Mine to Possess

Summary :

Clay Bennett is a powerful DarkRiver sentinel, but he grew up in the slums with his human mother, never knowing his changeling father. As a young boy without the bonds of Pack, he tried to stifle his animal nature. He failed...

Talin McKade barely survived a childhood drenched in bloodshed and terror. Now a new nightmare is stalking her life - the street children she works to protect are disappearing and turning up dead. Determined to keep them safe, she unlocks the darkest secret in her heart and steels herself to ask the help of the strongest man she knows..

Clay lost Talin once. He will not let her go again, his hunger to possess her is a clawing need born of the leopard within. As they race to save the innocent, Clay and Talin must face the violent truths of their past, or risk losing everything that ever mattered to them.

Buku keempat dari seri Psy-Changeling ini bercerita tentang bagaimana Clay dan Talin sekali lagi dipertemukan setelah berpisah sekian lama. Talin adalah teman Clay sejak kecil, tapi mereka harus berpisah ketika Clay membunuh Orin (orang tua asuh Talin) untuk melindungi Talin. Talin diberikan kepada keluarga asuh yang lain, sedangkan Clay harus mendekam dalam penjara selama empat tahun. Ketika Clay keluar dari penjara, dia menelepon agen sosial dan diberitahu bahwa Talin telah meninggal dalam kecelakaan. Mendengar itu, Clay mabuk-mabukan dan menantang Nate (salah satu sentinel DarkRiver) untuk berkelahi. Bukannya menghajar Clay, Nate malah membawa Clay pulang bersamanya ke DarkRiver.

Talin sendiri memutuskan untuk hidup dan mencurahkan dirinya demi anak-anak lain yang dia anggap sama seperti dirinya, tanpa orang tua. Talin terpaksa mencari Clay ketika anak asuhnya, Jonquil, hilang entah kemana dan beberapa anak Shine (badan amal yang memberi Talin dan anak-anak lainnya beasiswa) meninggal karena dibunuh.

Pergulatan penting dalam buku ini bukanlah pergulatan fisik, tetapi lebih kepada pergulatan emosional antara Clay dan Talin yang sekali lagi merasakan tarikan kuat diantara mereka namun masih dibayangi masa lalu, selain itu, Talin juga didiagnosis mengidap penyakit mematikan. Namun, pada akhirnya mereka berdua berhasil melalui semua penghalang dan menyelamatkan Jonquil dan Noor (dengan bantuan M-Psy pemimpin proyek Protocol I) serta kembali saling percaya dan mencintai.

Di buku ini, salah satu dari Councilor Psy dibunuh dan digantikan oleh Anthony Kyriakus (ayah Faith, buku kedua). Selain itu di sini juga diungkapkan bahwa Shine merupakan kumpulan dari orang-orang yang memiliki darah campuran Psy. Leluhur mereka adalah para Psy yang menolak Silent dan memutuskan untuk keluar dari PsyNet secara bersamaan dan membangun ShadowNet mereka sendiri.

Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh

Prologue :

Arrows

Mercury was a cult. That was ahat everyone said at the start. The Psy laughed at Catherine and Arif Adelaja’s claims of being able to free their people from insanity and murderous fury. To be Psy was to court the edges of madness. It was accepted. It was accepted. There were no cure.

But then Mercury produced two graduates of their early version of the Silence Protocol – the Adelajas’ owntwin sons. Tenjadi and Naeem Adelaja were as cool as ice, their emotions holding nothing of anger or madness ... for a while. The experiment eventually failde. The dark side of emotion rushed back into the Adelaja twins in an avalance, and, sixteen years after being heralded as the harbringers of a new future, they committed suicide. Tenjadi, the strong one, killed Naeem the himself. There was no doubt that it had been a mutual desicion. They leaft a note.

‘We are an abomination, a plaguq that will kill our people from within. Silence must never take root, must nevel infiltrate the PsyNet. Forgive us.’

Their words were never heard, their terror never understood. Found by acolytes of Mercury, thy were buries in a hidden grave, their deaths termed an accident. By then, Mercury had begun training a second generation, improving their technique, refining the tools with which to exise unwanted emotion from the heart and madness from the soul.

The most important change was the quietest – this time, they had the cautious support of the leasders of their people, the Psy Council. But they also needed support of another kind, the kind that would catch any other lapses and mistake before they made it to the public domain ... and to the ears of the still skeptical Council. If the Councilors had found out about the continuing deaths, they would have pulled back. And the Adelajas could not bear the thought of their vision being consigned to the trash heap of history. Because, though shattered by the deaths of their twin sons, Catherine and Arif never lost faith in Silence. Neither did their eldest son – Zaid.

Zaid was a cardinal telepath with a furious ability in mental combat. He, too, had trained under Silence, but as a young adult, not a child. Still, he believed. The Protocol had given him peace from the demons of his mind and he wanted to spread that gift of peace, to quiet the torment of his people. So he begas cleaning up the mistakes, wiping away those who broke under the experimental versions of Silence, burying their lives as efficiently as he buried their bodies.

Catherine called him her Martial Arrow.

Soon, Zaid recruited others like him. Others who believed. The were loners, unknown shadows, darker than the darkness, men and women whose sole aim was to eliminate anything that might threaten the successful realization of Catherine and Arif’s lifelong dream.

Time passes. Years. Decades. Zaid Adelaja was washed from this Earth, but the torch of the Arrows continued to be handed from one acolyte to the next ... until there was no more Mercury and the long-dead Adelajas were being hailed as visionaries.

The Silence Protocol was implemented in the year 1979. The Psy Council was unanimous in its vote, the masses divided, but the majority in favor. Their people were killing each other and themselves with rage and inhumanuty unseen in any of the other races. Silence seemed their only hope, their only solution for lasting peace. But would they have taken that step had they read Tendaji and Naeem’s last words? There is no one left who can answer that questiong.

Summary :

As an Arrow, an elite soldier in the Psy Council ranks, Judd Lauren was forced to do terrible things in the name of his people. Now he is a defector, and his dark abilities have made him the most deadly of assassins - cold, pitiless, unfeeling. Until he meets Brenna...

Brenna Shane Kincaid was an innocent before she was abducted - and had her mind violated - by a serial killer. Her sense of evil runs so deep, she fears she could become a killer herself. Then the first dead body is found, victim of a familiar madness. Judd is her only hope, yet her sensual changeling side rebels against the inhuman chill of his personality, even as desire explodes between them. Shocking and raw, their passion is a danger that threatens not only their hearts, but their very lives...

Buku ketiga dari seri Psy-Changeling in bercerita tentang Judd Lauren, anggota Arrow (pasukan khusus Psy) yang memutuskan untuk keluar dari PsyNet bersama kakaknya, Walker, dan keponakan-keponakannya, Siena, Toby, Marlee, ketika Psy Council mengeluarkan perintah rehabilitasi untuk mereka. Mereka menuju teritori SnowDancer, kawanan Changeling serigala yang bersekutu dengan DarkRiver (pada buku pertama) dengan harapan mereka tidak akan mebunuh Toby and Marlee karena mereka masih kecil (para Changeling selalu melindungi anak-anak), sedangkan Siena memilih ikut meskipun belum tau apakah dia akan diselamatkan atau dibunuh. Tetapi Hawke (alfa dari SnowDancer) memutuskan untuk membiarkan mereka tetap hidup asalkan mereka keluar dari PsyNet.

Brenna adalah satu-satunya korban selamat dari pembunuh berantai yang terjadi pada buku pertama. Dia selamat, tapi berubah. Merasa takut dengan perubahan-perubahan yang dia alami, dia pun berkonsultasi dengan Judd. Mereka semakin dekat meskipun Judd merasa dirinya sangat buruk bagi Brenna. Dia tahu dia dapat membunuh banyak orang hanya karena kehilangan kontrol atas emosinya, seperti yang telah dia lakukan pada umur sepuluh tahun.

Pergulatan emosi antara Brenna dan Judd hampir mendominasi seluruh buku. Di buku ini muncul Psy pemberontak bernama Ghost yang masih terhubung dengan PsyNet dan bekerja sama dengan Judd. Penculikan Brenna terungkap ketika salah seorang SnowDancer mencoba membunuhnya. Brenna mengingat kembali saat penculikannya. Ternyata Dieter, prajurit SnowDancer, menawarkan tumpangan padanya, lalu membiusnya dan menyerahkannya pada Santano Enrique, Councilor sekaligus pembunuh berantai di buku pertama. Diceritakan juga bagaimana Judd membantu menghidupkan kembali Andrew, kakak Brenna, yang tertembak dengan menggunakan kekuatannya.

Judd akhirnya memutuskan untuk menghapuskan Silence dari dirinya karena Brenna yang seorang Changeling sangat membutuhkan sentuhan, sedangakan Judd akan menderita, bahkan bisa saja mati bila dia terus menyentuh Brenna saat masih Silence. 

Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh

Summary :

Used to cold silence, Faith NightStar is suddenly being tormented by dark visions of blood and murder. A bad sign for anyone, but worse for Faith, an F-Psy with the highly sought after ability to predict the future. Then the visions show her something even more dangerous-aching need...exquisite pleasure. But so powerful is her sight, so fragile the state of her mind, that the very emotions she yearns to embrace could be the end of her.

Changeling Vaughn D'Angelo can take either man or jaguar form, but it is his animal side that is overwhelmingly drawn to Faith. The jaguar's instinct is to claim this woman it finds so utterly fascinating and the man has no argument. But while Vaughn craves sensation and hungers to pleasure Faith in every way, desire is a danger that could snap the last threads of her sanity. And there are Psy who need Faith's sight for their own purposes. They must keep her silenced-and keep her from Vaughn...

Visions of Heat merupakan buku kedua dari seri Psy Changeling..

Cerita di mulai dengan 'penglihatan' yang sangat mengganggu Psy bernama Faith. Faith yang biasanya hanya melihat perkiraan tentang bisnis tidak siap ketika dihadapkan pada kabut hitam yang terus mengejarnya. Segalanya terasa tidak masuk akal sampai diketahui bahwa adiknya yang bernama Marine telah dibunuh. Bertekad untuk menghentikan pelaku yang menjadi sumber dari penglihatan dan pembunuh adiknya, Faith keluar dari dalam rumah tempat dia hidup sejak usia 3 tahun menuju teritori DarkRiver.

Vaughn merasa tertarik pada rumah Psy yang berada di dekat Tahoe yang dijaga ketat, baik oleh pengawal maupun sensor. Vaughn sedang mengawasi rumah itu ketika melihat seorang wanita keluar dan berjalan semakin dalam ke teritori DarkRiver. Tidak bisa membiarkan orang luar masuk begitu saja, Vaughn berubah menjadi jaguar dan menghadang Faith di jalan.

Cerita semakin seru ketika Vaughn harus bersabar karena Faith tidak tahan terhadap sentuhan. Sentuhan yang terlalu banyak akan membuatnya pingsan. Meskipun begitu, dengan sabar Vaughn terus menyentuh Faith sehingga Faith menjadi sedikit lebih kebal. Pergulatan batin Faith untuk memilih antara jaguar yang telah mengajarinya banyak hal dengan Psy yang merupakan ras dan keluarganya sejak dulu menjadi titik pusat dari buku ini.

Akhirnya Faith memilih untuk bersama dengan Vaughn dan memutuskan hubungannya ke PsyNet. Lalu mereka berdua dengan dibantu Sasha (buku pertama), Lucas (buku pertama), dan Judd (Psy yang berhasil keluar dari PsyNet - sedikit disinggung di buku pertama, tetapi menjadi tokoh utama di buku ketiga) berhasil menangkap si pelaku.

Di akhir cerita, diceritakan bagaimana Anthony Kyriakus meminta Faith untuk meneruskan pekerjaannya melihat perkiraan untuk bisnis. Ketika Vaughn menanyakan mengapa Anthony tidak keluar dari PsyNet, Anthony menjawab bila semua yang kuat memutuskan untuk keluar, maka Psy Council akan menjadi semena-mena, yang membawa Faith mengambil kesimpulan bahwa mungkin ayahnya tidak seburuk yang selama ini dia perkirakan..

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

Prologue :

Silence

In an effort to reduce the overhelming incidence of insanity and serial killing in the Psy population, the Psy Council decided, in the year 1969, to instigate a rigorous program called Silence. The aim of the conditioning was to teach them not to feel rage.

However, the Council soon discover that it was impossible to isolate the one emotion. In 1979, after a ten-year debate over millions of minds in the PsyNet, it was decided to change the aim of Silence.

Its new mission was to condition young Psy to feel nothing. Not rage, not jealousy, not envy, not happines, and certainly not love.

Silence was a resounding success.

By the year 2079, when the fifth or sixth generation of Psy are being conditioned, everyone has forgotten that they had ever been any other way. The Psy are known ro be icily controlled, inhumanly practical, and impossible to push to violence.

They are the leaders of goverment and business, eclipsing both human and changelings, races that allow their animal natures to rule them. With mental capabilities running from telepathy to foresight, telekinesis to psychometry, the Psy consider themselves a step up the evoluntionary ladder.

In keeping with their nature, they base all their decisions on logic and efficiency. Acording to the PsyNet, their mistake rate is close to nil.

The Psy are perfect in their Silence.

Summary :

In a world that denies emotion, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of ‘rehabilitation’ – the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was.

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunteris a changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain.

After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several changeling woman. Licas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion – and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities – or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation..

Slave to Sensation merupakan novel pertama dari empat belas seri Psy Changeling karangan Nalini Singh. 

Sascha, yang merupakan seorang Psy kardinal – memiliki kekuatan yang lebih daripada Psy biasa – adalah anak dari counselor Nikita Duncan. Meskipun begitu, dia tidak memiliki kelebihan di bidang tertentu. Semua pelatihnya selalu mengatakan bahwa dia memiliki potensi seorang kardinal – karena matanya yang hitam bertabur bintang seperti PsyNet – walaupun tidak mengetahui bidang kekuatannya.

Lucas sendiri merupakan seorang alfa dari macan tutul DarkRiver yang telah memerintah sejak usianya dua puluh tiga tahun. Sepuluh tahun kemudian, DarkRiver telah menjadi predator yang dominan di San Francisco dan daerah sekitarnya, dengan HQ di Chinatown.

Sascha selalu merasa dirinya sebagai Psy yang gagal sampai dia bertemu dengan Lucas dan menyadari bahwa ada cara lain untuk hidup di luar Silence. Bersama mereka berdua mengungkap pembunuh berantai yang telah membunuh banyak wanita changeling. Pengungkapan itu hampir saja membunuh Sascha karena dia harus bertahan dari serangan pikiran di PsyNet. Meskipun Sascha merupakan pakar dalam membuat pelindung, kekuatan dari counselor yang telah menjabat sangat lama bukanlah tandingannya. Untuk menyelamatkan nyawanya, Sascha pun memutuskan hubungannya dengan PsyNet. Hanya tuntutan dan kekeraskepalaan Lucas lha yang menyelamatkannya dari kematian.

Alur cerita, kesetiaan terhadap packmate, dan bagaimana pergulatan Sascha ketika menyadari apa yang selama ini dia nyakini adalah salah merupakan titik point dari novel ini menurutku. Aku menyukai bagaimana Sascha dan Lucas mulai membuka diri satu sama lain, selapis demi selapis, dan bersatu menghadapi segala tantangan yang ada.