Chapter Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Seven
“Vincent is deteriorating?” Sophy stopped pacing the suite and looked at Luke, who was sprawled in one of the chairs, legs outstretched. “What does that even mean?”
“I think his psychic senses have been destabilized,” he said. “Pretty sure the process can’t be reversed, not at this stage.”
“That’s a breathtaking diagnosis, given how little we know about him or his paranormal senses.”
“It’s all there in his sketchbooks, Sophy.
” Luke rested a hand on Bruce’s head. “His drawings look normal—competent, maybe even good, I think, although I’m no judge—up until three months ago.
After that, they rapidly become less refined.
Bizarre. Amateurish. There was a dark side to his choice of subject matter from the start, but the violent element is much stronger in the recent drawings. ”
“He first contacted me about three months ago.” She went to the window and looked out into the night. “Are all the violent images variations on the succubus theme?”
“Most of them look like sketches for that sculpture we saw in the gallery. But there are others. At least three were of dead bodies.”
“What?” She spun around. “Are you talking about autopsy drawings?”
“No,” Luke said. “The drawings in his sketchbook look like they were done at the scenes of the crimes. The victims appear to have been living on the streets. There is something personal about the images. I don’t know how to explain it. I think Grant is the one who killed them.”
“Oh, shit.”
“If I’m right, he’s become a serial killer. The drawings are his souvenirs.”
She folded her arms tightly around her midsection, trying to absorb the horrifying information. “I can’t believe I dated a serial killer. Surely I would have picked up some kind of warning vibe.”
“You said you haven’t seen him since that date in the San Francisco alley.”
“That’s right.” She sighed. “I assumed he was just another failed experiment.”
“The sudden deterioration seems to have set in around that time.”
A sickening thought struck her. She stared at Luke, horrified. “Maybe it was seeing me coming out of the trance that caused him to go insane. Maybe my energy field shattered his senses. Maybe he developed some form of PTSD because of me? What if I really am a dangerous talent?”
“Don’t go there, Sophy.”
It was a command. She ignored it.
“Do you think I might have damaged any of my other experiments?”
“Nope. No need to worry about that. You might have scared the hell out of some of the others but that’s about it.”
She froze. “You’re not taking this seriously, are you?”
Luke was out of the chair and standing directly in front of her, watching her with heated eyes before she realized what was happening. He clamped his hands around her shoulders.
“I’m taking the business of finding Deke and Bea and stopping Hatch and his pals very seriously,” he said. “That’s why we’re here, remember? But, no, I am not worried that you are a monster or that you are in any way responsible for what’s happening to Grant.”
She was torn between wanting to believe him and what logic was telling her. “But how can you be sure of that?”
“There are two very good reasons. First, psychic energy has to be focused in order to be used as a weapon. It might—and I emphasize the might—be possible for you to do some damage to another individual’s aura if you got seriously intentional about it.
You’d have to want to mess with someone’s energy field and you would probably need physical contact to do it.
You can’t accidentally use your talent to drive someone insane or to commit murder.
Paranormal biophysics doesn’t work that way. ”
“You’re certain?”
“Trust me, the Foundation has a library that contains decades of research on the subject. All of it backs up what I’m telling you.”
“That is reassuring,” she allowed.
“Good. Because it’s the truth.”
A new thought hit her. “But what if the Foundation thinks I’m a violent, unstable talent? They’ll make sure I disappear into that private psychiatric hospital they operate. Halcyon Manor. Everyone knows it’s really a prison for deranged psychics.”
Luke tightened his grip on her shoulders. His eyes burned a little hotter. “Anyone who tries to take you away to Halcyon Manor or anywhere else will have to go through me.”
Bruce rumbled and pressed against her leg. His amber eyes were molten hot.
“And Bruce,” Luke added.
She managed a shaky smile. “I believe you guys. Thanks.”
Luke took his hands off her shoulders. “That said, in the course of my work I’ve had a few opportunities to investigate some cases of sudden-onset deterioration of the psychic senses. Most of the victims went insane and died soon afterward. Most had one thing in common.”
She tensed. “What was that?”
“The damage usually occurred when an individual was exposed to repeated doses of a dangerous form of paranormal radiation.” Luke began to pace the room, very intent.
Very focused. “The aura was gradually warped and destabilized. The subject might have survived the first or second or even a third dose, but repeated exposure over time proved lethal. Given the data we have, we can assume that Grant has been firing the old Kaleidoscope weapons that were stolen from my family’s vault. ”
“He is involved in whatever is going on here,” Sophy said. “That means he didn’t come looking for me because a police detective happened to mention that I was good at reading crime scenes.”
“We knew it was not a coincidence that the succubus sculpture showed up in the Maze Gallery. Grant targeted you.”
“But it was Aunt Bea who went missing a few days ago. If I hadn’t terrified him maybe he would have grabbed me instead. I’m the reason he took Bea.”
Luke came to a halt, turned, and walked deliberately toward her.
“Listen up,” he said. “You will stop blaming yourself for this situation. Tobias Harper and Xavier Wells are the people responsible for this mess. We’re stuck dealing with the fallout, but we did not cause the problem in the first place.”
She blinked a couple of times, thinking. “You know what? You’re right.”
“That’s because I applied a little logic to the problem.”
“Your ability to focus and connect dots can be a little irritating, but I’ve got to admit it comes in handy at times.”
“I can’t tell you how much that means to me. I’m grateful to know that I am occasionally useful.”
She widened her eyes. “You’re angry, aren’t you?”
“What gave me away?”
“Well—”
“On second thought, don’t answer that question.”
His mouth came down on hers with stunning force. Startled, she froze. She knew he intended the kiss to silence her, but the heat flared without warning. It caught him off guard, just as it did her.
Like the vortex-fueled kiss that morning, she thought.
But this time she couldn’t blame it on the canyon energy.
She wasn’t transitioning from a trance, either.
There was no logical explanation for what was happening.
The thrilling rush swept through all her senses.
She could feel their auras seeking resonance.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, parted her lips, and returned the kiss with fierce abandon. Luke muttered something she did not understand, something that came from somewhere deep inside. And then he was tightening his grip on her, lifting her off her feet.
A moment later she was vaguely aware of falling. She landed on the bed. Luke came down on top of her. For a few wild, glorious moments they fought each other for the embrace.
“Shit,” Luke planted his hands on either side of her shoulders and lifted himself off of her. He sat up abruptly, breathing hard, his eyes molten. “We do not have time for this.”
She watched him for a couple of seconds and decided he seemed genuinely regretful. “I know. Duty calls. The mission comes first. We are here because we are bound by the old pact between our great-grandfathers. Anything that gets in the way—sex, for example—is a distraction. Blah, blah, blah.”
He gave her a wary look. “Blah, blah, blah?”
“Never mind. You’re still planning to go into the Maze Gallery tonight, aren’t you?”
“We can’t waste any more time.”
Inwardly she winced but she managed a cool smile. “Absolutely not. Go forth and do what must be done. Bruce and I will be okay. We also serve who only stand and wait. Blah, blah, blah.”