Nikita looked straight at the DarkRiver alpha. "That territory is now under threat."

Indigo could sense Hawke exercising savage control to rein in his instinctive and feral dislike of the Councilors. The Council had almost destroyed SnowDancer once, and none of them would ever trust its members again.

"You"-Nikita glanced from Hawke to Lucas-"were both targeted, because your deaths would've sent your packs into at least temporary disarray."

Neither alpha said anything, though they'd figured out that much for themselves.

"Take down SnowDancer and DarkRiver," Anthony added, his tone measured, calm, "and you crack the city's defenses."

Indigo wasn't fooled by his outwardly mild demeanor. According to SnowDancer's research, the reclusive Councilor had access to a network of F-Psy stronger than any other. Anthony Kyriakus knew more secrets than anyone else in this room, and she was quite certain the Councilor didn't hesitate to use those secrets to leverage power when necessary.

Riley broke his silence to say, "Our information is that the Council is at war." The statement was a test. Judd had already confirmed the rumors. Now, Indigo waited to see what Nikita would say.

Sascha's mother didn't even blink as she answered. "Henry, Shoshanna, and possibly Tatiana have decided that Silence must hold at all costs. They seek to eliminate anyone who goes against that rhetoric."

Riley spoke again, his tone so calm, you'd think they were discussing the watch rotation. "Why share that when the Council prefers to keep its secrets?"

"The reason they're focusing on this city, this state," Anthony responded, "is because both Nikita and I call it home, as do the two most powerful changeling packs in the country. Given all that-take this city, and they take the country."

True, Indigo thought. Because even if Anthony or Nikita survived an attack, Henry and the others, having proven their strength on this battleground, would continue to claim city after city, state after state.

"Why target us at all?" Hawke asked, and Indigo knew his wolf was weighing all the options with cold, hard focus. Part of what made Hawke such a good alpha was that no matter how savage his emotions, both man and wolf never stopped thinking. "What makes them think we'd care one way or another about an internal Psy war?"

Sascha was the one who spoke, her gaze locked to her mother's. "Because of me, because of Faith." Quiet words from a woman who'd once been viciously rejected by the Councilor in front of her. "DarkRiver's emotional connection to us, the pack's inability to sit by and let our parents die, will have been factored into their calculations."

"It's more than that," Max said as Drew shifted his position a fraction, placing his weight on his other foot.

Indigo moved her body a tiny increment to the left to support him if necessary. A pulse of love came down the mating bond, an affectionate caress that "tasted" of Drew. It was still new, that intimate connection, but it was already so much a part of her life that she couldn't imagine how she'd existed without it.

Wrapping her mate's love around herself, she watched Nikita shoot her security chief a cool glance, but the human male shook his head, a grim line to his jaw. "They need all the information," he said to Nikita. "Otherwise, Hawke will be more than happy to throw us to"-a wry grin-"the wolves."

Nikita took several seconds to reply. "It appears Mr. Shannon is correct. They are targeting all of us because I am seen as too liberal in my business dealings with you." Another pause, and then she met her daughter's eyes. "And because I no longer support the Protocol."

Quiet, so quiet Indigo could hear the heartbeat of every person in the room.

Even that of the child in Sascha's womb.

CHAPTER 48.

They'd all heard the rumors, seen the Psy coming into the city, but for Nikita to admit it . . .

"What are you saying, Mother?" Sascha asked at last. "Are you advocating the fall of Silence?"

"Silence cannot fall with such quickness," Nikita retorted, "not without immense devastation. But it is starting to crumble at the edges-and I have never stayed on a sinking ship in my life. I'm unlikely to start now."

Sascha moved a little in her chair, one hand on the hard mound of her belly. "No, you've always known how to ride the tides."

"You haven't mentioned Ming or Kaleb," Lucas pointed out, ma.s.saging his mate's lower back un.o.btrusively as he spoke.

Nikita turned her eyes to the DarkRiver alpha. "Kaleb is highly unpredictable and may, in the end, double-cross everyone, but he doesn't stay on sinking ships, either. Ming is having issues of his own and is more concerned with that than taking over this or any territory."

"Henry and Shoshanna are the strongest advocates of Silence proceeding as it has for the past century," Anthony added. "They want to increase the involuntary reconditionings, force those who are fractured to submit-or face total rehabilitation."

Max's wife, Sophia, spoke for the first time. "By refusing to sign my rehabilitation warrant, Nikita sent a signal that she was no longer toeing the party line. It has left her . . . unpopular."

"If the packs step back in a public fashion," Sascha said, to Indigo's surprise, "make it clear we're not allied with you, what will happen?"

Tension gripped the room.

"They may leave you alone," Anthony said, "come after Nikita and me in force."

"But I wouldn't bet on it," Max added, pushing back strands of his jet-black hair. "From what Sophie here tells me, far as the PsyNet is concerned, this area is already seen to be functioning as a cohesive unit. There's a h.e.l.l of a lot more cross-pollination than in any other sector."

Indigo thought of the connections that tied the people in this room to each other and knew Max Shannon was right. There was also the fact that both packs had proven themselves a threat to even the most powerful Psy. No matter what, the other Councilors would not leave them in peace.

Nikita spoke into the quiet, her words directed at her daughter. "That is a decision your emotional nature would never allow you to make," she said with icy practicality, "so why did you ask the question?"

"I have a child to protect now, Mother." Soft, powerful words. "Priorities change."

Nikita said nothing, and Indigo's wolf wanted to claw at her. Because that wolf understood only family, knew that its own mother would never look at her child with such coldness.

"But," Sascha said, "it doesn't matter how we try to distance ourselves. Max is right-we're all connected now. We all call this region home. They can't attack one without affecting the other."

That, Andrew thought, leaning a little on his mate as his body began to protest at being forced upright for this long, was the crux of it all.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Andrew wouldn't go that far, but he could almost see Hawke calculating the possible options before saying, "We'd be more apt to take you seriously if you gave us information we could actually use." It was a challenge.

"Henry and Shoshanna are a.s.sembling an army," Anthony said, meeting Hawke's gaze. "They've got a few Arrows on their side, along with all those who believe in Purity."

"They lost people when they came after Hawke"-Riley's steady voice again-"and at least one of them was a teleport-capable telekinetic."

"A scarce resource," Anthony agreed. "It may prove a set-back to their plans-but a small one. As Tks have one of the most dangerous abilities, they tend to most strongly embrace the Protocol."

Giving the Scotts a powerful pool of a.s.sa.s.sins.

"Ming and Kaleb may a.s.sist us when the Scotts strike," Nikita added. "But only if that a.s.sistance serves their own interests."

"Some a.s.sistance," Hawke said, "we don't need."

Andrew agreed. Ming LeBon, by all accounts, was a sociopath masquerading as a Councilor. Kaleb Krychek was harder to pin down, which might simply mean he was better at hiding his crimes-because according to the intel Andrew had unearthed, Kaleb Krychek had been mentored by the same s.a.d.i.s.tic killer who'd not only tortured Brenna, but killed a number of other young changeling women.

"Yes," Nikita said, "so any defensive measures we take will have to be based on our own resources. I have a not insignificant pool of strong telepaths under my direct command, but the primary a.s.set I bring to the table is my considerable economic strength. I am already in the process of strangling some of the Scotts' finances."

Anthony, it went without saying, brought his foreseers to the table.

"Have you considered a preemptive strike?" Hawke asked, and Andrew recalled the "warning tap" they'd discussed not long ago.

Anthony nodded. "However, they have a strong advantage on home ground. The opposite is true here."

A long, silent pause broken by Hawke. "Another meeting. One week."

"Very well." Anthony inclined his head, the threads of silver at his temples catching the light. "There is one more thing you should know. Every strong F-Psy in the NightStar Group has made at least one spontaneous nonbusiness prediction over the past month, a highly unusual event."

"What did they see?" Lucas asked.

"Blood and death and fire. Over and over, with no alternate futures logged. Whatever we decide at the next meeting, I do not believe any of us will escape the coming holocaust."

Drew patted Indigo's b.u.t.t as she lay sprawled over him later that night. "I think I'm dead." He squeezed her toned flesh with blatant possessiveness. "And this is my idea of heaven."

Well aware she had to keep a watch on those sneaky steamroller tactics of his, Indigo gave a half hearted growl, but she was too sated to work up any real outrage.

"I like seeing you this way." He petted her a.s.s again before beginning to draw designs on her lower back with a desultory finger. "All pleasured and warm and mine."

Possessive demon. But she was the same, so she couldn't complain. Yawning, she snuggled closer, her eyes heavy lidded. His body was hot and muscled under her touch, his heartbeat still a little erratic, and his scent . . .

Her wolf rolled into a happy little ball, but she dragged up the willpower to say, "I thought Lara ordered you to rest." He'd literally ambushed her as she walked in the door, his mouth on hers and his body inside hers before she could corral her brain cells into objecting.

He kissed her again. "I decided pouncing on you sounded like more fun."

Smiling against his mouth, she stroked her hand over his ribs. "That was some meeting, huh?"

"Especially that last comment by Anthony." Shifting to accommodate Indigo when she tangled her legs with his, Andrew played his fingers through her hair. "Cats say Faith confirmed the prediction." And Faith NightStar was the strongest foreseer in or out of the PsyNet.

Indigo circled a finger over his chest. "Whatever happens, we'll handle it. SnowDancer hasn't survived this long to fall to the Councilors' megalomania." Another lazy circle. "I couldn't read Hawke-guess we'll find out what he thinks at the lieutenant meeting tomorrow."

"I kept expecting him to get up and tear out someone's jugular today."

Indigo laughed. "You sound so disappointed."

"He's acting reasonable. It's vaguely terrifying."

This time, Indigo's laughter was long and deep. Shifting onto her back, she untangled their legs and looped her arms around his neck as he rose over her. "You're terrible, you know that?"

"That's why you love me." Rubbing his nose against hers, he felt his wolf stretch out inside him in naked pleasure.

She nipped at his chin, dropped a kiss onto his lips. "Yeah. The day you begin behaving, I'll know I have an impostor on my hands." Playing her fingers into his hair, she swung a leg over his hip. "I've been thinking about what we're going to do with the traveling you have to do for your position in the pack."

"My team's got things under control for now," Drew said, his eyes such a clear blue that she felt bathed in sunlight.

"But they need you." Pride was a fierce beat inside of her, for this wolf who was smart enough, strong enough, to reach their most vulnerable. "With Riaz here, in the den, I can come on a lot of the trips with you."

Drew blinked, his lashes long and beautiful. "If Riley is Hawke's right arm, you're his left. He needs you here. Especially now."

"I've spoken to him." She pulled him down against her, enjoying the all over contact. Such exquisite skin privileges.

"We won't be gone for months at a time; you've got your network set up now."

"That's true. But I'm still going to need to make a lot of short trips-especially to San Diego. Seb is d.a.m.n strong," he said of his replacement in that sector, "but he's younger than me."

"We can play those times by ear," Indigo said, knowing she'd miss him when he was away, but also knowing the mating bond would ensure she was never lonely.

A long, quiet pause. Then, "Indy?"

Hearing the edge in his tone, she nuzzled a kiss against his neck. "What is it?"

"You were put in a situation where you had to accept the mating bond," Drew said, shadows whispering over the clarity of his gaze when she looked up. "Do you regret it?"

She knew exactly how much it had to have cost him to ask that. "The only thing I regret is not being able to end the mating dance as I planned."

A spark in the blue. "You had a plan?"

"Uh-huh."

"Tell." Fingers dancing over her abdomen, threatening to tickle.

"Well," she said, brushing her lips against his ear, "it involved tying you naked to my bed, having my wicked way with you in revenge for all your crazy-making tactics . . . and then telling you that you belong to me. Forever. No outs. No givebacks."

Drew thrust his hand into her hair, his gaze gone that startling wolf-copper. "Tell me now."

She did. And then, because she was in a good mood and she adored him and he'd taught her about opening her heart, she whispered more love words in his ear, until he broke every single one of Lara's rules and drove them both to heaven a second time around.

Turn the page for a special preview of Nalini Singh's next Guild Hunter Novel Archangel's Consort Coming February 2011 from

Berkley Sensation!

Swathed in the silken shadows of deepest night, New York was the same . . . and altered beyond compare. Once, Elena had watched angels take flight from the light-filled column of the Tower as she sat in front of the distant window of her cherished apartment. Now, she was one of those angels, perched high atop a balcony that had no railing, nothing to prevent a deadly fall.

Except, of course, she would no longer fall.

Her wings were stronger now. She was stronger.

Flaring out those wings, she took a deep breath of the air of home. A fusion of scents-spice and smoke, human and vampire, earthy and sophisticated-hit her with the wild fever of a welcoming rainstorm. Her chest, tight for so long, relaxed, and she stretched her wings out to their greatest width. It was time to explore this familiar place that had become a foreign land, this home that was suddenly new again.