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)
“Transfer the vehicle’s controls to Theo,” Valentin added. “If she doesn’t drive, I’ll have Enforcement send someone back to mark it off with emergency signs.”
Yakov glanced at the passenger seat. “Hold on a second.” He turned to Theo. “I need to get up to the scene of the incident. Can you drive this vehicle?”
Theo, incisive and quick, didn’t ask questions that would’ve delayed him, just reacted with a nod.
“Theo has it,” he said into the phone. “I’m heading to Enforcement now.”
“Good luck. I hope you locate the bastard.”
After hanging up with his alpha, Yakov quickly programmed Theo’s fingerprint and voice ID into the car’s system so that she had temporary authority to drive it. “If the queue starts moving, drive to where you see Enforcement vehicles, then pull off to the shoulder and park. Tell them you’re with me. I’ll explain everything after I get back.”
He waited only until Theo had given him a nod before he got out and began to run between the rows of cars, his nose already picking up the scent of old blood and ice-cold fear.
* * *
* * *
THEO didn’t bother to get out of the car. She just slid over into the driver’s seat. It was easy since Yakov was bigger than her—she had plenty of space to get her feet underneath the dash. At which point, the automated seat controls reset for her height and asked her to either confirm the setting or make further changes. She confirmed the setting while her heart yet thundered from witnessing Yakov’s sudden burst of speed. She hadn’t realized that bears could run that fast.
It wasn’t the kind of graceful and relentless speed she might expect from a feline or a canine. Rather, it had been a burst of raw power that propelled him down the road. No human or Psy would ever outrun him. And other changelings would be very stupid to pick a fight with an animal that big and strong and fast.
Once again, Aunt Rita’s wise words reverberated in her head: Never underestimate a bear.
After her pulse finally slowed, she began to scan the highways of the PsyNet for any piece of information on what might’ve happened. She found it minutes later. A live feed into the network built of neural energy from a Psy near the front of the line.
Body on road. Murdered there? Enforcement officers everywhere. I think I recognize a detective from a news show. Maybe the body was dumped from a moving car? People in neighboring cars milling about. One woman says she’s sure it’s just a stunt. Fashion dummy on the road. Annoying. I heard dogs, though. And there’s a forensics van. Oh, I see a dog! Such a floppy face.
Whoever it was uploading the information wasn’t a person with a neat mind. Neither were they anchoring their data; it would disappear within a matter of minutes. Unless, of course, the feed was quickly picked up by one of the bots that scanned the PsyNet for news. Then it might end up in a more stable form in the Beacon or another reputable news organization.
Why, she considered, had Yakov run to the scene?
She’d heard that changelings tended to keep their distance from Enforcement because Enforcement was thought to be controlled by Psy. The latter wasn’t just speculation; Theo had been in her grandfather’s car more than once when he’d called up an Enforcement contact. Theo wasn’t the only reason he’d gotten away with his murderous crimes.
—bear.
She snapped her attention back to the PsyNet stream. The person up ahead was now broadcasting that one of the StoneWater bears had just run onto the scene. Had to be a local to have pinpointed Yakov as a bear without hesitation.
Bears have an incredible sense of smell. Better than bloodhounds. Oh! That’s the breed of dog the cops brought in!
That fragment of information about bear abilities was blurted out by the same person. It explained everything. As for the rest, Theo would wait until Yakov returned to find those answers. For now, she allowed herself to mourn for the nameless victim who’d lost their life for no reason except that someone felt the need to kill. She had never understood that.
Theo was responsible for more murders than she knew, her hands a permanent blood red—but she had never wanted to kill. That makes you no less culpable, said the part of her that would hold her to account till the end of her days.
For the first time, however, she fought back. “What if I didn’t make the choice?” she said aloud. “What if the only person who made a choice was Grandfather? What if he broke my brain so he’d have a puppet?”
The questions hung in the air, the possibility of redemption a painful hope.
Theo? Her brother’s crystal clear telepathic voice. Is all well? I’m hearing disturbing things about events in Moscow.