Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
“Will others be born who have the same ability as Ivan and the infant?” he asked, well aware the NetMind had the power to dabble with Psy in ways deep and unknowable.
A sense of sorrow, the image of a fractured line of steel gray.
It remained too weak, too damaged for such engineering.
Kaleb showered it in the flowers it so loved. “You’ve done enough, bought us time to fix what we spoiled.” One hundred years of Silence couldn’t be erased in a single beautiful night, but the NetMind loved its broken people enough to try to give them one final chance. “Thank you.”
Fireworks lit up his mind.
Chapter 49
To be part of the birth of a pack? It’s hard work, I won’t lie. But the rewards—“astronomical” is about the right word. I helped build an aerie that will be used by generations, and I wouldn’t give up even a single blister or callus that came from it.
But the best thing for me, the absolute best thing, is how close we are as a group. Our size means that we all connect on a daily basis, and honestly, this ornery old cat figured she’d go mad pretty damn fast as a result.
Instead, it turns out I love being in the center of the action, and I love that I can be part of everything. I just have to ask—there’s always room for an extra pair of hands and someone ready to train you to the job.
As an example, a day before turning in this article, I spent two hours with my alpha on an important project. The project in question was an educational plan for our children.
We’re now at the point where we’re looking to set up a school and on the hunt for teachers who want to dive into life with an audacious young pack where adventure and discovery are a daily fact—alongside laughter, fun, and waking up to one of the most beautiful places on this planet each and every day.
P.S. I have been charged by the women of the pack to confirm that Remi is indeed scary but sexy, especially when he lets out that wicked smile of his. But he is also now very taken, wild women, so you’ll have to aim for the other sexy unmated singles in the pack. I will be featuring them one by one in the column, never you worry. I know my responsibilities as a Wild Woman columnist!
—“The RainFire Diaries: Part 1” by Vesta Narin, in the December 2083 issue of Wild Woman magazine: “Skin Privileges, Style & Primal Sophistication”
“LIBBY IS STILL sleeping?” A disgusted Jojo threw up her tiny hands. “Babies!”
Biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, Auden crouched down on the grass outside the aeries so Jojo could look down at Liberty’s sleeping face. “Baby cubs sleep a lot,” she acknowledged. “But look how cute she is. Sometimes she even snores.” She imitated Liberty’s adorable snuffle-snores.
Jojo giggled and touched her finger to Liberty’s with the care taught to every cub in RainFire when it came to babies. “Hi, Libby,” she whispered. “It’s your friend Jojo.” She pressed a soft kiss to Liberty’s bare head.
It was an unseasonably warm day, the baby’s glossy brown hair shining in the sunshine. No snow had fallen yet, but they all knew it was on the horizon.
She opened her eyes at her packmate’s touch, those eyes a soft brown full of happiness. Liberty had been checked over by Finn, Dr. Bashir, and every empath known to either RainFire or the Arrow Squad.
The consensus was that she felt like she was just…being a baby. No strain, no tension, no special tiredness. Auden and Remi’s cub simply had a brain that could act as the central processing plant for psychic energy.
Now that Auden knew Liberty was safe, she found grim pleasure in the fact that Shoshanna had inadvertently engineered a gift of hope for the very race she’d been trying to swallow up and control. Auden saw that hope each time she stepped into the PsyNet—to which she and Liberty were still connected, because Liberty was necessary to its survival.
Both of them were, however, also bonded to Remi—and that bond was unbreakable.
One was a bond of need by the PsyNet, the other a bond of love between a family.
As for Shoshanna’s plans, Auden was still going through her mother’s files, but it was clear that she’d been flat out insane by the end. Her whole plan of “transference” and “neural integration” had been the product of a disturbed mind from the start, but mercifully she’d had the sense to hire skilled M-Psy to engineer Liberty’s DNA.
Auden had sent those particular files, as well as a sample of Liberty’s DNA, to Ashaya Aleine. Mated to a DarkRiver sentinel, the scientist was the most top-tier and trustworthy specialist on the subject that Auden could’ve ever hoped to find. The other woman had examined the data with a fine-tooth comb.