Valentin, however, clearly had no compunctions about walking into it.
Picking up the disposable cup, she took a cautious sip: hot nutrient drink lightly flavored with what might've been peach. "Spasibo."
"What did I say about thanking me for feeding you?" His smile took the sting out of the rumbling chastisement. "Can you break for a minute?"
"Yes." A pause to intake the drink and loosen her tense muscles was only sensible. "I'll have to stay connected to the Net and take any urgent calls that come in."
"No problem. I just have someone with me who was missing you." Turning back, he whistled.
A little body ran pell-mell into the office. Dima's face lit up at first sight of her. "Siva!" Running around her desk, he lifted up his arms.
It would've been honest and rational to tell the cub that she was no longer interested in such tactile contact, but she'd never been cruel. Not under Silence and not outside of it. This child didn't understand the change in her, saw her only as the woman who'd treated him with care during their acquaintance.
"Dima." Easily lifting him up despite his dense changeling build, she placed him on her lap. "Have you been behaving?"
An enthusiastic shake of his head. "I climbed up the side of Denhome until Mama said if I didn't come down, I'd be in time-out for a week."
"I see." She redirected a telepathic contact to one of her team who was also telepathic. "Did you obey her instructions?"
A gleeful grin. "I fell down and Mama caught me." Curling up into her lap, he said, "Wanna see my bear?"
Used to the bear desire to show off, Silver nodded. And the neatly dressed little boy in her lap turned into a shower of light that formed itself into the shape of a small white bear who stood up and growled at her--as if saying "boo!"
"He's a polar bear." Silver had not been expecting that.
"Chaos's genes," Valentin said with a smile.
Her comm rang at that instant with a call she had to answer. Instead of being impatient, Dima lay quietly in Silver's lap, her hand on the pristine white of his fur. Valentin, meanwhile, sat across from her doing something on his own phone, a scowl on his face. Halfway through, Dima shifted into a naked little boy who started to draw on the blotter on her desk while she made sure his small body didn't slip off her lap.
"Thank you, I appreciate the promptness of your response," Silver said, finishing off the call.
Dima turned to face her the instant she was done.
"Did you come to the city to visit me," she asked, "or do you have other plans?"
"Just to see you!" An exuberance of smiles before he whispered, "I hid in Uncle Mishka's truck, but he smelled me." Wriggling up after that breathless recitation, he wrapped his arms around her neck. "I miss you, Siva. Are you gonna come back to Denhome soon?"
Silver's gaze met Valentin's over the top of the little boy's head. And that huge heart, it was right there. "Come on, Dima," he said. "We'd better let Silver finish her work."
The child known for being a barnacle immediately let go, the tone in Valentin's voice clearly that of an alpha speaking to one of his clan. "Bye, Siva." A big kiss pressed to her cheek. "Did you drink your food? Uncle Mishka says it'll make you strong."
Releasing the boy's weight as he scrambled off her lap, Silver picked up the cup and took a long drink. "I'll finish it," she promised. "Try not to fall off any more walls. You're only a small bear."
"I'm going to be big like my papa!" Running around to Valentin on that determined declaration, he said, "I got no clothes now."
"What're you going to do?" Valentin asked. "We are in Moscow--you might be busted for public nakedness."
Dima shifted again.
Laughing, Valentin picked him up, holding the cub against his chest. "You think you'll be free tonight?" he asked Silver.
She shook her head. "I'm likely to be here all through the night." She'd have to send her assistant home for a change of clothes at some point.
Valentin just nodded and left holding Dima, who was waving madly with one paw over his shoulder. Her office felt strangely empty after they were gone, as if all the air had been sucked out of it. Silver tried to shake off the odd sensation, but she found herself getting up and standing by the large window behind her desk, the drink in hand.
Valentin and Dima exited the building a few minutes later. Valentin paused, looked up. So did the small white bear. They both smiled and waved. Silver lifted her cup in a silent salute, her free hand rising to press against the glass. Seconds later, they were gone, swallowed up in the flow of traffic around the building--or they should've been. She saw them every step of the way, irrespective of how many others walked around them.
When they finally disappeared into the bullet-train station in the distance, Valentin likely having left his vehicle in the parking garage below the station, she felt the loss like a cut inside her. The wrench was startling and it had her listening. But there was nothing she wouldn't normally hear. Her audio telepathy was dead.
Her comm began to beep. A telepathic alert sounded in her brain.
Turning away from the window, she got back to work. But she made sure to finish the drink. Right when she would've begun to run out of energy again, a delivery was made to the office from the same cafe. Sandwiches and drinks for the entire office.
"Signed for by Alpha Nikolaev," the Psy deliveryman said. "All prepared under the watch of a StoneWater employee."
Devi took care to scent all the food regardless. "Valentin told me to make sure," she said to Silver. "It's sooooo cute how he looks after you. I hope my mate feeds me, too."
Silver ate the sandwich marked with her name--the spread was the same one she'd enjoyed in Denhome--and she drank the accompanying nutrients.
When Valentin messaged her two hours later to check how events were developing, she removed her earpiece and took the call on her personal phone. "The humanitarian situation is under control," she told him. "The death toll currently stands at five hundred and seven." That was five hundred and seven too many for Silver. "The majority died in the initial blasts, but we've lost at least a hundred people as a result of the injuries they sustained during the attacks."
"You doing okay, Starlight?"
"Given my tiredness, my efficiency is no longer at its peak, but I haven't made any errors." Silver's eye fell on the empty drink container on her desk. "The food was appreciated."
"You're being sneaky, thanking me by using fancy words."
Silver toed off her heels, flexed her feet. "I was brought up to be polite."
"Hang around with me long enough, and we'll change that."
Hearing a horn in the background, she said, "Are you in the city?"
"Ran in some of the young clan soldiers for a party. One of us will be coming back in to pick them up in a few hours."
"If you'd rather just stay in the city, you can use my apartment." Her offer had nothing to do with emotion; she was just repaying the favor StoneWater had done her.
"You know what, Starlight? I'm going to take you up on that. I need to crash anyway--did a double shift yesterday."
"I'll call complex security, clear you in. Not that you need it."
A deep chuckle. "Hopefully my bigfoot-sized body won't break your couch."
"Take the bed. You'll be uncomfortable on the couch." Not thinking too hard about what that would mean for her when she went to bed, she said, "I have some information I need to give you. It's from Lily Knight."
Another urgent call lit up her comm screen just as she finished briefing him about the Patel Conglomerate. "I have to go." It was ten minutes later that she contacted complex security to let them know Valentin was cleared.
They laughed, delight in their tone.
"Of course he is," the woman on the other end said. "He's your mate. Your scent imprint is all over him."
Silver was still thinking about the latter when she finally left her office. It was now five in the morning, and she'd sent her local staff home three hours earlier.
They'd return to the office at eight, while she'd come in at nine--and she'd be on call to her human deputy her entire rest period.
Her phone rang just as she reached the complex. "Sergeant," she said. "A problem?"
"No. I saw you'd logged off and wanted to let you know I appreciate the vote of confidence. I know this incident is way beyond anything else I've handled."
Silver wasn't used to delegating, but her team wouldn't function at peak efficiency if she insisted on doing everything herself. "I trust your readiness for the task," she told the human male. "But don't hesitate to call me if it's something that needs my input."
"Will do."
"I'll speak to you after I wake, so please make sure you're ready to deliver a concise briefing to bring me up to speed."
"Consider it done, Chief." He signed off before she could remind him her actual title was Director of EmNet--not that she expected her team to use that. She'd learned from watching Valentin lead, understood that informality did not mean a lack of respect and that it could form deeper bonds over time.
Clearing herself into the complex using the retinal scanner, she didn't jump when a wolf prowled up off the grass inside and, loping up to the pathway, padded beside her all the way to her apartment. She recognized that black coat with its fine threads of bronze as Margo Lucenko, head of complex security and senior member of BlackEdge. "Spasibo," she said once she reached her apartment.
The wolf didn't leave until Silver had opened her door and it had padded inside to check out the scents. Only after Margo was satisfied the area was safe did she step back and give Silver a nod before heading out. Silver shut the door, kicked off her shoes, and, going into the bedroom, placed her organizer and purse on the bedside table.
Her bed was made, with no visible signs of Valentin's presence. But when she slipped into bed after completing her nightly routine, the warm, earthy scent of him seeped into every cell of her body. Silver slipped into sleep in a heartbeat, Valentin wrapped around her like a blanket.
The Human Alliance
There are those who call me the bridge between disparate interests. I hope that is my legacy. That my children and my children's children into the future become the bridge whenever violence and horror threaten the world.
--From the private diaries of Adrian Bowen Kenner: peace negotiator, Territorial Wars (eighteenth century)
LILY HAD BEEN asked to take over the communications officer role in the Alliance because she had a natural ability to put people at ease in any given situation. She was also very good at judging the media currents and had the technical skills to ensure the Alliance's message got through without disruption.
The work suited her, but she'd always understood that she was the conduit, and that was fine with her. She didn't want to be the person who made the decisions. That was Bo's role and he'd been born for it.
"We need you," she said to her brother, her hand locked tight with his where it lay against the white sheet of the hospital bed. "The others want to bring Akshay Patel in, torture the truth out of him, even though all we have are rumors." She swallowed. "They're angry and hurting, and it's pushing them into unconscionable decisions. I've managed to pull them back for now by reminding them you wouldn't green-light something like that."
Once, he might have. Her brother wasn't perfect--he'd made mistakes, many of them. But he'd learned, become a true leader, one who understood that a society couldn't be built on shadows and lies. "We're watching the Patels and their associates very closely. I've done some hacking, gotten a line into their communications systems." Beyond her being the face of the Alliance, that was her greatest skill.
"I don't think Akshay Patel is connected with the Consortium. From everything we know, the Consortium is made up of the power-hungry from all three races, and HAPMA wants humans to stay separate." She paused. "Of course, he could be a part of the Consortium for his own ends. They do both want Trinity to fail, after all."
And Akshay Patel was ruthless enough to work with his enemies and to use HAPMA so long as their goals aligned with his. "This isn't what I'm good at, Bo." She could see those facts, but she didn't know how to use them to get the answers they needed. "The others on your team are so angry that they're blinded by their rage. You're our center and our compass."
Her brother had single-handedly brought humans out of obscurity. He was the Human Alliance. Lose him and they'd lose everything. "I need you." A raspy whisper. "Wake up, Bo. Please."
But her strong, powerful brother remained silent, his body quiet, when Bo was all tightly controlled energy, vividly alive even when he wasn't in motion. The doctors had told her there was a high chance he might never wake--and if that ended up being their final conclusion, she'd follow Bo's wishes and pull the plug. Her brother had made it clear that if he was ever in this position, they were to harvest his brain and find out what was happening with the telepath-blocking chip.
"Not yet," Lily whispered. "I know you're too tough to die. We'll wait."
Chapter 45
It takes a lot to anger a bear, but when enraged, they are merciless foes.
--Found in the notes of Adrian Kenner: peace negotiator, Territorial Wars (eighteenth century)
VALENTIN THREW PAVEL against one wall, his twin against the other. They both took the impact with audible "oofs" of sound, shook themselves off. Pavel was the one to speak. "What the hell, Valya?"
"The baby is sleeping." He pinned them to the spot with his gaze. "Keep it down."
The other man settled his abused shoulders, a scowl on his face. "Yasha and I were just wrestling. Not being loud."
"Your audience was being loud." He glared at the sheepish-appearing group of bears now looking anywhere but at him; most were still in their pajamas as they geared up for an early start. "Did I hear bets being placed?"
Yakov rubbed the back of his neck, a blush of color across his cheekbones. "Sorry." He and Pavel came to join Valentin. "How's Silver?"
Of all Valentin's clan, only his seconds and Nova knew exactly what had happened. "She's driving herself hard." It infuriated him that she wasn't taking care of herself as she should, but he was more than capable of picking up the slack--hell, he'd pet and cosset her if she wouldn't strike him dead where he stood for daring.
Damn but he loved her. "She's agreed to have kids with me."
Yakov blinked. "Huh. Really? Even after they rewired her brain?"
"Yes."
Pavel's dimpled smile was pure joy. "That's great news, Valya."
Valentin nodded, the puppy inside him a little bruised but not broken. Because she'd invited him into her home, told him to sleep in her bed, eaten the food he sent her--and banned him from telling anyone they weren't mated anymore. Not that Valentin believed the latter. Her cold, beautiful starlight might be missing inside him, but it wasn't gone.
"What's the situation with the BlackEdge border?" he asked after forcing his mind off his mate with conscious effort of will.
"Juveniles playing 'I dare you.'"
"Bet they weren't as good as we were when we played that game," Pavel said.
"Of course not." Grinning, Yakov bumped fists with his twin. "Anyway, I cracked the heads of ours; Stasya told BlackEdge of theirs. It's sorted."
"Good." Valentin's phone buzzed with an incoming message.
Reading it, he felt his heart kick.
Monique Ling has just arrived.--Ivan
Ivan Mercant was Silver's cousin and part of the security team at the apartment building where she'd lived prior to the attempt on her life. Valentin had reached out to the man after he'd spoken to Grandmother Mercant and confirmed that Ivan had finally been cleared of any involvement in Silver's attempted poisoning; it had taken so long because he was the one Mercant perfectly placed to get the poison into Silver's apartment.
Ena had fully briefed Ivan as soon as he was eliminated from the suspect list.
As for Monique Ling, she'd thrown Ena by turning out to have a powerful natural shield.
"You would've scanned her if she hadn't?" Valentin had asked, his arms folded and his opinion of the breach of privacy clear.
"Integrity is a useless relic when my granddaughter's life is at stake."
"Silver wouldn't thank you for it." He knew his Starlight; she'd made her own choices, and they weren't always the same as Ena's.
"The point is moot since I couldn't get into Monique Ling's head."
Ena was certain she'd gained all possible information from the woman regardless, but Valentin wasn't so sure. Conversational interaction was not Ena's forte.
I'm on my way, he messaged back.
After telling his seconds what was up, he left for the city. It was pure chance that he spotted his mother moving through the trees in her bear form; Galina Evanova didn't normally come this close to Denhome. Heart thundering, he halted the car, stepped out . . . and she pounded away.
Valentin could've caught her, but that would've achieved nothing.
His soul full of a sadness that was more than a decade old, he got back into the rugged all-wheel drive and drove on.
It took Monique Ling three minutes to open the door after he knocked. Her mahogany brown hair was damp but combed straight, her bangs a thick wedge across her forehead, and her body clad in loose white pants and a white top. "Oh!" Her bow of a mouth curved. "You're Silver's man! I saw it on the comm channels!"
"I am." Valentin leaned against the doorjamb, arms folded and a smile on his face. Bears could be charming. Today, he'd be charming. He had a feeling Monique would react better to charming than to Ena's brand of frosty politeness. "I was wondering if I could talk to you?"
"Sure!" She opened her door wide, all girlish happiness, despite the fact she was thirty-three years of age. "How's Silver?" Big and round brown eyes looked at him with an earnest expression. "She's icy, you know, in that Psy way. But she was always nice to me, even when I bothered her about random things like which color of cream was her favorite."
Valentin quickly reevaluated his first impression of Monique Ling; she was far more emotionally perceptive than she might appear on first glance. "She's my mate," he said with a wicked smile. "So by definition she's doing great."
"Ha! That's bear logic for you." Clapping her hands, Monique walked him in. "I dated a bear once. Most fun I had in years."