Psy & Changelings 01 - Slave to Sensation

multiplication effect. Our web is bursting with energy.” She couldn’t work out how but now she had a lifetime to figure it out.
    They were both quiet for a long while.
    â€œSascha, what does this mean?”
    â€œWe’re safe,” she whispered, barely believing it. “Seven adult minds are feeding the web . . . giving me what I need. It’s more than enough.”
    Lucas clasped her to his chest, rolling over on his back. “Are you sure?”
    â€œYes.” She kissed his chest, his neck, his chin. “Yes! Thank you for being so damn stubborn.”
    He didn’t return the caresses, holding her so tightly she could barely breathe. “You almost killed yourself for no reason.”
    â€œNo, Lucas.” She squeezed him back. “I lived because of you. That’s how I’ll always remember it.”
    â€œIt’s going to take me a long time to forgive you.”
    Sascha wanted to cry in joy. “We’ve got forever.”

EPILOGUE
    They held a meeting of the sentinels and Tamsyn later that week. The leopards were sprawled around the living room of their lair, some seated, some standing.
    â€œSo you can come into our minds?” Mercy asked.
    â€œOnly if you let me. I’d never walk in uninvited—I can’t.” Sascha knew she was talking to the most independent members of DarkRiver. They would hate to be vulnerable on any level.
    â€œBut I know you’re doing something to me,” Dorian said quietly. “I wondered what it was. It feels like before . . . when I wanted to go for your throat.”
    â€œI’m sorry, Dorian. That’s not something I can help.”
    Amazingly, the sentinel gave her a slow smile. “I can handle being kissed by you.”
    She wanted to blush. “It’s not like that.”
    â€œA hug, then.” He shrugged. “It feels good.”
    The others frowned. Clay said, “I don’t feel any different.” Sascha wondered how to say this but Dorian beat her to it. “Because you don’t need patching up, Clay. Right, Sascha?”
    She sighed. “I think you’re a menace but yes, Dorian’s a little bit more battered than the rest of you. Once he’s up and running, my empathic gifts won’t really affect him, like they don’t really do anything to you.” The sparks healed, but on the most subconscious of levels. Dorian was only feeling them because he was so hurt.
    Lucas squeezed her shoulders as she stood in front of him by the short hallway that led to the kitchen area. “We’re giving you a choice. Sascha says she can cut some of you free from the web without doing damage.”
    â€œTell me, Sascha,” Tamsyn said, “is it easy to slip in and out of our minds?”
    â€œNo. Every mind has a natural shield. On the PsyNet, the only open minds belonged to the exhibitionists. All of you are shut up tight. To go in without your consent, I’d have to rip you apart.”
    â€œAnd kill us.” Vaughn’s eyes were almost glowing.
    â€œYes.” She wouldn’t lie to them, wouldn’t tell them they weren’t vulnerable to her. “Remember, I’m an empath. Causing you pain would double back on me.”
    â€œWhen I took the blood oath,” Vaughn said, “I vowed to lay my life down for Lucas. As his mate, you have that same promise.”
    She’d expected the loner, the jaguar, to balk. “Are you sure?”
    â€œYes, Sascha darling.” He prowled over to stand in front of her, tall and beautiful and dangerous. She gasped as he brushed his lips over hers. “My life is yours.” Then he was gone, a golden blur as he leaped off the porch.
    Shaken by the commitment, Sascha leaned backward into Lucas. Her eyes followed Dorian as he stood and walked over.
    â€œI’ve been yours since the day you first took my pain.” Dorian picked up her hand and kissed her fingertips, before leaving the same way as Vaughn.
    Mercy uncurled from her cushion and came to stand in front of Sascha. Her stunning face was serious but there was a smile in her eyes. “Think you could find out some male secrets for me?”
    Sascha smiled. “The only male I know that intimately is this one.” She turned to steal a kiss from Lucas. “And his secrets are mine.”
    Laughing, Mercy hugged her. “I’m a sentinel. I vowed to stick by Lucas to death. If he trusts you, so do I.