Dashing Devil Omnibus 1: Books 1-3, page 99
Boyd snorted, long ago having accepted that when Mindy called him a little shit, she did so with affection. It never quite became a nickname—not like the way ‘Big Guy’ seemed to have become one with Raev—but she used it often enough almost to qualify.
“It doesn’t seem to be a problem for my other self to repress it,” he explained, “but I want the compulsion out so that I can hear the full explanation.”
“So, that brings us back around to… what’s next?” Silvie asked again.
“Food.” Boyd nodded gravely. “Then I’m dragging you, Raev, and Tinker to that giant fucking couch-bed thing I saw for a nap so that Mindy can pull the very illegal compulsion out of my head. That way, you can tell me all about whatever it is that you have gotten us involved with.”
Boyd let more of his frustration out in his words than he would have liked—they came out with a light growl.
“We’re fighting to free you from people that will lock you in a cage and pump you full of drugs so you pump the women they choose full of Power if we let them.” Silvie held his eyes firmly, her devilish grin replaced by a tender, understanding smile. “I’m sorry, Boyd. I would tell you everything I know, but Mindy says that the more you hear, the stronger the compulsion to submit yourself for questioning will get.”
Boyd could feel her sincerity through their Bond, once again confirming that, at the very least, she wholeheartedly believed what she was saying. Silvie might present a public appearance of simplicity or air-headedness, but anyone who knew her would tell you it was a mask. As Raev had described her, Silvie was the ‘dangerous kind of smart’.
While it was possible that someone was manipulating her—especially someone with strong Mind Powers—that felt unlikely to him. He also had to accept that, to an extent, it simply didn’t matter. He chose to trust her because he loved her.
Boyd imagined the sound of distant funeral bells, tolling the fall of yet another of The Authority’s Heroes. His Changed Mind stirred once more, displaying even more of that worrisome agency as it mentally smacked him upside the head. It left him with the feeling that he was being an idiot and should stop.
He was hungry. Silvie was needy. He had other women to worry about—one who was starting to miss him, and another he could feel a nervous anticipation starting to build within. Boyd grunted.
“So, food then a family nap.” He left off any extra drama this time. His Changed Mind seemed satisfied with this.
“Both of those things sound nice,” Silvie’s grin reappeared, large and bright this time.
Boyd felt a thrill of excitement run through her.
“By Tinker’s inclusion in the family nap, I take it she’s being accepted into the family?” Silvie’s joy at the rapid progress nearly overwhelmed him.
“Yes,” Boyd rumbled. “I’m still trying to cope with stealing her free will, if we get that far.”
“Should we run through the normal debate on the topic?” Silvie asked, tilting her head to the side quizzically. “Mindy says repetition can help reforge neural pathways or whatever. Slowly rework the way you think away from the ingrained thought process.”
Boyd shrugged. “We can, but I have it memorized by now. The one that seems to help the most is the ‘it’s an expression of free will to give up a piece of theirs in exchange for the Power to protect more people’.”
“Mhmm,” Silvie agreed, settling against him. “By denying her the opportunity, you would do more to suppress her free will than you would by accepting her. Plus, by now you must realize how happy it would make her. How much she wants to be in love? How good you could be for her?”
Boyd’s lover shook her head. “If you deny her, she’ll either stay on the team and probably never date again, or find love and leave, or leave and maybe find someone that would not treat her right. Who knows what kind of person that would be?”
Silvie’s face and tone filled with worry. “Before today, I would have worried for her. With her personality, I would have been concerned about someone taking advantage of our little genius—someone who knew how to push her buttons and who used her low self-esteem to manipulate and use her.”
Boyd felt his Changed Mind stir again, agitated at the idea Silvie proposed. It already felt particularly protective of Tinker—possessive, even. Boyd found himself torn between frowning at himself or growling at the scenario Silvie had mentioned.
“But,” Silvie transitioned both her expression and her voice from concerned to proud and delighted, “after today I will worry less. Being prepared to fight the whole team to get you out is more than I expected from her. I’m surprised in the best way.”
Chapter 22
Boyd remembered Tinker standing in the hallway and aiming the net thrower at him, a determination enforced by sheer will overlaying the fear in her eyes. His Changed Mind stirred in a very different way at the thought, pleased with what he already perceived as his woman.
Boyd scowled this time, causing Silvie to tilt her head to the side with another quizzical expression.
“My Cha… my other self feels a lot more active since earlier. It also feels like you were talking more to him than me just now. Trying to get him to react, or… Are you trying to make me go Primal?” Boyd voiced the concern that had been building inside of him.
Parts of what Mindy had said, combined with how responsive his Changed Mind had been to Silvie’s words made it hard to ignore.
Silvie frowned and moved her hands up to his cheeks, taking them softly in her hands and staring into his eyes. “Darling, you know I would never hurt you, right?”
Boyd nodded.
“Good.” She leaned in and kissed him, slow and tender.
After breaking it, she stayed close, looking deep into his eyes, their breath intermingling.
“Now, Mindy says she will explain it in detail later, but ‘going Primal’ is just a myth. It’s an outdated concept that anybody in a field that touches on Changed psychology scoffs at. They’ll tell you that it is both inaccurate and detrimental to the mental health and perception of the Changed.”
Boyd continued to frown as he asked, “Then why does The Authority teach it?”
They sent out informational pamphlets on warning signs of Changed behaviors to neighbors and co-workers, and everything.
He’d been taught from the beginning that it was important to pay attention to any changes in personality or behavior of the Changed, as they could be early warning signs of going Primal. People were encouraged to report any concerning observations to The Authority so they could reach out and offer assistance.
Silvie shrugged, still gently holding his cheeks. “I don’t know. I’ve seen the evidence though, and I’ve talked to doctors about it. They won’t say any of that publicly, of course—apparently bad things happen if they do. But Mindy put me in touch with a few who were willing to talk off the record. They all said that your ‘Changed Mind’…” she removed her hands from his cheeks for just long enough to do air quotes, “is just a grouping of your baser instincts that you were taught to suppress at a young age.”
She pursed her lips, frowning. “Like as early as when your identity was forming young. They said that they take on aspects of a personality because of… a bunch of psycho mumbo jumbo.”
She sighed. “Going Primal is what happens when that personality grows too big to be suppressed anymore. The Changed either ends up with a dissociative disorder or the previously suppressed personality takes over and becomes dominant.”
Boyd contemplated her words. There was a logic to them. It sounded like something that could be real. He wasn’t educated nearly enough on the topic to feel confident in his judgment, though.
Silvie continued, “So… no, we aren’t trying to make you go Primal. That would be bad. I love this Boyd. We love you.” She again pulled her hands away from his face to pat his shoulders before returning them to his cheeks.
Her hands were small and dainty compared to him, but also pleasantly cool and very soft—a benefit of her energy-manipulation-based resistance. It prevented any injury that could damage her skin.
That reminded him he needed to make sure Tinker took better care of herself.
“If we want to keep you,” Silvie’s sweet voice prevented his mind from wandering, “we have to get you to stop repressing the instincts and emotions that are attached to that growing personality. We have to get you to integrate with your whole self.”
Boyd’s throat felt a little tight. The way she was talking made it sound simple. It still terrified him. He didn’t trust his Changed Mind—not in the least. Sure, it had been helpful these past few minutes, but Boyd had spent his entire life vigilantly guarding against the being living inside of him.
“I’ll change,” he rumbled. That much was certain—at the very least.
“Yes, a little,” Silvie agreed, nodding slowly but smiling warmly. “You’ll become who you were meant to be before you were trained to shut away certain parts of yourself. I know it must be scary, but it’s something I’ve been looking forward to. I love you, Darling, but it’s been so hard to watch you for… well, forever. It’s been even worse these last couple years, where I’ve caught some glimpses of your other side, only seeing the real you when I’m able to drag it up out of you.”
Boyd felt his frown deepening. “What do you mean?”
Silvie’s warm smile shifted to the side as she thought about how to say whatever was on her mind. Her faintly glowing eyes studied his as if searching them for the right words. “So, I know it’s a pretty big no-no, but I got a lot of advice from your ex. I think it might be best to let her explain what I was doing… I pretty much just followed her instructions.”
Boyd grunted, not satisfied with the response.
Silvie rolled her pretty eyes but her smirk and the amusement he felt across the bond from her took any bite out of it. “You could just stop doing whatever you're doing to block Mindy out and let her start talking to you instead of distracting me and trying to get me to play telephone. She’s kinda freaking out.”
“I can’t do that until Tinker comes back—sorry Mindy. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but I owe her that much, at least,” Boyd said, knowing that Mindy would hear his words through Silvie if she was paying that close of attention to them.
“She understands and says she will tell you everything she can about your mind and her goals for it as soon as you give her the chance,” Silvie repeated the message.
“I’d appreciate that, but won’t I just forget during the nap?” Boyd was under that impression, at least.
“Mindy doesn’t see why. You don’t have any compulsions to report something like this to anyone but your handler. Royce is in the know, by the way. That’s why he’s taking over the full team. Carrie wasn’t in the know, and wouldn’t be a likely ally if we tried to bring her in. Director Davis and his people are, though.”
That confirmed some things for Boyd.
Suddenly, Silvie looked up and to the side, obviously talking to Mindy but replying out loud for his benefit. Or maybe she just hadn’t learned how to have thought-based conversations yet. “No. I’m not going to try to explain all that. It’ll only be a little longer. He’s not running away. Look, he’s clinging to me.”
Boyd was, too. At first, it had been in response to her need for the assurance contact brought, but it transitioned at some point to be more for him somewhere along the way.
Silvie frowned. “You can tell him over lunch.” Her eyes shifted back to his, “Oh, Daisy is making pizza, lots of meat sound good?”
It took Boyd a moment for it to register that she’d switched back to talking to him. “Yes, lots of pizza, too.” He’d skipped breakfast.
The doors to the lab hissed open behind him. “It was a lot… oh.” Tinker’s high voice started and then dropped off, likely upon seeing Silvie.
Boyd could picture her doll-like face dropping with her voice.
Silvie’s smile shifted to a warm and welcoming one, making it clear that no grudge was being held.
“Hi, Silvie.”
“Hi, Sweetie,” Silvie replied with as much warmth for the smaller woman as she’d ever shown. She floated back from Boyd so he could turn to face Tinker.
Her cheeks burned red, and her eyes drilled into the floor, as if the tiles there were suddenly the most interesting thing in the world.
“Let me be clear, right away,” Silvie explained. “No one is mad at you. No one is disappointed. You didn’t let down or betray anyone. I’m really happy that you are looking out for our man. I promise you I’m not a threat to him, though. I only want good things for him—for us. And ‘us’ includes you now, by the way. I heard he formed the first stage of the Bond with you. I’m sorry it was under these circumstances.”
“Oh, um…” Tinker shifted her stance from one foot to the other, crossing her arms over her stomach. Her suit was still partially unzipped, so this caused some interesting things to happen to her cleavage.
“It was just a kiss. The best kiss I’ve ever had, but it’s not like it was my first kiss ever. Besides, with Boyd I get the feeling it would’ve been the best kiss I’d ever had, no matter what was going on.”
“Oh? Ohhhhh!” Silvie grinned and let out one of her musical giggles. “Sorry. When Boyd said you’d formed the first layer of the Bond, I thought he meant something else.”
Boyd sighed while Tinker’s already embarrassed face nearly melted from the heat of the blood rushing to darken her cheeks. “N-no. Not y-yet,” she managed to stutter.
Boyd was at a loss for words. Silvie legitimately thought he had done… what? Taken a couple minutes during the short period he and Tinker were discussing their next steps to pump one into her?
“Um…” Tinker didn’t seem to be having much better luck on the vocabulary front.
“No, my Love.” Boyd looped his arm over Silvie’s shoulders and pulled her to his side. “Just a very nice kiss.”
He threw a wink at Tinker, whose lips quirked up in a slight smile as she glanced his way. The pleased but shy expression on her doll-like face was getting him excited to start flirting with her more openly. When he tried to squash that emotion down like he always did—out of habit—this time it didn’t work.
He reached for his Mental Domination, and it just fluttered out of his grasp. “What the…?”
Silvie turned to him with a curious expression as Tinker looked on with concern.
“I mean… I suppose I should be trying to break the habit anyway, but… So, I’ve been…” He paused.
Boyd had started to explain himself, but then realized who he was talking to. Silvie wouldn’t be pleased to learn he had been using his Power to repress the urge to flirt with the women around him. He changed the subject.
“Oh, wait... Tinker, would it be okay to let Mindy back into my head? Might be easier to show her and then tell you.”
“Oh, yes,” Tinker said with a nod, face still red.
A dark thought flickered across her face, and he felt a spike of anxiety on their Bond.
“I mean, as long as she isn’t about to puppet you… you know, to kill me or something. Although puppeting Silvie would be more efficient, and she’s right there. Just Pshh!”
She held up her hands so that her pointer fingers stuck out from her eyes, mimicking Silvie’s eye beams. “Silvie could cut me right in half… so, um… I guess she doesn’t want me dead. I guess I probably owe Mind Witch an apology, and yes, you can stop keeping her out of our heads.”
“Thank you,” Boyd said, meaning it. “I wouldn’t trust her with your life if I didn’t legitimately trust her.”
Tinker offered him another shy smile and started to approach them. “Oh...!” She’d spotted something over Boyd’s shoulder. “My rig. Um, I don’t really need that. I don’t think.”
Boyd had forgotten he was holding it aloft with his tail.
“Here.” Tinker held up her wrist and tapped her FDU to life. She selected a few buttons and her rig floated in his grip.
Boyd was momentarily unbalanced when she did this and leaned against Silvie. He let it go and it floated up over his head. Tinker approached the door to her lab to get it to open and the rig disappeared inside.
Unburdened of Tinker’s rig, he reached inside and figured out how to disengage the part of his Power that was holding Mindy away from their minds. He felt her presence brush against his mind and immediately welcomed her in.
‘I am so sorry. We should have known Tinker would be smart enough to pick up on something right away. Is she okay? Wait… Oh no, she’s terrified of me.’
Looking down, Boyd could see it on Tinker’s face.
‘Wow, the technology she used to block me out is rare and strictly controlled. Of course she’s trying not to think about it, so is thinking about it constantly. Looks like someone else around here doesn’t mind breaking some rules.’
Boyd was still busy trying not to think about that.
‘Right… sorry.’
“Mindy is worried about you and impressed by your disregard for the law,” Boyd said, letting Tinker know that the jig was up.
Tinker’s shoulders slumped. “I was never any good at that. Hello, Mindy. Sorry I thought you were evil and here to… you know… actually, I’m not even sure what I thought you were going to do. Hmm? Oh! No. Yeah, I’ll try thinking my responses. Um...”
Boyd walked around to come up beside the little genius. Reaching down, he guided her down the hall with one hand. There was a learning curve to having a private mental conversation that would likely distract her for a few minutes.
He was getting hungry; it had already been a long day.
Food.
Nap.
His Changed Mind stirred just enough to add ‘Women’ to his list, and Boyd couldn’t find a reason to object.
Chapter 23
Silvie let him walk in silence, floating along tucked under his arm. He continued to guide Tinker who he could tell must be having a complex mental conversation with Mindy, given her emotions across their Bond.
