Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity #3)(62)

Memory picked up a sandwich with a grumpiness to rival Alexei’s. “Do all big sisters think they know best?”

Cheeks creasing, Sascha said, “From what I’ve seen, it’s in the manual. The nosiness and annoying interference-for-your-own-good is a pack thing.”

Memory smiled in spite of herself as she took a bite.

Only after she was halfway through her sandwich did Sascha speak. “Part of it is you,” she said, putting down her own sandwich. “You’re one of the strongest personalities I’ve ever come across—you shine, Memory, this strong solid light that refuses to waver.”

Memory made a face. “I came close to crumpling under Renault’s control so many times.”

“But you didn’t,” Sascha pointed out. “Own your courage.”

The words rang inside Memory’s skull, adding weight to the ones Ashaya had spoken. “He’s slithered away. The wolves found evidence of multiple murders in his home, but no signs of where he might’ve gone.”

“He’ll be hunted wherever he lands,” Sascha said with a grim smile. “I like the idea of him scrabbling for hiding spaces, don’t you?”

Yes, yes, she did. “If personality is one part,” she said, “what’s the other?” Renault had already consumed too much of her life; now, she had to focus on learning her own strengths and weaknesses.

“The fact you’re an E.” Sascha took another sip from her mug. “Renault may have blocked you from consciously accessing the PsyNet, but he couldn’t cut off your primitive biofeedback link without killing you, and the empathic ability works in a passive way regardless of Silence or shields. It doesn’t work as well, but it works.”

The cardinal tapped a fingernail against the tabletop. “This isn’t common knowledge, but at one point, the Council went about trying to eliminate Designation E from the gene pool. Eugenics on a massive scale.” Starless eyes held Memory’s. “What use are healers of the heart in a world without emotion?”

Memory froze, black horror curdling her stomach. “What happened?”

“The Correlation Concept. Psy began to lose their minds. Violence erupted. Chaos threatened.” Words that cut, Sascha’s anger a refined blade. “So the Council stopped its extermination program in favor of permitting Es to exist—while erasing all knowledge of the designation from the world. They told us we were nothing, failures.”

Right then, Memory saw that Sascha had lived and survived her own prison, rising to spit in the faces of those who would crush her. “You think that passive aspect worked in reverse to nurture me?”

“It explains your high emotional intelligence and innate sense of good and evil. You were raised by a psychopath and yet you’re a good, whole person.”

“Add spite to the list of reasons,” Memory muttered. “I stayed myself to spite him.”

Sascha’s lips kicked up. “Poor Lexie. I think I need to look out for him, not you. He has no idea who he’s messing with.”

“That stubborn grouchy wolf can go jump in a lava lake for all I care.”

Eyes filled with stars again, Sascha chuckled. “I spoke to Alice Eldridge, as we discussed before lunch, and she suggested that you might be one of the E-sigma.”

Sascha had told Memory that Alice was the closest thing the world had to an expert on Designation E. Put into forcible cryonic suspension over a hundred years ago, the researcher had awakened to a world that had altered beyond comprehension. All her friends and family dead, her research on empaths all but erased from the world.

Memory’s heart ached for the woman she’d never met.

“But even Alice only knows bits and pieces,” Sascha added.

Pushing her braid behind her shoulder, the cardinal put both forearms on the table. “Apparently Es of subdesignation sigma never actually used their abilities. It was considered too dangerous.”

Memory had finished her sandwich without realizing it. She took an absent sip of what she’d assumed was coffee. It wasn’t. It was sweet and creamy and melted her bones. “What is this?”

“Hot chocolate. Food for the soul. I also brought cookies.”

“I understand why Es like me wouldn’t want to use their abilities,” Memory said after inhaling three oatmeal raisin cookies. “I’m only alive because Renault realized my long-term utility. Most psychopaths would drain the E to death at first contact.”

“It means previous sigmas didn’t have the ability to cut off the transfer from their end.” Sascha put down her half-eaten cookie, her brow furrowing. “Or, more likely, since the Es blocked their own abilities because of bad historical precedent, the question never came up.”

“Is it doable?”

“My mother can seed mental viruses and even she agrees I’m the best shield builder in or out of the Net.” A fleeting emotion on Sascha’s face, too complicated to label. “We’re going to build you a shield so formidable that you can slam it down mid-transfer, slicing the feed in two.”

“Then I’m ready.” Alexei would keep. Next time the two of them met, Memory was going to metaphorically singe off his fur.





Chapter 28


Dear Aunt Rita,

My wolf friend has suddenly begun to bring me random gifts of food. It started off innocently enough—a piece of candy here, a sandwich there when I forgot my lunch at home. But two days ago, he left a box of out-of-season white peaches at my door. Then yesterday, he turned up with an entire trifle along with a can of whipped cream. What does this mean?