Not an unexpected development. Powerful human family groups were rare because ordinary humans, the ones without shields, were vulnerable to Psy manipulation, their ideas stolen before they’d ever had a chance to truly bloom. While Ena would strip a mind bare to protect her family, she didn’t believe in such underhanded methods to increase one’s power or wealth—being a shadow power didn’t mean being without ethics.

Mercants had always understood that honor defined a family.

The Patels’ strong genetic tendency toward mental shields went some way to explaining their rise in power, even during the time of the Psy Council, but that wasn’t the only thing that marked them as different. They’d consistently displayed strategic thinking that left their competitors in the dust, a skill that had very clearly been passed on from the time of Akshay’s great-grandfather.

The current head of the family was as smart as his predecessors. Akshay Patel also had a habit of supporting causes that were all about human advancement: scholarships, funding for scientists, grants. None of that was unusual. Many human companies did the same, believing the Psy and changelings had advantages enough.

What was unusual was that in the time since Akshay took over as CEO, the Patel Conglomerate had steadily cut ties with Psy businesses, in stark contrast to the vast majority of human businesses. Everyone wanted to get into the lucrative Psy market. The decision was especially surprising since the Patels were in an advantageous position in that they controlled energy to which certain Psy companies needed long-term access.

While Akshay Patel had maintained his family’s wealth and business success by creating alternative sources of income, he’d also given up sure bets when they involved Psy. Each time a Psy contract came up for renewal, Akshay said no. That didn’t speak of business tactics but a strong ideological viewpoint: Akshay Patel was anti-Psy.

Since the business news media had reported on a recent situation in which Patel had refused to do a deal with a changeling group, he was also turning anti-changeling. Most likely, he saw himself as neither.

No, to Akshay, he was pro-human.

Ena stood in the elegant gray of her living area, looking down into the crashing waves beneath the cliffs on which the architecturally designed house was perched. Her abode was all angular lines and glass, clean and functional, and yet it made a statement. That described Ena as well.

The only things that broke up the internal lines were the dark red roses that grew wild behind the house and that she cut and put in vases. At one point in the past, she’d considered why she did that and realized the answer was both simple and complex. Part of it was Arwen. She hadn’t been this Ena until his birth. She’d been harder. These days, she wasn’t soft . . . but she understood certain subtleties in life.

So she understood that Akshay Patel hadn’t come out of the womb this way. Neither could it be a simple case of nurturing designed to skew his viewpoint—his predecessors had all been happy to work with anyone who brought a good offer to the table. Even Akshay had followed the same path in his youth. Something had drastically changed his viewpoint. Knowing what that was would give Ena the upper hand.

It took her another three hours to find the answer.

That was when she got in touch with Kaleb. As expected, he didn’t blindly obey her request. His implacable will was part of why she’d once thought Kaleb and Silver would make an extraordinary power couple. She should’ve known neither would follow the well-trodden path, both masters of their own destiny.

After explaining the situation to Kaleb, she said, “I’d like to speak to him in a place he can’t control but that is civil.” Violence wasn’t always the best tactic with someone of Akshay’s power and likely arrogance. “I have a location.” She sent him a telepathic image.

Kaleb asked several further questions before saying, “When?”

“Twenty-five minutes.” That would give Ena enough time to prepare a pot of tea and make her way to the windowless cellar bathed by a lighting system that made the room glow as if in sunlight. Set up like a conversational nook, it was welcoming but private. If necessary, it could also become a cage.

“Do you need backup?” Kaleb’s cardinal eyes spoke of power most Psy could never comprehend.

Ena was nearly certain he was a dual cardinal, a creature of Psy myth, but she’d never been able to confirm. “No, I’ll handle this. But I need you to find another piece of information for me.”

Giving a curt nod when she stated her request, Kaleb signed off. Ena made her way to the cellar, was seated in one of the six antique chairs in the room when Kaleb teleported in her guest. He left without a single word. “Please,” Ena said to the man behind the attempt to poison her granddaughter. “Take a seat.”

Tawny brown eyes scanned the room before settling on her. “Ena Mercant, I presume.”

Ena inclined her head. “Would you like a drink?” She held up a bone-china teapot that sat on the graceful white table between them. “Tea?”

Taking a seat across from her with no sign of concern, one of his feet propped on the knee of the other leg, Akshay Patel shook his head. “Nothing personal. I don’t trust Psy.”

Ena wasn’t startled by the elegantly spoken rudeness. She’d expected that after having researched his bargaining tactics. “How can you know the motives or personal beliefs of all Psy?” Lifting a cup of the herbal tea she’d already poured for herself, she took a sip out of the delicate china.

Akshay Patel tugged down the sleeves of his pinstriped navy jacket, aligning them with the pristine white cuffs of his shirt. “Maybe I’m psychic.”

Ena lowered the fragile cup to a saucer as delicate. “You have no fear.”

“Of an old woman with delusions of power?” A mask of faux civility, the smile on his handsome face silent mockery to accompany his insult. “Why should I?”

“How do you expect to get out of this room?”

A gun was suddenly in his hand, the weapon sleek and metallic. “Psy, human, or changeling, a bullet punches through flesh, spills blood hot and red.”

“As occurred with Bowen Knight?” Ena lifted her teacup again.

Akshay Patel’s mask slipped, revealing turbulent emotions. “He wasn’t the target—Bo has done a lot for the human race, but he was being sucked into this takeover of our race described as cooperation. I just wanted to give him a wake-up call.”

“I fail to see how a human-on-human attack would’ve woken him up.”

“They’ll find data on his phone linking the hit to a meeting with Krychek.” A tight smile. “Bo would’ve already been acting on it if he wasn’t so badly wounded. That’s my fault and I take full responsibility for the fallout and the damage to the Alliance—I should’ve sent the shooter after Lily when Bo wasn’t around to protect her.”

“You didn’t do it yourself? I wouldn’t have thought you’d trust anyone with such a critical task.”

A shrug. “I’m no marksman, and there are people I trust with all I love. Not something you’d understand.”

Ena’s research gave her the answer. “Your brother-in-law, a former special operative and close friend. He is, I assume, driven by the same motive as you—the psychic rape of your wife.”

Akshay Patel’s eyes grew hard. “Connecting into that Hivenet of yours, I see. How are the plans for the subjugation of the human race going?”