“Yeah, I had to do a lot of weaving,” Noor said. “Kee is my truck.”
Both of them found that hilarious. Keenan was still giggling when Lucas turned him right side up again. “Does it make you tired?” Lucas asked.
“Yeah.” Noor nodded. “My head is full now.”
“Keenan, how about you?”
But it was Noor who answered. “Kee’s head is quiet.”
Seeing something dart across the snow, Keenan jumped across the porch in excitement. “Come on, Noor!”
“Okay, okay.” Kissing Dorian on the cheek, the little girl asked to be put down and then she was off after Keenan as he ran back toward their climbing tree.
“There were rumors,” Nani murmured, “that in the past some Psy were born with gifts that only worked in tandem with another.”
“Noor didn’t show any active abilities when we tested her at Shine,” Dev said, knowing he owed a debt to those two babes that could never, ever be repaid. “But she does carry a high percentage of Psy genes.”
“My son,” Ashaya murmured, “is a telepath. He’s midrange, but in that range, he’s crystal clear. A truck . . . a conduit.”
Sascha nodded. “For whatever it is that Noor does, her ‘weaving.’ ”
Dorian blinked. “Huh. She told the Arrow who helped William that they were the same. But I’m pretty sure even he can’t do this. She’s—they’re both—unique.”
“Yes,” Ashaya agreed. “I’ve never heard of an M-Psy—of anyone—who can heal that kind of an injury.”
“It doesn’t matter whether or not we can define her gift—we have to protect her, protect them both,” Dev said, meeting Lucas’s eyes. “Tell Talin and Clay that they have every Shine resource at their disposal. If others find out what she and Keenan can do . . .”
“We’ll all protect them,” Lucas said, and it was a vow. “No one will take advantage of those two.”
“Yes.” Sascha’s voice held awe. “Keenan’s clearly exhausted, and what Noor said—about her head being full—I think she’s flamed out, her gift has gone numb from overuse. Ashaya, can you tell about Keenan?”
Ashaya nodded after a moment’s pause. “He’s flamed out, too.” Worry laced her tone. “It might take days for them to recover.”
“But they will recover,” Sascha reassured her. “They’ve just overstretched their psychic muscles.”
“We’ll have to be careful who and what we expose them to,” Lucas said. “Keenan adores her so much, he’ll follow her lead, and she won’t be able to help trying to heal the injured even if it means hurting herself.” A glance at his mate.
As Sascha made a face at the DarkRiver alpha, Ashaya whispered, “A tandem gift . . . It’s extraordinary.”
“Not really,” Dorian murmured, surprising them all. “Keenan has a twin for a mother, after all.”
A frozen silence.
“Oh.” Ashaya blinked. “Yes, of course. Amara and I have always been able to merge.”
“So maybe,” Sascha theorized, “Keenan was born with an innate ability to merge with another mind. Perhaps it was only that he needed the right mind.” A pause. “And the right environment—tandem abilities are unlikely to flourish in a network that punishes any kind of an emotional connection.”
“Yes.” Ashaya nodded. “It’s a very intimate link.”
Sascha turned to her packmate. “And it’s probably not one you could forge with simple practice. That’s why they ceased to exist. But the potential was always there.”
“We have to monitor them,” Ashaya said, eyes worried. “I don’t want either of them unduly influencing the other. Keenan’s my baby, but young telepaths don’t always understand right from wrong when it comes to their psychic abilities.”
Dev shook his head, watching Keenan help Noor onto the first branch. “That, I don’t think we have to worry about. They enjoy each other too much to try to change the other person.”
“It would be considered bad form to mind-control your future mate,” Dorian said dryly.
Ashaya laughed at Dev’s surprised look. “Those two are quite determined that they belong to each other. I have a feeling we’ll have a hard time keeping them from jumping the gun when teenage hormones hit.”
The thought made everyone grin. The kids played on, unaware of just how extraordinary they’d proven themselves to be.
CHAPTER 56
Dev wanted so badly to talk to Katya, but she remained unconscious. He kept going into the ShadowNet, checking to see that the fine silver thread that connected them was still there. He got a surprise the fifth time he checked.
Silver had turned to gold.
The next day, gold had become platinum, a solid, unbreakable rope.
His nani found him in the ShadowNet. “Look at that, beta. Beautiful.”
“It’s stronger than any other thread.” He kept running his psychic fingers along the length of it, amazed and delighted in equal measures.