Slave to Sensation

“You’re part of a network, Lucas. The feedback you give me is bolstered by the sentinels and Tamsyn.”

He thought for a moment. “The blood oath links the sentinels to me on a psychic level?”

“Somehow,” Sascha said. “I don’t understand how-nobody has ever seen this before-the Psy don’t know changelings can link this way.” Part of her wanted to share the exciting discovery, but a bigger part of her wanted to keep it secret, a weapon unlike any other. “You didn’t know?”

“No. I knew the sentinels gave me their loyalty but we’re not Psy.”

“You have Psy potential. Everyone does. Don’t forget-we all started with the same basic material.” She frowned. “Sienna Lauren was right.”

“Why is Tamsyn in the net?” Lucas asked, and then answered his own question. “She’s linked to Nate through the mating bond. The cubs?”

“They’re there, too.”

“Why aren’t parents and siblings?”

“I’m guessing but I’d say that parents aren’t because those are bonds we break as we grow older. We love but we’re no longer as intertwined. The cubs will likely drop out as they age.” She frowned. “Maybe sibling bonds aren’t strong enough? From what I see, it’s only mating bonds and the blood oath that work.”

“I can understand that. Mating is psychic on some level. The blood oath-well, I guess there’s a reason it’s been passed down through the centuries.”

She looked again at the web and her hands clenched on Lucas’s biceps. “The Laurens were wrong on one point.”

“What?”

“This is amazing! Though I’m the solitary Psy, there is a 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.

“Sascha, what does this mean?”

“We’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?”

“Yes.” 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.”

“No, Lucas.” She squeezed him back. “I lived because of you. That’s how I’ll always remember it.”

“It’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.

“So you can come into our minds?” Mercy asked.

“Only 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.

“But 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.”

“I’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.”

“A 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.”

“Tell me, Sascha,” Tamsyn said, “is it easy to slip in and out of our minds?”

“No. 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.”

“And kill us.” Vaughn’s eyes were almost glowing.

“Yes.” 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.”

“When 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?”

“Yes, 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.

“I’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.