Chapter 25

Every decision has a consequence. Nothing can change that law of nature.

—Anonymous

SILVER FINISHED THE last bit of work, shut everything down. Curious as to why her brother hadn’t telepathed her to say he was in StoneWater territory, she looked to Yakov after she rose to her feet. “When did Arwen arrive?”

“Ten minutes ago, I think.” He shrugged, his shoulders taut with muscle. “I swear my lunatic twin hasn’t thrown him over his shoulder and run off pounding his chest.”

Not certain she believed him, Silver nonetheless didn’t reach out for Arwen. While he might be gentle, her brother could also take care of himself. So she was in no way surprised to reach the small forest clearing to find Arwen leaning against the front of his car, arms folded, while Pavel stood several feet away, his hands on his hips.

The bear scowled at Silver, light glancing off the clear lenses of his spectacles. “Why didn’t you warn me he had claws?”

“You’re a big bear.” Silver walked to meet her brother. “May we have some privacy?”

Yakov hooked his arm around his twin’s neck and all but hauled him away. “We’ll be out of earshot but not far, just in case you’re thinking of a hostile invasion!”

Waiting until the twins were indeed far enough away that they couldn’t hear her and Arwen’s conversation, she touched her fingers gently to her brother’s clean-shaven jaw. Though she dropped her hand almost at once, Arwen swallowed at the contact. “How did you get here so quickly?”

“I haven’t left Moscow since you were hurt. I . . . I thought you might need me.”

Silver looked at this man who was the reason she’d never become cruel or without conscience. “I did,” she said, admitting to need for the first time in her life. “Thank you for coming.”

A shaky smile. “You want to sit with me awhile? I have a meeting with Grandmother that I have to drive back for soon.”

Perching next to him against the front of the car, she didn’t ask about the investigation. That could wait. “Pavel?”

Color touched Arwen’s cheekbones. “Bears are the most irrational creatures I’ve ever met.”

“Agreed.”

“But there is something about them.” His eyes flicked to where Yakov was ruffling his brother’s hair while Pavel tried to kick him. “He found my call code. I don’t know how. He sends me ridiculous messages.”

“Do you reply?”

“He’d think he’d won if I didn’t.”

“I think they do that on purpose.” Silver was starting to wonder if bears could be far more sneaky than she’d ever known. “Appeal to our competitive instincts.”

Arwen crossed his legs at the ankles, his shoes shiny boots she recognized as being from an exclusive designer label. “He’s very good at it.”

“What will you do?”

“I’m a Mercant. I can out-strategize a bear.” A searching look out of eyes the exact same shade as her own. “And you, Silver? What will you do?”

“Not turn back. Not until I know.”

The Human Alpha

The peacemaker must have the strongest heart and the toughest will in the room.

—Words spoken by the alpha of the FireDawn Leopards, Daniel Emory; to Adrian Kenner, Peace Negotiator; on the day the Peace Accord was signed, ending the Territorial Wars. As noted in the official record of the historical signing. (Eighteenth century)

BO LOOKED AT the data on HAPMA that he and his people had collected. The news was bad. These fanatics knew the Psy needed humans to save their race, but they had a pathologically skewed idea of how to stop any manipulation that might be involved in achieving that aim.

“The message got through?” he asked Lily over their internal comm system.

“I got a read receipt. Old-fashioned, but it’s a confirmation.”

Bo glanced at his e-mail. He’d been given an e-mail address to contact HAPMA in the last message they’d sent him. He’d used that e-mail to tell them what Krychek had told him: that humans had to choose to be with Psy. He knew why the Ruling Coalition was holding on to that information, understood it was to stop panic, but HAPMA already knew—and Bo couldn’t worry about hypothetical Psy panic.

Not when humans were dying.

He’d made it clear in his e-mail that he’d had the information direct from the highest sources and that he’d confirmed it by reaching out to a contact he trusted. That contact was Lucas Hunter. The leopard alpha’s mate wasn’t just Psy; her mother was on the Ruling Coalition. Bo wouldn’t believe a word out of Nikita Duncan’s mouth, but Sascha Duncan was a cardinal empath.

Even after over a century of hate and division, humans remembered empaths, remembered their hearts and how hard they’d fought for a better world. More recently, empaths were working to give peace to as many mentally hurt humans as Psy. Bo trusted Sascha in a way he’d never trust Krychek and his ilk.

She’d told him that she’d confirmed the details via multiple sources, including having had the information directly from Ivy Jane Zen.

Another empath.

The sources couldn’t be more trustworthy. He’d made that clear in his message to HAPMA, not noting specific names but stating that his data had been verified by empaths who were independent thinkers. Sascha wouldn’t lie for the Ruling Coalition, and while Ivy Jane Zen was on that Coalition, she had no reason to pander to anyone. Not when her mate was part of a powerful and deadly group that could take on even Krychek.

Bo had asked the fanatics to stop the violence, stop the killing.

Ping.

He opened their reply, swore.

Picking up the paperweight on his desk, he threw it at the opposing wall. It left a dent, falling to the floor with a dull thud.

Breath harsh, Bo’s eyes went to the note again:

Your mind has clearly been MANIPULATED. That’s not your fault. We will FREE you of their hold, but you must STEP DOWN as Security Chief for the good of the human race.

We are here now to FIGHT for our PEOPLE.

Chapter 26

Even the most open heart has its secrets.

—Adina Mercant, poet (b.1832, d.1901)

SILVER WAS LATE by two minutes to her meeting with Moira and Nova, but found only Moira at the main entrance to Denhome.

“Sorry I’m late.” Nova’s breathless voice breaking into their conversation, her feet clad in sparkly pink trainers, her body in the same creamy yellow dress she’d worn to breakfast. “Little Zhenya started throwing up. I was worried it was a stomach virus, but it turned out she’d eaten a mushroom she’d found outside in the minute her father was dealing with her brother.

“But”—Nova took a deep breath, released it—“she’s fine, sleeping cuddled up in her daddy’s arms, and Lizabeta is well able to handle any small matters that arise, so we can go for our walk.”

Silver didn’t speak much on the first part of that walk, the two StoneWater women carrying on the conversation. She didn’t feel sidelined—she wasn’t a huge talker by nature, and she had a deep interest in the still-unfamiliar flora around Denhome.

The women caught on to her interest, began telling her the names of plants and the seasons in which they grew the strongest. Before long, they’d passed the small lake Nova had mentioned and were nearing the den of wild bears.

“They won’t react badly to me?” Silver asked. “They may have never scented a Psy before.”