Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
He knew her intended destination: a park maintained by StoneWater.
Worried about his own anger, he let her go ahead for a minute before he ran to catch up. He had no trouble doing so—bears might not be the fastest of the changelings, but they were faster than a woman in heels. Even when that woman was his alpha’s beloved Silver “Fucking” Mercant.
His bear finding solace in the thought of his clan, he didn’t shrug off Silver’s touch when she took his hand for a heartbeat of a moment. Because she was of StoneWater, carried the scent that centered his bear.
“I’m okay,” he said before releasing her; he knew she remained less comfortable with touch than most bears. Only the cubs and Valentin had free rein—but all of StoneWater knew she was there for them to the death. “So someone—I’m guessing a team—went out and murdered a lot of these ‘rehabilitated’?”
She gave a nod. “Kaleb didn’t know. Neither did Nikita or Anthony. Aden definitely didn’t authorize his Arrows to do it, as they were already independent from the Council by then.”
Yakov bared his teeth, accidentally scaring a man walking toward them into hurriedly crossing the street. “I’ll trust you on Kaleb.” The cardinal telekinetic, a power beyond power, had once been Silver’s boss, and from all Yakov and StoneWater knew of him, the man didn’t play games with the lives of ordinary people.
Kaleb only played with other predators. Which was, to a bear’s mind, fair enough. “And Aden’s Arrows have proven who they are.” The black-clad special ops soldiers had thrown their full weight behind the empaths, vowing to protect them to the last breath.
Yakov had zero doubts that the Arrows had done awful and even unforgiveable things while under Council control, so he wasn’t about to paint them as lily-white. But he also understood that a choice made under duress was no choice at all. Regardless of all else, as Silver had pointed out, the Arrows had said “fuck you” to the Council well before the fall of Silence; no way they’d have done the Council’s dirty work.
“Don’t know about the other two, though.” His bear curled its lip inside him.
“Sascha Duncan confirmed that her mother had nothing to do with the Centers businesswise—that Nikita, in fact, kept as wide a berth of them as possible in terms of her Councilor duties,” Silver said. “Too much of a risk with Sascha being an empath.”
“Nikita knew her daughter was an E?”
“Mothers always know.”
Yakov whistled, not sure what that did to his thoughts on the former Councilor. Nikita Duncan was a coldhearted bitch with blood on her hands, but bears respected parents who protected their cubs.
“As for Anthony,” Silver added, “he came into the Council too close to the fall of Silence to have had those connections—and also, he had no need to dirty his fingers in that ugly pie. Per capita, his family makes more money than almost any other family group in the PsyNet. Foreseers are highly sought after, and NightStar foreseers are the best of the best.”
A pause before she added, “I found a little tidbit about your great-grandfather while I was researching this subject. He was once headhunted by NightStar.”
Yakov’s bear strutted in smug pride inside him. “We always knew he was good, but he was that good?” Everyone knew about the NightStar group and their foreseeing empire.
“According to my contacts, yes. He turned them down because he’d already met his mate, knew that he’d be leaving the PsyNet.”
“Yeah, everyone says he was crazy in love with his Mimi.” Yakov felt a little more of the pressure ease off his chest as they walked into the green space yet swathed in fog that was the simply named City Park. He could handle the metropolitan area fine, but he loved the forests that were his home, and this was a little piece of it in the heart of Moscow. “Who does that leave?”
“Three other Councilors. It could well have been any one of them. Though, if Marshall Hyde had been alive at the time, I’d have fingered him.”
Yakov screwed up his eyes. “Old guy, right? Got blown up.” He mimed an explosion using his hands. “Family group’s now headed by a blond android who looks like he walked out of central casting for the perfect bipedal specimen.”
Silver shot him a sharp look . . . before amusement lit up her eyes. “I happen to think Valentin is the perfect bipedal specimen.”
Yakov clutched at his heart. “Oh, ouch! And I’m right here next to you. But you know what I mean. Pax Marshall is about as physically flawless as it’s possible to get. He’s also . . . flat. It’s creepy.”
“Yes, I know what you mean.” Silver kept to the paved path through the rustling hues of the autumn-kissed forest, while Yakov walked on the grass lush and green.