Allegiance of Honor (Psy-Changeling #15) - Nalini Singh Page 0,129
bad really.”
Zach spoke without stopping the massage. “In Annie terms, ‘not too bad’ equals ‘yeah, it hurts like a bitch.’”
“Zach’s exaggerating.” Even as Annie glared at her mate, she was petting his shoulders with the caressing touch of a woman who sensed her mate’s very real worry and was trying to alleviate it. “It hurts but nothing major.”
Tamsyn’s response was a “hmm” of sound.
Leaving Clay to look after the vegetables she’d put on to stir-fry, the healer retrieved a scanner from her kit and, coming down beside Zach, ran it over Annie’s thigh and lower leg. “No signs of strain or degradation in the plassteel itself,” she said, referring to the way Annie’s leg had been rebuilt after the train accident, “but I see a little inflammation in the tissue around it.”
Her eyes met Annie’s. “I can give you a localized and gentle anti-inflammatory that’ll alleviate that and make you more comfortable.”
Annie bit down on her lower lip. “Will it—”
“It won’t have any impact on Rowan,” Tamsyn promised. “You can continue to nurse him.”
Nodding, Annie allowed the healer to administer the anti-inflammatory. Afterward, Tamsyn gave a preloaded injector to Zach before talking to both Zach and Annie. “There are ten doses in there. You can use it a couple of times a week without issue—and less discomfort means less stress on you, which is good for your cub, so do use it.” The last words were an order.
Annie smiled. “Yes, Tamsyn.”
“You’re getting as cheeky as your students,” Tamsyn said, rising to her feet to press a kiss to Annie’s cheek just as Lucas arrived.
So did Dorian, Ashaya, and Keenan. The three had detoured to run an errand after the couple picked up Keenan from the tea party, then decided to swing by. Tamsyn was delighted to have so many packmates in her space, put a couple of them to work helping her prep for dinner.
“Dev might’ve inadvertently pointed me to a possible lead on Leila Savea,” Lucas told them after claiming a hot, wet kiss from Sascha that left her flushed and breathless and happy he was here, safe and strong and with his heart beating under her palm.
She felt his own protective need to be certain of her welfare in the way he held her snug against his side. The only reason he hadn’t hunted down Naya was because they could hear their cub giggling wildly as she played a game with the other young children that had them all in hysterics.
But where her and Lucas’s impact on one another was an exchange between mates, he also had a subtle effect on the others in the room. Each and every one of their packmates had become more calm and steady in his presence. For an empath, it was fascinating to witness the primal impact of an alpha—but for Sascha, a member of DarkRiver, it was simply right.
Lucas was the pack’s alpha. This was what he did.
Today, as they listened, he laid out the trail of bread crumbs and connections that had put a bull’s-eye on the estate next to the IceRock pack’s territory. “I spoke to Miane, let her know. We’re just waiting on the images from IceRock.”
That wasn’t the only news he had.
Sascha listened intently as he shared the report from Jamie. “I had a quick chat with Bastien on the way over,” he added afterward. “He says the transfer of the twenty-five thousand to the captain was as highly sophisticated as the financial transactions purportedly completed by the SkyElm alpha. He’s started pulling things apart, is hoping to get a bead on the person at the end of the money trail.”
Sascha couldn’t wait for that to happen; she’d accepted that Naya would always attract attention, some of it dangerous, but she wanted at least one threat off the table.
“Couple of Trinity things came in while you were meeting with Hawke,” Nathan said after they’d discussed Jamie’s information. “I handled it. Basically, Ming’s continuing to stir up trouble but Hawke’s keeping him too busy shoring up his business interests for it to do much damage.”
Sascha had been impressed by Hawke’s plan when Lucas first shared it. She was even more impressed by how well all the people who hated the venomous ex-Councilor had worked together to thwart him. As the daughter of a former Councilor herself, Sascha knew enough about Ming to know the combat telepath treasured only one thing more than his psychic skill—his tactical intelligence. To have that so publicly beaten would burn.