Walking back out into the living area, she was surprised to hear the chime of an incoming call. "Yes?" she answered on audio.
"Your father wishes to speak to you."
"I'll turn on the screen."
"There's no need - he's at the gates."
Her hand dropped away from the screen-activation key, mouth suddenly the driest of deserts. "I'll meet him in the grounds." It hadn't been what she'd planned to say but, once again, the knowing had come to the fore.
Ending the call, she exited the house and started down the path that eventually led to the gate. Anthony only ever paid her a personal visit when he wanted to talk about confidential business and being outside was the easiest way to ensure privacy. She could think of two reasons for his surprise appearance today. It might be as simple as a request for a particularly sensitive forecast, but it could also be about a far more treacherous subject - her possible nomination to the Council.
Then there he was, striding toward her. A tall male with skin two or three shades darker than hers and black hair silvered at the temples. In his black suit, white shirt, and dark blue tie, he looked every inch the perfect Psy. What would he do if he discovered her planned defection?
Stop her. By any means necessary.
"Father."
"Walk with me, Faith." He turned off the main path to one that snaked deeper into the grounds. "I've heard some disturbing news."
A chill wind swept through her body in spite of the early afternoon sunshine. "Kaleb Krychek?"
To her relief, he nodded. "There are rumors he's decided to give the Council no alternative choice."
"Nothing we didn't expect."
"I want you to retire from the race."
"Father?" She turned to face him, pure surprise rooting her to the spot.
Anthony halted beside her. "You weren't trained in offensive maneuvers. Kaleb has had years of practice."
"I know that, but - "
"You're too valuable to chance being damaged."
So, her monetary profitability outweighed her father's ambition. "I understand. Business is business. But what if I wish to pursue the offer?"
"The PsyClan will assist you, of course. However, think carefully, Faith. As a cardinal foreseer, you already have considerable political power should you choose to wield it."
"I'm completely isolated."
"That can change if you want it to."
She spoke without thinking. "Can it?"
Anthony looked at her for several long moments. She wondered whether he suspected something. Then he said, "I've already lost one daughter. It's enough. I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe."
She wanted to read emotion, care, love, into his statement, but knew it'd be a self-deluding lie. "Did your sources give a time frame for any attack? Or the type of offensive?" Forcing herself to think past the needs of the lonely child inside of her, she started walking again.
"Within the next two days. As for type, Krychek is known for using the PsyNet. It's suspected he has an undocumented subset of powers beneath his Tk abilities that allow him to attack without detection."
"Do you think it's something similar to Nikita Duncan's talent?"
"Mental viruses?" Anthony seemed to consider that idea. "No. It's something else. The end result of his particular skills being utilized is unique and extremely disturbing."
"I thought his targets had a tendency to disappear?"
"They do. But I've discovered that it's not Krychek who does the disappearing. It's the individual family groups - they don't want to be associated with his victims."
"What results could cause such a radical reaction?" She wanted to gather as much information as she could on the man almost certain to become the newest member of the Council. Information was power and she was through with being powerless.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"Of course."
"Nikita's targets either die or become incapacitated to the extent that they can't care for themselves - similar effects to certain kinds of accidental brain damage. Unfortunate for the individual but nothing organic or genetic, nothing that reflects on the extended family group."
It was very unlike her father to dance around a subject. "Why is Krychek different?"
"His targets go clinically insane."
Chapter 20
Faith was very, very glad she'd fallen a step behind Anthony, because at that moment, she couldn't have hidden her terror. "Insane?"
"As far as anyone has been able to determine, his targets begin to exhibit highly erratic behavior approximately two days after infection. By the fifth day, they're no longer sane in any sense, though the actual psych diagnosis varies from individual to individual."
She shoved down her panic and horror and attempted a semblance of calm. "That makes the decision considerably easier - I have no desire to go insane before my time. Perhaps you should inform the Council as the head of the household. It may prove unhealthy for me to venture out into the PsyNet. At least until Krychek knows I'm out of the running."
"I'll do it en route to the city."
They turned to make their way back. "Thank you." Faith ached for even the smallest indication of care, something Anthony would never be able to give her. But he was her father. How could she not hunger for his approval if nothing else?
"Faith."
"Yes, Father?"
"Be careful. Krychek may attempt to get to you some other way. Don't trust anyone until I've ensured he knows you've conceded the race."
Since she trusted no one who was connected to the Net, that wasn't going to be a problem. "What if he decides to eliminate me anyway? I might become a rival in the future."
"I've thought of a way to counter that possibility. I'll make it known that you're being put under lockdown because of aberrant mental patterns."
A cage. Her father was going to put her in a cage. Faith told herself not to care but she did. And it hurt. "How long will I have to maintain this fiction? I assume it means I have to stay out of the PsyNet?"
"I'd suggest a year. Krychek needs to forget you were ever a threat."
A year cut off from the only freedom she'd ever known. "Isn't that extreme?" No matter what else he'd done, she'd always believed that Anthony had tried to keep her safe. But this . .. this was an attempt to put her in chains and disguise it as protection.
"It's a question of your life. One year isn't much in the greater scheme of things."
A year was everything if you had decades of madness to look forward to. Though if she left the PsyNet, perhaps Vaughn could somehow heal the broken pieces in her mind. Even as she thought that, she knew it to be an impossible dream. But no matter - she'd still have more years of sanity than she would have under lockdown, a lockdown she suspected would never be reversed, reasons being found to keep her isolated and performing like the machine they'd almost turned her into.
"I'll accede to three months. Let's reconsider the situation after that." She couldn't give in, not when her recent behavior had made Anthony expect more from her.
"Agreed. Stay out of the Net."
"Yes." In a day, perhaps even in as little as a few hours, she'd be gone from the PsyNet forever. And if Vaughn didn't catch her as she fell, she'd be gone from this world as well. She wondered if her jaguar knew the extremity of her trust in him.
"Good-bye, Faith."
"Good-bye, Father."
Faith forced herself to return to the house, though she was half-afraid she'd never be allowed out again. The door closed behind her with a soft snick that felt as loud as a deadbolt. Taking a deep breath, she thrust her incipient panic into a tiny box in her psyche and walked to the communication console.
Xi Yun responded to her page in seconds. "What can I do for you, Faith?"
"Could you send me some of the earlier reports of my mental processes during visions? I'd like to compare them against the current scans." Not now, but one day.
"How far back would you like to go?"
She paused. The organizer could handle a massive amount of data, but even it couldn't cope with twenty-four years. "To my sixteenth birthday." The age at which her abilities had become relatively stable.
"That's the period I would've recommended," Xi Yun said. "Prior to that, you continued to be somewhat erratic."
Sixteen was the unofficial end of conditioning, the two years till eighteen a safeguard against any "mistakes." Had Silence helped her discipline her foresight, or had it stunted her mind until it produced patterns deemed acceptable instead of erratic? The memory reminded her of something else. "How is Juniper doing?"
"Well for an eight-year-old. Her skills fall short of what yours were at that age, but in comparison to others in her age bracket, she's advancing through the Protocol at considerable speed."
Meaning that the young Gradient 8.2 foreseer was becoming a machine faster than others. "Would I be able to see her records as well? I'm considering offering her some training." A perfectly legitimate thing for a cardinal to do for a younger member of the family.
Such help was especially important in the restricted field of foresight and for that abandonment, too, Faith felt guilt. But she had every intention of trying to find a way to help Juniper and others like her from the outside.
"I'll clear it with her guardian, but I don't anticipate a problem. You're the foreseer they study during training."
"When can you have everything to me?" It was a few minutes past four now.
"Within the hour."
More than enough time to download the files before Vaughn hunted her down.
Vaughn neared the fence around Faith's compound hours later than he'd intended. He'd been halfway to her when an alert had gone out over the Web - Sascha sending emotion for Dorian. Changing direction, he'd responded, aware that the others were all tied up. Because he couldn't hear words over the Web, he'd had to go to the nearest packmate's house and call for the location, another small delay.