PLAY OF PASSION

He had to be asleep, Indigo thought, lying quiescent in the heat of Drew’s embrace. There was no way he’d have done this if he’d been awake—not after the response she’d accidentally incited in both of them. Of course, he was also half demon, so he could be tormenting her to get some of his own back.

Still, when his fingers laced with her own, she relaxed. He was blazingly hot against the mountain chill, Pack she trusted to the deepest core of her soul. Settling herself more comfortably against him, she drifted off to sleep, having no awareness that she’d be jackknifing to dangerous wakefulness less than an hour later.





CHAPTER 14


Miles away, on the outskirts of a sleeping San Francisco, Judd took a seat beside Father Xavier Perez on the back steps of Xavier’s church.

“I’m sorry, Xavier,” he said, knowing the priest would prefer the truth at once. “Gloria is gone, murdered.” He’d gotten the confirmation without having to tap his contacts. Brenna had hacked through a records database, found the death certificate. It had listed “sudden cardiac failure” as the cause of death, but her spotless apartment had told a different story.

Xavier let out a long, slow breath before dipping his head and murmuring a quiet, heartfelt prayer. Judd waited in silence until the other man raised his head. “She dared to reach for something beyond what was permitted,” Xavier said. “And they killed her for it.”

“Perhaps.” He told Xavier something Drew had shared with him, having heard it from the Rat alpha. “There are rumors of other dead Psy in the city. Do you know anything about that?”

Xavier shook his head. “Our mutual friend may know more.”

“Yes.” So would another man. A man, Judd thought, that his outwardly careless younger brother-in-law called if not friend, then at least a friendly acquaintance. He’d ask Drew to follow up on the issue with that contact once he returned from the mountains.

Now, he listened to the insects going about their business in the back garden and waited.

The stir in the darkness came not long afterward.

Judd focused. “You’re late tonight.”

The Ghost leaned against an old oak tree, his face swathed in shadow as always. “I was delayed by an unexpected guest.”

“Dead Psy in the city,” Judd said, asking the most important question, “do you know anything about it?”

“No,” the Ghost murmured. “I’ve been busy with other matters. What has occurred?”

Judd had an inkling about the nature of the Ghost’s “other matters”—and if he was right, then the most dangerous rebel in the Net was about to become even more lethal. “I’ve got nothing but rumors at present.”

“If I discover anything, I’ll share it with you.” The Ghost moved deeper into the shadows as the clouds parted to expose the moon’s pearly light. “But San Francisco doesn’t hold much interest for me at present.”

Judd heard something in that statement, something that made his instincts snap to wakefulness. “What are you planning?”

“The three of us came together because we believe the Council is destroying the Psy race and taking the rest of the world along,” the Ghost said. “The Councilors now have their knives out for each other. Any resulting war will devastate the Net, kill millions—Psy, human, and changeling.”

Judd agreed … and he also understood. “You’re planning to kill them all.”

“If necessary,” the Ghost said. “There can be no war if there is no Council.”

And, Judd thought, it would leave the Net entirely in the Ghost’s grasp.





CHAPTER 15


Metal. Intruder.

Indigo was at full alert when her eyes snapped open. She felt Drew come to life at almost the same instant. Glancing at him, she saw his eyes had gone night-glow, the wolf at the forefront.

“Psy,” he mouthed more than said.

She gave a decisive nod. Nothing else would account for that scent. It was as distinctive as blood on snow, and it cut against changeling senses with the jagged brutality of twisted metal. Not all Psy carried that metallic taint, and the current theory was that it clung only to those who had given in irrevocably to Silence … lost their soul to the emotionless chill of the PsyNet. Whatever the truth, there was no reason for it to be here, deep in the heart of SnowDancer territory.

Glancing at the kids—all asleep—Indigo made a snap decision. “Go.”

Drew shifted and flowed away from the campsite as she walked to Harley’s tent and reached in to squeeze his shoulder. The boy woke at once. Putting a finger to her lips, Indigo bent down. “I need you to keep watch. Sound the alarm if you sense an intruder.”

To his credit, the boy extricated himself from his tent without waking his tentmate, his eyes already watchful. “I’ll use the wolf’s call.”