Chapter Forty-Two
Forty-Two
“Any sign that your other vision is returning to normal?” Sophy asked.
“Not yet,” Luke said. “But my regular vision is okay. Stop fussing and let me think.”
“I’m worried about your other sight.”
“I appreciate that, but there’s nothing you can do. It either recovers or it doesn’t. We can’t afford to sit around and wait to find out what happens. Meanwhile I need to connect some dots.”
The impatience edging his words told her that she had asked the question about his vision too many times.
She couldn’t help it. She was still trying to process the realization that Vincent Grant had tried to murder him tonight with a weapon that had damaged—possibly destroyed—his psychic-grade vision.
She breathed out and centered herself. He was determined to play the mission-comes-first role. She had to respect that. Also, he was right. They really did not have any options. They had to keep moving forward.
“I still can’t believe Vincent and Hatch are brothers,” she said.
“Half brothers,” Luke said. “It explains a few things.”
He was standing in front of the silver doughnut, studying it as if it held the key to unlocking all of his questions.
To distract herself she sat down at the small table and examined the odd-looking weapon. It was shaped like a chunky pistol with a fat, round barrel and an oversized grip.
Experimentally, she picked it up.
“It’s very heavy,” she said.
“Be careful. I’m pretty sure it’s dead, but when it comes to guns of any kind—”
“Always assume they are loaded. I know. It’s also awkward and cumbersome. I would have to use both hands to hold it and aim it. You couldn’t fit it into a shoulder holster and wear a dinner jacket over it like slick secret agents do with regular pistols.”
“That’s one of the prototypes that was stolen from the Wellses’ vault,” Luke said. “It was proof of concept. The idea was to refine it and make it more efficient.”
“We have to assume the other prototype is somewhere here in the compound, don’t we?”
“Yes. Probably in the hands of the smoking ghost.” Luke paused. “Unless he’s already deteriorated too much to use it. He may be dead by now.”
She chilled. “What about Vincent? How long before—?”
“I don’t know. Tobias and Xavier stopped the experiments as soon as they realized what was happening to people who fired the weapon more than once or twice. They assumed that a very strong talent could handle the guns but they called off the project before testing that theory.”
“I guess there was no one around to warn Vincent or the smoking ghost about the danger of firing the weapons,” she said.
“We can assume the man Grant called the Alchemist knows how dangerous the guns are. That’s why he hired other people as hit men.”
She turned the weapon carefully in her hands and opened her senses a little. The shock of awareness made her yelp. The heavy weapon clanged when she set it on the table and jumped to her feet. Bruce lifted his head off his paws and pricked his ears.
“Careful with that thing,” Luke said.
She backed away from the table, eyeing the weapon as if it was a rattler. “That gun was used to murder someone recently.”
“Sorry, I should have warned you. Grant said one of the guns had been used to murder the man who died in Deke’s cabin. Maybe it was that one.” Luke paused. “Or maybe that’s the weapon Grant used to murder the three homeless men I saw in his sketchbook.”
“I hate to admit it, but we may be in over our heads.”
“That occurred to me,” Luke said. “Unfortunately, we’re not in a position to call for help. No cell service and no landlines in the rooms.”
She shuddered. “Don’t remind me.”
“If we leave now—assuming we could get past the security gate—I doubt we’d be able to return with reinforcements in time to stop whatever is happening here. The message Deke held up in the hologram said we’re on the clock.”
“We have to find out what is going on behind that wall that you saw in the gallery, don’t we?”
“Yes.”
She braced herself. “You’re going back into the maze tonight.”
“I’m going to try to dream first.”
“I don’t understand.”
He shrugged. “That’s how I connect the dots. I do it in my dreams. This time around it’s going to be an experiment because I don’t know if I can still dream the way I did before I lost my other vision. For all I know my para-vision was linked to my dreamlight.”
She widened her eyes, intrigued. “You can see connections in your dreams?”
“If I have enough data.” He frowned. “Does that strike you as weird? You’re the one who grew up selling crystals and chimes. You know as well as I do that lots of people take dream analysis seriously.”
“Well, yes. But I never thought of you as the type to put much stock in dreams.”
“I find them useful,” he said. He sounded somewhat defensive. “But it always comes down to interpretation. That’s where things can go sideways.”
“You’re thinking about your affair with the secretly sexy librarian, aren’t you?”
He shot her an irritated look.
“Whatever,” she said quickly. “Moving right along, after you dream, Bruce and I should go into the maze with you. Think of us as backup. I’ve got some talent that might prove useful, especially if your para-vision doesn’t recover.
I can see in the dark, remember? So can Bruce, at least to some extent.
The three of us are a team. Allies. Colleagues.
Three auras are stronger than one, right? ”
He watched her with a brooding gaze for a long moment. Then his jaw tightened. “You’re right. We’ll go in together.”
“With Bruce.”
Luke’s mouth twitched a little at the corner. “With Bruce.”
Bruce raised his head again. His eyes glowed and he flapped his tail a couple of times.
Sophy got a rush of satisfaction. Luke was treating her as an equal partner. She was on a roll. “We know we’re dealing with at least four bad guys,” she said. “Trent Hatch, Vincent, the smoking ghost, and someone called the Alchemist.”
“Don’t forget Hatch’s security team.”
“Right. Plus the guards like the one we met at the front gate.”
“I’m not too worried about them,” Luke said. “They all seem to be retired people from Fool’s Gold who are just padding their Social Security and pensions with some part-time work. I don’t think they’re involved in the Alchemist’s project. The real question now is, who is the Alchemist?”
“We’ve got an entire art colony full of suspects.”
“We can exclude the artists,” Luke said. “Pretty sure they’re just unwitting test subjects, like the guests at the inn.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Hatch’s security team is behind this whole thing. Those blondes look tough.”
“It’s a possibility, but they have the vibe of professionals. Got a hunch they’re in it for the money. It’s just a job for them.” Luke paused a beat. “I think.”
She watched him for a moment. “How did you find your way out of the maze without your other vision?”
“I used the classic technique. Planted one hand on the wall and never took it off until I got to the exit.”
She unfolded her arms and dropped into the nearest chair. “You found your way out of that maze by touch alone. That’s…incredible.”
“Not really. It was the only option available.” Luke went to the table, picked up the weapon, and raised it to eye level.
He aimed it at the balcony window and gently twisted the thick barrel.
“No question about it, this is old-school crystal tech. Physical contact is required to fire it.” He lowered the Kaleidoscope and studied the doughnut sculpture. “Unlike the hypnotic tiles.”
She lounged back in the chair and crossed her ankles. “No wonder everyone thinks you should take your grandfather’s place as the CEO of Wells, Inc. Got to hand it to you, Luke, you do know how to set priorities and focus on a problem.”
“I’m told the habit can be irritating.”
“Who said that?”
“You may have mentioned it.”
“Oh, right.”
He set the weapon back down on the table. There was an icy heat in his eyes. “Time for me to find out if I can still dream.”
She was intensely aware of the energy that charged the atmosphere around him.
“Okay.” She was not sure what she was supposed to do or say next. “Are you, uh, going to get into bed?”
“I’ll just try to take a nap.” He sat on the edge of the bed and removed one low boot. “Do me a favor. Don’t suck up all my bodily essences while I’m out. I’m going to need those later.”
“We are not amused.” She frowned. “Before you sleep, why don’t we try the technique you used on me when I came out of the trance at your uncle’s cabin?”
“What?”
“I was starting to go into the ice fever but you were able to stop the process.”
He removed his other boot, rested his forearms on his thighs, and looked at her. “You’re talking about trying to get our auras to resonate.”
“Isn’t that what you did when you helped me get back to normal? Maybe a similar process could restore your other vision.”
“Your situation was different. Some of the wavelengths in your aura were in shock. All I did was use some of my energy to encourage the currents to resume normal oscillation.”
“I understand. But what if your para-vision is just in shock? I might be able to encourage the currents back into normal rhythm.”
“What the hell. It’s worth a try.”
He held out his hand. She took it, abruptly aware that she had absolutely no idea how to set up a state of resonance between their auras. On the two previous occasions with Luke it seemed to have happened more or less spontaneously. Maybe physical contact was all it took.
She was in the process of cautiously heightening her senses when Luke tightened his grip on her hand and drew her down across his thighs. Before she realized what was happening, he wrapped an arm around her and lowered his mouth to hers.
“What are you doing?” she squeaked in surprise.
“We don’t have time to waste running experiments. This is the fastest way I know for the two of us to set up resonance.”
“But—”
For a few seconds she fought to get control of the kiss; to stay in command of the situation. But he was doing the same. Their auras flared, clashed, and suddenly they were both surrendering to the excitement, the yearning, and the thrill of bone-deep recognition.
Luke fell back onto the bed, taking her with him. She tumbled across his chest, heightened her talent…
…and immediately sensed the damaged currents of his talent. She knew intuitively how to ease the wavelengths back into normal resonance. Just a little light housekeeping.
Luke looked up at her. His eyes burned. “Damn. You did it. I’ve got my night vision back.”
She pushed herself off his chest and sat up on the side of the bed. “How do you feel?”
“Good. Very, very good. Now I’m sure I can dream.”
He lay back on the pillows, straightened out on the bed, closed his eyes, and…dropped into sleep.
She watched him for a moment and then she looked at Bruce.
“That’s a handy talent he has,” she said softly.
Bruce yawned, curled up, and went to sleep, too.
“Gosh, don’t feel like you have to stay awake just to keep me company,” she said. “I’ll find something to do.”
She sank into the reading chair and picked up Tobias Harper’s journal.