her. A fierce, possessive kiss, the kind she’d have loved before
yesterday. The kind she loved now, she told herself, but deep down she knew
something had changed. It wasn’t true anymore. And she hated that it wasn’t but
she couldn’t do anything about it.
She left her office with him, but they said goodbye at the
end of the hallway. He’d disappear after today, to one of his bolt-holes in the
burbs. She had an email address and a cell number. Apart from that, she didn’t
know where he went. But they’d connected at a deeper level so he could find
her, as long as he didn’t go too far. Telepathy didn’t work long-distance.
She had to support him and the work he was doing, helping
Talents who didn’t want to come out. Congress was even discussing classifying
shape-shifters as animals. Then scientists could experiment on Talents without
compunction. Legally. Force them to subject themselves to painful, invasive
procedures until mortals had extracted the essence that made Talents what they
were. Not for them the long, painstaking research that might lead to a new,
balanced outlook. Now they wanted blood, tissue, anything. And they preferred
the live version.
She couldn’t let that happen. Or the other alternative—that
Talents separate themselves from other beings, that they live in communities of
their own. Unbearable. Mortals had gifts too. They had to work together for the
general good, even if that meant waiting longer. But mortals were essentially
greedy and they wanted it now.
Faye doubted that would ever happen.
Turning a corner, she entered the hall. A large space,
cavernous by day when only a few people were walking through, today it was
packed. People milled around the tables set around the walls, talking to the
people there to sign up and discuss the various courses open for registration
today. The hubbub echoed around the usually quiet place, circling above their
heads.
Just by looking, she couldn’t distinguish Talent from
mortal. Which was as it should be. If she opened the outer layer of her mind,
she could tell. Talents had sigils, signs that identified their Talent and in
some cases, their family or tribe. Their minds were ordered, revealing only what
they wanted to reveal. Mortals were more confused, more varied, occasionally
letting slip their deepest secrets, but for the most part nature had taken care
of things and their inner lives remained just that—inner.
She skimmed the crowd with her psi sense, her reactions
almost automatic. A griffin in the form of an adolescent, her long limbs
wrapped uncomfortably around her body. A vampire, her Talent latent except for
her weak telepathy, her sigil demonstrating an undeveloped Talent. A truly
young one, probably no older than she looked. And someone with his back to her,
a young man leaning on a pair of crutches. The harsh lights sent glints of
silver through his fair hair as he adjusted his stance so he could sign the
admission form. That hair, so pale. She’d seen it before.
Her mind stretched out, ready to withdraw. She sensed
something familiar. A trace of a pattern she knew.
She spun around ready to return the way she came but it was
too late. His mind touched hers. He’d found her.
Chapter Three
A mind much stronger than she’d realized he owned locked on
to hers. Because of that fatal moment the night before when she’d let him in,
he used that, unerringly snaking his way through the tiny opening to gain
access to a deeper level. She gasped, halted in her escape. Tried to organize
her mind, stop him getting to her. Given an hour in a quiet place, she could
seal the damage, but she hadn’t thought she’d needed to before now. Hadn’t
imagined he’d find her.
But he had her now, and as she struggled to close the
revealing opening, he widened it, made it easier for him to track her. He
picked her out like a magnet tracking a needle in a haystack. She couldn’t
hide.
All the way back to her office, she fought him, but
yesterday. The kind she loved now, she told herself, but deep down she knew
something had changed. It wasn’t true anymore. And she hated that it wasn’t but
she couldn’t do anything about it.
She left her office with him, but they said goodbye at the
end of the hallway. He’d disappear after today, to one of his bolt-holes in the
burbs. She had an email address and a cell number. Apart from that, she didn’t
know where he went. But they’d connected at a deeper level so he could find
her, as long as he didn’t go too far. Telepathy didn’t work long-distance.
She had to support him and the work he was doing, helping
Talents who didn’t want to come out. Congress was even discussing classifying
shape-shifters as animals. Then scientists could experiment on Talents without
compunction. Legally. Force them to subject themselves to painful, invasive
procedures until mortals had extracted the essence that made Talents what they
were. Not for them the long, painstaking research that might lead to a new,
balanced outlook. Now they wanted blood, tissue, anything. And they preferred
the live version.
She couldn’t let that happen. Or the other alternative—that
Talents separate themselves from other beings, that they live in communities of
their own. Unbearable. Mortals had gifts too. They had to work together for the
general good, even if that meant waiting longer. But mortals were essentially
greedy and they wanted it now.
Faye doubted that would ever happen.
Turning a corner, she entered the hall. A large space,
cavernous by day when only a few people were walking through, today it was
packed. People milled around the tables set around the walls, talking to the
people there to sign up and discuss the various courses open for registration
today. The hubbub echoed around the usually quiet place, circling above their
heads.
Just by looking, she couldn’t distinguish Talent from
mortal. Which was as it should be. If she opened the outer layer of her mind,
she could tell. Talents had sigils, signs that identified their Talent and in
some cases, their family or tribe. Their minds were ordered, revealing only what
they wanted to reveal. Mortals were more confused, more varied, occasionally
letting slip their deepest secrets, but for the most part nature had taken care
of things and their inner lives remained just that—inner.
She skimmed the crowd with her psi sense, her reactions
almost automatic. A griffin in the form of an adolescent, her long limbs
wrapped uncomfortably around her body. A vampire, her Talent latent except for
her weak telepathy, her sigil demonstrating an undeveloped Talent. A truly
young one, probably no older than she looked. And someone with his back to her,
a young man leaning on a pair of crutches. The harsh lights sent glints of
silver through his fair hair as he adjusted his stance so he could sign the
admission form. That hair, so pale. She’d seen it before.
Her mind stretched out, ready to withdraw. She sensed
something familiar. A trace of a pattern she knew.
She spun around ready to return the way she came but it was
too late. His mind touched hers. He’d found her.
Chapter Three
A mind much stronger than she’d realized he owned locked on
to hers. Because of that fatal moment the night before when she’d let him in,
he used that, unerringly snaking his way through the tiny opening to gain
access to a deeper level. She gasped, halted in her escape. Tried to organize
her mind, stop him getting to her. Given an hour in a quiet place, she could
seal the damage, but she hadn’t thought she’d needed to before now. Hadn’t
imagined he’d find her.
But he had her now, and as she struggled to close the
revealing opening, he widened it, made it easier for him to track her. He
picked her out like a magnet tracking a needle in a haystack. She couldn’t
hide.
All the way back to her office, she fought him, but
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