When he turned back to Bowen, he said, “We have an empath.”

“It’s bad, Mal.” Bo looked over at where Kaia continued to gently stroke George’s hair, keeping him linked to the present and to his clan. “I’m not sure the E is going to have a whole person to work with.”

“I’ll pass on the warning.”

“What will you do with him?” Regardless of all else, George had broken his vows to the clan, had turned traitor.

Malachai went motionless in a way a human never could. “What would you do if you were in Miane’s shoes?”

“As long as he truly wasn’t responsible for the capture or deaths of any of the vanished, I’d give him another chance.” George had never had a real chance, had been twisted up inside since childhood.

And yet, despite it all, the other man hadn’t been able to sell out BlackSea. “I’ve had a look at the organizer on which George loaded his data. He was supposed to meet his contact on a beach in the Caribbean, but he couldn’t take that final step, couldn’t bring himself to ally with those who had so badly hurt his clanmates.”

Bo leaned up against the bulkhead. “Give him another shot, get him help, and you might be able to save him.” Somewhere in his fractured psyche, George did have the capacity to build connections and to feel loyalty.

Malachai’s golden eyes turned almost translucent in the sunlight where he stood. “When I met you, I didn’t think you were anything like Miane—but you both put your people first, ambition second.” He paused for a moment, his expression difficult to read. “I don’t believe you’d send Alliance Fleet ships to harm our own, but someone in your organization did.”

“I don’t have any answers for you yet,” Bo said. “But it does look like we have a traitor in the ranks.” It was tough to say that, to admit Heenali might’ve done things that went against everything Bo believed.

“Who?”

“I won’t give up the name until I know beyond any doubt.”

Malachai’s lips curved slightly. “Yes, you and Miane will never get along. You’re too much alike.”

Hanging up soon afterward, Bo turned his attention to the woman whose scent was embedded into his skin, a kiss he never wanted to escape. A woman who’d had to inject herself with drugs to survive on land.

He squeezed his phone so hard that the screen cracked.

Chapter 60

It is our mandate to do no harm and to heal psychic and emotional wounds. By now, we have all seen that some wounds are too deep to heal without leaving lifelong scars, but don’t allow that to crush your spirit. Remember this: if we can take away even a small percentage of a wounded person’s pain, we give them freedom to live a life free of horror and suffering. It may only be for a minute or an hour, but all healing begins with a single moment.

—Letter from Ivy Jane Zen, president of the Empathic Collective, to its membership

KAIA KEPT GEORGE’S hand in hers as they stepped off the boat that had ferried them to Lantia in the heavy dark of a world wrapped in sleep. He was so distraught at this point that he’d stopped crying, his head hanging low, but his hand clutched hers like a lifeline. And when he looked at her, his eyes were those of a child. “Please don’t leave me.”

“You couldn’t get me to go,” Kaia assured him, though her mind continued to count down. They had to get Bowen to Atalina within the next seven hours or it would be far too late. Bowen had told her of Malachai’s offer, but her chest remained tight. Mal was fast in the water, but they were still cutting it dangerously close.

“No, you should go into the deep,” George said without warning. “You shouldn’t have come on land—I know it hurts you.”

“How do you know?” Kaia asked softly, very aware of Bowen listening with silent concentration. “I don’t speak about it.”

“I heard Dr. Kahananui talking to her mate once.” Another pause. “Has she had her baby? I’m sorry if you missed that.”

Her heart, it expanded all over again. “Let’s talk to Ivy before we decide anything,” she said after drawing a deep breath of the salt-laced air; she’d already told George that an empath would be waiting for them on the city.

According to what Bowen had told her after speaking to Malachai late into the flight, Ivy Jane Zen was the empath mated to the teleporter who’d helped BlackSea. She also happened to be the president of the Empathic Collective and part of the Psy Ruling Council. A very powerful woman.

Yet the small stranger with soft ebony curls who stood on the deck not far from them, bathed in the glow of the external lights, had no sense of dominance or aggression to her. A deep warmth uncurled in Kaia’s stomach, her urge to befriend the woman coming from both sides of her nature.

“I’d heard that about empaths,” she said to George. “That they have a magic about them that makes people want to trust.” Nothing coercive, just a sense of innate goodness, a deep inner radiance.

“They could do terrible things with that trust,” George whispered, his gaze having finally lifted—to settle on Ivy Jane Zen.

“That’s true. Just like Attie could do terrible things with the chemicals she handles.” Kaia didn’t know if George was mentally present enough to understand what she was trying to tell him, but he swallowed and continued to walk toward the empath.

The wind played with Ivy’s hair, tugged at the bottom of her deep magenta coat with white detailing, her jeans and boots as prosaic as the coat was cheerful. “I’m Ivy,” she said with a smile when they reached her.

Kaia shook her proffered hand, and though the empath offered the same greeting to George, she didn’t seem to take it badly when he stayed mute and motionless.

A woof sounded from a short distance away, the sound soon followed by a small white dog of indeterminate breed who came to sniff around Kaia’s ankles. Smiling, she bent to pet him.

He stood patiently for her, but his nose twitched inquisitively the entire time. “Who’s this?” Kaia asked, wondering if the little guy had met Mal’s dog yet; born and raised on Lantia, the big German shepherd was a pro swimmer.

“His name’s Rabbit.” At the sound of his name, the dog looked at Ivy. “This is his first time on an oceanic city. He’s pretty suspicious about it.” Warm affection in her tone. “When we got here, he kept barking at the waves as if they were intruders trying to take over the city.”

Rabbit slipped out from under Kaia’s touch to run over and sniff around George’s legs. Releasing Kaia’s hand at last, George went down onto his knees with broken stiffness, then began to pet the dog, his hands hesitant but gentle. Where Rabbit had been all energy and quivering flesh under Kaia’s hand, he was quiescent under George’s touch, almost as if this small creature knew the man couldn’t take anything else.

Though they were standing outside, in the open air, the cold sea winds whispering across their skin, Ivy didn’t motion for them to go inside. Instead, she sat down directly on the deck, and she began to talk to Kaia about the city and how she hoped she’d be permitted a tour.

Following her lead because Ivy was an expert in her field as Kaia was in hers, Kaia took a crosslegged position across from her—George to her left—and responded as if this were just an ordinary conversation, not one taking place at three a.m. in the middle of the ocean. At one point, she was aware of Ivy’s eyes—an unexpected copper ringed by a rim of gold—flicking up in Bowen’s direction, the look accompanied by a faint shake of her head.

Kaia looked up, too, telling him with her gaze that it was all right. George would do nothing here. He was too hurt inside, had given up. As for their limited time to reach Ryūjin, she could see the aerodynamic “shell” ready to go and she’d also spotted Mal. They’d make it.

She could believe nothing else.

Bowen gave a curt nod after taking another look at George. Then, running his fingers over her hair, he bent to press a kiss to her temple.

“I’ve got one of those, you know,” Ivy whispered after he’d left.

When Kaia tilted her head in a silent question, Ivy grinned. “A tall, silent, and handsome.” Her eyes sparkled as she angled her body to point out a black-clad man who stood talking to Malachai in the distance.

As they watched, Bowen joined them in the hazy light thrown by the external lamps. Kaia wished she could claim Bowen as hers as the empath had assumed, but he was only hers for a stolen instant in time. But all she said to Ivy was, “We have excellent taste.”

Ivy laughed.

Rabbit turned over onto his back at the same instant so that George could scratch his belly, and the man beside Kaia finally began to speak. At first, he talked only about Ivy’s dog, asking questions about what Rabbit liked to do, his favorite games, his favorite things to eat. Kaia didn’t know how long it took for him to even approach anything else and when he did, it was in the most indirect way.

Ivy didn’t push him, simply followed his lead—and slowly, George began to relax until he was no longer poised for flight.

“You should go into the deep,” he said again ten minutes later, his voice raw. “Time’s running out.” A glance over at where Bowen stood with Mal and Ivy’s mate. “He’s a good person. He deserves a chance at a long life. Take him to Dr. Kahananui so she can finish the experiment.”

Finish the experiment.

Spin the roulette wheel one last time . . . and hope Bowen would make it through to the other side.

Chapter 61

Choices, we tell ourselves we have choices.

So foolish are mortals.

An amusement to the Fates.

—Adina Mercant, poet (b. 1832, d. 1901)

BO STOOD WITH Malachai and the Arrow, Vasic Zen. The BlackSea security chief had confirmed they could make it to Ryūjin with two hours’ breathing room. An hour for the op, a little more time on Lantia to talk through the implications of recent events while Bo was still Bo.