Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity #3) - Nalini Singh Page 0,87

of it her anchor.

Memory parted her lips to reply yes, of course, then paused. “No,” she said slowly, her eyes widening. “He isn’t devoid of emotion, and he felt no pleasure during the attack . . . but there is a strange ‘wrongness’ to him. An image seen through cracked glass.”

“Insanity of another flavor?” Aden asked in that same winter-frost voice Memory hoped his mate would be able to thaw.

It was Jaya who’d told a disbelieving Memory that the leader of the squad was happily mated to a “kick-ass” Arrow assassin. “She’s terrifying—but only to people who dare hurt her people—and she has a huge heart and Aden worships her.”

The echo of her friend’s smile had Memory blinking back tears as she continued. “What I sensed was . . . determination.” Yes, that was the right word. “No malice. A soldier taking down the enemy.”

“Not a very organized one.”

Alexei agreed with Aden’s icy judgment, but his mind was on Memory. It was as if she were two people. Her scent kept fluctuating between the sharp brightness of her own and an infinite and disturbing coldness. He could see how that would freak out empaths. Alexei was irritated because he hated that another man’s scent had become twined with her own, but he felt no repulsion, no sense of distaste.

“Do you believe this was true mind control?” Aden asked. “Did the intruder establish an access link? Are my people compromised?”

Fuck. Alexei hadn’t even considered that.

“No,” Memory said at once, her voice sure. “He shredded shields and just took—pure brute force.” A frown in her next words. “It doesn’t tie in with the stable confidence I sensed, but that’s how it was.”

Aden was silent for long seconds in the wake of Memory’s revelations.

“The attack didn’t succeed,” Alexei pointed out to this man who was as much alpha of the Arrows as Hawke was of SnowDancer. “If there’s a risk here, it’s to your people, not the Es.”

These wolves would not maul their charges.

“I can’t trust that this intruder won’t try again.” Aden scanned the compound, taking in the small groups of Arrows and Es who stood close to one another.

Almost all the Es were talking, their expressions earnest and anxious, while the Arrows stood with faces like granite . . . but the deadly soldiers didn’t move away. Neither did they reject or dislodge a touch when an E made tactile contact.

“My Arrows need to step down from security here until we uncover how anyone got through shields that should be unbreakable,” Aden said.

“SnowDancer and DarkRiver can step in.” Alexei had the seniority to make that call for his pack, and he knew the cats wouldn’t disagree. Not when their alpha was mated to a cardinal E.

Aden gave a curt nod and began to turn toward his people.

“Wait.” Memory released a shaky exhale. “You’ll let us know? About Abbot . . . and Yuri?”

Dark eyes held Memory’s. “Yes.” Unspoken was that the updates might not be anything Alexei’s lioness wanted to hear.

Chapter 32

There are indications that Silence had an impact on the power levels of more designations than just E.

—Report to Ruling Coalition from Research Group Gamma-X, Silence & Outcomes

HE OPENED HIS eyes to darkness and the awareness that his mind ached, as if he’d overstretched his psychic muscles. Staring out at the glittering black-and-white cityscape that had been glowing orange under the late afternoon sunlight when he closed his eyes to think over a business problem, he tried to remember the time in between.

Nothing. A blank slate.

Had he fallen asleep? He’d never before done that in the office, but when he turned his chair around to face his desk, his blood ran cold.

A hard-copy contract sat there, the pages partially flipped. When he flipped back to the front, he saw notes made in his own hand. Beside the contract was a half-eaten nutrient bar. He went to reach for it and saw he wasn’t wearing his suit coat and his sleeves were folded back halfway up his forearms. He stared at skin marked only by a small childhood scar.

Then he looked at his timepiece.

Four hours since his last memory.

Four hours of blankness. Four hours during which he’d taken off his jacket, folded up his shirtsleeves, eaten part of a nutrient bar, and interacted with the aide who’d brought him the contract from the changelings.

His head throbbed as he went to telepath his most senior aide, and then his mind flatlined. He stared unseeing at his desk. He’d flamed out, used so