Page 105 of Primal Mirror

Rina rumbled low in her chest in acknowledgment, the sound more vibration than actual audible noise. Her tail brushed against Auden’s leg at the same instant that she turned to situate herself against their bedroom door, and Remi indicated for Auden to follow him.

It was time to unearth the secrets of Shoshanna’s house.

Chapter 41

I need the strike team ready and waiting to move on my mark.

—Charisma Wai to the head of Scott household security (five hours ago)

REMI HATED THE feel of this house. It ruffled his leopard’s fur the wrong way and made him want to tear it down, start again. Place was elegant on the outside, but so damaged by decades of loneliness and ice and secrets that it couldn’t be renovated to a better state.

The cold was in the walls itself.

He’d wondered how Auden could bear to touch it, had asked her earlier without pressing on the wound. “What about all the contact points in this house?” he’d said, after he’d stroked her to bone-melting softness before they fell asleep. “I’ve seen you touch things without any impact.”

A yawn before she’d answered. “Seems to happen with psychometrics and their long-term residences. Might be a survival instinct. We stop sensing the space and things attached to it unless we make a conscious effort. I only had trouble during my pregnancy but I had trouble with everything then so was hyper-conscious of any direct contact.”

Another yawn, her eyes closing. “I do pick up imprints from any new object placed in the house, which is why I usually avoid new things until they’re at least a year old—there’s a scientist in the psychometric group I belong to online, and his theory is that our brains connect a new object to our residence after a period of time, at which point they become safe.”

Her voice had turned into a near-mumble. “An artefact of evolution, he says. Only those psychometrics who had this ability to nullify their domestic environment surviv…”

She’d fallen asleep in his arms, her hair wrapped up in a silk scarf of a simple gray, and her face soft in rest, but—and despite the pleasure they’d shared—the shadows under her eyes no less deep. He’d known she’d dream of Liberty, would wake with worry for her child’s future heavy on her heart.

He’d held her as he slept himself, confident that Rina would alert him to any threat—and confident, too, in his own instincts. Remi’s leopard would never allow an intruder to get close.

Now he held up a hand, then pointed ahead at a spot in the wall that held a surveillance device. When he made a downward motion, he heard Auden go flat on the ground. They’d discussed this after they’d woken, with Remi having already mapped out their entire route.

It infuriated him that she had to sneak around her own fucking house, but he was willing to play this game to find out why Charisma Wai and her pet doctor wanted a tiny, vulnerable infant enough to impregnate Auden. She hadn’t spelled that out to him, but she hadn’t needed to—he’d figured it out given all the other pieces of information.

These people had stolen even her consent.

They crawled five meters before he gave the signal for Auden to rise, but neither one of them had made a move to get up when he caught the sound of a voice. He held up his hand again, signaling Auden to stay down.

Less noise that way, less chance of attracting attention.

Cocking his head, he tried to pinpoint the source of the sound…and realized it was coming from the partially open door of the room three doors up to the left. No light showed through, and he couldn’t quite hear what was being said, but it appeared Charisma Wai remained where Rina had last spotted her—in her office.

He made a quick decision.

Rising in a smooth motion, he turned and all but lifted Auden up onto her feet, to lessen the chance of extraneous noise. He put a finger to his lips afterward and had her follow him to the other side of the hall and nearer to the door. He could hear parts of the conversation already, but aware that Auden’s hearing was less acute than his, he took them to right beside the door.

A careful glance inside told him why he couldn’t see any light—Charisma Wai was sitting in a chair at her desk, with the desk lamp illuminating only the immediate area.

She wasn’t alone.

Though Remi could only see the back of her companion’s head, it wasn’t hard to identify him from the conversation: the doctor who’d violated Auden. Verhoeven was the person Rina had heard open and close the back door.

“…neurological recovery is remarkable,” he was saying, “and something I’d write a paper on in other circumstances.”

“Will the drug you’ve suggested risk her brain?” Charisma Wai asked.

“No. I’d never permit that. It would nullify the point of the entire project.”

“This brain isn’t the important one,” Charisma said, her tone offhanded. “We need the infant.”

“Have your hunters had any luck locating it? I did look on the PsyNet, but Auden’s entire mind is surrounded by an impenetrable shield, and the child will be within that.”

“No,” Charisma gritted out. “We should’ve embedded a tracker in the infant in utero, as I suggested.”

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