CARESSED BY ICE

“My uncle Judd gave it to me,” the child volunteered, no Psy coldness in her face—Marlee and her cousin Toby had never finished the conditioning under Silence. To them, emotion was not an enemy but simply part of who they were. “He gave me a seesaw game, too, but that’s really hard.”


Both things to help train developing Tk powers, Brenna guessed. “Oh?” She tried to smile—Marlee was hardly capable of hurting her. But logic was no match for the nightmare of memory. “Actually, I was looking for your uncle. Have you seen him?”

Marlee shook her head, pigtails bouncing. “I could look in our secret Net but I’m not allowed. I could take a peek if you want.” A soft whisper that asked for permission.

Something in Brenna tightened. “That’s okay. I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

Marlee continued to stare at her with the pale green eyes she’d inherited from her father, Walker. “Why don’t you like me?”





CHAPTER 18


The guileless question knocked all the air out of Brenna. Collapsing into a cross-legged position on the floor, she felt her face pale. Had Judd been right? Was she really such a bigot? “I think you’re very sweet, Marlee.”

“Then how come you don’t like me? How come?” The stubbornness of her jawline was achingly familiar, apparently a Lauren family trait.

Brenna couldn’t lie, not with Marlee’s face demanding honesty. “You know how you can move the ball without touching it?”

Her pigtails bounced as Marlee nodded. “I’m a Tk. Only a little bit, though. I can’t do it so good, not like Uncle Judd.”

The reminder of Judd and what he’d kept from her was another punch to the chest. He’d had no right to do that. Lying was not what should be between them. And for that certainty, too, she had no concrete reason. “Yeah.” She forced her fingers to uncurl. “A bad man who could do the same thing, a very strong telekinetic, he hurt me once. A lot. That’s why sometimes, I get scared by other Tks.”

“That’s silly. Some of the wolves aren’t nice to me, but I still like the others.”

“Who’s not nice to you?” She frowned, hackles rising. Wolf pups could get rough in play, but bullying wasn’t tolerated under any circumstances.

“Some stupids.” Marlee shrugged. “Uncle Hawke said since I’m little, I can hurt them if they try to hurt me.”

Brenna knew that Judd, Walker, and Sienna had been banned from using their powers on SnowDancers. “Have you?”

“I used Tk to push Kiki down when she tried to bite me,” Marlee volunteered, face mischievous. “She cried and tattled, but the teacher said it served her right.”

Since wolf teeth could do considerable damage to weaker Psy physiology, Brenna had to agree. “I think so, too.”

“I won’t push you.” Marlee dropped her ball and came to stand right in front of Brenna. “Don’t be scared of me.”

She nodded, tears thick in her throat. “Okay.”

Smiling, Marlee leaned in and wrapped her arms tight around Brenna’s neck. Shaking, Brenna held that small body to her own and let the tears roll down her face.

“It’s okay, the bad man won’t get you.” Small pats on her back. “My daddy and Uncle Judd and even Sienna can scare him away.”

It only made her cry harder. How could she have been afraid of this sweet, tenderhearted child for even a second? How? Was she that twisted, that badly damaged?

A movement.

She jerked up her head to discover Walker Lauren standing a few feet away. Unlike his daughter, Walker was quintessentially Psy, impassive, unemotional, cold. Yet there was a fierce protectiveness to him when he looked at Marlee.

Breaking the eye contact, Brenna hugged Marlee for several more seconds, soaking up her generous childish empathy. “Thank you,” she said after they parted.

Small fingers began to wipe away her tears. “Want to play ball with me?”

Brenna looked at Walker. “If it’s okay with your dad.”

“Ten minutes,” Walker said. “It’s way past your bedtime.”

Marlee heaved out a sigh so put-upon that Brenna found herself smiling. “Tell you what—I’ll come by to play with you again sometime.”

That satisfied Marlee and ten minutes later to the second, Brenna said good-bye and went to find Hawke. She ran into Riley instead. Her brother was happy to confirm that Judd hadn’t returned to the den. “You shouldn’t be sniffing around after him in the first place.”

“Don’t start. And I’m not sniffing at him.” She was still mad over the way he’d abandoned her. Now he’d rubbed salt into the wound by not bothering to come back so she could flay the skin off his bones. That was how you fought. Disappearing was a sign of aggression and disinterest.

Fine. If that was how he wanted it, there were plenty more male fish in the sea.

She went prowling. It was time to get back in the game.