"No, it doesn't," she said. "If asked, would you have denied sanctuary to a child dying of psychic starvation?"
He gave her a speaking look. "What do you think?"
"I think the Web knew you'd have said yes." She smiled at his expression. "It may be changeling, but it's still a psychic construct - it has the capacity to learn." Kissing his cheek when he blew out a breath, she returned to her diagram. "Because of the way he was brought in, Keenan is linked straight to Dorian, though he also has a very strong and visible attachment to his mother.
"The Web seems to have decided to treat him as their cub, giving him full access." She drew a triangle around the new family. "Amara, on the other hand, is connected through the twin bond." She drew a small circle that cut very slightly into the Web of Stars.
"I initially expected Amara to be connected to Ashaya, and otherwise isolated, but the Web's allowed her to be a peripheral part of it. I think it's because it understands that she's a psychic being, that she needs to know the Web is there. However, she can't actively surf or influence it. I'd worry about that limitation since she is caged in a way, but I think Ashaya is the sole person Amara truly cares about. As long as she can talk to her twin on the Web, she's not bothered."
Lucas continued to stare at the diagram. "If Ashaya dies, so will Amara. But not vice versa."
"Yes." Sascha put away the pen and organizer. "I don't think it could be any other way. Ashaya is a complete sentient being, but Amara..." She put her head against Lucas's chest, finding comfort in the feel of his arms coming around her. "She's only complete if Ashaya exists."
A pause and she knew he was thinking things through. "I guess we can find her a position at Sierra Tech," he said at last, referring to the research and development company in which DarkRiver held a major stake. "We'll give her a chance to prove herself."
"Who knows," Sascha commented, recalling Amara's piercing intelligence, "she might end up being an asset."
Lucas didn't look convinced but he nodded. "Do we need to tell Dorian all this?"
"I'll keep an eye on things, let him know if there's a problem."
"I guess I'll have to trust you." A teasing statement but one that held a question.
Of course he'd sensed her disquiet, she thought. He knew her to the depths of her very soul. "I need to tell you something."
He rubbed his hand along the sweep of her back. "Good. My patience was about to run out - you've been sleeping badly ever since you visited Amara." A lethal edge had entered his voice.
"It's nothing she did," Sascha said. "It's something she said."
"Sascha, we've had this conversation. The woman is a - "
She put a hand over his mouth. "Listen to me instead of acting all alpha."
He licked her palm. She dropped it and scowled at him. "Behave."
"Talk."
"Amara's words triggered some kind of switch in my mind, clarified something I've been getting hints of over the past few months." She took a deep breath, exhaled. "My powers... they're changing."
"How?" His expression grew solemn. "Is it something that's going to hurt you?"
"No, nothing like that. It's this... sense that they're spreading out, developing. I just have no idea what they're developing into." That scared her. Her mother was the best viral transmitter in the Net. She could kill with a single thought. "What if I turn into Nikita?"
"Not a chance." He ran the knuckles of one hand over her face. "Think of it as an adventure. We'll learn about it together." A pulse of love came down the mating bond, a pulse of devotion.
She felt her heart become his all over again. "I'm so glad you're my mate, Lucas." Whatever it was she was becoming, it was no longer so scary, not when she had a panther by her side.
On the other side of the car park, a dark-haired male lowered a pair of binoculars and coded in a call on his cell. "Definite no go," he said to the person on the other end. "The hospital's swarming with DarkRiver leopards."
"Options?"
"We wait until she's released. Quick, clean extraction. They won't be expecting us."
A small pause. "They never do, do they? After all, we're no threat."
"They'll learn different."
"When we're ready," came the order. "Keep watching. They'll drop their guard sooner or later."