"No records, no monitors." She was through with being violated.
"Your safety?"
Vaughn leaned forward. "Leave that to me."
Anthony took a moment to consider that before nodding. "Take care of her. She's invaluable."
"Actually, to the PsyClan and to you, my worth is quantifiable." Faith smiled, but it was colored by sadness not joy. Then Vaughn's hand slipped under her hair to curve over her neck and the heavy warmth was a reassurance that to someone at least, she truly was invaluable.
"Not as my daughter."
She was disappointed. "Father, don't try such psychological tricks on me - they are beneath you. If you cared that much about your children, you would've hunted down Marine's killer and you would've learned the name of your Caribbean son."
"I don't understand your reference to your sister's murder. She was an unfortunate victim of the human and changeling appetite for violence."
Faith saw that he truly had no knowledge of the facts, but she couldn't speak of that pain. It was too raw, too fresh. Vaughn spoke for her. "It was one of the Psy. Probably one of your Council's pet killers. What we haven't been able to figure out is why she might've been targeted when she was in the inner circle."
"I see." Anthony's voice remained toneless, but what he said next was nothing expected. "As for your other question - his name is Tanique Gray. He turns twenty-two in three months. Though not an F designation as his mother hoped for, he has a Gradient 9 ability in psychometrics, the first Ps-Psy born into our line in centuries.
"I've seen him twice a year since his birth, per the clause I inserted into the reproduction contract. He has your bone structure, but of course, it is Marine whom he favors most."
Faith wanted to believe it was nothing more than a clever ploy to win her heart and make her malleable to his requests, but somehow knew it wasn't. "Why?" Why go against Psy Protocol, against everything he'd ever taught her?
"Loyalty is not guaranteed by birth. You were such a perfect Psy."
And he'd believed she might see his choices as flaws.
Without giving her a chance to answer, he stood. "Never forget that half your genetic material came from me. Perhaps even the part that gave you your conscience."
Picking up the organizer on the table, he turned to business again. "I'll await your decision - try not to take too long. If you're not going to accept, the clan needs to take other measures to forestall further loss, and you need to find another way to keep yourself safe from the Council in the long term."
Faith watched him walk to the door. "Wait!" Getting up, she made her way to him and then, for the first time in her adult life, she touched her father, hugging him quickly. He didn't return the gesture, but neither did he push her away. When she let him go, she searched his face and found the same blank slate she'd always seen. "Don't you want to break free?"
It seemed as if he wouldn't answer, but then he said, "If all the strong ones leave, then the Council will be completely without limits. I am precisely where I need to be."
"To do what?" Vaughn asked from behind her.
Anthony looked over her head to the jaguar who was her life. "That, Mr. D'Angelo, is not something you've earned the right to know." He left without another word, escorted out by Clay, who'd been standing watch outside the door.
"Your father is a very interesting man."
Faith turned. "Why do you say that?"
"Psy are hard to judge, but what I can say is that your father doesn't give off the stink most Psy do."
"Me?"
"You smell like my kind of sugar, Red." He grinned at her blush. "I want to lick you up from head to toe."
"We were talking about my father." She scowled, but there was lightning in her bloodstream.
"Your father doesn't stink. You and Sascha don't either." He scowled. "Come to think of it, neither does that damn Psy."
She didn't have to ask him to clarify. There was only one Psy who seemed to make him react so badly. "And?"
Scowl fading, he ran his fingers down her spine. "I have very little evidence to back it up, but I think the bad scent is a marker of complete immersion in Silence. Those who have some conscience left, some spark, some ability to break conditioning, don't smell."
She thought that over and whispered a single, shocking word, "Rebellion?"