LOGINHallie waited until Saevren left the meeting room. Not because the question was secret. Because she wanted Grant’s answer without his brother sitting close enough to turn it into a comparison before Grant chose his own words. The door closed. Grant was still at the table, reading the same route page for the second time.“You’re not reading that,” Hallie said.“I am.”“You already read it.”“That does not stop the words from existing.”Hallie smiled. Then she leaned one hip against the table.“Have you ever wanted what Saevren can do?”Grant looked up.“The absorption.”“I know what you mean.”She waited.“Yes.”The answer was so simple Hallie almost missed its weight.“You have.”“Yes.”“Why?”Grant folded the page along an existin
Hallie decided to test Saevren without telling him he was being tested.“What do you think I do here?”Saevren looked up from the route notes. They were alone at one end of the meeting room. Caleb had taken the latest boundary copy outside. Grant was near the yard. Saevren considered her.“You negotiate.”“That is one thing.”“You build rules people will actually use.”Hallie waited. He smiled faintly.“You are going to tell me that answer is incomplete.”“Yes.”“Then enlighten me.”“No. Guess.”His amusement sharpened.“You enjoy this.”“A little.”He watched her face. There. Again. Not wrong. Just predictable. Hallie picked up the top page.“Do you know what this is?”“A summit record.”“Which one?”He l
Austin learned Saevren’s name from a Bellamy Creek representative who had attended the summit.The man did not lead with Hallie.That helped for almost thirty seconds.“Full Vael,” he said. “Heir to Everen. Grant Monroe’s younger half-brother.”Austin looked at him.“You’re certain?”“Yes.”The mate bond pulled before Hallie’s name entered the conversation.Austin hated that his body knew where the conversation was going before the man said it.He kept his voice even.“Why is he at Cedar Draw?”“Everen wants limited safe passage through Cedar Draw toward neutral routes.”“Passage. Not territory.”“Correct.”Austin absorbed that first.A full Vael heir had not arrived to threaten Grant’s authority or claim land. He had come asking for something Cedar Draw c
Hallie did not let the question grow larger in her head. Saevren was still at the far end of the room with the route notes, and Grant’s hand was still around hers.She faced Saevren. “Could you absorb from me?”His eyes lifted. Grant went very still beside her.“Yes,” Saevren said.The possibility changed the room even though he had not moved. Hallie kept her hand in Grant’s.“You could take an emotion I was feeling, rather than only notice it.”“Yes.”“How much?”Saevren’s expression shifted as if he were about to explain.Hallie lifted one hand. “I don’t need the mechanics.”He stopped immediately.Good. A full Vael could absorb. She did not need the anatomy of the act to decide what happened to her.“What I need to know is whether you would do it without asking.”“No.”
Hallie waited until the route discussion ended before returning to the question Saevren had opened. Caleb carried the revised passage copy outside, leaving Grant at the table and Saevren near the window. Hallie closed the Safe-Passage packet.“I need to understand the difference between you.”Grant looked at her first.She kept her attention on Saevren. “Grant feels strong emotion when someone is close. He doesn’t read thoughts, and he doesn’t know why I feel something unless I tell him.”Saevren nodded. “Correct.”“And whatever he senses stays with me.”Grant answered quietly. “Yes.”Hallie had heard versions of that before. I perceive. I do not take. She turned to Saevren.“You said a full Vael is different.”“A full Vael perceives more completely.”“That’s not precise enough.”Saevren conside
Hallie waited until Saevren looked at her again. It took less than a minute. He was standing near the window with the revised route sheet in one hand. Caleb had gone to check the next boundary marker. Grant was at the far end of the room, comparing two copies of the Safe-Passage proposal. Saevren should have been reading.He was not. Hallie released the pen.“Why do you keep doing that?”Saevren did not pretend confusion.“Looking at you?”“Yes.”He folded the route sheet once.“You know why.”“I know part of why.”His eyebrows lifted. Hallie stood. This was easier than pretending she had not noticed what was in front of her. Saevren was beautiful.Saevren’s beauty worked differently from the rough familiarity Grant had earned through scarred hands, blunt answers, and the way he stayed when staying cost him.Saevren’s beauty was immediate. Sharp cheekbones. Bronze eyes. A face built for other people to notice before he ever spoke. He was twenty-seven. Closer to Hallie’s age than Grant







