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 lipstick 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. Déwei 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 Déwei had lived a life many envied, he’d always carried a sadness in his heart for his people. Pavel and Yakov Stepyrev, Déwei Nguyen’s identical twin great-grandsons, were two of Valentin’s most trusted people.