tolerated. All the Councilors have been informed of that by the corporations associated with their own family groups.'
'You won't stop the Council from 'rehabilitating' your own, but you'll draw the line at business interference?' Vaughn shook his head. 'Hell of a list of priorities.'
'But good for Faith in this case.'
'I'm forecasting different things now,' she said quietly.
Anthony nodded. 'Understood. We're asking you to provide regular business ones as well, unless you can't access those abilities any longer.'
'So the rich can prosper?' Vaughn asked, but she didn't hear any animosity It was almost as if he were trying to get a feel for her father as he would another animal.
'You're a predator, Mr. D'Angelo, at the top of the food chain. In the business world, the same rules apply.'
'Survival of the fittest.' Vaughn turned and ran his hand down her hair in a public caress that was as tender as it was possessive. 'So, Red, what's the verdict?'
'I can provide the forecasts without problem, but I need time to think,' she said past the lump in her throat. How could he do this to her without even trying? 'But one thing I do know is that if I do this, I expect far more by way of profits than I was previously getting.' She was happy to be in a situation where she could strengthen the financial position of her new family. Money was power the Psy understood.
But she also wanted the money for a far more subversive plan. Barely an inkling at present, it was an idea that could change the Psy from within. An idea that might save those like her cousin Sahara, people who'd disappeared into the mystery of the Net, but might still be alive. Caged. Brutalized for their abilities.
'You are my daughter. I expected nothing less.' If Anthony hadn't been Psy, she'd have said he was proud.
'And if Faith accepts, she won't be going anywhere,' Vaughn added. 'All attempts at visions will be undertaken in DarkRiver territory.'
'No records, no monitors.' She was through with being violated.
'Your safety?'
Vaughn leaned forward. 'Leave that to me.'
Anthony took a moment to consider that before nodding. 'Take care of her. She's invaluable.'
'Actually, to the PsyClan and to you, my worth is quantifiable.' Faith smiled, but it was colored by sadness not joy. Then Vaughn's hand slipped under her hair to curve over her neck and the heavy warmth was a reassurance that to someone at least, she truly was invaluable.
'Not as my daughter.'
She was disappointed. 'Father, don't try such psychological tricks on me—they are beneath you. If you cared that much about your children, you would've hunted down Marine's killer and you would've learned the name of your Caribbean son.'
'I don't understand your reference to your sister's murder. She was an unfortunate victim of the human and changeling appetite for violence.'
Faith saw that he truly had no knowledge of the facts, but she couldn't speak of that pain. It was too raw, too fresh. Vaughn spoke for her. 'It was one of the Psy. Probably one of your Council's pet killers. What we haven't been able to figure out is why she might've been targeted when she was in the inner circle.'
'I see.' Anthony's voice remained toneless, but what he said next was nothing expected. 'As for your other question— his name is Tanique Gray. He turns twenty-two in three months. Though not an F designation as his mother hoped for, he has a Gradient 9 ability in psychometrics, the first Ps-Psy born into our line in centuries.
'I've seen him twice a year since his birth, per the clause I inserted into the reproduction contract. He has your bone structure, but of course, it is Marine whom he favors most.'
Faith wanted to believe it was nothing more than a clever ploy to win her heart and make her malleable to his requests, but somehow knew it wasn't. 'Why?' Why go against Psy Protocol, against everything he'd ever taught her?
'Loyalty is not guaranteed by birth. You were such a perfect Psy.'
And he'd believed she might see his choices as flaws.
Without giving her a chance to answer, he stood. 'Never forget that half your genetic material came from me. Perhaps even the part that gave you your conscience.'
Picking up the organizer on the table, he turned to business again. 'I'll await your decision—try not to take too long. If you're not going to accept, the clan needs to take other measures to forestall further loss, and you need to find another way to keep yourself safe from the Council in the long term.'
Faith watched him walk to the door. 'Wait!' Getting up, she made her way to him and then, for the first time in her adult life, she touched her father, hugging him quickly. He didn't return the gesture, but neither did he push her away. When she let him go, she searched his face and found the same blank slate she'd always seen. 'Don't you want to break free?'
It seemed as if he wouldn't answer, but then he said, 'If all the strong ones leave, then the Council will be completely without limits. I am precisely where I need to be.'
'To do what?' Vaughn asked from behind her.
Anthony looked over her head to the jaguar who was her life. 'That, Mr. D'Angelo, is not something you've earned the right to know.' He left without another word, escorted out by Clay, who'd been standing watch outside the door.
'Your father is a very interesting man.'
Faith turned. 'Why do you say that?'
'Psy are hard to judge, but what I can say is that your father doesn't give off the stink most Psy do.'
'Me?'
'You smell like my kind of sugar, Red.' He grinned at her blush. 'I want to lick you up from head to toe.'
'We were talking about my father.' She scowled, but there was lightning in her bloodstream.
'Your father doesn't stink. You and Sascha don't either.' He scowled. 'Come to think of it, neither does that damn Psy.'
She didn't have to ask him to clarify. There was only one Psy who seemed to make him react so badly. 'And?'
Scowl fading, he ran his fingers down her spine. 'I have very little evidence to back it up, but I think the bad scent is a marker of complete immersion in Silence. Those who have some conscience left, some spark, some ability to break conditioning, don't smell.'
She thought that over and whispered a single, shocking word, 'Rebellion?'
'From within? It wouldn't surprise me—your Council's created the perfect environment for it. History paints them as a strong body, but one that had checks and balances. These days they're crossing line after line. Maybe they've crossed too far for some of their own.'
'It'll take a long time even if it is happening.' Though the commercial world had stayed its hand in regard to Faith, the Council wasn't something to be taken down without taking down Silence. And as Vaughn had pointed out, there were thousands, millions, who were completely conditioned and would die that way.
'It's a start.'
She nodded, feeling hope for her people, her race. 'Maybe that was why Marine died. Because she was somehow part of a rebellion and they found out.' If that was true, then her sister's death hadn't been senseless. Her life had been lost in a battle no one knew was taking place. And she would honor that.
'I want to do the forecasts. As well as generating income for DarkRiver, it'll let me use skills I've spent a lifetime developing. More importantly, it'll allow me to keep in touch with Father.' She looked to see how he was taking the news.
'I'm not going to stop you, Red. You're out of the Net. That's what matters.'
'Maybe I can help change things from the outside as Father works on the inside.' She believed in Anthony, this father she'd never known. Now she had the time and the opportunity. Without monitors, he might begin to trust her and they could speak about many things, perhaps even whispers of rebellion.
Two weeks later, Faith was glad to be alive and with Vaughn. Glad? That didn't begin to
