“The result,” Nell answered.
He blinked and focused on her again. “What?”
“You were talking to yourself, but I think I know the answer.” She laughed lightly when she saw Diego prance into the room to bat playfully at her rainbows. “It’s a soothing spell. It relaxes me.”
“Yeah?” Interested, he sat down on the floor beside her while harp strings wept. “Would you say your physical reactions reflect the nature of the spell or charm?”
“Exactly.”
“So, for example, the other night, in the clearing, it was more powerful, maybe edgier, because of what you were doing, and the fact that the three of you were together.”
“It’s always stronger with the three of us. I feel like I could move mountains. Afterward, I stay energized for hours.”
He remembered just how Ripley had channeled her energy and cleared his throat. “Okay. How are you able to sustain this spell while I’m distracting you with conversation?”
She looked completely blank for a moment. “I never thought about it. That was clever of you. I didn’t know you were distracting me. Let me think . . . It’s just there?” she suggested. “No, that’s not completely accurate. It’s more like the way you’re able to do two different things at one time.”
“Like patting your head and rubbing your stomach.”
“No,” she responded. “More like . . . cooking a roast and setting the table. You can keep your mind on the one so you don’t burn it and still manage the other easily enough.”
“What’s nine times six?”
“Fifty-four. Oh, I see, left-brain function. I’m good with numbers.”
“Recite the alphabet backward.”
Concentrating, she began. Twice she fumbled, backtracked, hesitated, but the music and color never faltered.
“Are you ticklish?”
Suspicion flickered over her face. “Why?”
“I want to try a physical distraction.” He squeezed a hand on her knee, made her yelp and jolt, just as Ripley and Zack came through the door.
“What the hell is going on?”
Hearing Ripley’s voice made Mac wince and curse himself for not paying attention to the time. Then, realizing he still had his hand on Nell’s knee—and her husband was armed—he quickly removed it.
“Um.”
“From the looks of it,” Zack said with a wink at Nell, “this guy’s making time with my wife.” As Lucy had come into the house with him, he leaned down casually to rub her head as she sniffed the air and batted her tail. “I guess I have to take him outside and kick his ass.”
“Get in line,” Ripley said and reminded Mac that she was armed as well.
“I, ah. . . Nell agreed to participate in a couple of tests,” he began.
“That’s not quite true,” Nell corrected, and succeeded in making all the blood drain out of Mac’s face. His sudden stricken look made her whoop with laughter. “I volunteered to participate.”
“Would you mind turning off the entertainment portion of your little program?” Ripley said coolly.
“All right.” Nell closed the spell, and there was a moment of complete silence.
“So . . .” Zack began to strip off his coat. “What’s for dinner?”
“You can help me with that.” Nell spoke brightly. “As soon as I’m unhooked from these things.”
“Oh, sorry. Let me . . .” Mac started to reach for the electrodes monitoring her heart rate, then pulled his hands back as if he’d burned them. “Nobody’s going to shoot me in the back, are they?” he asked Nell.
“I can promise Zack won’t. He was just teasing you.”
“He’s not who I’m worried about.” As delicately as possible, he unhooked her, and kept his gaze discreetly averted as she buttoned her blouse again.
“That was fun,” Nell said as she got up. “And informative. Zack, why don’t you give me a hand in the kitchen? Now!”
“All right, all right. I hate missing the fun,” he complained as she dragged him off.
“Okay, Booke, why don’t you try explaining to me why I shouldn’t start swinging?”
“Because violence is never a sensible solution?”
Her answer to that was a low, dangerous growl. He stopped shutting down his equipment and turned to her. “Okay, I figure you’re ticked off on a couple of levels, so I’ll pick one to start. There was no funny business going on between me and Nell. It was completely professional.”
“Son, if I thought otherwise you’d be braying like a jackass.”
“Right.” He took his glasses off, to see her more clearly, and because if she decided to try to deck him, he didn’t want them broken. “You’re angry because I brought equipment here and ran tests on Nell.”
“Bingo. I invited you here, to my home. It’s not a goddamn lab.”
“It’s also Nell’s home,” he pointed out. “I wouldn’t have brought anything if she hadn’t agreed.”
“You wheedled her.”
“I can wheedle when I have to,” he said equably. “I didn’t have to. The fact is, she was interested. She’s exploring herself, and this is part of it. I’m sorry it upsets you; I was afraid it would. And if I’d been paying more attention to the time, I’d have shut it all down before you got home.”
“So you’d have hidden it from me? That’s a nice touch.”
His own temper rumbled. “Tough to win with you, Deputy. No, I’ve never hidden my work from you, and I wouldn’t have done so now. But I’d have tried to respect your feelings about it, as I’ve tried to do from the start.”
“Then why—”
He cut her off by holding up one finger. “The simple fact is, this is my work, and you have to deal with that. But this is your home, and my being here under these circumstances upsets you. I’ll apologize for that. It’ll only take me about fifteen minutes to break this down and get it out. I’ll tell Nell I’ll take a rain check on dinner.”
“Oh, stop being such a jerk.”
“You know, Ripley, you just keep pushing and pushing until nobody wins.”
When he turned away to remove his camera from the tripod, she reached up, pulled her own hair until the sharp pain cleared her head. “Maybe I do. I didn’t ask you to leave.”
“What are you asking?”
“I don’t know! I come home after a pisser of a day, I’m tired and I’m irritable, and I walk in on you doing your mad scientist routine with Nell, who’s obviously not only cooperating but enjoying the hell out of it. I wanted a damn beer and a hot shower, not a confrontation.”
“Understandable. I can only apologize for the timing. It doesn’t change the fact that this is what I do.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Nor, she realized with a twinge, did it change the fact that she’d jumped down his throat because of it. That he’d expected her to.
Not only was she being a bitch, she was being a predictable bitch. It was lowering.
“You missed a level.”
He packed his camera, closed up his laptop. “Which is?”
“I want to know why you didn’t ask me.”
“I couldn’t ask you if you’d mind if I ran tests with Nell because you weren’t here to be asked.”
“No, why didn’t you ask me to run them with you?” As he stopped unhooking cables to stare at her, she shrugged. “I think it’s rude that you went to Nell before you came to me.”
Just when he thought he had her pegged, she changed the pattern on him. “Would you have agreed?”
“I don’t know.” She huffed out a breath. “Maybe. I’d have thought about it, anyway. But you didn’t ask.”
“Are you serious, or are you just using this angle to twist things up so I come out being a jerk?”
There was no arguing that however geeky he might be from time to time, his mind was a scalpel that cut through all the bullshit in one swipe. “The jerk part’s just a side benefit. I shouldn’t have jumped on you that way. Taken jabs at you and your work. I’m sorry for it.”
“Don’t milk it, Booke.” But she went to him, laid her hands on his arms. “Why don’t you get us those beers, then while I’m taking that hot shower you can explain to me what all this stuff’s for. Maybe I’ll let you use it on me.”
“I can do that.” He reached up to take her hands before she could slide them away. “But I have a question first. Why are you considering it now?”
“Because it’s like you said. It’s your work, your deal. I respect you, Mac. So it looks like I’m going to have to start respecting what you do.”
Not one of his professional or academic accolades had ever given him such pleasure as that one hard-won statement did. He stepped closer to her, framed her face with his hands. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. You’re still a jerk.”
“Understood.” He felt her lips curve into a smile under his when he kissed her.
“Paranormal science—”
“Now, see, there you lose me, right at the kickoff,” Ripley complained. “Because to me that’s an oxymoron.”
They were in her bedroom, with her sitting cross-legged on the bed while he set up his equipment.
“There was a time when astronomy was considered outside the mainstream. If science doesn’t push the accepted scope, study the possibilities, it stagnates. We don’t learn anything by standing still.”
“Science and education are part of what turned magic from the acceptable into the condemned, then into the dismissed.”
“You’re right, but I would add ignorance, intolerance, and fear to that mix. It’s science and education that may, in time, turn the tide back again.”
“They hunted us down, slaughtered us and countless others.”
It was in her voice, he thought. Cold rage, hot fear. “You can’t forgive that?”
“Could you?” She moved her shoulders restlessly. “I don’t dwell on it, but it pays to remember what can happen when fingers start to point.”
“You’re worried about what might happen to you if outsiders look too close.”
“I can take care of myself. Just as the sisters took care of themselves. Do you know how many witches were hanged in Salem Town, Mac? None,” she said before he could speak. “All were innocent, powerless victims.”
“So you’re a cop,” he said, “because you’ve chosen to protect the innocent and the powerless as others once weren’t protected.”
She started to speak, then just hissed out her breath. “You don’t have to be a superhero to keep order on Three Sisters.”
“That’s not the point, though, is it? You protect, Mia educates—books—and Nell nurtures. You’ve all chosen to do what you can to heal old wounds. To balance.”
“That’s all a little deep for me.”
He ran his hand gently over her hair before he bent down to hook up cables.
The gesture, the simple gentleness of it, loosened every muscle in her body.
“Have you ever been hypnotized?”
Just as that question tightened all her muscles up again. “No. Why?”
He glanced back at her. Briefly, casually. “I’d like to try it. I’m licensed.”
“You didn’t do that weird stuff with Nell.”
“I’ll ignore the word weird. No, I didn’t use hypnosis with Nell. I didn’t want to push it. But you and I have a different relationship and, I like to think, a different level of trust. I wouldn’t hurt you.”
“I know that. It probably wouldn’t work on me, anyway.”
“That’s part of what I’d like to see. It’s a simple process, based on relaxation techniques, and perfectly safe.”
“I’m not afraid—”
“Good. Why don’t you lie down?”
“Just wait.” Panic ticked at her throat. “How come you can’t just follow the same routine you did downstairs with Nell before dinner?”
“I could. I’d like to add a few tests, if you’re willing. First, I’m interested in seeing if your gift makes you more, or less, susceptible to hypnosis. And if you can be hypnotized, if you’re able to demonstrate power in that state.”
“Have you considered that in that state I might not have perfect control?”
He nodded absently while he nudged her back on the bed. “That would be interesting, wouldn’t it?”
“Interesting. Jesus. You’ll recall that Mia fried one of your toys when she was a little miffed.”
“That was cool. But she didn’t hurt me,” he reminded Ripley. “And neither will you. I’m just going to hook you up now. I explained what the machines are for.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“You need to lose the sweater.”
She glanced toward the camera, smirked. “So do you and your fellow geeks watch these tapes at stag parties?”
“Absolutely. Nothing like watching a video of a half-naked woman to break up the tedium of lab work.” He kissed her forehead before affixing the first electrode. “But I’ll keep this one in my private collection.”
He took her through the same steps as he had Nell. Casual questions, monitoring and recording her resting vital signs. There was a slight shift when he asked her to do a small, basic spell. Anxiety, he noted. She wasn’t completely comfortable opening herself to power.
But she obliged, and the lights in the adjoining bath switched off and on rapidly.
“I used to do that when Zack was in the shower, when we were kids,” she said. “Just to piss him off.”
“Give me something bigger, more demanding.” Her heart rate was up more than Nell’s had been. Anxiety again, he decided. But the brain-wave patterns were remarkably similar.
She cupped her hands, lifted them. He saw the ball of light glow, then shoot up to the ceiling. Another followed, still another. As he watched them take position, he grinned.
“It’s a baseball field. Infield, outfield, nine players.”
“Batter up,” she said and sent another light into her batter’s box. “I used to do this as a kid, too.” And had missed it, she realized. “When I couldn’t sleep, or didn’t want to. Let’s see how he likes a fastball.”
Another light, small and blue, shot out from the pitcher’s mound. There was a snap of sound, a burst of streaming light. “Yes! Base hit, deep right field. Let’s stretch it into a triple.”
Forgetting his machines, Mac sat on the foot of the bed and watched, marvelously entertained, as she played through an entire inning.
“Keep it going,” he urged. “How old were you when you first recognized and used your gift?”
“I don’t know. It just always seemed to be there. Double play, smooth as silk.”
“Do you ever play on a terrestrial field?”
“Sure. Hot corner—I’ve got great hands. You?”
“No. Too clumsy. Divide eighty-four by twelve.”
“Struck him out! And the side retires. Divide what? That’s math. I hate math.” Her brow furrowed. “You didn’t say there was going to be a quiz.”
“Give it a shot,” he told her and rose again to check the readings.
“Twelve’s one of the sucky ones. Hanging curveball, low and outside. It’s six, no, wait. Damn it. Seven, seven times two is fourteen, and carry the deal to the other deal. Seven. So what?”
Excitement trickled through him, but all that showed in his voice was amusement. “So you strained your left brain a bit, but maintained the pattern.”
She breezed through the backward alphabet. He wasn’t entirely sure what that said about her mind or her personality, but her readings remained high and steady. “Okay, close the spell.”
“But I’ve got a man out and a man on.”
“We’ll pick it up later.”
“This is starting to feel like school,” she complained, but opened her hands again and drew the lights down, extinguished them.
“I need you to relax again. Breathe in through your nose, out gently through your mouth. Slow, deep breaths.”
Ready to pout about the game delay, she looked over at him. And saw what Nell had seen. Cool, calm control. “I’m relaxed enough.”
“Breathe, Ripley. Count the beats. Slow, deep, easy.”
He sat on the side of the bed with her, checked her pulse with his fingers. “Relax your toes.”
“My what?”
“Your toes. Let your toes relax, let all the tension slide out.”
“I’m not tense.” But he felt her pulse kick. “If this is your prelude to hypnosis, it’s not going to work.”
“Then it won’t work.” Watching her face, he trailed his fingers to the pulse in the curve of her elbow, back to her wrist. Soft, steady strokes. “Relax your feet. You’ve been on them most of the day. Let the tension go out of them. Out of your ankles.”
His voice was so quiet, so soothing. His fingers on her skin were a lovely, light connection.
“Relax your calves. It’s like warm water flowing up through your body, washing out the tension. Your mind’s relaxing, too. Just let it empty out. Your knees are relaxing now, your thighs. Visualize a soft white field. Nothing on it. It’s easy on the eyes. It relaxes them.”
He drew the pendant from under his shirt. Wrapped the chain twice around his hand. “Breathe in the calm, expel the tension. It’s safe here. You can just drift.”
“Aren’t you supposed to tell me I’m getting sleepy?”
“Ssh. Breathe. Focus on the pendant.”
Her pulse jumped again when he held it up in her line of vision. “That’s Mia’s.”
“Relax. Focus. You’re safe. You know you can trust me.”
She moistened her lips. “This isn’t going to work anyway.”
“The pendant’s in front of that white wall. It’s all you can see, all you need to see. Let your mind clear. Just look at the pendant. Listen to my voice. It’s all you need to hear.”
He took her down in stages, gently, until her eyelids began to droop. Then slid her deep.
“Subject is unusually susceptible to hypnosis. Vital signs are steady, readings typical for a trance state. Ripley, can you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“I want you to remember that you’re safe and that you’re not to do anything that you’re not willing to do and comfortable doing. If I ask you to do anything that you don’t want to do, you’re to tell me no. Do you understand?”
Books by Nora Roberts Page 195