“So?” Ehlian asked eagerly. “Did you find anything?”
Kaice’s response was firm. “Your mind is yours, Ehlian. No one has tampered with it.”
Ehlian frowned. “That’s not possible. There has to be something.”
“There’s a faint scar of a severed pack bond,” Kaice admitted, making it sound like it wasn’t a big deal. “The sudden cast out from a pack can make you feel unsafe and seeking constant protection, but as I said, it’s nearly completely healed, so the symptoms should be very mild by now.”
“I’m handling that a bit better now,” Ehlian admitted. “Are you sure there’s no seal? Those memories… I can barely control them.”
“Memory resurgence is rare, but it can happen after a traumatic event or a painful breakup. Has anything like this happened to you before?”
“No,” Ehlian said, shaking his head. Not even after his parents’ deaths in an awful airship crash. Back then, it had been him trying to dig up happy memories to relive them. It wasn’t forced like this. “There has to be a seal or something he put in.”
“Some alphas and omegas are naturally more attuned to each other’s power. You probably felt a strong connection with him from the start. It’s normal,” Kaice reassured him. “Like all memories, these will fade with time.”
“Can’t you do something about it? Stop it from happening?” A faint blush crept up his cheeks. “The memories can be quite… distracting.”
“I could, but I won’t,” Kaice said firmly. “That would mean tampering with your mind. I only intervene if there’s a risk of permanent damage to your core. That’s not the case here. Think of it as part of the grieving process. Let the memories run their course, and eventually they will fade.”
“I’m not grieving him,” Ehlian said vehemently, then let out a sigh. Gods, he was so tired of this shit. “We didn’t part well, so… you know.”
“I understand that you’re confused and doubting your feelings,” Kaice replied. “Unfortunately, I can’t help with that, but suppressing the memories is not the answer. The more you fight them, the more intense they’ll become. I’m sure you’ve already noticed that. Once everything settles down, you’ll be able to think with a clear head and find answers to your questions.”
This wasn’t the outcome Ehlian had expected. He was no closer to healing. If anything, this felt like a setback. Knowing he’d have to let those memories surface only made him feel more defeated.
“There’s something else I want to ask,” Ehlian said uncertainly. “If you don’t mind.”
“Go ahead.”
“Is there a way to fake a core signature?” Ehlian asked. “Could you do that as a High-Class telepath?”
There was a subtle warning in Kaice’s eyes. “Should I be worried about your intentions?”
“No,” Ehlian said quickly. “Of course not. There was… someone in prison who claimed theirs was faked. I didn’t believe it, but I can’t quite get it out of my head.”
“Your core signature contains your essence,” Kaice said. “It forms with you throughout your life, which is why almost noone can recreate that lived experience. It’s unique to each of us.” Kaice paused, considering. “I could fake yours to near perfection and bury the traces of mine somewhere deep in the victim’s mind, but eventually it would be found. The court has signature experts for these cases for a reason.”
“Right.” Ehlian didn’t know why he felt so disappointed. “I know it was impossible, I just wanted to make sure.”
“I never said it was impossible.”
Ehlian frowned. “There’s a way?”
“There is,” Kaice said. “An Apex telepath is capable of it without leaving traces of their own signature behind. Their power is technically limitless.”
Unable to help himself, Ehlian let out a small, incredulous laugh, hoping Kaice wouldn’t take offence. Apex-Class telepaths were a myth, legends born with incredibly dense cores and unfathomable power. “Apex telepaths are extinct.”
“Apex telepaths arelegallyextinct,” Kaice corrected, his face still serious. “That loophole was closed so no one could evade prosecution by claiming an Apex could falsify a core signature.”
Ehlian’s head was swimming. “So they do exist?”
“Technically, calling them extinct isn’t entirely inaccurate. There can’t be more than a handful of them alive on the whole of Arox,” Kaice said. “That said, they’re untraceable and hide their ability to avoid being hunted.”
“How can you hide that kind of power?”
“Could you tell I was a High-Class telepath if you didn’t already know?”
“No,” Ehlian admitted. “And that, I suppose, makes them impossible for anyone to find.”
