Psy (Alien Castaways #3) - Cara Bristol Page 0,41

slipped into her mind.

The door slammed against the wall as she stumbled backward, waving her arms to ward him off. What are you doing? Get away. Get out of my head!

What’s wrong? he asked, bewildered.

Get out of my mind! Get out! She grabbed her head.

Psy recoiled and withdrew as the Verital Code of Honor required. “What’s wrong? What happened?” She’d never reacted this way before. She’d always welcomed the mental union. Over her shoulder, he caught sight of chaos. Boxes were stacked against walls stripped of pictures and artwork. Furniture had been shoved aside. “What’s going on? It looks like you’re moving. I guess you broke with your mother after all,” he said, still confused by her reaction to the mind link.

I’m moving to Boise with Mom.

What? He knew he should have come in when Cassie talked to her! Rosalie must have used the fake guardianship to force her into submission. He pressed his lips together, disliking Rosalie more than ever. Was she at work or still at home, he wondered. Lowering his voice, he said, “You don’t have to go with her. Shadow discovered there is no guardianship. You’re totally free.”

Her expression still blank, she wrote, I want to go.

For long silent seconds, he could only gape at the stark words on white paper, the meaning eluding him. “What are you talking about? What about us? Your speech therapy?”

His confusion and anxiety spiked. What had happened since last night? He wished he could enter her mind, but she’d ordered him away, and he couldn’t violate the code.

No us. No therapy. No need.

Screw the code. Without her knowing, he slipped a tendril into her mind. She emoted no love, no affection, no anger, no sadness, no fear…nothing. Her lack of affect shocked him more than anything. Stunned, he withdrew. “I don’t understand. Why would you move now? What changed?”

Nothing. She shrugged.

“We’re genmates.” She’d told him she loved him! Mentally and verbally. He recalled her determination to say the words. She wouldn’t change her mind overnight. Would she?

This relationship isn’t working for me. Sorry.

He reeled as if she’d stabbed him in the heart. “I don’t believe that! Why are you acting this way?” They’d joined minds. He’d known the essence of her from the inside out. This wasn’t Cassie. If she’d wished to break up with him, there would have been some emotion—regret. Guilt. Discomfort. Something. She didn’t even move like herself: her normally graceful gestures had become wooden, her animated face now devoid of expression.

He sent out another probe and touched her mind. She forced him away with a powerful mental shove that sent shock ricocheting through him. How had she done that?

Her pen swiped across the page. Leave.

“Not until you talk to me. Explain what the herian is going on? What changed? Why are you acting this way?”

“Who’s at the door?” Rosalie emerged from another room, came up behind Cassie, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Oh, it’s you.” Her lip curled. “My daughter doesn’t want to see you anymore.”

“I don’t suppose you had something to do with that?”

“I won’t deny I think it’s a smart decision, but she made it on her own.”

Cassie nodded vigorously. Too vigorously.

“I want to talk to her alone.” He pressed his lips together. “Come walk with me, Cassie.” He held out his hand.

She shook her head.

“She doesn’t want to see you. Her mind is set. You must accept the relationship is over and move on.” Rosalie’s gaze locked onto his, and he jerked in shock. Without colored contacts, her large irises were near-black, making her eyes appear pupil-less.

He felt a slight nudge and then the subtlest pressure in his brain. The insistent, convincing ideations melded into his consciousness, spread through his mind. I was wrong. We’re not genmates. Cassie doesn’t love me. I need to give up.

Cassie is human. We come from different worlds. I misread her intentions. She never cared for me. She was merely curious. She needs a human man, not a ’Topian refugee still hiding from the Xeno Consortium.

I was wrong. We’re not genmates. She doesn’t love me. I need to give up. The truth echoed in his brain.

“It’s time for you to leave.” A sheen of perspiration gleamed on Rosalie’s grimacing face.

Psy stared into her eyes and mouthed the words, “I was wrong. We’re not genmates. Cassie doesn’t love me. I won’t bother her again.” He pivoted and strode away.

Chapter Seventeen

Rosalie was a Verital!

Psy kicked himself for not picking up on it sooner, but she’d fooled him by