Shield of Winter Read online

  "I've been watching news reports on the outbreaks."

  "The more the Net degrades," Sascha said, her mind full of the heartbreaking images on the news this morning, "the worse the fallout--for everyone, not just the Psy." All major cities had an entwined population--human, Psy, and changeling residents living next to each other, often in the same buildings. The infected didn't discriminate when it came to their victims . . . even when the victims were too tiny to fight back.

  Sascha had woken Naya after she'd understood the true horror of what had occurred in the night darkness. She'd held her sweet baby, warm and alive and safe in her arms, and she'd cried for the parents who had become monsters through no choice of their own and for the innocents who'd been butchered, Lucas's own arms tight around them both.

  Swallowing the renewed knot in her throat, she said, "A lot of the first responders were taken out by psychic strikes during the outbreaks, even with Krychek's team doing everything it can to round up Psy capable of shielding others."

  "I've been reading my own book in an effort to jog my memory." Alice ran her gloved fingers over icicles dripping from a branch above. "I see why it may make you want to tear out your hair. I assumed so much general knowledge."

  "It was probably reasonable at the time," Sascha said diplomatically, though she'd been known to want to throw said book across the room.

  "I don't know." Alice wrapped her arms around herself, but her expression remained open. "It was my first book. I probably didn't distill my original thesis down as neatly as I could have." She went as if to run her hand through her hair, paused. "Drat. I keep forgetting my hair's got to grow back. I feel like a damn skinny hedgehog."

  Sascha had the sense she was seeing a glimpse of the real Alice Eldridge for the first time. A smart woman with a self-deprecating sense of humor that invited the listener to laugh with her. "You're lovely." Too thin, yes, but with incredible bones and lush lips against skin once more kissed by a golden sheen. "Watch out for the wolf males. They'll probably start doing sneaky things like bringing you food, and you'll be in a courtship before you know it."

  When Alice's eyes narrowed, Sascha found the sorrow cloaking the world hadn't stolen her ability to laugh, to live this life she'd been given. "It's started already?"

  "I was wondering at the sudden surge of interest in my favorite meals." The other woman's exasperated smile faded into raw grief. "For me," she whispered, "it wasn't over a hundred years ago. It was yesterday. And yesterday I had parents and friends and a career. Yesterday, I loved a powerful, tormented man who'd been my childhood playmate and who broke my heart to splinters."

  "Alice." Sascha closed her hand over the other woman's shoulder in silent comfort.

  The scientist didn't shrug it off. "I've had flashes where I think I can remember my research"--husky voice, careful words--"but nothing concrete yet." She turned to face Sascha. "I'd like to go to New York."

  Sascha stopped walking. "Are you sure?" This was one response for which she hadn't been prepared. "It's bound to be dangerous."

  "I'm not worried about danger, Sascha. I'm not even worried about dying. I'm worried I'll never live again if I don't start soon."

  Chapter 46

  They call it Haven.

  Zie Zen to Vasic

  VASIC WOKE THE instant Ivy did. Snuggled up warm against him, she stretched sleepily and rubbed her face against his chest. He caressed his fingers over her hip in turn, luxuriating in the pleasure of waking with his empath.

  "Good morning," she murmured in a husky voice.

  It was a caress over his body. Turning on his side, he stroked his hand into her hair as she lay drowsy eyed below him. "Good morning."

  A lazy, affectionate smile that caught at his heart and refused to let go. "I flaked, huh?"

  "You needed rest," Vasic answered. And then he kissed her.

  Ivy responded with the lush generosity that had already made him an addict. Sliding her arms around his neck and bending one leg at the knee to cradle him between her thighs, she surrendered her mouth to his desires. And he took, devoured. He hadn't understood how starved he was of touch until he met Ivy. Now, she was the only one who could ease the piercing ache of his need.

  Licking his tongue against hers in the way he'd discovered she liked, he closed his hand over the plump mound of her breast.

  She jerked.

  He halted but didn't remove his hand. "No?" It gave him excruciating sexual pleasure to touch that part of her, but he'd do nothing that caused Ivy hurt.

  "Yes."

  Tugging him down with a grip in his hair on the heels of that breathy whisper, she initiated another kiss. It was deeper, hotter, wilder than the previous one, Vasic's hand squeezing and petting Ivy's breast as they kissed and her body rocked against his own--which was probably why they ended up first in the desert, then in a remote part of the Rockies. He grit his jaw, clenched his teeth, and got them back home.

  "I need to talk to Judd," he said, forcing his hands off her. "He has to have figured out a solution by now."

  Ivy's chest rose and fell in a ragged rhythm. "Yes." Clenching her hands on the sheets, she said, "I don't want to stop again."

  Neither did Vasic. His penis was so hard it was a rod of iron, the damp heat between Ivy's thighs tempting him even through the layers of their clothing. He wanted to touch her there skin to skin, wanted to taste, wanted to take. Shoving off her before he teleported them somewhere inhospitable, he sat on the edge of the bed with his back to her. Seeing her all sleep mussed and well kissed wasn't exactly conducive to control.

  Rustling sounds behind him. "The infection . . . how bad are things?" A quiet, worried question.

  "Bad, but it's been calm for the past three hours." He ran both hands through his hair, knowing that even if the world had been going to hell right that second, he'd still have done what he was about to do. If he didn't, Ivy would be left alone in the dark, and that was unacceptable.

  Angling his body, he reached out to take her hand. "We have an appointment after breakfast."

  Ivy's fingers curled over his. "Who are we going to see?"

  "A man named Samuel Rain."

  *

  ALMOST out of her skin with hope, Ivy waited while Vasic teleported to the location for which he'd been given visual coordinates. He'd refused to take her with him until he'd verified it was safe; the man had a protective streak a mile and a half wide. "I like that about him," she whispered to Rabbit, who was sulking in his basket because he'd realized they were going somewhere and leaving him behind again.

  Even a treat hadn't appeased him.

  Ivy knelt to rub his belly. "I promise we'll go for a walk after. And Vasic's going to drop you off at Central Command with Aden, so you won't be alone." She'd just stood back up when Vasic reappeared.

  "Rabbit," he said, and the dog scrambled to them. Vasic touched his hand to Ivy's lower back. "I think your pet will be welcome at our destination."

  "Our pet." Ivy smiled, aware of Rabbit standing motionless beside Vasic. Their smart little dog had learned about 'porting and didn't so much as move a muscle until they were standing on the velvet green of a manicured lawn devoid of any hint of snow.

  That lawn lay behind a sprawling and graceful home painted a rich, creamy white. It held hints of plantation-style architecture but had entire walls formed of glass--natural light would flood the interior on sunny days such as today. With its wide doors open to the lawn, the green space appeared an extension of the home.

  Outdoor furniture dotted the grass, the seating arrangements comfortable, but the lawn was clearly only one part of the grounds. Several paths disappeared behind hedges and natural-appearing clusters of trees; they broke up the gently undulating landscape so it was impossible to tell how extensive the grounds actually were. Ivy had the feeling any guess she made would be a gross underestimation. She couldn't hear the sound of a single vehicle, much less see any other indication of civilization nearby.

  The temperature and fo
liage didn't tell her much about the location, except that it was in the same hemisphere as New York, but more temperate. While the area was free of snow, she did still need the coat she'd put on over jeans and her white cowl-neck sweater--though that would no doubt change as the sun rose higher in the sky.

  Despite the cold, people sat quietly in the seating areas, some in groups, several alone. All were dressed in ordinary civilian clothes. A few were reading, others stared out into space, one rocked back and forth . . . but no one was actually isolated. Men and women she assumed were caretakers moved quietly from person to person, group to group, never intruding, but always there should one of the patients have a need.

  Ivy also noted the touches--on the shoulder, on the arm. "Anchoring," she said aloud. "The touches are to remind the patients of the here and now."

  "Probable," Vasic answered, "given that the majority are apt to be F-Psy."

  Foreseers, Ivy remembered, were at high risk of falling forever into the visions created by their extraordinary gift.

  One of the caretakers came toward Ivy and Vasic. She wore a simple gray pantsuit paired with a pale yellow shirt, her golden brown hair in a single tidy braid, and her skin a warm caramel shade. There was a sense of calm responsibility to her that made Ivy believe the woman was in charge of the entire complex.

  "I'm Clara Alvarez," she said on reaching them. "I manage Haven. Anthony told me to expect you."

  Vasic's fingers brushed Ivy's hip. "I'm Vasic, and this is Ivy." A nod toward where their dog was sniffing at Clara's shoes. "And that is Rabbit."

  The woman leaned down to pet Rabbit with hands gloved in thin black. Ivy had seen gloves like that before. Frowning, she tried to remember where. The gloves . . .

  She must be a former J-Psy, Vasic replied.

  Of course. Ivy had caught glimpses of Justice Psy while she'd lived in Washington with her parents. She didn't know why Js wore the gloves, but she assumed it had something to do with deteriorating mental shields. Clara, however, didn't appear stressed in any way, a tranquility to her that was soothing against Ivy's senses.

  "If you'll follow me," she said now, and stood to lead them down a pathway to the left. "Samuel prefers to sit in the rose garden, even with the plants not much more than sticks at this time of year."

  As they walked, she said, "I'll introduce you, then leave. Whether he chooses to speak or not is up to him--he's been largely silent since waking from the coma." Stopping beside a weathered pine table on which sat a small red toolbox, she looked at Vasic. "This is the personal and somewhat idiosyncratically stocked toolbox we recovered from Samuel's home. He hasn't touched it though we leave it in his quarters, but you should store the image so you can retrieve it, just in case."

  "I have a lock."

  "Don't push him," Clara continued once they began to walk again. "It may be that he no longer has the capability or the knowledge you need." She stopped, held their gazes with warm brown eyes that were deadly serious. "He was a brilliant, gifted man, you understand. If he's lost that and is aware of the loss, he may simply choose not to face that part of his life. It is his right."

  "You're very protective." Ivy felt a deep sense of respect toward the other woman. "Are you close to him?"

  "There is no romantic relationship. My husband would take issue." With that startling and rather wry comment, Clara began to walk again. "But I see in Samuel something that resonates.

  "A Justice Psy has a use-by date," she said, expression difficult to read. "I'm living a second life now, but many never do. I don't wish to steal Samuel's second chance from him by forcing him to compare the man he is now with the man he once was." A potent statement, for all that Clara never raised her voice. "His value is not diminished; it is just different."

  "We understand." No wonder Anthony Kyriakus had chosen this woman to run Haven, Ivy thought. She was extraordinary, a quiet warrior.

  "We will do no harm," Vasic said to Clara. "We'll simply sit with him until it becomes clear whether or not he wishes us to stay or go."

  Clara nodded and led them around a hedge and into the dormant starkness of a rose garden in winter. Seated on the other side, on a bench situated beneath the shade of an evergreen with spreading branches and fine needles, was a thin man who might have been in his early thirties.

  Dressed in wheat-colored slacks teamed with a simple blue shirt, the dark blond strands of his hair disordered by the breeze and what looked like a windbreaker discarded by his side, he stared out at the garden through old-fashioned wire-rimmed spectacles. They were unusual when eyesight could generally be corrected without issue, but Ivy didn't get the impression the spectacles were an affectation.

  "Samuel." Clara placed one gloved hand on his shoulder when they reached him. "These are the guests I told you about. Ivy, Vasic, and Rabbit."

  No response from Samuel Rain.

  Giving them another solemn glance to reiterate the ground rules, Clara walked away. Ivy took a deep breath of the crisp air, painfully conscious that she couldn't sense Samuel Rain on the empathic level. It was as if he'd gone so deep into himself that he no longer existed.

  "Woof!" Rabbit dropped a stick at her feet.

  "Rabbit." Affection blooming in her, Ivy bent to pick it up. "Where did you get this? If you've messed up their garden, we'll both be in trouble."

  Vasic was the one who answered. "I saw him find it beneath the tree to the right."

  Glancing at Vasic, she telepathed, Maybe it's better if we don't crowd Mr. Rain?

  Vasic took the stick she handed up. "Come on, Rabbit," he said, leading their excited dog to the left of the rose garden and to a rectangular area of open ground. It was within sight of Samuel but not in his face.

  Meandering through the sleeping roses as her man and their pet played, Ivy read the small weatherproof card by each bed, examined the accompanying images--an exuberant peach rose was planted next to a vibrant yellow one, which in turn was beside a sexy red. Then and there, she decided she'd plant a flower garden at the home she made with Vasic.

  Do you think you might want to settle at the orchard? It was a place she loved, but she'd go anywhere with Vasic.

  I'm home with you, Ivy.

  Undone, she went to turn toward him and was almost bowled over by Rabbit as their pet ran through the garden pathways to drop the stick in front of Samuel Rain. When the man didn't respond, Rabbit nudged at him with his head. Her heart melted. "Come here, Rabbit," she said, patting her thigh. "Samuel wants to sit quietly today."

  Rabbit tried one more head butt before picking up his stick and coming to Ivy for a scratch. As he ran back to Vasic, Ivy looked up . . . to see Samuel Rain's eyes on her Arrow. Ivy's pulse thudded, but she didn't make any sudden movements. Until the engineer stood up and strode toward Vasic.

  She took the other path to reach him at the same time.

  Not saying a word, Samuel Rain grabbed Vasic's gauntleted arm and stared at it. "Are you mad?" he asked in a tone so sharp it could've sliced flesh. "This isn't ready for human integration."

  "I was self-destructive when I volunteered," Vasic answered. "I no longer am. Can you remove it?"

  The engineer shot him an incredulous look. "I'm brain damaged, you idiot. You don't want me playing around in your body."

  "You seem quite mentally competent at this precise instant."

  Hitting the gleaming black carapace of the gauntlet with his knuckles, Samuel Rain said, "Open it."

  Vasic didn't move, but the carapace slid down on both sides to reveal the control panel within. Rain stared at it for a while. "The interface is creative. I need to see the guts of it." He glanced around in a distracted fashion. "Damn it, where are my tools?"

  "Here." Vasic handed him the case.

  Taking it without questioning how it had got there, the engineer put it on the ground. "Don't touch, Rabbit," he said absently, and took out a delicate laser tool. A couple of moves with the tool and the interface panel slid back.

  Close your eyes, Ivy.
>
  Ivy took Vasic's free hand in both of hers, pressed a kiss to the back. It's you. I love every part of you.

  A long pause before he lifted his arm. Tucking herself under it, while Rabbit sniffed round the toolbox but didn't mess with it, she steeled herself to deal with the sight of the deadly threat within Vasic, and looked. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it wasn't the astonishing symmetry of man and machine.

  Fine multihued cables sparking with current twined with muscle and tendon and bone, the delicacy of the filaments such that she knew she wasn't seeing everything with the naked eye. It shouldn't be so beautiful, she said to Vasic, anger rising anew at what he'd done to himself.

  His fingers curled around her nape. Are you going to be mad at me for this our entire life?

  She nodded. You should've waited for me.

  I never dared dream of you, Ivy. I never thought a man like me deserved such a gift.

  Petting his chest, she said, You're my gift, too, you know. I'm so glad for you every instant of every day. Even when I'm really, really angry with you.

  In front of her, Samuel Rain's spectacles shimmered, and she belatedly realized they weren't old-fashioned at all, but tools to allow him to see to a microcellular level. "Imbeciles." The engineer shut the interface panel, nodded at Vasic to close the protective carapace. "Stealing my work and thinking they know what to do with it. Like monkeys deciding to program a computronic system."

  "Can you fix it?" Vasic asked.

  "No, I'm brain damaged." With that, he put away the tool, snapped the toolbox shut, and hefted it. "Come back tomorrow."

  Ivy stared after the engineer, hope a tight, hard knot in her chest. "He's either mad or brilliant."

  "There's often only a razor-thin line between the two."

  "And"--Rain called over his shoulder--"bring the dog!"

  Chapter 47

  Anchorage, New York, Rio, Cape Town, Seattle, Osaka, Dubai, and Chengdu have all suffered outbreaks. And the pace is continuing to accelerate.

  Live NetStream, PsyNet Beacon

  LUCAS HUNTER AND Sascha Duncan, as well as Alice Eldridge, were already in the city and in discussion with Jaya and Abbot by the time Ivy and Vasic got back. Leaving the empaths to talk, Vasic decided to take advantage of the relative quiet to have another important meeting. Vasic trusted Abbot to the core, and Lucas looked at Ivy with a protectiveness that likely resulted from the leopard alpha's love for his own empathic mate.