hamlet by the human artist William Shakespeare (seventeenth century)
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.
<
br /> *
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.
Ashaya staggered physically back at the same time that Silver slammed down her shields. Christensen caught his mate, his eyes no longer human but a dangerous green that spoke of the large cat that lived under his skin. "Shaya?"
"I'm fine," the scientist said, though her breathing was erratic, the pulse in her neck rapid. "My ears are ringing. The sound . . . it's dual layered."
Shocked or not, Silver realized, Ashaya Aleine was a scientist first and foremost, one who was already analyzing the data she'd gathered.
"The first," Ashaya added, "is the telepathic noise all Tps hear when their shields are down--and it's violent because Silver is a pure telepath of incredible strength--but below that is actual sound."
Amara spoke, her affect curiously flat. "Can't we simply remove her capacity to hear? It would be a far more efficient exercise than neurosurgery."
Silver went still. "Will it work?"
"No," Ashaya said after a thoughtful minute. "You're not hearing through your auditory canal or any other part of your ear. The input is definitely coming in via a psychic pathway." She looked at Amara.