Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh Read Free Book Online

he’d kicked her away, locked the door. And now he sat—a god on his throne while she huddled on the floor—speaking to her in that cool voice that never changed, no matter how much she screamed.
    “That task is the sole reason I’m leaving you alive.”
    “Why me?”
    “You’re already dead. Easily expendable.”
    “If I fail?” She was so weak, her bones seeming to melt from the inside out. How could she possibly kill any man, much less one reputed to be as lethal as the director of the Shine Foundation?
    There was no immediate answer, no movement from the spider who’d become the only living being in the endless pain that was her universe. He was a true Psy. He didn’t make gestures or movements without purpose. Once, she’d been like that. Before he’d torn into her mind and snapped the threads of her conditioning, wiping out all the things that had made her who she was.
    Before he’d killed her.
    “If you fail,” he finally said, “Devraj Santos will eliminate you from the equation. The end, for you, will be the same.”
    Katya gasped awake, her clothing sticking to her skin, her head pounding. Fear and horror clawed at her chest until she kicked off the blankets, certain something was sitting on her ribs, crushing her bones.
    Nothing.
    Nothing but madness.
    Shoving a fist into her mouth, she curled onto her side, wrestling with the jagged fragments of a dream that had drenched her body in the sick chill of fear-sweat. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t connect the pieces, couldn’t figure out what it was the shadow-man had wanted her to do.
    She just knew that when the time came . . . she’d do it. Because the shadow-man never left anything to chance. Most especially his weapons.
    PETROKOV FAMILY ARCHIVES
    Letter dated December 3, 1970
     
     
    My dear Matthew,
     
    It’s as I thought—the attempt to condition rage out of our young is failing. But that isn’t the most disturbing news. Today, I read a confidential report that says the Council has begun to consider the effective elimination of all our emotions.
    My hand shakes as I write this. Can’t they see what they’re asking? What they’re destroying?
    Mom

CHAPTER 7
    Three days later, Dev had the answer to his question.
    “We’ve rechecked with our source,” Dorian told him over the communications panel. “She’s officially listed as deceased.”
    “Ming had to have taken her out beforehand. Unless your intel says otherwise?”
    “No. With Ekaterina—”
    “Katya,” Dev corrected automatically.
    “Right.” The sentinel gave a single sharp nod. “Well, with Katya, he really cleaned up his tracks—apparently, there’s not even a whisper that she survived the explosion. Ashaya’s starting to think the amnesia could be the side effect of a psychic block of some sort, something that stops her from betraying herself on the Net.”
    “We’re working on that.” The Forgotten had changed over the years, but they still had telepaths in their midst, still had those who could work with minds wrapped in a mental prison. Dev knew the painful certainty of that far too well.
    “You need any of us, all you have to do is say the word. Sascha, Faith, Shaya,” Dorian said, naming three of the powerful Psy in his pack, “they’re ready to drop everything to help Katya.”
    “Until we know how dangerous she is, I can’t chance that,” Dev answered. “Shine might be the main target, but if I know the Council, they’ll use the opportunity to hurt anyone they can. DarkRiver is a real thorn in their side.” All true. But there was another truth—in asking him to end her life, Katya had put that life in his hands—he’d allow no one else to interfere. “I’ll let you know if we find anything more.”
    Dev had just hung up when Glen paged him down to the medical floor. “She’s ready to be discharged,” the doctor told Dev as soon as he arrived. “I’ve given her several bottles of supplements—combine those with a