Allegiance of Honor (Psy-Changeling #15) - Nalini Singh Page 0,108

head, she pressed a kiss to his palm. “Your grandfather was so proud of you, Vasic,” she said to him afterward, her eyes locked with his. “Don’t ever forget that.”

Drawing her close, Vasic held her for long moments. “You’ll take care on the PsyNet? This strange disintegration you showed me, it may be as insidious as the original rot.”

“I will, I promise.” Ivy had no intention of bringing their journey together to a premature end. Yes, there was grief here, but there was also love, laughter, hope. “I’m having a comm conference with Sascha and several of the other Es to brainstorm solutions and explanations.” She forced herself to step back. “I love you.”

You’re my heart, Ivy.

Holding the words close after he teleported out, Ivy sniffed back her tears, put a smile firmly on her face, and went to find Tavish. She and Vasic had permitted him to stay home from the Valley school to this point, but she decided that would change come tomorrow morning. Like any Arrow child, he needed the certainty of routine—and being with his friends would hopefully help take his mind off the loss their family had so recently suffered.

“Tavish? Rabbit?”

Scrabbling claws on the floor as a small white bullet shot out of Tavish’s room to come over to her, tail wagging. She knelt down and petted the dog who’d been with her since before she’d found her strength, who had, in fact, helped her find her strength with his own brave fight to survive. The act of stroking his fur comforted her as it had always done.

“What have you two been up to?” she asked Tavish when the seven-year-old came to the doorway.

“The schoolwork the teacher sent,” he answered, a faltering smile on his face. “Is Vasic gone?”

“Yes, we’re all getting back to work.” Giving Rabbit one final pat, she moved over to hug Tavish.

Rabbit had padded alongside her and now leaned his body against Tavish’s.

“I have to go to school tomorrow?” A quiet question with a tremor behind it.

Tavish had been abandoned by his family when he was signed over to the squad, at which point, he hadn’t been encouraged to form any bonds at all. Then had come this new family and a wary dawning of hope.

Zie Zen’s death had struck a harsh blow to that hope, but Vasic and Ivy were helping the boy work through it by always reiterating that unlike the members of his biological family, Zie Zen hadn’t chosen to leave him behind, that it had simply been time for the older man to travel on to the next stage of existence, whatever that might be.

Going down on her knees in front of the boy, Ivy took his hands in her own. “What did Grandfather always say?”

“That education is important, and that the man who has the most information is the man who can change the tides of the world itself,” Tavish repeated almost word for word.

It was clear he didn’t understand it all, but he understood enough. “So,” Ivy said, “school tomorrow.” She smiled. “Your friends are missing you, you know. The teacher told me.”

A whisper of a smile warmed Tavish’s eyes. “School tomorrow,” he agreed, then bent down to pet Rabbit. “Can you play with Rabbit and me today?”

“Not just yet.” Ivy kissed him on the cheek before rising back up. “I have a comm conference, then some other work to complete. But my mother would like your help in her garden. You can finish your schoolwork later.”

Tavish’s face lit up. Ducking inside his room, he came back out having changed into his designated gardening clothes and with a hat on his head. They picked up his child-sized gloves and tools from the outdoor shed before Ivy walked him over to her parents’ home. Her mother was already outside in the vegetable garden.

Thank you, she telepathed to the woman with the strong, rangy body who’d given birth to her.

Gwen Jane would never be the warm and cuddly epitome of the maternal instinct, but she’d fought for her child’s right to live and to be happy. As had Ivy’s father. She loved them with every beat of her heart.

It’s not an issue, her mother telepathed back. The child has a green thumb and a willingness to learn. And it’s useful to have a telekinetic around when I need a spade or forget my gloves in the house.

Ivy’s lips twitched. She was certain her mother was developing a sense of humor, but she was never quite sure. “Have