Page 96 of Stars in Umbra
Mo tried to form words, but nothing left his lips.
The kill directive was roaring now, like a beast inside his skull, clawing to break through.
Blood thundered in his ears, his pupils dilated, and his fingers trembled.
Zane cocked his head, his psionic eyes lighting up.
Mo groaned, for Zane’s legendary psychic and telepathic powers were unmatched.
‘I perceive freakin’ lightning in your head, brother,’ he rasped. ‘Your senses are off the charts.Ko’sawa, kaka?’
Mo attempted to reassure the man while simultaneously fighting to step back and away from completing the horrific command, but the node forced him forward.
His pulse was a hammer inside his chest as he lurched.
Zane’s gaze focused on him. ‘Mo, are you -?’
‘Tired,’ Mo interrupted, gritting his teeth as he managed to coerce sounds from his lips. ‘I didn’t sleep. I had a bitchin’ migraine.’
Zane didn’t believe him.
Mo sensed it in the tightening energy within his icy blue eyes, in the subtle pulse of psionic force beginning to swirl around him.
Zane reached out with a telepathic probe.
Mo reacted before he could think, throwing up an instinctive neural firewall.
His mind slammed shut with such force that Zane rocked back a step, his expression one of stunned surprise.
‘You just blocked me,’ Zane growled, voice tight with disbelief, brows arched. ‘Not many people can.’
Mo forced a shaky smirk. ‘I don’t like people in my head.’
Kainan’s gaze swept between them, golden eyes narrowing. ‘Didn’t know you had a psionic trigger, Mo.’
Mo shrugged. His muscles were twitching beneath his skin, trying to draw his weapons. He kept his arms folded instead, pretending to be at ease.
It was costing him everything.
‘It’s a neural shield I’ve been playing with,’ he muttered. ‘It works on pure reflex.’
Kainan’s jaw flexed. Zane tilted his head.
However, neither man pressed him, leaning into their trust in him.
‘I’ll catch you after the loop,’ Mo mumbled. ‘I need to check the upper corridor feeds. I caught a strange signal on the stairwell sensors.’
He turned on his heel, praying his legs would obey him.
‘Get yourself some pain meds,’ Zane called behind him, a note of dry warning in his tone. ‘You’re hella pale for an Iccythrian.’
Kainan grunted, amused, and pushed the war room doors open again, both Riders disappearing inside.
Mo rounded the corner.
The second he turned, he collapsed against the wall, inhaling like a man just pulled from a drowning.
His whole body shook. The neural shocks returned, searing, prolonged pulses that twisted his veins into live wires.
