He shook his head, his hair gleaming blue-black in the sunlight that came in through the sunroof. "I wouldn't give that up for anything." Shifting to hoverdrive when the dirt track came to an abrupt end, he took them into the trees.
Silver watched him maneuver, and she thought of her cousin, Lillya. Currently twelve, she was on the borderland between fully conditioned and just unconditioned enough that she could be nudged either way. Ena hadn't yet made the decision as to which way was better for Lillya. They had approximately three months before her Silence training would've progressed too far to be turned back without causing her psychic and possibly physical distress.
To simply stop as some parents were choosing to do--against advice from the medics and psychologists working for the Ruling Coalition--wasn't an option, either. At that age, a child's needs had to be carefully managed, or that child might be ruined for life when it came to their psychic and psychological health.
"I grew into my skin in Silence," she said aloud several minutes later. "Are you implying that I didn't grow into an individual?"
"Starlichka." A rebuking look. "You know I'd never say that." He brought the vehicle to a stop about fifty meters from what looked like the mouth of a large cave. Several other vehicles were parked nearby, but there were nowhere near enough to account for a full clan.
Not getting out, Valentin turned to brace his hand against the top of her seat. "But are you who you would've been without Silence?"
"I would be mad without Silence," Silver said into the quiet, her words stones thrown into a mirror-still pond. "Imagine being able to hear tens of thousands of voices screaming at you inside your head. Now imagine being emotional, and as a result of a surge of shock or anger or grief, losing control of your shields. How many times do you think that could happen before your mind broke?"
"I don't believe it," Valentin said with a scowl. "The Silver Mercant I know wouldn't break, no matter what the provocation--trust me, I've tried."
Silver shook her head. "Prior to Silence," she told him, "a significant minority of pure telepaths chose to end their lives, most in a way that destroyed their brains. The top choice was to put a gun in the mouth and blow off the roof of the head."
That particular fragment of data was buried under thousands of others because pure telepaths weren't considered a problematic designation. Telekinetics, combat telepaths, foreseers, the rare and dangerous X-Psy, they were seen as unstable and in need of extra attention and training. But pure telepaths? Seldom any issues once they learned to manage their shields. At least until they hit about sixty years of age and blew their brains out.
"And now?" Valentin's voice was gritty, his attention so intense that it felt like a furred brush against her senses.
Silver tried to shrug off the irrational thought. "Silence changed the numbers," she said as her eyelids began to grow so heavy it was as if each lash were anchored by a tiny weight. "Pure telepaths have the lowest rate of suicide of any designation in the entire Psy race."
The Silence Protocol had worked for the pure telepaths, a truth that tended to get forgotten. Silver had had to point it out to Kaleb, who usually didn't miss anything. However, because she'd drawn Kaleb's attention to it and he'd alerted his fellow members of the Ruling Council, the educational plans being developed for pure telepaths were different from those being developed for other designations.
And her mind, it was rambling.
She realized that the same instant she realized Valentin was at her side of the vehicle and that her door was open. He was lifting her into his arms a heartbeat later, his big body a furnace. She went to protest that she could walk, but her brain wasn't working right and that was worse than the fact her body wasn't working right.
This was not how she'd planned to enter the StoneWater clan's den.
Chapter 7
I want to be alone . . . said no bear ever.
--The Traveler's Guide to Changelings (Revised Edition: 1897)
VALENTIN KEPT SILVER'S lax body tucked close to his as he entered Denhome. She'd lost consciousness a second after he took her into his arms, was now a warm but dead weight that had his heart drumming against his rib cage. He'd seen her fire dim in front of him, had felt her light flicker.
Nova, who was waiting for him near the entrance passage that was the narrowest part of Denhome, kicked immediately into healer mode. "She hurt?"
"No, medics said this might happen during the early part of her recovery." Despite the reminder, Valentin couldn't help it. "Check her anyway, all right?" Those other medics weren't his sister and StoneWater's chief healer, who he knew would never lie to him.
"Already in the plan, Mishka." His sister whipped out a small scanner from one of the capacious pockets of her full-skirted yellow dress, ran it over Silver's body as they walked.
Valentin soon exited the passageway to hit the massive space that was the heart of Denhome, despite not being in the center. The Cavern was designed to act as a staging post should a battle ever reach this far into clan lands. Their living quarters could be easily blocked off, noncombatants taken out through hidden back passages while the clan's dominants fought in this space.
Bears could kill almost anything that came at them--all they needed was space to move.
In times of peace, the Cavern was the social heart of his people, so it wasn't surprising when clanmates flowed around Valentin and Nova, curious but not intrusive, the rambunctious little ones kept back by the adults.
Valentin would return to hug the cubs after he'd settled Silver into her room. They needed the contact at that age, now even more than usual, with their strong pack badly wounded, ragged and broken and bleeding.
Valentin's heart flinched as the knowledge that never left him roared to the forefront of his mind. At least the cubs--tiny gangsters included--would be fine until he could come hold them close. He'd spotted Stasya and his third-in-command, Pieter, on the far side of the Cavern. They were more than capable of spreading their arms wide and drenching the little ones in affection.
Being strong in a bear clan didn't only have to do with physical might.
"In here," his bossiest sister said right then. "Stasya and I put her in the room next to yours, since we all know you'd just move her if we didn't." Nova managed to get in an eye roll. "Good thing Nika's away or I'd have had to kick her out."
The room didn't have much more than a bed and private facilities. Nika had packed up and stored her personal items so the space could be used by other clanmates, but it hadn't looked that different even when his sister was living here. Changeling bears, even their least extroverted, didn't like being alone all that much. An introvert bear might choose to quietly read his book, but he'd do it in the Cavern, surrounded by the hum of clan life.
Wondering if Silver would choose to join them or stay in her quarters, Valentin placed her gently on the soft white sheets. Her face was incredibly pale, chill alabaster devoid of the glow that made her such a vivid force. "She's cool to the touch." He went to grab a blanket to put over her.
"Wait, Mishka," Nova said. "I think her temperature may just be inside the healthy range for a Psy." Sitting herself down on the bed, she took another reading, followed it up by manually checking Silver's pulse. "I talked with Tamsyn at DarkRiver after you called me, got a briefing on Psy physiology--said I wanted to be prepared as we were hosting a Psy visitor. I have her on speed dial if I need more detailed information." She tapped her ear, where she wore a high-tech device Valentin couldn't stand.
He kept ripping it out of his ear each time Pavel, one of his senior people and a certified tech geek, talked him into it.
Nova's microphone was a tiny circle attached to the off-the-shoulder collar of her yellow dress. She was also wearing heels. The outfit wasn't sensible in the least, but where fashion was concerned, Nova was never sensible.
"Do I need to contact Krychek and get her back to the hospital?"
"No." Nova rose, her glossy black hair perfectly coiffed and her lipst
ick a dark pink. "Your Starlight is fine. Just needs to rest so her body can recover from the shock of the poison and the treatment."
Having already lifted a soft blanket in spring green from the foot of the bed, Valentin pulled it over Silver. When Nova frowned and shifted on her heel as if to loosen Silver's clothing, he shook his head. "She won't want to be touched for anything but medical reasons." He wasn't sure she'd forgive him for carrying her from the car, but sometimes, a bear had to do what a bear had to do.
He'd charm her out of her mad.
"Got it." Nova made sure the blanket was comfortable around Silver, then the two of them stepped out of the room. The passageway directly outside was empty, probably thanks to one of Valentin's seconds. Else, the clan would've congregated, asking for updates and offering to help--all the while trying to sneak a peek at Starlight.
The tiny gangsters were probably holding court at this moment, giving equally tiny clanmates the lowdown. Not the adults, however. Valentin had told the misbehaving cubs he wouldn't bust them to their parents if they promised not to leave the safe area on their own again--they usually played their "drop and attack" game far closer to Denhome.
It was their one get-out-of-jail-free card. After that, they'd be facing parental and clan punishment.
"Why," Nova said, "does the frighteningly competent Silver Mercant need safe harbor badly enough to enter a den of disorderly bears? All you told me on the phone was that she'd ingested a complex poison and had been successfully treated."
"Someone tried to kill her." He had to restrain the urge to open his throat and release an enraged bellow. "It had to be a person she trusted, a person she let into her home. They poisoned her food, Nova."
His sister pressed a hand to her heart. "Bastard!" Food was sacred to a bear, the thing by which they connected to one another and to those who would be their friends. "She'll be hungry when she wakes."
"Chert voz'mi." Valentin rubbed his face. "I forgot to pick up the food she likes from one of the Psy shops. I just wanted her safe in Denhome."
Nova patted him on the arm in that way she had of doing, as if she were ten years older than him, instead of a measly three. "Never mind. I'll talk to Tamsyn and find out what real-people food she can eat."
"Nova."
His sister threw up her hands. "I didn't mean anything by it, you know that! I just don't understand people who don't eat for pleasure." Voice befuddled, she looked at him with purest confusion in normally dark brown eyes gone a deep amber. "I checked with Tamsyn--Psy have taste buds same as changelings and humans. Does it make sense to you that they'd ignore the sublime pleasures of food?"
Chuckling despite the worry gnawing his gut, Valentin threw an arm over her shoulders and led her toward the Cavern. His Starlichka was safe now. No one would be able to enter her room without being seen or scented.
Valentin's room was the first beyond the joyous chaos of the Cavern, Silver next to him. Everyone who lived in this part of Denhome had to walk past their rooms. That hallway was normally never empty--and it would be even less likely to be so with his entire clan curious about Silver.
It wasn't every day that a Psy came into Denhome.
In fact, it had been thirty-three years since a Psy walked these stone pathways. Dewei Nguyen had been mated to a StoneWater bear pre-Silence, had watched his people make the emotionless choice from a distance, sad and afraid for what it meant for his race's future. In one fell swoop, he'd effectively lost his parents, his siblings, his nieces and nephews, every Psy family member or friend.
The elder had passed on before Valentin was born, but he'd heard the stories from others in the clan, knew that while Dewei had lived a life many envied, he'd always carried a sadness in his heart for his people. Pavel and Yakov Stepyrev, Dewei Nguyen's identical twin great-grandsons, were two of Valentin's most trusted people.
As for the possibility that Silver's poisoning had been masterminded by the Consortium, while Valentin would never ignore the risk that the detestable group might've gotten their claws into one of his people, he didn't think there was any real likelihood of a traitor in the clan. StoneWater might be badly fractured, but that was within their own people, would never be exposed to outsiders by either party.
"Did you kidnap Kaleb's aide?" Pavel asked as soon as Valentin entered the Cavern.
"Bozhe moi!" Yakov groaned, his eyes the same aqua green as his brother's, his hair an identical mahogany, and his skin the exact same shade of brown caught between light and dark. Despite countless arguments over who was taller, they both stood at five feet eight inches, their bodies compact and strong. The only physical characteristic that differentiated them was their vision. "If you'd decided on her, you should've let us know and--"
"Hey!" Valentin rumbled in his chest to get their attention. "Did Stasya not tell you why Silver is here?"
"Of course I did," his sister said, indignant. "They just don't believe me."
Pieter, the quietest and most introverted of them all, his hair an unusual mix of colors that echoed the hues of a glowing sunset, folded his arms. "Why would a woman who heads EmNet and has Kaleb Krychek for a boss need our help?"
A few of the teenagers skulked closer to the adult talk in the huge living room of Denhome, the natural ceiling of the Cavern at least a hundred feet above. The space glowed with daylight, thanks to a complex system of mirrors that redirected the beams of sunlight that speared into the Cavern via natural cracks in the mountain.
That light caught the teens' nonchalant progress. Valentin glared at them until they hunched their shoulders and, scowling patented teenage scowls, went back to their studies in another part of the Cavern. That part happened to be next to a natural spring-fed pool, where the rain fell when it came in through the same cracks that brought them light. Sand swept out from the gleaming green clarity of the pool, the water shallow enough that even the cubs could play in it without fear.
Lush moss grew on the rocks around the pool, giving that part of the Cavern the feel of being a world within a world. The rest of it was more rocky, though with its own beauty. Veins of sparkling quartz ran through the entire area, while the wall where each of the cubs placed his or her palm print when they turned five was a riot of color.
What would Starlight think of this home he loved with all his heart and soul?
"Silver needs to be cut out of the line of fire for a short period," he told those of his seconds who'd gathered here--three were out of Denhome on long-range patrol missions to ensure no one got ideas about encroaching on StoneWater territory. His bears might like to live on top of one another, but they needed a wide range to wander in.
Zahaan, Taji, and Inara would be back in two weeks. Until then, Valentin kept in touch with them via various comm points the clan had hidden throughout their lands. It was Pavel who'd brief the three after this meeting. "Silver's grandmother knows no one can get to her here, and Silver's agreed with her verdict."
"Silver Mercant listens to her grandparents?" Nova whispered, eyes wide. "She's like us?"
"Yes--and her babushka is as scary as ours, so don't mess with her."
"You talking to yourself, Valya?" Pavel asked slyly, his cheeks creased and his eyes glinting behind the clear lenses of the spectacles he insisted on wearing; the otherwise audacious bear was scared the readily available corrective surgery would damage his already less-than-perfect vision.
Everyone laughed; Valentin's men and women were well aware of his fascination with Kaleb Krychek's dangerous aide. It had been hard to miss after Valentin suddenly began volunteering to act as courier anytime documents needed to be delivered to Silver--or to Kaleb. Because, somehow, it was always far more convenient for him to drop them off with Silver rather than her boss.
"Don't you all have work to do?" he grumbled.
Pavel raised a hand, clearly being an asshole. But Valentin happened to like this asshole. "What?"
"Teleporters."
"Not a problem," he told them. "Silver's grandmother co
nfirmed Silver has some type of shielding that means even the ones who lock on to faces won't be able to find her." It had been part of the final conversation they'd had in the hospital, before Ena left Silver in Valentin's care.
"Huh." Stasya purposely bumped Pieter's shoulder, her height of six feet only an inch less than his.
Subtle, Valentin's sister wasn't. It had become obvious over the past month that she wanted to jump Pieter's bones. Valentin pretended to be oblivious to both the bump and Pieter's responding glance. A man did not need to know about his sisters' intimate lives.
Ever.
"Not surprising, really," Stasya added with a self-satisfied smile when Pieter didn't break the physical contact. "She has to have picked up a few tricks working with Krychek all this time."
"You want us to change the security settings?" Pavel asked, his shoulders pulling against the dark brown of his shirt when he thrust his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I've had the technical elements running at Defcon 5 since we haven't had any major threat warnings."
"Defcon 5?" Yakov--his own outfit a black tee that hugged his biceps, and dark green cargoes--made a face. "Really, Pasha? Have you been playing those American hologames again?"
Pavel made a rude gesture with his hand. "At least I don't lose to ten-year-old ponies from Tajikistan."
Yakov clutched at his chest. "Oh, how you wound me. To think I carried you on my back when we were children."
Used to the twins hassling each other over nothing in particular, Valentin ignored their byplay to focus on the question. "Raise it up a notch," he said. "I want to make dead sure no one can sneak in."
It was an extra and probably unnecessary precaution. Their rugged terrain would, as always, act as their biggest line of defense. Long settled in this region, StoneWater hadn't permitted civilization to advance much farther than a dirt track that they could destroy in a matter of minutes if it came to that.
The only other way to get to Denhome was to teleport in--or to hike in on foot. Good luck with the latter if you weren't trained for uneven terrain set with all kinds of booby traps. Yakov hassled his brother about hologames, but the two of them came up with the best traps when they put their minds together, the hunt a game in itself.