Shards of Hope (Psy-Changeling 14)

Aden needed love more than anyone Walker had ever met.

Chapter 33

EDWARD HAD DONE him a favor in committing suicide and sucking up Aden’s attention, Blake thought as he skimmed another news article about his kill. It was a small mention, already gone from the headlines. That wouldn’t last. He’d give them a second body, but not yet. Right now, his attention was on a different project.

He’d confirmed his choice of partner: Beatrice Gault, the teenager with the illusion gift paired with strong telepathy. Her specialization was an inbuilt ability to smash shields. She’d been signed over to the Arrow squad at age three, after she smashed her father’s shields, causing brain damage so severe it had left him with a permanently paralyzed left side.

The experience had traumatized her, according to the PsyMed report he’d accessed, and she’d been a docile trainee from the start. It was noted in her training files that while she was an excellent soldier who would always follow orders, she did not do well on solo tasks.

Not suitable for command, had been the final determination.

In other words, she was a beautifully submissive personality, he thought, running his finger over her image.

Of average height, she had pale white skin over a fine-boned frame and eyes of brown. Her light brown hair she kept cropped tight to her skull. It gave her an appearance of waiflike youth. That could be very useful in gaining the trust of his targets.

She also had no special commendations on her file, no extra notes from instructors at all. Every other possibility he’d considered had at least one. Someone had taken notice of a special ability or an exemplary skill, or a negative aspect.

No one noticed Beatrice.

She did what she was supposed to do, she followed the rules, and when she went to bed, no one thought about her. He had run an experiment, casually mentioning Beatrice to two Arrows he knew had helped with her training. He’d said it was part of an evaluation to see if she was suitable for a live mission. Neither trainer had remembered her until he’d shown them her photo and file.

Even after that, they’d simply referred to their notes.

Beatrice was invisible. Her family had cut her off, and while the squad had taken her in, she was simply one cog in a machine. Having watched her, he knew she spent no extra time with any of her fellow trainees, had no one who might be considered a confidant or a friend.

He would become that person for her. It wouldn’t take long. He’d studied psychology in an academic way in order to classify himself, so he knew she was a dependent personality who hadn’t yet found a dominant to whom to give her absolute trust.

Aden didn’t know about her. No one knew about her. She was perfect.

Chapter 34

AN HOUR AFTER his initial conversation with Walker, Aden called Vasic, Zaira, Cristabel, and Axl to a meeting around a table at Central Command, along with Amin and telekinetic Nerida. He’d also asked Walker and Judd to attend. Judd had always known about Central Command, had kept their secret, and Walker had earned the loyalty of far more Arrows than Aden, his care of them as children something none who’d been in his classes had ever forgotten.

Judd and Walker were also the experts in Arrow integration into a changeling pack—into a family akin to the kind of family Aden wanted to build from the cold ruins Ming and the Council had made of them.

He’d decided to leave Marjorie and Naoshi out of the discussion until they had the basics hammered out—his parents weren’t the best people to have in the room while discussing such a massive shift in Arrow life. He had, however, touched base with them and had their cautious agreement to the new senior Arrow-related duties he’d suggested.

Now, the others around the table listened to his proposal, took their time thinking about it.

Walker was the first to speak. “I don’t agree with moving the children here.”

Aden looked up. “Why? Central Command is safer than any other location.” The fact that Arrow children had historically been taught and housed away from it was linked to their inability to keep the location a secret. Aden, however, wasn’t concerned about that, not given the airtight security around Central Command.

“I’m not saying Central Command can’t continue to exist,” Walker said, “but it should function as the armored heart of a pack. A place where you can retreat to if necessary, hold off your enemies. There’s no reason to live your life in a subterranean space.”

Unexpectedly, it was forty-three-year-old Axl who said, “He’s right.” Eyes of deep blue met Aden’s. “I don’t know emotion, but I know that if you want plants to grow, you need light. Even the wolves from whom we acquired the artificial sunlight technology don’t spend the majority of their time in their dens—their children grow up under the rays of a real sun, feel the chill of natural air.”

Cris, who’d fully recovered from a recent gunshot injury, brought up a map on the table, tapped at the valley in which the training compound was located. Unlike when Aden, Zaira, and the other Arrows here had been children, all training was now centralized. The other facilities around the world had either been shut down or turned into bases of operations.

It was one of the few decisions made by Ming with which Aden agreed. Ming had done it because the children received far more one-on-one lessons with different active Arrows this way, and there were never days in which no one was available to take a session—meaning no days were “wasted.”

Aden liked it because it meant the children had more of a chance to form long-term friendships. There was no risk they’d be separated, as he’d been separated from Zaira. She’d been so furiously angry with him for leaving her, but she’d come to see him one last time regardless. Forced to stay in strict position while waiting for his transport, he’d seen her hiding around the corner of a building, dark eyes flashing fire at him and a heavy scowl on her face.