Allegiance of Honor (Psy-Changeling #15) - Nalini Singh Page 0,63

Vasic,” he said afterward, “see if he’ll agree to teleport you.”

Sascha nodded, aware she and Naya couldn’t be seen entering Nikita’s domain. “If Vasic can’t do it, we’ll have to come up with another plan. Mother won’t accept any other teleporter in her domain while she’s weak.”

“Vasic’s an Arrow,” Lucas pointed out. “Dangerous as they come.”

“He’s also bonded to an E.” Nikita considered empaths weak in their emotionality, but she also accepted that they were good judges of character.

“Plus,” Lucas said, eyes narrowed in thought, “Aden’s made it clear the Arrows don’t want to stage a coup. That has to factor into her decisions.”

Sascha had a sudden thought. “What if Anthony’s with her when I go in?” she whispered, her mind flicking back to the hospital waiting room and Anthony’s silent, intense presence.

Lucas paused in the act of unbuttoning his shirt to change into his preferred T-shirt and jeans now that he was about to head out of the office. Anyone who called him while he was in the field would get the changeling alpha as opposed to the CEO of DarkRiver. It was a fine distinction and it kept people on their toes now that DarkRiver was no longer in danger of being dismissed as a small, unimportant pack.

An arrested expression on his face, he said, “If he is . . .” A very wicked, very feline smile. “I’m all for interrupting them and relieving our curiosity about what exactly they get up to behind closed doors.”

Sascha’s shoulders shook, her worry about her mother overtaken by delight that Nikita might be doing something with Anthony, no matter how unlikely that was, given the individuals involved. Any relationship Anthony and Nikita had would never be predictable or understood by others. “You’re such a cat sometimes.”

“Meow.”

Laughing, she ducked out of his office before she gave in to the urge to pet him—because it wouldn’t stop there. Then their packmates would catch them and never let it go. Instead, she went looking for their cub. Naya’s animated voice announced her presence well before Sascha saw her. She was still with Clay, who was checking construction specs on a comm screen; far from demanding attention, Naya was happily hanging over his shoulder and talking to Dorian as the other sentinel worked at a drafting board behind Clay.

Another, smaller baby, only a few months old, lay in a plush capsule carrier on the desk next to Dorian. This one was peacefully asleep, all dark lashes and plump cheeks. She was dressed in white socks and a pink one-piece with a daisy print on the front. Tied gently around her head, over a shock of silky dark hair, was a white ribbon.

Sascha just wanted to pick her up and cuddle her close.

“Is that right?” Dorian said to Naya, drawing a line using the old-fashioned set square he preferred over more high-tech tools when it came to his architectural work. His white-blond hair was bright in the sunshine pouring through the casement windows on this level of the midsize building, the open plan area maximizing the space and light.

“You don’t say.” Glancing at the sleeping baby at the same time that he responded to Naya, Dorian reached out and touched the tip of the baby’s nose. She smiled in her sleep and seemed to settle even deeper.

“Yes,” Dorian said when Naya talked to him some more.

Included was the word “Dor” several times. Naya definitely knew her packmates.

“This is Mialin Corrina,” Dorian said, as if he’d fully understood Naya’s question. “She belongs to Ria and Emmett. You can play with her when she gets a little bigger.”

Sascha leaned against a wall of the workspace and just watched the four of them. She wasn’t the least surprised when Lucas’s executive administrative assistant, Ria, came to stand beside her. Shaking her head, the shorter woman said, “I swear, these guys make my ovaries explode.”

“It’s even worse when it’s your own mate, isn’t it?”

“Oh God, yes.” Ria sighed, her brown eyes warm with love as they lingered on her baby. “Emmett does this thing where he tells her stories while cuddling her to sleep. My heart goes boom every single time. I have zero willpower for hours afterward—the man could ask me to dance naked while playing bongo drums and I’d do it.”

Sascha nodded in sympathy. “The first time I walked into the room and saw Naya asleep on Lucas’s chest while he slept, too, his hand over her naked baby butt . . .” Sascha sighed, rubbing a fist