Page 53 of Shadow Boxed (Shadow Warriors #2)
O’Neill watched Embray, followed by Aiden and Capland, walk out of the war room. Just him and Wolf now. Time to fess up. Wolf needed this information before he assigned roles for the upcoming op.
“You wished to speak with me?” Wolf asked, his eyebrows raised over curious dark eyes.
“What makes you think that?” Okay, he was stalling. Sue him.
“Because you are still here...the others are not.”
“You’re here,” O’Neill reminded the bastard. Yeah, more stalling. Damn it. He released a slow breath. “Never mind. Yeah, I need to talk to you about something.”
“Does it involve the London aggress ?” Wolf’s thick, black eyebrows hadn’t lowered yet.
“No. Well, partially.” Hell . O’Neill shoved his fingers through his hair.
Just shove it out there...
Why was this so hard to admit? Was he afraid this news would sour this new ease between them. Was that why the secret refused to leave his mouth?
“There’s something you need to know before the Nantz op.” But the rest of his words curdled in his throat, refusing to emerge.
“And that is?” Wolf’s eyebrows went from lifted to knitted.
“My spirit gift—” He broke off.
Fuck, this was hard to admit. He’d only told two people about his spirit gift, and one of them, the Taounaha, had already known.
And the second telling didn’t happen until two weeks ago.
Not a stellar record. But then again, the first time he’d admitted a to gift from the elder gods, he’d been mocked off the Brenahiilo. Guess he had reason to be gun shy.
“Is?” Wolf had the oddest expression on his face. A downward turn to his mouth and furrows digging into his forehead.
O’Neill exhaled in frustration. There he went again—stalling. Pausing, he drew a deep breath, held it for five seconds, then pushed it out, along with his long-held secret. “I was gifted the ability to sink into another person’s mind. To see what they see and hear what they hear.”
Wolf absorbed the news in silence. O’Neill expected disbelief to register—either on his face or in his voice. But the Betanee looked thoughtful instead...even impressed.
Not the reaction he’d been expecting.
“You will be able to see into Clark Nantz’s mind?” Wolf’s gaze narrowed.
“As long as I can touch him.” This part was easier. “But it has to be bare skin to bare skin.”
“Still...you will be able to read his mind?” Wolf asked, straightening in his chair. He seemed to be warming up to the news.
“Not read it. But I’ll be able to see into his mind,” O’Neill corrected.
It was a small, yet important distinction.
“I will see what he is seeing. Hear what he is hearing. If we can...encourage him to think about the wanatesa weapon, I will see what he is remembering. But I’ll need to remain near him.
“This gift of yours...” Wolf’s voice slowed. “Is a welcome one.”
Huh, would you look at that? The bastard had believed him without demanding proof.
Not like in the past. It wouldn’t be long before the ramifications of what O’Neill had admitted would hit.
Wolf was a smart dude. He’d figure out quickly this gift was why the Taounaha had insisted on O’Neill’s inclusion during the Petropavlovsk aggress.
“Anyhow.” O’Neill coughed to dispel the tightness in his throat. “I need to be assigned a role in this upcoming op that will keep me close to Nantz. Which means no bodyguard duty.”
Wolf didn’t nod as he expected. Instead, the frown lines dug deeper into his forehead. “This will be a problem. You are needed on Nantz.”
“Cosky and Winters can play Embray’s bodyguard. I can play paramedic or spotter.”
Wolf was already shaking his head. “We need our strongest warrior to subdue our target. To keep him quiet and contained, without alerting his bodyguards. The strongest warrior on base is you.”
Not quite true. “You could do it.”
Wolf shook his head. “If he were to recognize the likeness between myself and my javaanee, the aggress will fail before it begins.”
The dude had a point. The resemblance between the two brothers was striking.
“Can you sink into his mind as you subdue him?” Wolf asked. “Perhaps you can assume two roles in this aggress. ”
O’Neill grimaced and shook his head. “Not without blowing the mission. Sinking into another’s mind is.
..difficult...distracting.” He shook his head again.
“I could not subdue and read him simultaneously. Nor does this gift work if the mind is asleep. Once the drug takes effect, I’ll get nothing from him. ”
Wolf’s silence grew and O’Neill knew he was considering their options.
Eventually Wolf sighed. “This aggress will not succeed if Nantz alerts his security team to danger. Our best possibility for a successful aggress is if you are in that room. When we return to Shadow Mountain, we will have him and his hard drive. Through the truth serum, we will learn his secrets. If we fail securing him in his office, we will have neither.” A long pause, followed by a slow exhale.
“You can sink into his mind when you return to Shadow Mountain, after the aggress .”
Which they both knew could take days, depending on how fixated the London police were on Embray after Nantz collapsed, and then subsequently vanished.
“About this gift.” Wolf suddenly said, his voice too soft...too quiet. “This is why the Taounaha sent you to Petropavlovsk, is it not? To sink into Kuznetsov’s mind.”
O’Neill’s mouth went dry. Regret rumbled through his soul. “Yes.”
“That moment at the door...before the call came to board the Thunderbird. You intended to sink into Kuznetsov’s mind, then, did you not?”
“Yes.” The affirmation about strangled him.
He’d known Wolf would put the pieces together, he just hadn’t expected the aftermath to burn. He’d been jie'van before this conversation. He’d be an outcast again after. Nothing had changed.
Even if it felt like it had.
“Samuel and I drove you away.” There was regret in Wolf’s voice.
It took a second for Wolf’s words to register. He blamed himself for O’Neill’s failure?
“What? No! I left because I thought Kuznetsov told you what we needed. I didn’t think my gift was necessary.”
But in truth, he’d been a coward, afraid of opening himself to ridicule again. And because of that, Daniel had died.
A regret he’d live with for the rest of his life.