"No."
The doctor sighed. "As I was saying - these new abilities aren't Psy or human but a mesh of both, perhaps even all three where the individual has changeling blood as well." Another hopeful - but futile - glance at Clay. "Very, very exciting."
Talin scowled. "And all I got is this stupid need for feedback."
The doctor winced. "I sympathize. Technically, I'm twenty percent Psy. But in terms of my physical and mental abilities, I'm one hundred percent human. That's the good thing about Shine - we don't discriminate between descendants. Lots of mostly human kids pass through these doors."
At least that definitively answered Talin's question of why she'd been chosen. "Good. But I still think I should have superpowers to compensate." When she'd finally calmed down enough to process everything, her need for biofeedback had made her feel like a vampire or succubus.
She'd gotten all teary about it to Clay...until the idiot male had started laughing so hard he couldn't talk. He'd bought her a pair of "genuine vampire fangs" that day. She was smiling at the memory when Clay wrapped an arm around her neck. "What are you talking about, Tally? You have special powers."
"I do?"
"Yeah, you have the power to bring me to my knees."
That made her blush. Then it made her kiss him.
"Isla," she said that night.
"What?"
"That's what I want to name our child if it's a girl."
A heartbeat of silence. "How about Pinocchio for a boy?"
"No," she said, scowling but aware the comment was his version of "thank you." Isla had been broken, but she had loved her son and Clay had loved her back. Talin would honor that. "You don't get to pick if you're going to sentence our poor child to a life of humiliation."
"Brat."
"Bully," she said, smiling lips grazing his as he lifted himself over her, his body a protective wall. "How about Fabien?"
"Sissy name. Even I can do better."
"So?"
"Joshua."
She smiled. "I like it. Joshua and Isla."
"How many kids are we having again?"
"Lots."
"I guess I can always add more rooms to the lair." He ran his lips over hers in a quick caress. "Anything you want."
"In that case, I want you." She melted into the possessive heat of his kiss, the magic of his love. It was nice belonging to a leopard who would never let you go, she thought as logic surrendered to emotion. It was perfection.
A few hours later, Sascha woke to the awareness that something was happening in the Web of Stars. Snuggling into Lucas's warmth, she opened her mind's eye and looked at the strands of light that made up the Web. It took her several minutes to realize that the bonds had become exponentially stronger, the resulting feedback well above any projected rate. Startled, she checked and rechecked for the reason why, but the only difference was Talin's vibrant, and very much human, presence.
And she understood.
The Web of Stars was now fed by the thoughts and dreams of all three races. Their world was a triumvirate, and for the first time in a hundred years that triumvirate was complete on the psychic level. Sascha didn't know what that meant, but she knew it was a good thing.
She slipped back into sleep with a smile.
