Chapter 23

By the time the sun rose the next morning Kaleb had patched up his conditioning again and thought through all eventualities. If what Alja had told him about the projection was true, his conditioning should not have reacted at all. It shouldn't have recognized the emotion. Except if the feeling had been his own, which was highly unlikely. He'd never reacted to women in that way before. Chances were Alja was a trap and whoever had set her up wanted to make him believe he really was attracted to her. Tempt him to break Silence.

The downfall of a powerful man caused by a beautiful woman was such an old story and yet it had worked so often throughout history. Only that it was the last strategy he'd have expected to be played against him. This only made it more ingenious – and also incredibly stupid: Because whoever had set this trap obviously didn't know it was a very bad idea to destabilize his Silence. This was odd, because he was sure all his former fellow Councilors had at least a good guess at the extent of his powers and knew that there was very little chance to stop him once he lost control. And none of them had ever been known to use emotion in their strategies. Silence was their basis of power after all.

Silence.

Yes, there was one group who would try to fight fire with fire:

Pure Psy.

But as far as his information went they lacked the skills to pull off something big enough to involve the Arrow Squad and more important, they lacked the reason to do it. At least until the moment Alja had showed up he had never given the slightest hint that he wasn't backing Silence as hard as any other Councilor with the will to retain his power. Except for a fleeting alliance with Nikita who all but publicly admitted she no longer stood in favor of the Protocol. But that wouldn't be enough to put him on their blacklist. Or maybe it was. Pure Psy was fanatic after all.

Or could Alja truly be innocent? Kaleb had seen enough of evil to know she did not seem like it. On the contrary: Something about her made her seem worth protecting. Then again, evil came in various disguises.

As long as there was a chance that all of this was a trap he should keep away from her. He wasn't arrogant enough not to have learned by now that he had probably not much to oppose her particular skillset, but maybe it was time that he practiced holding up Silence against such powers. And maybe he was just looking for excuses. There were so many reasons why he should not get into any more contact with her.

Still he couldn't let her go.

But no, there was only one reason for that: She had become something he wanted. And Kaleb Krychek was a man used to getting what he wanted, even at high costs. Today he'd find out if her skills were worth it, and if they were he'd hunt her down just like any prey he'd ever set his sights on, on his way to ultimate power. It was easy to believe it was that simple with his newly repaired Silence.

He didn't even look up when she entered his office at his telepathic command, determined not to give her any more attention than necessary.

"You've got something for me to do?" was all she said, her voice unusually flat even for a Psy.

"Yes, some shield work, but first I wanted to talk to you about yesterday's – demonstration." The shortest hesitation before the last word. His eyes stayed focused on the extendable computer screen on his desk.

Alja started talking before he could continue.

"I apologize again for letting the situation get out of hand. I am usually in full control of my abilities. I suppose the events of the last days have emotionally imbalanced me. But I understand if you find me too erratic or unstable. I could still leave… "

Trying to run, again? Kaleb thought. Interesting. But not acceptable. He cut her off at once. "We have a deal and so far you broke none of its conditions. I believe you can still do your work here. I don't find my conditioning impaired in any way by your demonstration. – You said you have strategies to get a grip on your emotional lapses. Use them and warn me if you are losing control again." The coldest matter-of-fact tone.

"I will. Can you spare me for one day sometime soon?" There was no way she could keep functioning on any level if she didn't get some emotional support. After last night she was choking on the dark emotions inside her that were screaming to be soothed by what she only referred to as human contact. She could only hope it would be enough.

About to reply Kaleb finally looked up.

And all his Silent resolve shot to smithereens.

Alja looked like she'd been dragged through hell. He thought she might pass out any moment in spite of the tough soldier attitude she displayed otherwise. She was as white as paper and her eyes were red and swollen, with dark shadows down to her cheeks. The night-sky in them was an abyss crashing in on itself today. And suddenly Kaleb was seized hard by an overwhelming urge to fight, fight whatever had done this to her. No one was allowed to hurt her like that. She was his to protect.

"What happened to you?" He forced the words to sound calm, ignoring the dissonance that flared up once again.

Alja knew that she looked more than exhausted. She'd just expected Kaleb wouldn't care as long as she showed up to do her work. The truth was she hadn't thought about much at all since her breakdown. She was just functioning on autopilot to hold up the façade that was crucial to her survival. "I had a little lack of sleep lately. I'll compensate within a few days."

"You don't look like it. You should see an M-Psy." He couldn't hold her gaze any longer. Those star-crash eyes were triggering responses deep inside him that shattered all his attempts to keep his distance, to keep his Silence.

"Really it's nothing serious." She couldn't admit how close she was to breaking point. She had a task to fulfill and she would not falter until it was done. Seeing an M-Psy now would only mean more trouble. And she was running out of time already.

"You could have Aden if you don't trust one of my men with your health." Someone had to take care of her. Pain spearing through his brain. Irrelevant. Alja had to stop hurting.

"I am a trained Arrow, capable of assessing my health status. Medical treatment is not necessary at the moment." She squared her shoulders, her figure turning rigid when she spoke.

So proud. So stubborn. It was infuriating, but also – appealing. Kaleb's whole body tensed in an attempt to stop getting up and pull her into his arms, make sure she was alright. More pain spreading along his nerves. He ignored it again. That was when he saw something else that raised another red flag in his mind. She didn't even seem to notice but…"Alja, your nose is bleeding."

At the same moment she felt the single drop of blood that was slowly running towards her lips. Had she been in any other condition she would have realized that her specious excuses would not lead her anywhere. "I probably pushed myself too hard in the gym and strained some blood vessels." It didn't help that Kaleb made her blood run faster by getting up and walking around the table to stand right in front of her. A paper tissue appeared in his hand out of thin air. He held it out for her but withdrew his hand when she reached out for it. As a consequence she took a small involuntary step that brought her even closer to him. So close that she half feared half hoped their bodies would touch if she breathed in too deep. Definitively too close for usual Psy interaction. But Kaleb didn't increase the distance when he spoke.

"How long do you want to play this game? You didn't leave your quarters since yesterday." She couldn't have trained in the gym. And with a Psy, nosebleeds were almost always a sign of psychic powers deteriorating. "Was it the strength of the projection? Is this some kind of empathic flame-out?" Whoever had set her up to destabilize his Silence had probably underestimated the amount of power it took. But no, he refused that suspicion to be true, accepting another burst of pain in his head.

"No, it's really just some stress due to the emotional build-up after the events of the last days." And she experienced another 'emotional build-up' in a very different area right now. His scent of electrified air and darkness making her want to crawl right into him, forget her own darkness.

That's it: I'm truly going insane. She thought. "Although I admit, I will possibly need the human contact now to release some emotional tension. So if you can give me a day off to meet some human acquaintances, I assure you it will not impair my functionality."

Right now he couldn't have cared less about her 'functionality'. She had to get well no matter if she was an enemy set on destroying him. But oh, those suspicions were about to drive him insane. How could he be sure this feeling was his own? Still it was almost impossible to fight the urge to touch her again. "Have your human contact then. But I will take you wherever you need to go and if I find your condition unimproved you'll see Aden the moment you return." His tone told her this point was nonnegotiable. But at last he gave her the tissue which she hastily pressed to her face to conceal the strengthening blood flow.

"Agreed. What about the job you had for me?" Only her Arrow-trained control kept her voice practical and cool as always.

"It can wait until your health status is improved. I'll have Silver clear your schedule for today. Now get some rest and inform me about the time and place of your human contact as soon as you've arranged it."

She wanted to protest again, but he was right: She probably wasn't fit to do whatever a power-hungry Councilor found her useful for. Apart from that there was this tiny, stubborn spark of unreasonable hope that told her it was a good sign Kaleb cared for her well-being.

"It doesn't take much preparation. I could go out tonight. My next contact is in Lithuania, but I guess that doesn't matter much with your preferred mode of transport." As she spoke a little of the heaviness in her features lifted and the weakest smile flew over Alja's lips. Kaleb might have missed it had he not been trying so hard to focus on the rest of her face, rather than those unsettling eyes. He had no idea how to interpret that reaction, but it captivated him all over again.

"Right, you don't need to choose the closest contact, if you have better ones elsewhere."

"No, I'd like to go to Lithuania. I think it's the best choice. Around nine would be a good time." She wanted to see Elizabeta. The waitress was the one who came closest to being a friend among the contacts Alja had kept all over the world for the rare breaks she took on her missions.

"Then we meet at nine tonight. For now let me get you to your quarters." When she drew in a breath to respond, he surprised her by quickly adding: "Yes, I know you're capable of walking yourself, but no one needs to see you in this condition. Agreed?"

That got him another of the tiniest smiles. It caused a strange kind of warmth to unfold deep inside his chest and also reminded him of the sensation those lips had produced when he'd kissed her. And it was absolutely worth the screaming dissonance that raged through his head. If this woman meant to lead him to his downfall he'd probably come willingly.

But not yet.

Handing her another paper tissue he pushed at her shields for the teleport. The next moment she found herself alone in her rooms.

Pressing the fresh tissue to her face she didn't notice that the other one hadn't come with her. She was too occupied trying to get some order into a crackbrained reason that was set on making her think there was hope Kaleb truly cared about her. But it somehow felt like it. Although she hadn't dared, hadn't even thought of testing it with her empathy. She simply didn't want that unreasonable hope to be snuffed out by the radiation of frost she expected to sense from him.

That was not only stupid but dangerous too. However she couldn't help it. And for the first time something other than the deaths inside her or her fateful task threatened to become her biggest problem. How was she supposed to function when – even after her complete breakdown the other day – all she could think about were very physical fantasies of a certain Councilor who probably couldn't even spell the word sensuality? Yet he had made her body come alive when she'd thought sensuality was lost to her forever.

She wanted to peel him out of those annoyingly perfect suits of his, wanted to test the firm muscles of his chest she'd only briefly touched in their sparring match, wanted to stroke her hands over the ridged planes of his abdomen. Heaven have mercy, she wanted to taste him all over! But most of all she wanted to unleash the wild, untamed energy that was Kaleb Krychek under the façade of all this ice. The kind of energy she'd tasted when he'd kissed her. The kind of energy that had the potential to chase away the echoes of death inside her.