Part 38 (1/2)
”Right. I don't have to. But it's true,” he growled. ”And don't give me any of that slavery c.r.a.p. I don't care who your mother and father were. I fell in love with the warrior woman you are. Well, warrior woman, wolf, and bird of prey,” he amended, as he kept his gaze firmly on her.
When she couldn't speak around the lump in her throat, he added, ”It's going to work out okay.”
With all her heart, she wanted to believe that. But she had to be realistic. ”We're so different.”
”No. We're a lot alike.”
”Even if that's true, it doesn't matter. Unless we can...” She stopped and started again. ”Unless we can neutralize Falcone.”
He studied her face, and she wanted to look away. But she kept her gaze steady.
”You were going to say...'kill,' weren't you?”
Wondering what he would think of her, she answered, ”Yes.”
”Don't worry about the sentiment. I know he's worth killing. Not just for what he did to you. It sounds like he's bad for Sun Acres.”
Again, she forced herself to be brutally honest. ”Maybe not. The city needs a strong leader. If not him, then some other man with power who can protect them from invasion.”
”You have a cynical view of the world.”
”A realistic view,” she corrected. ”Even the n.o.bles accept limits on their freedom in exchange for protection.”
”How did there get to be n.o.bles? There weren't any around here in 1893, were there?”
”I think the rich people...” She shrugged. ”I think they gave themselves that t.i.tle.”
He snorted. ”So much for the American experiment of equality. Do they have other t.i.tles? Like 'duke' or 'lord' or anything?”
”I never heard anything but 'sir' and 'n.o.ble.'”
”Well, maybe one of them is strong enough to protect Sun Acres. Because I plan on wiping Falcone off the face of the earth.”
Those were brave words. She wondered if they were realistic.
”He's powerful,” she warned. ”Not just psychic power. Because he's been successful, he has a lot of support.”
”But you know his weaknesses.”
”And he knows mine.” She gulped. While she'd lain beside Logan, she'd thought of what else she needed to tell him. ”He did something to me... something besides...” She had thought she could say it, but the words simply stopped.
”You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to talk about.”
She looked down at her hands and spoke rapidly, before she could lose her nerve. ”In school they discovered I had a talent few people possess. It was a... big event. I was being chased by a bunch of the older boys, and I made them stop and turn around. The teacher saw it, and she realized I could... influence people. Put suggestions into their mind, and they'd do it. They thought it would be an a.s.set to the city. But Falcone was afraid of that. He and some of the powerful men he gathers around him sent a block into my mind. When I try to use that power now... it hurts.”
”Christ!”
”I can use it a little. I used it that first night when you were in the trap. I got you to change.”
”Yes! I remember.”