The Psy-Changeling Series, Books 6-10 (167 page)

 

SLAVE TO SENSATION
VISIONS OF HEAT
CARESSED BY ICE
MINE TO POSSESS
HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE
BRANDED BY FIRE
BLAZE OF MEMORY
BONDS OF JUSTICE
PLAY OF PASSION
KISS OF SNOW

 

ANGELS’ BLOOD
ANGELS’PAWN
(A Berkley Sensation eSpecial)
ARCHANGEL’S KISS
ARCHANGEL’S CONSORT

 

AN ENCHANTED SEASON
(with Maggie Shayne, Erin McCarthy, and Jean Johnson)
THE MAGICAL CHRISTMAS CAT
(with Lora Leigh, Erin McCarthy, and Linda Winstead Jones)
MUST LOVE HELLHOUNDS
(with Charlaine Harris, Ilona Andrews, and Meljean Brook)

BURNING UP
(with Angela Knight, Virginia Kantra, and Meljean Brook)

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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

 

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

Copyright © 2011 by Nalini Singh.

 

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. BERKLEY
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

 

Singh, Nalini, 1977–

p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-52872-3

1. Shapeshifting—Fiction. I. Title.

PR9639.4.S566K57 2011

823’.92—dc22 2010054169

 

 

In alphabetical order by first name

 

Aden
Arrow, Telepath (Tp)

 

Alexei
SD Lieutenant

 

Amara Aleine
Psy member of DR, former Council scientist, twin of Ashaya, mentally unstable

 

Andrew (Drew) Kincaid
SD Soldier, mated to Indigo, brother of Riley and Brenna

 

Anthony Kyriakus
Psy Councilor, father of Faith

 

Ashaya Aleine
Psy member of DR, former Council scientist, mated to Dorian, twin of Amara

 

Ava
SD, mother of Ben, friend of Lara

 

Barker
DR Soldier

 

Ben
SD pup, son of Ava

 

Brenna Kincaid
SD, tech, mated to Judd, sister of Andrew and Riley

 

Clay Bennett
DR Sentinel, mated to Talin

 

Cooper
SD Lieutenant

 

Council (
or
Psy Council)
The ruling Council of the Psy race

 

Elias
SD Senior Soldier, mated to Yuki, father of Sakura

 

Evangeline (Evie) Riviere
SD, sister of Indigo

 

Faith NightStar
Psy member of DR, cardinal foreseer (F-Psy), mated to Vaughn, daughter of Anthony

 

Ghost
Psy rebel

 

Hawke
SD Alpha

 

Henry Scott
Psy Councilor, husband of Shoshanna

 

Indigo Riviere
SD Lieutenant, mated to Andrew, daughter of Abel and Tarah, sister of Evangeline

 

Jem (
real name:
Garnet)
SD Lieutenant

 

Judd Lauren
Psy member of SD, Lieutenant, mated to Brenna, uncle of Sienna, Toby, and Marlee

 

Kaleb Krychek
Psy Councilor

 

Kenji
SD Lieutenant

 

Kieran
Human member of SD, Soldier

 

Kit
DR Novice Soldier, brother of Rina

 

Lara
SD Healer

 

Lucas Hunter
DR Alpha, mated to Sascha

 

Lucy
SD, nurse, assistant to Lara

 

Maria
SD Novice Soldier

 

Marlee Lauren
Psy member of SD, daughter of Walker, cousin of Sienna and Toby

 

Matthias
SD Lieutenant

 

Max Shannon
Human, Nikita’s security chief, married to Sophia

 

Mercy Smith
DR Sentinel, mated to Riley

 

Ming LeBon
Psy Councilor

 

Nathan (Nate) Ryder
DR Senior Sentinel, mated to Tamsyn, father of Roman and Julian

 

Nikita Duncan
Psy Councilor, mother of Sascha

 

Riaz
SD Lieutenant

 

Riley Kincaid
SD Lieutenant, mated to Mercy, brother of Andrew and Brenna

 

Rina
DR Soldier, sister of Kit

 

Riordan
SD Novice Soldier

 

Sascha Duncan
Psy member of DR, cardinal empath (E-Psy), mated to Lucas, daughter of Nikita

 

Shoshanna Scott
Psy Councilor, wife of Henry

 

Sienna Lauren
Psy member of SD, Novice Soldier, sister of Toby, niece of Judd and Walker

 

Sophia Russo
Former Justice Psy ( J), works for Nikita, married to Max

 

Tai
SD Novice Soldier

 

Tamsyn (Tammy) Ryder
DR Healer, mated to Nathan, mother of Roman and Julian

 

Tarah Riviere
SD, mother of Indigo and Evangeline

 

Tatiana Rika-Smythe
Psy Councilor

 

Teijan
Rat Alpha

 

Toby Lauren
Psy member of SD, brother of Sienna, nephew of Judd and Walker

 

Tomás
SD Lieutenant

 

Vasic
Arrow, Teleporter (Tk-V)

 

Vaughn D’Angelo
DR Sentinel, mated to Faith, jaguar changeling

 

Walker Lauren
Psy member of SD, father of Marlee, uncle of Sienna and Toby

 

Xavier Perez
Human priest

Yuki
SD, lawyer, mated to Elias, mother of Sakura

The year the Psy race became Silent.

Became cold, without emotion, without mercy.

Hearts were broken, families torn apart.

But far more were saved.

From insanity.

From murder.

From viciousness such as unseen in the world today.

For the X-Psy, Silence was a gift beyond price, a gift that allowed at least some of their number to survive childhood, have a life. Yet over a hundred years after the icy wave of the Silence Protocol washed away violence and despair, madness and love, X-Psy are, and remain, living weapons. Silence is their safety switch. Without it . . .

There are some nightmares the world will never be ready to face.

HAWKE FOLDED HIS
arms and leaned back against the solid bulk of his desk, eyes on the two young females in front of him. Hands clasped behind themselves and legs slightly spread in the “resting” stance, Sienna and Maria looked like the SnowDancer soldiers they were—except for the fact that their hair straggled in a wild mess around their faces, matted with mud, crushed leaves, and other forest debris. Then there was the torn clothing and the sharp, acrid scent of blood.

His wolf bared its teeth.

“Let me get this straight,” he said in a calm tone that had Maria turning pale under skin that was a warm, smooth brown where it wasn’t bruised and bloody. “Instead of staying on watch and protecting the pack’s defensive border, you two decided to have your own personal dominance battle.”

Sienna, of course, met his gaze—something no wolf would’ve done in the circumstances. “It w—”

“Be quiet,” he snapped. “If you open your mouth again without permission, I’m putting both of you in the pen with the two-year-olds.”

Those amazing cardinal eyes—white stars on a background of vivid black—went a pure ebony, which he knew full well indicated fury, but she clenched her jaw. Maria, on the other hand, had gone even paler. Good.

“Maria,” he said, focusing on the petite changeling whose size belied her skill and strength in both human and wolf form. “How old are you?”

Maria swallowed. “Twenty.”

“Not a juvenile.”

Maria’s thick black curls, heavy with mud, bounced dully as she shook her head.

“Then explain this to me.”

“I can’t, sir.”

“Right answer.” No reason they could offer up would be a good enough excuse for the bullshit fight. “Who threw the first punch?”

Silence.

His wolf approved. It mattered little who’d incited the exchange when neither had walked away from it, and the fact of the matter was, they’d been meant to work as a team, so they’d take their punishment as a team—with one caveat.

“Seven days,” he said to Maria. “Confined to quarters except for one hour each day. No contact with anyone while you’re inside.” It was a harsh punishment—wolves were creatures of Pack, of family, and Maria was one of the most bubbly, social wolves in the den. To force her to spend all that time alone was an indication of just how badly she’d blundered. “The next time you decide to step off watch, I won’t be so lenient.”

Maria chanced meeting his gaze for a fleeting second before those rich brown eyes skated away, her dominance no match for his. “May I attend Lake’s twenty-first?”

“If that’s the use you want to make of your hour on the day.” Yeah, it made him a bastard to force her to miss most of her boyfriend’s big party, especially when the two were taking the first, careful steps into a relationship, but she’d known exactly what she was doing when she decided to engage in a pissing contest with a fellow soldier.

SnowDancer was strong as a pack because they watched each other’s backs. Hawke would not allow stupidity or arrogance to eat away at a foundation he’d rebuilt from the ground up after the bloody events that had stolen both his parents and savaged the pack so badly it had taken more than a decade of tight isolation for them to recover.

Holding on to his temper by a very thin thread, he turned his attention to Sienna. “You were,” he said, the wolf very much in his voice, “specifically ordered not to get into any physical altercations.”

Sienna said nothing in response. It didn’t matter—her rage was a hot pulse against his skin, as raw and stormy as Sienna herself. When she was like this, the wildness of her barely contained, it was hard to believe she’d come into his pack Silent, her emotions blockaded behind so much ice, it had infuriated his wolf.

Maria shifted on her feet when he didn’t immediately continue.

“You have something to say?” he asked the woman, who was one of the best novice soldiers in the pack when she didn’t let her temper get in the way.