Resonance Surge

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Excerpt 1

Theo’s chest hurt, the pain sharp and hard. She’d tried to make herself stone long ago, and she’d succeeded with everyone but her twin. The far better half of their pair. Any lines he’d crossed couldn’t compare to her crimes.

Not willing to look head-on at a loss that would signal the end of her own life, too—for there was no reason for her darkness to exist if Pax was gone—she exited the plane, then slid her phone out of the pocket of her calf-length skirt. She paused on the way out of the passenger area to send a message to Yakov Stepyrev.

Her phone rang in her hand mere moments later, the same name on the screen. “Theodora Marshall speaking.”

“I figured you’d want to check out the site,” said a masculine voice in accented English that held an undertone of warmth. “I’m your ride. Look out for a big furry brown creature as you exit.”

Theo blinked, took the phone away to stare at it, then said, “I have your ID photo. Unfortunately, it only features your human face.”

A pause from the other end, before he said, “In which case, look for my ugly mug when you leave the secure area,” in a voice that held a thread of something she couldn’t quite pinpoint.

Shaking her head at the odd interaction, she slipped her phone back into her pocket. She’d undertaken basic research on bear changelings during her flight—most of it via the digital archive of a magazine called Wild Woman. She’d learned that while bears were intensely territorial, they were also considered one of the most good-natured of the changelings—as long as you didn’t attempt to harm them or theirs.

The various columnists had often referred to the bear sense of humor, but she hadn’t expected to run headlong into it the instant she set foot in Moscow. Of course, an article by “Aunt Rita” had stated that while bears found great amusement in acting like “lumbering trunks of fur with a limited number of brain cells,” they were ruthlessly intelligent.

“Only a fool underestimates a bear” had been Aunt Rita’s final words on the subject.

Theo hadn’t needed the columnist’s advice on that point; she’d figured it out on her own. No pack or clan would’ve survived existing in—much less holding territory in—the same region as Kaleb Krychek if they were anything less than dangerous and smart.

Aunt Rita had also stated that “bears appreciate spine” and weren’t easy to offend—unless a verbal opponent targeted the vulnerable under their care. Theo had found herself compelled by the latter, unable to imagine a people so good-natured and even-tempered.

Psy might have aimed for peaceful minds with the emotionless regime of Silence, but all they’d achieved was a frigid control that wore on the psyche until people began to snap.

Murder rates hadn’t gone down under Silence. The crimes had just been concealed better.

She knew that because her grandfather had never bothered to hide information around her; he’d thought it was fear of him that kept her mouth shut. Theo had allowed him to believe that. Far better that than he realize she did it for Pax.

Marshall Hyde had never understood her profound allegiance to Pax—and her brother’s equally visceral loyalty to her—which was why he’d never realized that he could use one twin to manipulate the other. A small mercy.

Today, she’d be interacting with a man as different from her grandfather as night from day.

She’d survived a Councilor. How hard could it be to deal with a bear?

Armed with her research, she had her guard up and her senses on alert when she exited through the doors that spilled her out into the public area. She’d ended up on the tail end of a group from a commercial flight and expected to spot Yakov Stepyrev well before he spotted her; Theo was hardly a woman who stood out. Her grandfather had taught her to never stand out for reasons of his own, and she’d taken those lessons into adulthood because it suited her.

Except the instant she walked through the automatic doors, she got a prickle on the back of her neck that told her she was being watched. She looked up . . . and met eyes of a stunning aqua green across a good ten meters of space.

He lounged against the white of the far wall, one booted foot kicked up against it and his arms folded. Faded blue jeans. Black T-shirt. His biceps were defined but not in the overt fashion of a man who’d made it a point to get those muscles—these were the muscles of a changeling used to the physical. His hair was thick and silky and the color of polished mahogany, his skin a shade closer to dark honey, his face put together in a way that had multiple women sending him smiles as they passed by.

Right now, however, Yakov Stepyrev, StoneWater bear and Theo’s partner for the duration of this task, was focused absolutely and totally on Theo.

Copyright © 2023 by Nalini Singh

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