committed during the period of fracture, because there is no intent.”
Ryan nodded, holding Sophia’s gaze. “Exactly. I knew if I told you of the incident, you would focus on me, leaving the true murderer to go free.”
“But you can see,” Sophia said, “how this places you in the center of the investigation.”
Ryan glanced down, then up, saying nothing.
Sophia tapped Max’s foot at almost the same instant. Getting the hint, he rose to his feet. “I’m going to grab a bottle of water from outside while Ryan gets his thoughts in order. Sophia?”
“Thank you, some water would be great.”
Watching the door close behind her cop, Sophia turned her attention to the boy in front of her. And he was just that, only a boy. A boy, who, somewhere deep inside, was terrified of his own abilities. “Tell me what you were hesitating to say in front of Detective Shannon.”
“Will you keep it confidential?”
Right then, Sophia saw something in Ryan’s eyes that she’d never expected. “As long as it doesn’t affect Councilor Duncan’s safety, it won’t go beyond these walls.”
“At the time of Edward Chan’s murder, I’d locked myself in one of the meeting rooms that almost no one uses because I needed to meditate.”
“Do you continue to have trouble with your Silence?”
“Yes.”
It was a confession that could have this boy sent back to the Center, which made Sophia more inclined to believe him. “Why did you tell me?”
Dark gray eyes locked with her own. “You’re a J. I thought if anyone would understand the pressure, you would.”
Sophia wondered if she was being played very skillfully. “Which meeting room?”
Ryan gave her the details without hesitation. “And I’m not strong enough to teleport,” he said, confirming what they’d already determined. “That’s never been in my skill set.”
“Thank you.”
Ryan opened his mouth, paused, then said, “Nobody really pays attention to an intern.”
“What have you heard?”
“There are rumors in the city that Nikita is as flawed as her daughter.” Ryan’s tone dropped. “I thought, at first, that it was just uninformed talk, but the whispers are gathering in momentum—and that kind of thing doesn’t happen without something, some
“Do you have any idea of who it could be?”
“Not Marsha,” Ryan responded. “She has no genetic offspring. I believe she has given all her loyalty to the Councilor. I can’t narrow it any further.”
The door opened then and Max walked in. Sophia said, “Keep your ears and eyes open, Ryan. Let me know if you hear anything.”
“I will.” Rising, he glanced at Max, his expression opaque, his dress faultless—the perfect Psy . . . on the surface. “Do you have any further questions for me, Detective?”
He left as soon as Max shook his head. “I believe him,” Sophia said after filling Max in. “I think he applied to work for Nikita because of Sascha.”
Max tipped back his chair. “Explain.”
“It’s obvious his reconditioning didn’t work as well as everyone believes.” Reaching out almost automatically, she pushed his chair back on all four feet. “I think he’s hoping that since Nikita has a daughter who feels emotion, she’ll go easier on him if the truth comes out.”
“Nikita’s got a heart of fucking stone and I’m being cruel to the stone there.”
Sophia had heard whispers of how Nikita had ascended to the Council—her sheer cold-blooded nature couldn’t be doubted. “Yes.”
“I hear a ‘but.’ ”
“She allowed her daughter to grow to adulthood, when it would’ve been far easier for Sascha to have had a fatal ‘accident’ in childhood,” Sophia said, knowing he understood what she didn’t say, the parallels she’d drawn. “And in the end, the reality matters less than the perception. Ryan wants to find something, someone who’ll be on his side.”
“I get why he’d latch on to her,” Max said, “but if Nikita’s the best he can do, the kid’s in serious trouble.” He tapped the two printouts he’d just put on the table. “We take Ryan and Marsha out—I’m with the kid on her loyalty, plus Sascha confirmed they were together when Chan died—and we’re left with Andre Tulane and Quentin Gareth.” Tiny lines fanned out from the corners of his eyes. “I’ve got a couple of things I want to check where those two are concerned.”
“Including Tulane’s mysterious weekly appointments?”
Max nodded. “He’s been very careful not to raise any red flags. Could be a case of hiding in plain sight.” It would, Max thought, require balls of steel to pull that off in Nikita’s territory.
“If you don’t need me,” Sophia said, her lips lush and distracting, “I want to go back to the apartment and look through the PsyNet. I have a few ideas.”
He frowned. “I don’t know much about the PsyNet, but what I do know tells me it’ll put a huge amount of pressure on you to be surrounded by so much data, so many minds.”
“My PsyNet shields appear to be adapting to my increasing . . . need,” she said, and he heard the thread of confusion in her tone, “so that shouldn’t be an issue.”
“I don’t like it.” His protective instincts burned a hot white flame. “You’ll be alone if something happens.”
That gave her pause. “There is a risk, but—”
“Faith,” Max interrupted, recalling the almost protective way the F-Psy had looked at Sophia. “Call her. Ask if she’ll spot you while you go diving through the Net.”
“She’s a cardinal F-Psy,” Sophia said. “Her time is worth hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. Why should she agree to waste it on me?”
Max saw that she truly didn’t understand. “Because DarkRiver’s come to consider me a friend.” And the cats understood—even if they didn’t exactly approve—that Sophia was his. Plus—“You got the message to Nikita when Sascha was threatened. Changelings don’t forget things like that.” He saw her absorb that, give a small nod.
“I’ll call her—but doesn’t the fact that Faith saved our lives cancel out any obligation on their part?”
“It’s not obligation. It’s about building bonds.” Placing his hand on the back of her chair, he met her gaze, the luxuriant softness of her hair brushing his skin. “Promise me you’ll be careful. I don’t want you bleeding out because you’ve been taking risks.”
Her expression never changed, but he could see steam coming out her ears. “I am not stupid, Detective Shannon. Kindly get that thought into your head.”
He wanted to kiss her.
Kaleb walked into Nikita’s office to find her just ending a conversation with a tall male of mixed ethnicity who didn’t move like a changeling but a human. Kaleb knew who the male was, of course. He’d known all about Max Shannon almost the instant after Nikita requested him. The Enforcement detective wasn’t only good at his job, he was as tenacious and stubborn as a bloodhound.
“Councilor Krychek,” the detective said with a small nod as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind himself.
“What do you need with an Enforcement agent?” he asked Nikita as he took a seat in the chair across from her. “We have Arrows for a reason.”
“The Arrows are Ming’s,” she said. “I needed an impartial party.”
Kaleb thought of the continued attempts to hack his shields, the sense of being very closely observed—and the failed tries to track him through the PsyNet when he didn’t want to be tracked. He could have ended the game days ago, turning the tables on his trackers—though, given their skill, it would’ve taken a concentrated amount of time and effort—but he was intrigued enough to let it continue. Because there was one group and one group alone in the Net with the covert skills to evade the traps he’d laid to date—and if that group had decided to shift its
