The bags under Glen's eyes seemed to grow ever deeper. "Yes. And while he might be of mixed blood, he's got a phenomenal number of active Psy genes, so many recessive pairs . . ." Glen shook his head. "His psychic channels are blocked as long as he's on the drugs, but take him off and they blow wide open."
"Damn." Dev thrust his hands through his hair, rapidly considering and discarding options. "He'll go insane if we don't figure out a way to give him permanent protection."
"I considered a milder dosage of the drugs," Glen said, "even though I hate putting our children on anything."
"But?"
"But those drugs basically turn him into a zombie." He glanced toward the doorway, compassion in every tired line of his face.
"Does he understand what's happened?"
"Tag hasn't been able to draw him out - Cruz probably sees him as his jailer, so that's not much of a surprise."
Dev recoiled inwardly, remembering Katya's turned back, her empty voice. "I'll talk to him. Is there anything else I need to know?" Shoving everything but Cruz to the back of his mind, he took off his suit jacket, then undid and removed his tie before undoing the top buttons on his shirt and rolling up his sleeves. No use going into a child's room looking like the school principal.
"He's got no family as far as we can figure out - Aryan's team tracked him on the ShadowNet."
"Why didn't we pick him up if he's linked in?"Not every Forgotten needed the biofeedback provided by the ShadowNet - like so many things, it depended on their complicated genetic structure. "This is why we constantly run those seminars, so adults know to look out for minors who might need help."
"Because no one could 'see' him," Glen replied. "Boy's completely isolated."
That, Dev knew, should've been impossible. Everyone had someone to whom they felt connected, even if that connection was an unhealthy one neither party would choose. "Aw, hell." No wonder the kid was scared. Making a decision, he rubbed at his jaw. "Can Tag keep a hold on Cruz from outside the room?"
"Yes. You want to be alone with him?"
At Dev's nod, Glen went to the bedroom doorway and waved Tag out. The big man walked into the living area on silent feet, his eyes blazing with fury. "I could strangle his grandparents."
Dev shook his head. "Not if I got to shoot them first." If Cruz had been brought in as per protocol, he would've been taught to develop and protect his powers from childhood. Now, they might be lucky to salvage his sanity. "I could be a while. You okay to hold the shield?"
"I can do it twenty-four hours a day if necessary," Tag said. "Kid's not fighting me - doesn't know how. But I have to remain within a certain radius."
"Can Tiara spell you?"
Tag turned his head but not before Dev glimpsed the dark red flush along the tops of his cheekbones. "She just got on an airjet from Paris."
Glen's eyes lit up with unholy glee. "You must be looking forward to catching up with her."
"I'll beat you both up if you don't shut it."
Glad for the tiny burst of amusement, even if it came nowhere close to easing the ice around his soul, Dev walked into Cruz's room, shutting the door behind himself. The boy was curled up on his side, his ten-year-old body much smaller than it should've been.
His hair was dark and silky - and cut in a bowl shape that would've sent most kids howling to their moms. But Cruz didn't have a mom to complain to. And, until the past few hours, he probably hadn't even realized what he looked like. Now, the boy's huge, dark eyes followed Dev as he grabbed a chair and pulled it forward so he was sitting at Cruz's bedside. That was when he got the first shock.
Glen had said Cruz's eyes were human. They weren't. This close, Dev saw the odd flicker of dark gold in the depths of the near-black irises. Extraordinary. Why had no one noticed? Thinking back, he found the answer - it was possible the drugs had messed Cruz up so completely his gaze had gone dull, too.
"I'm Dev," he said, and waited. Cruz was a ghost to his psychic senses, so slight as to be nonexistent.
The boy didn't say a word.
Smiling, Dev took a different tack. "You're not going to believe this, but I was once your age. If I'd had that haircut inflicted on me, I'd have done serious damage to the hairdresser."
A blink. Nothing else.
"You want me to organize someone to fix it?"
Another blink, but slower this time.
Dev grinned. "Or you could keep it. Women seemed to find it cute on a kid. You'll probably get spoiled half to death."