"An offer." She was sick and tired of being mistrusted. "You said you had some telepathy. Is it enough to scan an open mind?"
He didn't answer her.
So she went with instinct, assumed he could do what she was asking. "Come in, see what I know, see what I am." Trust me, she wanted to say. Because anger would only take her so far. She felt so alone. In the days since he'd locked her in that room, she hadn't slept more than a couple of hours a night, too aware of the endless emptiness of her existence.
The skin tightened over Dev's cheekbones. "You trust me that much?"
"You've been up-front - if I prove a threat, I die. Otherwise, I don't think you'll brutalize me."
He flinched, as if she'd hit him. "That kind of invasion, it's nothing a telepath would choose."
"I am. I need you to stop treating me like a fraud. I'm not."
"No." His jaw set.
"Why?" She twisted to face him. "Because you'd feel guilty about invading my mind? I'm giving you permission, Dev."
"That makes it no less invasive."
"And this?" She waved her hand. "This - where I'm treated like a consummate liar - is better?"
He glanced up. Following, she saw Tiara looking at the two of them with unconcealed interest. Dev's tone was clipped when he turned back to her. "We're not discussing this here."
Heat rolled up her body, threatening to color her face. "Fine. But we will be discussing it."
The unloading of the airjet went like clockwork. Cruz and his minders were in a vehicle by the time Dev descended with Katya. DarkRiver had sent a welcoming party of four, with two all-wheel drives.
A tall male with distinctive blond hair tied back in a queue stepped forward. "Vaughn," he said, extending a hand.
"Dev." As they shook, Dev saw Vaughn's eyes flick to Katya, then back. Aware the man was a sentinel, one of the highest-ranking men in Lucas's pack, Dev figured Vaughn knew exactly who she was, but he made the introduction anyway. "This is Katya."
Vaughn didn't offer her his hand - a courtesy, since most Psy in the Net preferred not to be touched. "Ashaya's looking forward to talking with you."
"I'm not sure how safe that'll be," Katya said, face drawn.
Vaughn didn't seem worried. "We've got reinforcements. Come on - you two can ride with me and Cory. You met Mercy?"
Dev shook his head. "I heard you mated with a wolf," he said to the beautiful redhead who lifted her hand in a small wave.
"The trauma's just starting to wear off." A deadpan voice, but her eyes sparkled. "I'll be driving the others. This is Jamie." She jerked her thumb at the male beside her, his hair dyed a bright butterscotch yellow streaked with cobalt. "He's riding shotgun."
Vaughn waited until the first vehicle had pulled out before following. He offered Dev the front passenger seat, but Dev chose to sit in back with Katya. The drive passed in easy silence - for the front-seat passengers in any case. Dev was supremely aware of the rigid line of Katya's spine, the knife-edged question that still hung between them.
He wanted to grab her nape, make her turn to face him instead of staring out the window. Battling the urge gave him one hell of a headache. As a result, he was in a shit of a mood by the time they arrived at the location DarkRiver had chosen for the meeting with Sascha.
"Nice place," Dev said. Set on a large plot of land that gave it privacy from neighbors, the single-level house was big enough for all of them. The others had already settled in according to the text message he'd received from Tiara. "How far are we from the city?"
"Fifteen minutes," Vaughn answered. "We'll leave you one of the vehicles - and we can get you another if you think it's necessary."
Dev took a moment to think about it, very aware of Katya standing silently on the other side of the engine. "One more would be good in case we have to split up for some reason. I want both coded to recognize me, Tag, and Tiara."
Katya's hand curled into a fist on the hood.
"Only take half an hour or so," Vaughn said. "Cory'll code you into this one - then you can do your other people."
As the young male leopard worked with the car's computronic system, Dev saw Katya step around to stand near Vaughn. "Is Ashaya well?"
"Yes." The sentinel raised an eyebrow. "Thought she came to see you."