Valentin closed his hands over Silver’s shoulders from behind, the two of them speaking to Ashaya via Silver’s organizer, which she’d propped up on a shelf at the right height. “How dangerous is your solution?” Valentin asked.

“Dangerous,” Ashaya said flatly. “Silver could die on the operating table.”

His entire being rebelled, his claws threatening to erupt from his fingertips.

“I’d like the details.” Silver raised one hand to close it over his.

“Frankly, it’s experimental.” Ashaya folded her arms, her upper body clad in a light blue shirt with long sleeves. “You’re the first and maybe only ever patient.”

“Not if it works,” Silver responded, sounding far calmer than Valentin felt. “If this works and if audio telepaths are identified soon enough, they can be saved.”

Ashaya pursed her lips, then shook her head as if shaking off an unwanted thought. The dark curls of her unbound hair bounced around her head. “Samuel Rain was the one who put us on this path.”

“What did he suggest?”

“It wasn’t so much what he suggested as that he brings a wild card into the situation that makes me and Amara both think in new ways. In this case, that’s led us to consider rerouting your neural pathways.”

The scientist brought up a diagram. “Since we’re working on the assumption that emotion and audio telepathy are linked—and it is still an assumption notwithstanding the data we’ve been able to gather—it follows that if we disconnect the two, the Tp-A part of your brain may simply stop working.”

Silver’s next question made Valentin want to wrap her up and hold her close where nothing and no one could ever hurt her. “I’d still be able to feel?”

Ashaya’s expression was grim. “I don’t know. Despite hundreds of years of research, the exact mechanisms of psychic power aren’t well understood. It could be that one can’t exist without the other. You’ve done enough research on your own to know the other risks.”

“Yes, there are myriad possible complications.” Silver still sounded far too calm.

Not calm at all, Valentin gave in to need and wrapped her in his arms from behind. “Explain them to me.”

“It’s possible that in rerouting my pathways,” Silver said, “they could damage my primary telepathic ability.”

“The brain is a complex mechanism.” Ashaya unfolded her arms, her expression pensive. “Things are linked in ways we don’t fully understand. The operation could succeed in permanently shutting down Silver’s audio telepathy, erasing her ability to feel emotion at the same time—or it could give her audio telepathy a far larger pathway.” She paused. “The latter risk is low given all we know, but it is present.”

Valentin’s bear rose inside him, agitated and angry. “Cutting the link between Silver’s secondary ability and emotion seems like a simple solution. Why hasn’t anyone else ever thought of it?”

“My family considered it long ago,” Silver told him. “But the risk at that time was catastrophic and, with my shields working to block my audio channels, I had no need to take that risk.”

“The technology just wasn’t there,” Ashaya added, before bringing up more detailed diagrams of the proposed operation. “As you may be aware, Silver, I’m Designation M.”

“With the ability to manipulate DNA itself.”

Ashaya’s lips tugged into an unexpected smile. “Of course a Mercant would know that. This would be much safer if I could manipulate your DNA, but I have no idea which part of your genetic code to target, given the mysteries that still surround psychic abilities.”

“I understand.” Silver inclined her head. “When can you operate?”

Ashaya shook her head. “I’m no neurosurgeon. We’ve lined up a brilliant one whose discretion is unimpeachable, but I’d like to take several further scans, keep you under close observation for—”

“I don’t have much time, Ashaya.” Silver’s voice was crystalline in its precision.

Valentin crushed her closer, aware the pain was ripping her to pieces. He willed the mating bond to take more, give it to him. He could take it, take anything for his Starlight.

“The sound level is close to unendurable,” she continued. “I’m having trouble distinguishing your voice from the others screaming in my head. Valentin’s is the only clear one.”

“That’s the mating bond kicking in to assist.” The other woman picked up an organizer, appeared to be flipping through pages of data. “How long before you can no longer maintain?”

“Twenty-four hours.”

Valentin’s bear staggered. “Can you organize the operation that quickly?” he asked Aleine.

The scientist pinched the bridge of her nose between her forefinger and thumb, thinking so hard he could almost hear it. “Yes,” she said at last. “But we need Silver for those twenty-four hours for scans, observation, brain mapping.”

“Tell me where,” Valentin said. “I’ll make sure she gets there.”

Surprisingly, the operating suite proved to be only a short drive away, the surgeon having already been in the region when Ashaya contacted him. It was in the same private hospital where Silver had had her scans. Owned by Krychek as it was, Valentin had no concerns about the staff’s discretion—the cardinal might be ruthless, but as Valentin had noted long ago, he inspired loyalty among his people.

“How will you and the others get there?” Silver asked Ashaya.

“Don’t worry about us. Just make your way there ASAP.”

“Let’s go,” Valentin said, already moving to grab his socks and boots.

“You can’t come with me,” Silver argued, even as she changed. “The clan needs you today more than it ever has.”

He wanted to roar at her like one of the damn lions who went around telling people they were the kings of the jungle. He’d like to see the peacocks strut if they pissed off an alpha bear. All Valentin’s bear would have to do was sit on one and he’d win. “My mate comes first!” It came out a yell. So did his next words. “That’s how a clan works! It all flows from the top!”

Of course she didn’t give in, his Starlight with her spine of steel and her capacity to embrace an entire clan as family. “Your clan—our clan—is hurt, Valyusha. The normal rules don’t apply.”

“Fuck yes they do.” Ignoring the mess of his own hair, he pushed his hands through the silk of hers. “I am not letting you go through this alone.” It was a growl of sound.

“They’ll be testing for the entire day.” Silver stood toe-to-toe with him, the infuriating, beautiful woman. “Arwen can stay with me for that, and you need to allow him that. He’s an empath. He’s had me within telepathic contact his entire life.”

Valentin kissed her lush mouth. “You don’t have to convince me about family, you maddening woman. I understand.” It was obvious Arwen adored Silver, idolized her. Valentin understood family. Understood that, sometimes, a man had to share his greatest treasure. “Scans and tests only?”

A nod. “I’ll contact you the minute they confirm the time of the operation itself.” This time, she was the one who kissed him. “You can be there in under an hour.”