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Lucas dropped a kiss in the curve of hisof an intimacy that ran deep and true Talin wondered what Clay’s lips would feel like against her own neck She sed, innerThat hen Lucas raised his head, breaking the spell "Come on," he said to Clay "I have to talk to you about so "Cooperate"

"I take it you didn’t agree to let a strange Psy poke and prod at you?" Sascha’s tone ry, but Talin didn’t drop her guard This woman had no loyalty to her

"No"

"Would you like to tell me what he’s worried about?"

Since Clay already knew, she saw no har things up, nosis, such as it is, confirrew pensive "Will you allow me to see if I can help?"

"He trusts you" Another flood of jealousy It made her feel small, petty, but she couldn’t stop it - she had never been rational where Clay was concerned "You’re Pack"

Sascha sensed Talin’s ambivalence, understood it "Yes" Clay was a leopard who chose the shadows even in the tight circle of the sentinels, but when it caether by a bond of deep, unflinching loyalty "Yes," she repeated

The curvy brunette across froht"

But try as she"You have a shield"

"What?" Talin frowned "But I’ beyond the most basic shields hat made humans the weakest of the three races That in mind, Sascha tried another push "But not only do you have shields," she said after being violently rebuffed, "they’re airtight"

"I have no idea why that would be"

Sascha raised her hand "If you don’t mind" The other woman didn’t pull ahen Sascha went to touch her cheek Often with changelings, contactthe connection, Sascha stepped back, her instincts telling her Talin didn’t like people too close Yet it appeared she had already given Clay skin privileges Intriguing

"I’m no expert on human mental processes," she said, "but your shields are, without a doubt, unusual For some reason, your mind has learned to protect itself" Her heart tripped a beat as her oords penetrated She had heard of these kinds of shields before They had been noted in an addendum to an old Psy-Med Journal article

Conclusion: Low incidence in hu was probably why the Council hadn’t gone about eli the bearers of such shields That and the fact that regardless of what the Psy did or didn’t do, these particular shields would always occur in a certain percentage of the hu her tone very gentle, "are so strong, youchildhood"

"Why - " Talin froze

Sascha could nooff her than she could stop breathing Being an E-Psy meant she had the capacity to sense and neutralize hurtful emotion It also meant she couldn’t just stand by when soathered up Talin’s self-hatred, revulsion, and anger - such incredible anger - in her psychic arift to turn those destructive eave her a startled look "What are you?" Not an accusation but the kind of innocent question a child iven what she suspected this woman had endured "An empath" She explained what that et to ask soift was too powerful, too instinctive

"What a pure gift" Talin’s face filled with so close to wonder "Does that mean you’ll never be evil?"

"I’ative emotions as anyone," Sascha admitted, "but the empathy won’t let theaze was direct "You don’t like me very much, do you?"

Sascha felt a moment’s disorientation at the blunt clarity of that question A sense of sha she had learned in the past year, it was criminal that she’d auto if not strong "It’s not a case of disliking you I don’t know you - how can I judge you?"

"But?" Talin pushed, holding her body in a way that re males in the pack However, Talin was no child - her eed, too flavored with time

"Clay is one of mine" Even Sascha was surprised at the depth of protectiveness in her tone, an echo of what she so often heard in Lucas’s voice when he spoke of Pack "He’s been choosing to walk alonefriendship with Faith would change things, bring him back to us"

Talin sed, at once resentful of Sascha’s right to care about Clay and allad that he had friends who loved hi him under"

"Clay leads, rarely follows" The cardinal’s words were light, her eyes solemn "But whatever you are to hi his emotions"

Talin wanted to defend herself but knew Sascha was right - the things she brought with her were the very things Clay had left in the past "I’aze was piercing

Talin felt her jaw tighten "Don’t spy on my emotions"