Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity #3)(42)

“Amara?” the lovely woman whispered now, her gaze locked on her twin.

Smile lighting up her irises, Amara took her sister’s hands in her own. “It’s extraordinary,” she murmured, her fingers curling over Ashaya’s. Both had the blunt-cut nails of scientists, but on the back of Ashaya’s left hand was what appeared to be a temporary tattoo of a caped superhero.

“I understand love now,” Amara said in a voice that was no longer flat but rich, resonant. “I understand that I love you.” She raised one hand to Ashaya’s cheek. “The world feels deeper, more intense.”

“Amara.” A single tear rolled down Ashaya’s cheek.

At the same time, Sascha looked to Memory with wide eyes. “How can you say you aren’t an empath? I felt what you did, but I don’t understand it.” Wonder in every shaken word. “Not one of us has ever been able to penetrate Amara’s emotional psyche, much less go this deep.”

Memory didn’t protest when Alexei put his hand, warm and a little rough, around her nape again. She was so cold inside. “Amara.” She waited until the other woman turned to face her. “What is the most valuable thing you’ve gained from this interaction?”

She saw cunning flash in the other woman’s eyes. Renault, too, was a terrible liar in the immediate aftermath of a transfer. As if his psychopathic brain got a little drunk and had to take a few minutes to stabilize before it could think with ruthless clarity.

“Remember,” she said, “this is an experiment. As a scientist, you agreed to give me factual and correct data.”

Sighing, Amara broke physical contact with her sister to sit back in her seat, her hands on the arms. “The scientist in me is suddenly a weakness.” Despite her complaint, when she spoke, it was the truth. “I have gained a far subtler understanding of how to manipulate others, and I also find . . . pleasure in the act.”

Amara looked at her twin again. “I do feel love for you.” Wiping away Ashaya’s tears, she shook her head. “I don’t deserve your tears, sister-mine.” The piercing intimacy of the moment hurt, and Memory had the thought that for this one instant, Amara wasn’t attempting to manipulate anyone, least of all her twin.

Then the scientist sat back in her chair, though she continued to direct her words to her sister. “I understand love,” she reiterated. “I also understand how I can use that love to control others. I comprehend that I have a hold over you as your twin and that you’d have to be driven to the edge of death before you’d permit me to be executed.”

Amara took a deep breath, let it out with a shake of her head. “You feel you must watch over me because I’m damaged in a fundamental way. In a battle between the two of us, I know I’ll have the advantage because you have emotions and I do not.” A pause. “Well, I do now—but other than that, I remain who I’ve always been.”

“Do you feel the urge to kill?” Memory dug her nails into her own thigh.

Uncrossing her legs before crossing them the opposite way, Amara took time to consider that question. “No,” she said at last. “I’ve never been driven to kill for killing’s sake. It’s a waste of energy and resources. I have no problem with an experimental subject dying should it be necessary for the success of the experiment, but I am not driven to murder.”

Memory’s hand flexed out, her shoulders trembling. At least in this, she could forgive herself. She didn’t create serial killers. “Do you see?” she said to Sascha, as Alexei moved his thumb over her skin in a caress that made her want to curl into him and not emerge for hours.

“I see that you’ve given Amara emotional depth.” The cardinal was frowning, the wonder not yet gone from her voice. “No other E has ever had any success with psychopathic personalities.”

“I agree with Sascha,” Amara said, putting her hands around her knee and falling into a tone that was cool and pragmatic. “This aspect of my psyche has never before been available to me. You’ve opened the doorway.”

Memory had to find the right question to make Amara reveal the truth. “By walking through that door,” she said to this intellectually gifted woman who was inhuman on an elemental level, “do you think you’ll become a better person? A person who doesn’t believe that it’s perfectly acceptable to dissect other individuals in the pursuit of scientific progress? A person who cares if her actions cause pain to others?”





Chapter 20


Twins* are a special case under Silence, the bond between them beyond emotion or a lack of it. Separating them at birth is never recommended. The psychological impact can be catastrophic, and has been known to lead to psychic collapse.

*See Coda 28 for information on triplets, quadruplets, and other multiples.

—Coda 27 to the Silence Protocol


AMARA TILTED HER head slightly to the side, a faint smile on her lips. “You’re very intelligent despite your emotion-centered abilities.” An edge of what might’ve been admiration in that smile. “The answer is no. I believe I can become better at faking empathy as a result of our contact, but I am simply an . . . enhanced version of who I was. No changes to the primary core of my personality.”

This time when Memory looked at Sascha, she saw dawning comprehension darken the cardinal’s expression. “You see,” she whispered. “I make them better monsters.”