Allegiance of Honor (Psy-Changeling #15) - Nalini Singh Page 0,113

with his hands on his knees, his chest heaving as he sucked in gulps of air.

“What’s wrong with him?” Miane asked, but didn’t wait for an answer before pulling out a bottle of water from the pack of a nearby BlackSea soldier and walking over to put it by Tanique’s feet.

Vasic liked her better for the action, for her awareness that her packmate’s life wasn’t the only one that held importance. Waiting until she’d returned to his side, he said, “A psychometric picks up echoes. The older the object, the duller the echo. The newer the object, the harsher and louder.”

Frowning, the BlackSea alpha said, “He wasn’t handling anything at the time.”

“Why do you think he took off his shoes before he went inside?” The building itself was an object and Tanique’s bare feet had been on a critical part of it.

Realization chilled Miane’s features. “Leila was tortured on that spot,” she said in a cold, hard voice. “And that kid relived it?”

That “kid” was a highly gifted psychometric who cost hundreds of thousands to the institutions that hired him. But yes, he “felt” young. Innocent. Enough that Vasic was compelled by the urge to protect him as he would young Arrows who were out of their depth. “We’ll find out soon.” Because Tanique was picking up the bottle of water and drinking.

“Is he sensing things from the bottle?” Miane frowned. “Shit, I didn’t even think about it hurting him.”

Vasic shook his head. “He can shield against his sensitivity to physical echoes the same way powerful telepaths can shield against the noise of the world.” Tanique had to deliberately lower his shields to sense anything from the objects around him.

“I’m glad for him.” Miane folded her arms. “It’d be hell to walk through life never knowing what object or place might send you right into a nightmare.”

The psychometric finished half the bottle, capped it, then came to stand opposite them, more on Vasic’s side than Miane’s. “Thank you,” he said to Vasic, his pupils still hugely dilated. “I’ve never been near such a recent violent event.”

Some might have been surprised by that, since Tanique was Anthony’s son and Anthony was known to be a ruthless operator. But Anthony didn’t think in terms of exploiting his family. He had to understand what Tanique’s ability demanded from him, must’ve ensured his son was never asked to take on tasks that could permanently compromise him.

Vasic inclined his head. “Did you pick up anything useful that might help us track the BlackSea changeling?” He’d phrased the question very deliberately so Tanique wouldn’t feel forced to detail Leila Savea’s torture.

That would help no one, and while Miane Levèque could put on the appearance of calm, Vasic knew she was changeling under the skin, had the same primal drives. There was no point in enraging her any further.

“Nothing,” Tanique said after shooting Vasic a grateful look. “I think I should focus on the doorway. Since it’s the only route by which they could’ve left, I stand a higher chance of picking up facts about their departure.”

“Wait.” Miane went as if to touch Tanique’s upper arm, dropped her hand partway. “Do you sense things from people, too?” she asked, though Vasic didn’t think that had been her original intention.

Tanique shook his head. “Only inanimate objects, though the size of the object doesn’t have a bearing on my ability. I have picked up echoes from trees in rare circumstances, but that’s about as close as I get to reading a living creature.”

“Good to know.” Miane accompanied them back to the doorway. “Did you pick up anything about the people who are keeping Leila captive? Are they Psy?”

Tanique took several seconds to reply. “You must understand,” he said at last. “What I see, I have to interpret. It comes in kaleidoscopic pieces in a massive rush . . . like I’m standing in a wind tunnel with images blowing past me at rapid speed, and those images are in splinters.”

The young male had left out a critical word: “emotion.”

That was the secret psychometrics had somehow managed to keep through Silence—that when they read an object, they felt the emotional resonance attached to it. It was why so many of them had switched to dating only paintings or other objets d’ art. Things that were highly unlikely to have an intimate history of violence. Weapons had been off the agenda for most Ps-Psy for far longer than the span of Silence.

“You’re telling me you can’t say anything with certainty?” Miane