After rolling to break his fall, Aaron bounced back on his feet, knees bent in a defensive stance. He was ready for the figure that appeared next to Leana.
Chairs were flung aside.
Cain and Logan ran to them from each side.
Mikhail slid in front of Leana.
Between them, Leana was shielded from the teleporter.
The stranger was as tall as Aaron. Dark hair framed a face so symmetrical in proportion that he could’ve been carved out of ice. Wide jaw, high cheekbones, and above that, gray eyes blazed with a power so potent it was clear he was immortal.
The teleporter held up his hand. Aaron's muscles tensed. He made to move, only to feel a brush of psychic energy on the psychic plane.
I mean no harm. He knew it was the stranger's voice.
The man had hacked into the Ascendants web, the network used to communicate with each other during an emergency.
Next to him, Mikhail's quick inhale of breath was sharp.
Leana tugged at Mikhail's arm, forcing him to move aside. "Who are you?" Voice imperious, she made it clear she was not afraid of the man who had already shown that no psychic barriers could hold him back.
That gray-green gaze dropped to her face. "I am the leader of the Elysians." His tone was polite but cold enough to raise the hair on Aaron's forearms.
"Tell me more about your race." Leana set her jaw.
"We are immortal beings just like your Ascendant mate." He raised his chin in Mikhail's direction. "A psychic collective who are plugged in to the Sian Web—a network we depend on to replenish our emotions."
Mikhail folded his arms over his chest. "Is the Sian Web like the psychic network shared by the Ascendants?"
"Unlike you Ascendants, the Elysians must be linked to the Sian Web to survive." The stranger's gaze flicked from Mikhail to Aaron before returning to Leana.
Aaron didn't take his focus off the stranger. He was ready to jump the man at the first sign of threat.
"We are driven by our rational side. The Empaths among us shared their emotions with the Sian Web and kept the psychic network well supplied." The Elysian male leaned forward, hands by his side. His fingers twitched as if he wanted to clench them into fists. "We've preferred to stay away from humans and shifters for generations."
"What’s changed?" Cain growled, nostrils flaring.
The lion shifter was an intimidating sight when angry, but there was no change in expression on the Elysian's face.
"Over the past year, we've lost many Empaths. Without them, we began to bleed emotions, began to lose touch with our feelings. We became unbalanced."
Aaron shifted his weight, his attention caught by a flicker of something. Was that pain he heard in the man's voice?
"Some went insane. Others killed themselves." The man's lips thinned.
This man cared for his people. Aaron empathized with him. "Why are you telling us this?"
"I need your help." His chest rose and fell as the breath whistled out of him. It was the first sign of weakness he'd portrayed.
"What are you asking for?" Leana placed her hands over her belly.
"Shifters are the most emotional of all the species. Send us three from among them so we can plug them into the Sian Web to replace the emotions of our population."
Logan swore, hands on his hips. "We'll never give up our people."
"I came asking for volunteers. Next time, I won't be so polite." The man's voice lowered. The threat inherent in it implied that his politeness was but a disguise.
"You ask this after wounding so many of us?" Cain bared his teeth.
"One of my team attacked, despite my explicit order to the contrary. My style is more direct. After all, I am here in front of all of you…unarmed." The stranger gestured to the room. "And alone."
"Unarmed my ass." Aaron stabbed his finger at the man. "You hacked into the Ascendants' psychic net."
"Just a small taste of my powers, to ensure you take me seriously." The stranger's lips twisted.
The breath rushed out of Aaron at the threat. His muscles thrummed. "You dare come in here and threaten us on our own turf?" The people in that room were the closest he had to family. He wasn't going to let this man harm them.
The stranger didn’t acknowledge Aaron's words.
"If I were in your position, I know what I would do." He held Leana's gaze.
"How do I know the volunteers will not be harmed? That there will not be another attack on my people?" Leana thrust her chin forward.
Shock coursed through Aaron. Was she considering his proposal?
10
Aaron
Logan and Cain snapped their gazes on Leana. The tension radiating from their bodies filled the space.
Only Mikhail stayed motionless, his attention focused on the intruder.
The mayor was a fiery wolf shifter in a fight. Yet here in this room, she was a cool strategist.
Aaron had seen Leana in enough negotiations to trust she knew what she was doing.
She was buying time and ensuring there were no other attacks by the Elysians in the meanwhile.
"You have my word. Alpha to alpha." He raised his chin.
Leana stiffened, but her expression didn’t change.
The Elysian tilted his head. "Forgive me for those who were hurt." His gaze on Leana's face. "It was never my intention to cause such destruction."
"Give me something more." Her voice was firm, her features placid. The only outward sign of stress was the skin across her knuckles that stretched white. "At least a name so I know who I am dealing with."
"Zachary Quant." The air around him shifted, turning transparent.
The stranger was getting ready to teleport, he realized.
"How will I find you, to give you an answer?" Leana leaned forward in her chair.
"I'll reach you." His figure faded. "Choose wisely, Leana. Next time, I will have no choice but to forcibly take what I need." A whisper of air, and then he was gone.
Aaron could not let his muscles relax. "He's a teleporter who can come and go as he pleases. None of us are safe until we find a way to stop him." He swiveled his gaze around the room to make sure there were no other intrusions.
The mayor sank back into her chair, the breath whistling out of her. "We need a solution." She gripped Mikhail's hand, lacing her fingers with his.
Logan and Cain positioned themselves on either side of the table, their stance alert.
Aaron stayed where he was, next to Leana. "When the Elysian male attacked the bar, the dragon shifter was resistant to his psychic force. The dragons cannot be controlled by the Elysians."
"Well, then, we must align with the dragons." Leana's chin thrust forward. "You know where to find them?"
"The dragoness, Hope. She told me she's from Mauritania." Awareness pull at Aaron's nerve endings as he spoke about her.
"The island that's a couple days travel from here, in the Indian Ocean?" Leana’s eyebrows furrowed. "Well, then, you must journey and ask them to help us in defeating this telekinetic, teleporting race."