Hell, I could probably do it if I put my mind to it-Jack kept insisting I'd be one of the strongest telepaths he had if only I'd apply myself a little more.
Which is precisely why I didn't. I didn't want that sort of power. What I had was scary enough.
For the longest of moments, Kye didn't answer. When he finally did, it was flatly, grudgingly, done. I'm what you call a sipher. If I'm in the presence of another person with a psychic talent, that talent becomes mine for as long as I am with them.
So when you're with me, you're telepathic.
And I can shadow, because that is also a psychic talent-one that is very handy when stalling vampires.
Which is why he was such a skilled hunter of vampires. Most vampires wouldn't expect a werewolf to be able to shadow, and by the time they heard the rush of life and realized Kye was near, it was already too late.
And now you're sensing the soul?
Is that what it is?
Yes, I snapped, stripping off several scarves and tossing them across his face. And hang onto your hat, because its about to get a whole lot worse.
And with that, I reached out to the soul and said, Who are you?
The chill got fiercer, until it felt like fingers of ice were creeping into my soul. I didn't know why it always felt like these souls brought the chill of the underworld with them. Maybe it was because they were trapped between two worlds, neither here nor in heaven or hell-or wherever else souls went to.
Something stirred against the soft, golden light infusing the corner-a wisp of thicker air that held no shape and couldn't even be defined as smoke.
Billy. Billy Cardwell, it said, the insubstantial voice young and confused.
I continued dancing, only half concentrating on the music. Another scarf went. Kye caught it and tossed it to one side, his gaze heated and expression intent. He looked for the world like a man who was enjoying his dance, but I knew the only thing he was intent on was listening in on my conversation with the soul.
Do you know what happened, Billy?
The soul stirred softly, a wisp with no features and no body that gently rotated.
She went ballistic, he answered. She attacked me.
Do you know why?
For a moment there was no answer, but the energy continued to build in the air, giving the soul the strength to speak.
She kept screaming "the bitch. I'll get the bitch for this."
Had she meant the teenager who hadn't shown up? Or me? What time was this?
He didn't answer for several seconds, then said, I had the room booked for seven-thirty, so it was just after that.
So the rage-and Billy's subsequent murder-had definitely happened before she'd gone on to slaughter Jason Burke and his lover. Meaning her rage, or her need to tear, had not been assuaged with Billy's death. Or maybe we were simply dealing with a mind that wasn't exactly chummy with sanity. Is that all?
The energy in the air was still building, until the small hairs along the nape of my neck were standing on end. Only then did the words come again.
She said something about no one stopping her from making them all pay.
Thank you, Billy. I hesitated, then added, It's safe to move on now. Well take care of her for you.
Maybe that was what he was waiting to hear, because the energy abruptly fell away, and the soul disintegrated, fleeing to whatever region of afterlife it was bound for.
I took a deep, shuddering breath that did little to clear the sudden wash of weakness from my limbs. Maybe Cole was right. Maybe the energy these souls were using to talk wasn't coming from the air around us, but from me.
Fuck, that was unreal, Kye muttered, suddenly looking as washed out as I felt. And I hope I'm never with you when another one of those pops up.
Oh, I don't think that's going to be a problem, I snapped back, although I wasn't entirely sure whether I was annoyed more with him, or with myself for not having the gumption to call in the Directorate and get this man locked up. It was too late now, despite my earlier threat. We were in the end game and simply couldn't afford to stop right now.
I just had to hope that my reluctance to do something about the man didn't end up being the biggest mistake I'd ever made in my life.
Chapter Ten
After tossing off the final scarf-leaving me in just the jeweled bodice and G-string-I leaned over, shaking my breasts in his face as I said, How much longer until the lights go out?
Even as I asked the question, the lights went out. As they did, Kye wrapped a hand around the back of my neck, dragging me close, and kissed me. This was no gentle kiss-it was fierce, hungry, and very erotic. A promise of what was to come, of what he wanted.
He let me go with the same sort of suddenness, and I staggered back a little before catching my balance. My lips felt puffy with the force of his kiss, and my body was in turmoil, desire fighting with common sense, one part of my soul fighting against the other.
Let's find this door, if there is one, he said, mind voice flat and controlled.
But he wasn't. I could feel the turmoil and desire raging through his body, and it was every bit as strong as mine. This wolf might want me, but he didn't want to want me.
We were fighting the same fight, and we were both losing.
I didn't answer, just walked across to the door and unlocked it. With the lights and security out, they'd probably evacuate the building, so maybe they'd think we'd already left the room.
I turned around and blinked to switch on the infrared of my vamp vision. The outline of the door was instantly obvious, tucked away in the far left corner.
Over here, I walked across and pulled the curtain back. The door was handprint and iris coded. Well, fuck.
The emergency lighting flickered then came on. The generators had obviously kicked in. Will these doors still be functional?
Probably.
What about the cameras?
Footsteps sounded in the hall outside, followed by gruff voices. They were still several rooms away from ours, but we were running out of time fast.
The cameras probably wouldn't be considered a priority, so Yd say no. Which is probably why they're evacuating. He bent to look at the lock. There's no getting around it. We need a guard to open it.
Then let's get one.
I reached out telepathically for the guards in the hallway. With the nanowires they were all wearing, it felt like I was hitting a brick wall. I continued to push telepathically, hitting the nanowire with everything I had. As sweat beaded across my forehead, my consciousness began to seep through the wire's wall, until suddenly I was through. I grabbed the guard's mind, wrapping around it completely, letting him finish evacuating the schoolroom before walking him down toward us.
He opened the door and walked into the room, and even had the cameras been active, they wouldn't have picked up anything out of place. My touch these days was so light that I could control a mind and still have that person look and act completely natural.
"I'm afraid we've lost power and have to evacuate the building," he said, gaze sweeping the room but not actually seeing anything important. He wasn't even seeing us standing at the other door-I was making sure of that.
I nudged Kye, and nodded toward the guard. He seemed to get what I wanted, because he said, "My time isn't up yet."
"All monies will be refunded, sir." He walked over to the door and pressed his hand against the scanner. After a beep, he leaned forward, letting his eye be scanned. There was a soft click, and the door opened.
I turned him around and walked him back out the door. As I retreated from his mind, I left the image of us walking away from the room.
As the hall door clicked shut, I blew out a breath and lifted a sweaty strand of hair from my forehead.
So you're one of the guardians who could walk into this club and freeze the mind of every man and woman in this club, Kye said, eyeing me with an odd expression.
As if he was suddenly reassessing me. I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad one.
There are vamps more powerful than me at the Directorate. I replied absentmindedly, my gaze on the hall beyond. It was small, pitch black, and smelled of dust, damp, and magic. Dark, distasteful magic.
Which is warning enough that even one such as me should never get on the wrong side of the Directorate. Or her hunters.
If you want to continue living the free and easy life of a killer for hire, then that's a mighty good idea.
I don't always kill, he said mildly. Sometimes I guard.
Guarding killers isn't that much of a step up the ladder. I slipped off my stilettos, then blinked on my infrared vision and stepped into the hall. The faint, metallic scent of blood flavored the air, and with it the stench of flesh beginning to rot. Maybe they hadn't had time to get rid of Billy's body after all.
Well, when it comes to Blaise, your pack alpha, I'd have to agree. He let the door close and darkness swamped us. Not that it mattered to me.
Then why did you take the job? I moved forward cautiously. I might be able to see in this inky blackness, but magic was crawling across my skin, pinpricks of fire that sent a continuous shudder of revulsion through the rest of me.
Because he paid more than the usual rate, and because I was intrigued to meet the woman who had him so scared.
I snorted softly. Blaise was never scared of me.
Then why did he hire me?
You know why-to protect his precious son, Patrin, from the death threats he was receiving.
Kye smiled. It swirled across my senses.
There were never any death threats. It was you and Rhoan he feared.
I snorted softly. Blaise and his precious sons spent most of their lives using the two of us as their expendable punching bags. Why the hell would he be scared of us before we beat the crap out of him?
Because he feared what you could become-what you did become. He hesitated. There is magic up ahead. And Blaise will seek his revenge for what you and Rhoan did to him.
We'd guessed that. Blake wasn't the type to forgive people-especially when they'd embarrassed the hell out of him. So is this ability to sense magic another skill you're siphoning from someone?
I felt Kye smile again. No, this time it's a talent that's inherited from the pack.
This would be the pack that supposedly has no psychic skills whatsoever?
That's the one. I'm sensitive to the presence of magic, but I cannot use it like I can psychic talents.
But that's how you tracked that sorcerer to the warehouse?
That and the smell of death.
I nodded. At least it explained how he'd come to be watching the sorcerer from within the shadows of her black wall rather than walking straight through it and getting sprung as I had.
But then, I hadn't expected to find hellhounds or a sorcerer-just a dead man walking. Kye obviously had a better idea of what was going on than I did when he'd walked into that place.
The farther we moved down the hallway, the staler the air felt, and I had the odd sensation that we were moving down into the earth itself. There was little noise in this place, and the silence felt heavy, as if it was carrying a weight that it didn't want and we couldn't see.
The floorboards beneath my feet gave way to colder concrete, then to a mix of dirt and stone. Grit wedged in between my toes, forcing me to pause every now and again to shake it lose. Despite the earth flooring, the walls and ceiling were still concrete-although it was rough looking, as if it had been slapped on in a hurry, and without care.
The crawl of magic began to get stronger, its touch stinging like angry gnats. Something stark and white appeared in my infrared. I switched to normal vision, saw a flickering golden glow begin to seep through the darkness ahead. It framed a rough-hewn archway that had only been half concreted.
I couldn't sense anyone or anything waiting, but my uneasiness grew.
Looks like the sort of light you get from a torch, Kye commented. Though his mind voice was flat and without emotion, his tension rolled over me, increasing my own. It's an odd choice when were under the earth and there seems to be little ventilation.
I cant smell any smoke, though. And I don't think our sorcerers would be too worried about air quality.
Or life, for that matter.
Because the magic wasn't the only thing that was getting stronger. The stink of blood and death rode the air, so powerful that even my wolf soul was turning her nose.
We approached the arch cautiously. Dust stirred the air with each step, but little else seemed to be moving.
I cant feel or smell anyone, Kye said.
No, but they may have laid traps of the magical kind. We need to be careful.
Then you go low, and I'll go high.
There was a whisper of movement, and suddenly I felt the burn of silver across my skin. How the hell did you get a weapon into the club undetected? And how come I didn't sense it before this?
He raised an eyebrow. You have a psychic sense about guns?
No, I'm allergic to silver.
We all are. We're werewolves. Amusement laced his mental tone.
Well, yeah, but I've been hit too often by it and I'm now extrasensitive to its presence. So how did you conceal that weapon?
The weapon is in a lead-lined holster, and if you know whom to pay, you can get anything you like into this club.
So whom did you bribe?
His smile flashed. There's no need to bribe when the manager is fucking a stripper, and the wife knows nothing about it.
And how do you happen to know that?
Because I bugged him. Made for interesting listening, I have to say.
Perv.
And as a telepath, you've never listened in to other people's thoughts or conversations, he said dryly. It's all the same, Riley.
We'd neared the archway, so I didn't answer, just wrapped the shadows around me and moved with vamp speed to the far side of it. Then I shook off the shadows, glanced at him, and nodded.
Go, he said, and we moved as one into the next room.
Which was actually a cavern. It was small, dank, and the air was putrid with the aroma of blood, death, and rotting flesh. The torches that lined the walls and provided the flickering light had to be battery powered, because they certainly weren't real. Nor could I see any power outlets or electrical cords. But at least they provided enough light to see by, although deeper darkness still haunted the more distant corners. Without them, and with no natural light, even my infrared would have been useless.