Any Price by Gail Faulkner Page B

could know of her thoughts. Lore had just answered her mental musing. She hadn’t directed the thoughts to him. Nor had she actively tried to block them. What if all those others were getting a clearer channel into her brain? What the hell would that mean? How did she turn it off?
    Was it only this morning that she’d been a nearly normal person? Okay, maybe not all that normal to begin with, but clearly not a perpetually paranormal, mind-reading freak of nature! She’d only been a part-time freak of nature back then.
    Lore dropped to his knees beside her. She was curled into the arm of the couch. The instinct to shield her was overwhelming. His long body bent over hers as he gathered her into his arms without disturbing her position.
    “Not a freak, little one,” he whispered, his mouth in her hair as he surrounded her with his large body, offering comfort in its most basic form. His instinctual male beast would give her the safety she craved in any form he could.
    Thick arms encircled her as she turned her face into his neck. They needed this contact. The firm but tender embrace gave them both some relief. She knew what he was doing and was grateful.
    “Oh yeah? How did you know that’s what I thought? Because it was just a thought, Lore, and you answered it. Can you read every thought I have?” Kenna questioned shakily.
    “I don’t think so. I guess, well, I don’t know. You’re right. This is different and strange. But whatever is happening to us is happening to both of us. We can handle this together. What we need is more information. If I were a really smart guy, I’d call Yuri in here and question him about that shit he told us in the car. Being alone with you is such a luxury that I can’t bring myself to do it.”
    She pulled her face out of his neck and looked up at him. “Do you feel the others too?”
    “Others? What others?” Lore demanded.
    Her brow wrinkled. “When I sat down, I tried being quiet and finding the connection, the ones to Yuri, Julianna and Thomas, it worked. But they’re not the only ones I feel. There are others, many others. I asked Thomas if there were more than the three of them and he said there was. He was so calm about it. I asked who they are and why I feel them. He told me not to ask questions I don’t want answers to. That’s when you felt me panic.”
    Kenna was panting as she finished her explanation. Clutching him tightly while her eyes darted back and forth between his, her agitation rose as his shock flowed through her. Lore didn’t bother to repress a frown as he grasped the quantum leap this convoluted mess had taken. Whatever switch had been flipped, its ripple of power was spreading way beyond the two of them and the few people surrounding them.
    It took concentration to control a brutal defensive reaction as he held her trembling body. She was exhausted, both mentally and emotionally. The way this kept spreading and twisting, along with the male-female chaos churning between them, had her completely drained.
    Her resources had been stretched thin an hour ago. The woman in his arms now felt exposed and vulnerable. Even in his arms she wasn’t safe and that was fucking wrong. He couldn’t defend her from some strangers invading her mind and that offended him on every level. Even the new ones he was developing through this constantly changing experience.
    First, he wasn’t going to share her with anyone, much less with a mass of strangers who could slither into her head. Second, he wasn’t going to share her with anyone! If he counted down past the top-ten items of unacceptable crap he was willing to kill to correct, he might get past the not sharing part and get on with a list of what was fucked up about this.
    Still kneeling beside the couch, holding her tightly, he bellowed, “Yuri, get your ass in here!”
    The commander opened the door immediately and stepped into the room.
    “What the fuck is happening to Kenna?” Lore demanded. “And don’t