Psy & Changelings 06 - Branded by Fire

of the world, Tatiana Rika-Smythe rose from a chair and drank two glasses of a protein mix. Her body was close to skeletal. She’d paid a high price for this gamble, but if it had all gone according to plan, she’d now be the sole surviving member of the Council, and no one would’ve considered her a factor in the deaths of her peers. As there were no aspirants strong enough to become Council, she would’ve effectively owned the Net.
    At the time, the cost-benefit ratio had seemed satisfactory. That was no longer the case.
    I believe you have served your purpose.
    She waited as the chairman paused and considered if his chip was faulty.
    Your chip is defective. I made sure of it the night I found you—your mental shield makes you careless about more physical means of attack. Such a human failing.
    Trembling, the man slid a hand under his hair.
    Mind control takes large amounts of energy, and I really can’t spare any more.
    The chairman drew himself a bath with no prescience of danger. He was dead five minutes later.
    Tatiana sighed in exhaustion as she retook her seat. She would’ve preferred not to lose him—as a tool, he’d been perfect. When she’d found him three weeks ago, his mind had already been full of both hatred toward the Psy, and a willingness to use violence to achieve his aims. All she’d had to do was nudge him until he’d set out to destroy the Council itself.
    Every other action, from pushing the kill switch on his men, to going after the changelings, he’d taken on his own. Tatiana had no interest in anything unconnected to the murders of her fellow Councilors. But that very independence of thought had made the chairman too dangerous to leave alive.
    It would, of course, have been better if she’d been able to control the Alliance as a whole, but even one mind-control link was draining. She’d been forced to watch the continued development of the chip and the drug, but that, she decided, was a minor issue, one she could deal with when she was stronger.
    Right now, she had to recover . . . and reassess the other Councilors’ weaknesses. Perhaps, she thought as she walked haltingly to her bed, she might eventually program the next leader of the Alliance. Humans made such perfect stalking horses.

CHAPTER 55
    Mercy woke in a spacious but unfamiliar room. No. She remembered seeing it before, but the images were hazy. Most likely, she’d woken earlier, then slipped back into sleep. Her side ached, and when she reached down to investigate, she found bandages wrapped around her middle. Still, she thought, it didn’t feel too bad—not like when that piece of tin had sliced into her.
    Yawning, she snuggled deeper against the familiar male body beside her. “Riley?”
    Silence.
    Surprised, she raised herself up on her elbow and looked down. His face was drawn, lined with fatigue. Stupid man, she thought, he’d been staying up to watch over her. She’d felt him as she slept, knew he hadn’t left her side. Even though the plascast on his leg and thigh told her he’d suffered an injury himself. The break had to be a bad one if Lara had cast him so solidly. He should’ve stayed in animal form for the healing, but it didn’t surprise her that he hadn’t. She wouldn’t have, either, had their roles been reversed.
    Kissing him on the jaw and petting his chest until his face relaxed, she groaned and got out of bed on wobbly feet. Riley’s fingers immediately clenched on the sheet where she’d been. “Sleep,” she said, holding on to the headboard as her muscles got used to being upright again. “I’m right here.”
    After a few more soothing words, he slipped back into a deeper rest.
    It was, Mercy thought, standing there looking at him, inexpressibly wonderful to have a mate she loved with every breath in her. With no one around, she could be as sappy as she wanted. But of course, there were people around. However, they were giving her and Riley privacy and that’s all that mattered.
    Dragging herself to the bathroom, she did what needed to be done, then showered. From the putrid color of her bruises, she figured she’d been out for days. Her body was clean, which meant either one of the healers or Riley had taken care of it. She didn’t feel any embarrassment at the thought—he was hers. Of course he’d care for her. As she’d do for him. In a heartbeat.
    Feeling refreshed, she went back out to the bedroom encased in a fluffy white robe. Her bandages had some kind of plas