Wild Invitation A Psy Changeling Anthology - By Nalini Singh Page 0,136

was unmoved by the near tragedy.

A sob burst out of her throat.

God, she was so angry with him.

WALKER had just escorted the last of his charges home and was about to head into the infirmary to look in on Tyler when he glimpsed Marlee and Toby in the White Zone. They were both involved in their own activities and didn't see him, for which he was thankful. Leaning against the outer wall of the den, the stone covered with a fine fern that meant it was invisible to aerial surveillance, he drew in a long, deep breath and fought the urge to wrench both children into his arms.

So quickly, he could've lost Tyler today.

Releasing the breath he'd taken, he turned to look at the woman who walked toward him, frowning when he realized he hadn't sensed her until she was almost to him.

"Tyler's awake." She joined him against the stone of the den. "He doesn't remember what happened, which is a blessing, I think."

Reaching down, he closed his fingers over hers, found them chilled.

"How are you?" Her face was drawn, lines of strain around her mouth.

"Sienna's power didn't replenish you?"

"I didn't need it. This was more about unmitigated concentration." She broke their handclasp to wave at Marlee when their daughter looked over.

"And you?" Lara asked softly once Marlee had returned to her conversation with her friends. "It must've been terrifying to see Tyler collapse, begin to suffocate."

The fact was, Walker's mind had slid into a hyper-calm phase the instant he realized what was happening, his emotions under lockdown. He'd made sure the boy's airway wasn't totally closed, given orders for the two oldest in his group to take care of the others, and then he'd gone to Lara. All the while, a fierce protective fury had raged beneath the calm. He would not lose any more children under his command.

Not as he'd lost so many of the child Arrows, their bodies and minds breaking under the pitiless regime of training, no matter what Walker did to alleviate their suffering. He remembered each and every face, each and every name. They haunted him. He refused to add another ghost to their number.

When he opened his mouth, however, what came out was, "I'm fine," and it was a response fed by the decades he'd lived in the cage of Silence, his mind still on autopilot. "I'd like to see him." He reached for her hand again, needing her on a visceral level.

Lara folded her arms.

Every muscle in his body froze, and he barely heard her say, "Tyler would enjoy a visit," through the rush of blood in his ears.

"What's wrong?" Only once before - during their turbulent courtship - had Lara pulled away from him. That day, he'd drowned in bleak despair; today, a hot flame of anger licked at him.

Because he knew she'd only do something like that if she was hurting.

And still she didn't speak, didn't tell him what had wounded her. "Lara."

"You're doing it again," she whispered at last, the simmering anger in her tone seeded with a fine vein of pain that cut like a razor. "I know you're angry, and yet here" - she thumped a fist against her chest - "I feel nothing. Just this mirage of peace that you throw at me to block me from seeing you." A single tear rolled down her cheek. "Why would you do that, Walker?"

He'd gone motionless at her first words, welcomed the whack of the errant soccer ball that bounced against his leg. Jerking, he kicked it back and gripped Lara's forearm when she would've turned and walked away.

"You knew who I was when you accepted my courtship." If she couldn't take him as he was, the fractures inside him would be permanent and irreversible.

"And you knew who I was." Wolf amber brilliant against the lush hue of her skin. "I'm not fragile. I won't break if you let me see your pain, your fury, your worry."

It felt as if she'd kicked him in the heart. "I've told you things I've told no one else on this earth." He wanted to yell, but his voice came out deadly calm.

"Yes." Tears shone wet in the amber, her voice dropping to a whisper, "It means everything that you invited me into your secrets. Everything." The panic struggled to recede under her passionate vow, hit a snag. "Then why?" Why was she walking away from him, ripping him to pieces?

"It's not enough to allow me into your past if you