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"It was" His shoulders began to shake "But then" A jagged sob "I never meant to hurt her She was the only woman I ever loved"

Unable to stand his pain, Katya reached forward to take his hands "It wasn’t a conscious choice," she whispered "Your mind wasn’t your own" She knew all about that, about being made a puppet

Massey just shook his head as he cried "But I killed her And I’ll carry that guilt for the rest of et out "I’m not lucid much these days," he said clearly, even as tears rolled down his cheeks "I wish I was never lucid" Another pulse of darkness, frag to retake control

Katya felt movement, then saw Dev’s hand close over his father’s shoulder "You weren’t you," he said, his voice raith eet out any more words, but they weren’t needed Massey’s face filled with such joy that it hurt Katya to look at it

"My boy," he said "My Sarita’s precious Devraj" One of his hands left hers to close over Dev’s

They sat that way for a whileuntil Massey Petrokov could no longer hold on to his sanity

"How did you know to ask about my mother?" Dev asked as they walked back into his home It was the first tio to hiht it was so you’d likely never asked hi around her body "I used to want to be exactly like hirew up"

"He was your hero"

"Yeah" A pause "Afterward, I couldn’t even bear to keep his name I chose my mother’s instead"

"Maybe one day, you’ll be ready to reclai else, but Katya knew Dev would return to visit his father again It didn’t ive her a little peace "Pro, Dev"

"No" It was implacable

She smiled "Stubborn man"

"It’s in the blood"

"I’ain, but at the same time, I want to scratch out the eyes of any woman who even looks at you"

His chest rumbled, and then, for the first tirinned And when her spine twisted under a fresh wave of pain, she tried not to let him know But he did Of course he did

"Hold on, baby," he whispered against her te had stolen that from her, too Her arm muscles spasmed and fell silent Inside her chest, she could feel her heart laboring to beat another beat The bastard had won She was dying But she’d do it on her own ter her neck, she brushed her lips against his jaw "Let o, Dev"

"No"

They both knew he couldn’t stop her The link to the Net - her lifeline - was inside herAnd yet they both also knew she wouldn’t take that step until he gave her permission Because she understood hiood-bye, Dev’s rage would destroy him from within "I need to know you’ve entle reproof "I’ll never et it, Katya" A stubborn line to his jaw that she knew too well "It’s never going to happen"

Dropping her head to his chest, she sed the tears in her throat He was strong And his heart, it was breaking She could hear it "I can’t live this way," she whispered, knowing she was asking the ih to bear the pain If he had asked it of her"Ming’s out right now, but when he wakes, he’ll find et you out"

"There is no way out" Wrapping her arms around hithhis devotion It was the last that stunned her This , powerfulshe’d ever expected And she had to leave hiration, this prison I live in, this darkness that locks me away from the PsyNet, it’ll eventually stealI ae of a rapaciousfor her, her lover with the heart of a warrior prince "Her sister, Amara, isn’t a full part of the neural net that keeps Ashaya alive If - "

"They’re twins, Dev" She’d seen the two interact in the labs, understood so about them she’d never been able to put into words "And A as she’s connected to Ashaya Myto crumple under the pressure

"How close?" he asked, his voice sandpaper rough

"Too close"