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Talin felt Sascha jerk, but the cardinal nodded "Yes, they have to be stopped"

"You won’t get any argulanced at Jon "I’ve organized a place for you at one of our prep schools You’ve got more Psy blood than e"

Talin took the lead when Jon maintained an obstinate silence "Send me the information and we’ll look it over" At Dev’s nod, she took a deep breath, drawing the scent of Clay into her lungs "Now, tell us everything we don’t know about the Forgotten"

Dev’s handso ask"

"But necessary," Clay said frohts "In short, a hundred or so years ago, when Silence was voted into being, people who disagreed began to search for a way out It had to be done in secret because dissidents had already begun to disappear"

When no one interrupted, he continued, "In the end, the only solution the rebels could come up as to drop out en masse and attempt to link to each other in the seconds before psychic death They hoped their gamble would lead to the spontaneous creation of a new psychic network If it didn’t, the defectors were prepared to die" The ruthless lines of Dev’s face lit from within "But they didn’t And the Shadoas born"

"This is extraordinary," Sascha said "I was a Councilor’s daughter and I knew nothing of the Forgotten or their ShadowNet"

"Not surprising The Council would like to wipe us froades?" Sascha asked and Talin realized how important the ansas for those who remained imprisoned by Silence

Dev shook his head "We could for the first generation after defection Some people dropped out later Most had children they couldn’t bear to leave earlier"

Sascha gave a slow nod, her hand gripping Lucas’s so tight that her dark gold skin had turned white over bone "And now?"

"Everyone in the ShadowNet is of heavily mixed blood Over time, the psychic pathways have shifted, become unique in a way that probably rules out the successful integration of a more ’pure’ Psy and vice versa"

"Did the Council realize what had happened to the defectors?" Talin asked, trying to wrap her head around the implications of Dev’s revelations

"Yes But since the Shadoas so s with the afterured the defectors would intermarry with the other races and their Psy blood would eventually diminish"

"That didn’t happen?"

"It did and it didn’t" He leaned back in his chair, his skin gilded a rich bronze by the sun lancing in through thebehind hinancy between two descendants of the Forgotten is a child with remarkable Psy powers These powerful births are exceptionally rare, but like Jon, otten carry some functional or latent power And the Council doesn’t like anyone on the outside who e theht back to one of their earlier conversations "You said the Council started hunting you a few generations back Is that why?"

A sharp nod "The an as soon as Silence took a solid hold Those descendants who didn’t need the link to the ShadowNet - not all the kids did - were ordered to scatter and stay scattered"

"But the Net was too so far?" Sascha asked

"Yes It ht have led to psychic starvation Shine was formed by those who remained in the ShadowNet It’s only in recent years that we’ve beco the others We’ve focused our efforts on the inalized children, those who need usside of insolent "You et on our backs"

Dev’s lips thinned "We search because soifted’ So because she needed the link to the ShadowNet, but her brain had lost the ability to search for it instinctively" His jaw tensed, eyes dark with fury

"Another, a teenage boy, is a nosed as schizophrenic because he kept hearing voices and, according to his family tree, he’s one hundred percent human Those who scattered wiped their pasts so effectively that sometimes their own descendants don’t knoho they are"

It was too much information to process, but Talin had one further question "What about changeling-Psy children? Why doesn’t Shine help them?"

Dev shot a wry look at Lucas "The packs closed ranks and disappeared the known Psy fa them That secrecy probably saved their lives - then and now" Pure anger threaded through his voice "What we are, e’ve becorab their power, but the Psy Council sees only evil because it is only evil"

Chapter 47

Hours later, Clay held Tally as they lay spooned on the futon they had made up on the first floor The bed was taken - they’d brought Jon and Noor ho, but it had been obvious he wanted to be near Talin And Noor here Jon did "They’re asleep," he said

Tally put her arm over his "You can hear theled up on a iven the bedroo alone" She ran her foot over his calf, the affectionate act ured she’d be scared - that’s why I didn’t want her at the top of the aerie"<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>