Page 137 of Eclipse Sector

Let me ask,I replied as I repeated the question aloud for Ivana.

“No, she just said she hides her journals under floorboards in her nest. So maybe directly under her bed?” Ivana suggested.

I relayed that message to Lorcan.

Silence met my comment.

“Kyra’s looking,” I informed Ivana.

“Yeah, I heard that in your mind.”

I arched a brow. “You heard Lorcan’s thoughts?”

Her lips twisted, her gaze contemplative. “No, not exactly. I… I heard you thinking about it?” She blew out a breath. “It’s really complicated…”

I grinned. “Yeah, macushla, it is. But I’ll help you.”

She swallowed but nodded. “I can sort of see how you compartmentalize already.”

“You can?” I asked, surprised.

“I think so.” She chewed her lower lip, her brow furrowing. “Maybeseeisn’t the right word. But I… I could sense you favoring Lorcan while tuning out the others. And I think I know how you did it.”

“Interesting,” I murmured, prodding her mind a little to hear her puzzling through the process. Bits and pieces were basically incoherent, but I could hear her sorting out the chaos.

I couldn’t understand most of it.

Actually, I couldn’t fully hear it.

Because she was naturally blocking me from going too deep into her thoughts.

“I wonder if your natural immunity to me reading your mind has something to do with the construction of the mind,” I mused aloud. “And now those gifts are blending to create something else entirely.”

Her mouth curved downward. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I can’t comprehend the processes of someone else’s mind; I hear their thoughts. But you seem to be not only aware of how I maintain my ability, but are able to mimic the concept as well. That suggests a unique form of mind reading that goes deeper than mental conversation.”

“But I’ve felt your power, Cillian. You’ve leashed me before with your mind, and not just the other day in Glacier Sector.”

I winced, the memory not one I wanted to relive. But it was very prevalent in her mind. “I should not have done that.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” she agreed. “But that’s not the point. Your power basically controls the receptors in the brain that process free will. And you’re able to apply restrictions to that free will. Which makes what you can do far more powerful than simple mind reading.”

“I never said mind reading was simple,” I uttered slowly, processing her words. “I’ve also never been aware of how I leash the wills of others; I just do it. However, it sounds like you not only sense it but can actually see it happening?”

She stared up at me. “Yes. I assumed everyone could.”

“Sensing it, perhaps,” I agreed. “But I don’t think most wolves, if any, can see it. Are you saying you’ve been aware of me grounding Alphas before? Like when Quinnlynn was attacked a few months back?”

She nodded slowly. “You leashed all the Alphas in the sector that day, ensuring no one could shadow.”

“And you sensed that or saw it?”

Ivana considered my question for a moment. “I think both? It feels the same to me. I was just aware of it happening.”

“That’s… fascinating,” I marveled, gazing down at her in awe. “But you couldn’t read my mind or actually see how it worked then, right?”

She shook her head. “No, I just felt it happening. And I knew what you were doing.”