"Surveillance - "

" - has been blocked from the sky, all but our own satellites nudged in other directions. And there is no one out here to see me." Just corn, endless rows of spring-green corn. "You can accompany me."

A military nod. "After you."

She was under no illusion that she'd won the battle. He was simply buying time while telepathing Ming for further instructions. The expected mental touch came mere seconds after she stepped onto the deceptively decrepit-looking porch.

Councilor, she said.

Ashaya, you're disobeying a direct order. Ming's mental voice came through with crystal clarity. Either he was still in the country or his telepathic powers were stronger than she'd previously believed.

You should have known the rules would never hold. She walked down the steps and into the rows of corn, conscious of the guard shadowing her every move. I have a psychological flaw that has never been subject to rehabilitation. Because she was too valuable an asset to chance to the sometimes fatal side effects. However, that shield wouldn't last forever.

Your tendency toward claustrophobia was taken into account when designing the lab. It's wide open.

And underground. She had been buried underground once. It had left a permanent mark. The flaw is not debilitating in any sense, she said, knowing she had to be careful, but it does make clear thinking difficult after an extended period of time below.

Then it's our design that is flawed, he accepted with cool Psy logic. The psych consult was of the opinion that your abilities would remain unaffected by the location given the layout and your mental strength.

The consult was correct - my abilities have not been adversely affected. Conceding weakness would get her killed. It's more a case of efficiency. All I need is an hour or two upside on a regular basis to maintain peak productivity.

Ming paused as if thinking. There's no security risk. I'll allow it.

Thank you. I would also prefer that the guard not follow me. His presence is distracting. I do a considerable amount of my work in my head. That much was true and would be borne out by the records Ming was undoubtedly accessing as they talked.

Another small pause. Agreed. We have the whole area secured.

The most subtle of threats. Excellent.

Be careful, Ashaya. So much hinges on your work.

It was a hidden reference to Keenan. But it wasn't an emotional threat - nothing so easy as that. Maternal love was for humans and changelings. Other things drove Ashaya. Ming knew that far too well.

But she was outside now. One minute step at a time. She was an M-Psy with the capacity to sequence DNA inside her mind. Patience was her strong suit.

Deep in the PsyNet, the psychic network that connected millions of Psy across the globe, the Ghost came across a piece of information that made little sense - whispers about the kidnapping of human children. Nothing said in the PsyNet ever left it, but the fact that this whisper hadn't yet fragmented and begun to be absorbed into the fabric of the Net meant it was recent. That knowledge gave him pause.

He was a renegade, determined to oust the Psy Council from power and free his people from a Silence that was false. He had killed in the name of that freedom, would do so many more times before this was all over. But he was still Psy. He felt nothing, not love, not care, not hate. Nothing.

So when he considered this unexpected speck of data, it was with the ice-cold mind of a man reared on logic and reason alone. Touch was something he barely understood, affection nothing he had ever known. In the end, it was the very lack of reason in what he'd found that decided him.

He filed away the discovery, to be passed on to the sole human he trusted. Father Xavier Perez might be a man of God, but he was also a soldier. And for reasons of his own, he was the Ghost's ally in the fight to stop Ashaya Aleine and the Council from bringing Protocol I into force.

Decision made, the Ghost banished the kidnappings from his mind, his focus on something far bigger, something that had the potential to disrupt the entire PsyNet - the assassination of a Councilor.

Chapter 27

Tamsyn put away the last of her instruments and leaned back in the chair beside Talin. Both Clay and Nate - talking quietly out of earshot - moved closer.

"I can't find anything wrong with you." Tamsyn thrust a hand through her hair. "The allergy tests are all negative and I have the best damn equipment on the market."

"You can tell immediately?"

"Yes. Which leaves two possibilities. One, whatever you're allergic to is so rare as to not be in the computer's analysis program - "

Talin shook her head, sighing in relief when Clay's hand landed on her shoulder. It felt so right, so what she needed. "I can't think of anything - "

"What about a forest organism?" Clay interrupted. "It's a new environment as far as Tally's body is concerned."

Tamsyn was the one who shook her head this time. "It should've still come up as an unknown. That's the problem - I'm picking up nothing."

"What's the second possibility?" Talin asked.

"That it wasn't an allergic reaction at all. We just got lucky with the epi." Tamsyn frowned. "How are you feeling now?"

"Fine."

"No heart palpitations, nausea, anything out of the ordinary?"

Talin's heart was certainly racing, but it had nothing to do with the medication and everything to do with the man who was playing his fingertips along her collarbone. She wondered if the cat considered that as behaving. "No. No side effects."

The healer blew out a frustrated breath. "I can't make heads or tails of your condition. I agree with Clay - you need to go to an M-Psy for a scan. Problem is, we don't have one we trust yet, though we've been putting out feelers ever since Sascha and Faith joined the pack."

"I'm okay for now." Talin didn't want to die. But neither could she live with herself if she put her life before Jon's. That didn't mean she wasn't scared, wasn't angry. "We'll deal with my problems after we've found Jon."

Clay didn't say anything, but she could feel the wild energy of his leopard racing over her skin. He was furious with her.

Two hours later, Talin walked into a small meeting room located in DarkRiver's business HQ, viscerally aware of the storm building inside Clay. He set her up in the room with the files Dev had had delivered and said, "I have to go check on some things. If you need anything, ask Ria. She's Lucas's assistant." He showed her the key to press on the comm panel. "You oriented?"

She nodded. "I remember everything. Did you forget?"

Instead of laughing at the small joke, he turned to leave the room. Disappointment bloomed on her tongue and she decided if he could brood, she could pout. "Hey!"

He turned in a smooth, sensually feline move and bent down to press a hard, possessive kiss on her lips. "Don't be a brat while I'm gone."

She raised her fingers to her lips as he left, wanting to smile - he might have gone dark and silent on her but he hadn't left without a kiss. Hope struggled to defiant life in her heart. Yes, the possessive leopard in Clay remained wary of her. And yes, she admitted with brutal honesty, part of her kept waiting for him to leave her again.

That distance, those hidden fears, they hurt.

But even so, they were coming back together step by slow step, their bond stronger and far more intimate than it had been during childhood. It was a wonderful surprise - after all these years apart, she'd been scared to come to him, afraid that the truth of the man she discovered would forever taint the happiest memories of her life.

It had never occurred to her that she might adore the adult Clay even more than she had the youth, but there it was. The man her friend had grown into - well, he enchanted her, brooding temper, dark kisses, animal protectiveness, and all. To her delight, the feeling seemed to be mutual. But the separation had scarred them both. What would it do to Clay if this disease succeeded in killing her?

...The future hasn't yet changed.

It terrified her that Clay could lose his humanity because of their growing relationship. Her hand clenched. No, she thought, no. The future wasn't fixed. She would not let him fall - A knock on the door had her swiveling.

It opened to reveal a pretty brunette with laugh lines around her mouth and a tea tray in her hands. "I'm Ria and I'm nosy as hell."

The introduction disarmed Talin, cutting through her churning emotions with laughing efficiency. "I'm Talin."

Ria put the tray on the table. "So, you're Clay's?"

"He's mine anyway."

The other woman grinned. "Oooh, I like you. Must admit you're not what I expected, though."

"Oh?"

"You're human. He's...intense, even for a cat." Her eyes widened before Talin could reply. "No offense! I'm human, too."

Talin jumped at the chance. "What's it like being human in a pack of leopards?"

"They tend to have to be more careful with us - we break easier," Ria said with candid warmth.

Talin didn't like the idea of Clay holding back with her. "Yeah."

"But you know, human men have to watch themselves around women, too. They're bigger, stronger, regardless of race." She shrugged. "These guys just have claws and teeth to worry about, too."

"Huh." The practical explanation made complete sense.

"And," Ria added, "we have to be careful with them, too."

Talin felt her eyebrows rise. "What could I possibly do to Clay, to any changeling?"

"Think about it - their hearing is so sensitive, we scream loud enough, we blow out their eardrums." She winced. "I learned that the hard way."

"Is he - "

"Healed. Thank God. And he mated me, so he wasn't too mad." A rueful smile. "Though he pulls it out now and then to tease me about being gentle with him."

Talin had never considered the downside to Clay's incredible senses. "I guess perfume's out then?" She thought of the way he liked to lick, to taste, and felt her body heat up from the inside out.