Black Orchid Read Online Free PDF Page B

properly.”
    “Excellent.
There’s been a development. I think we may have an opportunity to use your
little mistake to our advantage," Maddox said.
    "So
what we discussed earlier?"
    “Yes.”
    “That’s
good because I’ve just about drained him,” Talia said.
    “Well,
if you’d attached to Ellie like you were supposed to—”
    Nate
frowned. Attached? Drained?
    “Don’t
go into all that again,” Talia said, with a venom in her voice that Nate had
never heard her use before. “You knew when you sent me that I don’t have
complete control over that. It was a risk you accepted.”
    “Hmmm….
Well, perhaps we can salvage something out of this.”
    “Shall
I bring him to you tomorrow?” Talia asked.
    There
was only one “him” to whom she could possibly be referring.
    That’s
it .
    Unable
to let this go, he stepped out into the hallway.
    Talia’s
blinked in surprise at his sudden appearance. She glanced nervously at Maddox.
But the older man just gave Nate a bland look. Maddox was a great leader partly
because he was so strategic. But Nate often felt that made him cold, remote. He
shared none of his plans – even with his lieutenants from what Nate heard. And
everything in their underground compound was closely monitored and segregated.
You only knew your part of the puzzle and nothing else. But there was no
denying his methods, because he was always at least one step ahead of their
enemies.
    Nate
didn’t even bother to apologize for eavesdropping. “Would either of you like to
explain what’s going on?”
    “Of
course,” Maddox said smoothly. “But it appears the hallway is not the best
place for discussions. Let’s go somewhere more private.”
    Nate
shrugged and then silently followed Maddox and Talia through a series of narrow
corridors. Finally they stopped at a doorway that Nate recognized.
    Command
central… interesting.
    Nate
was rarely asked to visit this area. The room looked exactly like those in
military movies where all the high-powered leaders gathered to assess and
strategize. He glanced around at the long conference table and the currently
dark monitors and screens all along the walls.
    Nate
turned around with raised eyebrows. “So what’s going on?” He glanced to his
right. “Tal?”
    She
moved across the room to stand in front of him. “It’s nothing really,” she said.
    Reaching
out, she grasped his forearms with her hands. Nate’s vision seemed to blank out
on him. He couldn’t look away and couldn’t move, and, moreover, he didn’t want
to. He just stared deeply into her mesmerizing eyes. After a moment she nodded,
satisfied.
    “Sit,”
she said.
    He
obeyed. She hooked a chair with her foot to sit directly in front of him, never
taking her hands off him.
    “Is
he under?” Nate heard Maddox ask. But he never removed his gaze from Talia’s.
Whatever Maddox was talking about was unimportant.
    “Yes,”
Talia said.
    “Good.
You’re sure that he can handle it?”
     “Yes.
I’ve almost drained all his positive emotions and memories associated with
them, replacing those feelings with a new truth. His family is his enemy to him
now. I’ve also slowly been breaking the ties binding him to me. Although
necessary at the beginning, he can’t function the way you need him to when we
send him back if that’s there. There’s not much linking us anymore. I can
finish severing our bond tonight.”
    “You
said almost all the positive emotions? Will that be a problem?” Maddox
asked.
    “No.”
    Nate,
still focused solely on Talia, heard the discussion, but it meant little to
him.
    Then
Talia spoke directly to him, and Nate felt her words like a physical impact.
“No matter what I say, you will feel contentment and calm. Nod if you
understand.”
    Nate
felt himself nodding but couldn’t think why.
    “Nate,
what is our relationship?” she asked.
    “ Te’sorthene ,”
he answered robotically. He felt that bond with Talia, even through his mental
haze.
    Talia
stared