by Nalini Singh
Page 44
He didn't answer her implied question. "Where?"
She decided to ask Vaughn later. "The small private university that went up a few years ago on the edge of Napa. It specializes in viticulture. "
"Most students and staff are human or changeling," Lucas pointed out. "What would a Psy be doing there? They're not much into organic assets. "
"I think she's some kind of technician. Don't wineries have sophisticated temperature monitoring and cooling systems?"
"It could be that. " Vaughn's hands dropped to rest on her hips - an act of male ownership, one she didn't have any desire to fight. "Not that it matters if she's going to be there on that date and at that time. We'll pick him off before he gets to her. "
"Why are we cleaning up a Psy mess again?" Clay's deep voice. "Faith's not in any danger. The killer and possible victim are both Psy. Shouldn't the Council be taking care of this?"
"Clay!" Sascha looked shocked. "We're speaking about a woman's life. "
"I'm not saying we forget about it, just that we let those responsible tidy it up. "
"And what if they don't?" Faith asked softly, staring into that harshly masculine face that was so without mercy. Clay was different from Vaughn, no matter that Vaughn's animal roamed nearer to the skin. There was something very dark in the leopard, something that walked a fine line between good and evil.
She had a knowing almost on top of that thought - Clay's time was coming. One day soon he'd have to decide which side of that line he wanted to be on. "What if she simply disappears like the others I heard about on the Net? Will you be able to sleep at night, your conscience clear?" Because he wasn't quite gone yet, was still on the good side of the line. By a bare fraction.
Clay raised an eyebrow. "So we take this guy out. Great. What about the next and the next and the next?"
Faith didn't know where her answer came from. "Some futures we can't see, some lives we can't save, but this one we can. Let's discuss the rest later. "
"There's a bigger problem. " Lucas rocked back in his chair, propping his feet up on the railing. "If neither victim nor killer is changeling, it falls within Enforcement jurisdiction. We don't have the right to enforce Law. "
Faith had forgotten that. "We could let the authorities know. "
"Same as telling the Council. " Clay snorted. "Unless you're ready to hand over the whole fucking mess to your psychopathic race?"
Vaughn went utterly still around her. "Watch it, cat. "
Faith didn't understand all of what was going on, but she could read the aggression in the air. She shifted to wrap an arm around Vaughn's waist. He didn't take his eyes off Clay.
After a tense moment, the other male gave a slow nod. "I was out of line. " A pause. "She reminds me of someone. "
Faith worked through the statement, startled at the belated realization that Vaughn had turned hostile toward Clay because of his rudeness to her. Warmth spread in her secret heart. But notwithstanding that, she didn't want to be the cause of Vaughn fighting with his pack.
"About Enforcement," she said, sliding her hand under his T-shirt to lie palm down on his back. Her cat responded to the stroking, looking away from Clay at last.
"I know a couple of cops we can trust," Clay replied, surprising her. "If they make the arrest, it'll be legal. "
"And the killer will be out by nightfall, sprung by the Council. He'll disappear into the Net, never to be seen again. " Sascha's voice was grim. "They'll either kill him to ensure no one learns of the breakdown in the Protocol, or if he's one of theirs gone rogue, attempt to reinstate control. "
Lucas dropped his feet to the porch and leaned over to kiss his mate. Softening, she curled her fingers around his biceps, but Lucas's eyes were narrowed when he turned back to them. "Sascha's right. We saw what happened last time. "
Anger was suddenly alive in the air. Faith happened to be looking at Sascha and saw the other cardinal breathe deeply several times, eyes going the pure black of a Psy expending large amounts of power. The anger level dropped.
"I can take care of him. " Judd sounded like he was talking about the weather. "Even from a distance. "
Faith's stomach curdled. "No. We can't commit one murder to stop another. " She'd thought to do precisely that, but that had been in the red-hot heat of anger. She was no stone-cold killer.
"You have a better idea?" Judd asked, something very much like insolence in his otherwise icy tone.
"Back off," Vaughn said, in a very quiet voice. She could hear a difference from his reaction to Clay - he was dangerous this time, where before he'd been issuing a warning. "You're here because you helped save Sascha's life, but that only goes so far. "
The other male's smile was humorless. "It doesn't go far at all. "
Faith was a babe at understanding emotion, but it seemed to her that the Psy wanted a physical fight. What could possibly inspire that kind of death wish? Even if Judd was an Arrow, Vaughn was a jaguar.
"Wait, I do have an idea. "
Everyone looked at her.
"Incapacitate him. " She stared at Judd. "Tie his mind up in mental ropes he'll never be able to break. "
"What makes you think I can do that?" Judd stared back, daring her.
"If Arrows exist, then you were an Arrow. " She heard Sascha gasp. "A telepathic Arrow is likely to be trained in all sorts of things. "
He didn't deny either her accusation or her guess about his Tp status. "It'll send him insane. Imagine never being able to act out any of your impulses - he'll function, but only on a very basic level. "
Faith felt fury arc through her. "Then that will be his life sentence. " At least he'd have a life to live, unlike Marine and the other women he'd killed. And there had definitely been others. His appetite was too certain, his tastes too set.
"Will you have to hack the PsyNet to do what Faith's suggesting?" Lucas asked. "Will they be able to track it back to you?"
"No, I can do it telepathically, but it's a specialized skill. They'll deduce that they have an unknown renegade, but they already know that. " He didn't explain why. "However, it'll involve getting through his protective walls. "
"How hard will that be?"
"He has to have considerable power given what Sascha's told me about his effect on Faith, but he's going to be in the grip of the killing instinct. Anyone affected by strong emotion becomes vulnerable. He's going to be no exception. " He looked at Faith, unblinking, eerily focused. "If you distract him at a critical moment, it'll ensure I get through. "
Vaughn's growl was almost too low for Psy hearing, but she felt it in her bones. "She's not going anywhere near the son of a bitch. "
"Vaughn, listen - "
"No way in hell, Red. Forget about it. "
"It needn't be physical," she said. "I could just brush up against him telepathically. He'd recognize my mental scent. "
"Because he's somehow able to connect to you through the visions?" Sascha clearly remembered their earlier conversation.
"Yes. I see the future, but I see it through the lens of his mind," she explained for the sake of the others. "It's as if we experience the visions together. . . . " Her mouth fell open. "An F-Psy. He must be one of my designation. " The implications were staggering.
"Maybe," Judd broke in. "But before we get into that, are you sure you can identify him?"
"Yes. Don't worry that you'll be incapacitating an innocent man. "
"I'm Psy. Worry is a changeling emotion. "
She wondered which one of them he was trying to convince, because the truth was, Judd was no longer Psy. He'd ceased to exist in the PsyNet, probably been written off as dead. And now he lived in a different world. "I'll know. I've seen his face. "
All sound ceased.
Chapter 23
Judd picked up the logical disconnect in milliseconds. "You just said the visions are from his point of view. "
"They are. "
"Then how, Red?" Though there was no anger in Vaughn's voice, she knew he had to be asking himself why she hadn't told him earlier.
"I didn't want to see," she whispered, so low it wasn't even sound.
One of his arms rose to wrap around her shoulders from the front and she knew he'd heard. "Never alone. "
It was a promise, one she armored herself in, but it still took every ounce of Psy skill she had to keep her voice from breaking as she relived the horror. "I saw his reflection. " A reflection cast in blood, a ruby-red mirror in the enamel house of that last vision.
"Then there's no question - Faith has to be present," Judd said.
"She might be present, but she's not going to stick out her neck and attract his attention. " Vaughn's arm was pure steel around her shoulders, not the least bit hurtful, but also not the least bit movable.
"Vaughn. " She kept her voice low, but guessed that Clay and Lucas could hear nonetheless. "I think we should go for a walk. "
He released her from his hold and took her hand. "This won't take long," he told the others, but didn't say anything else until he'd brought them to a stop several meters into the woods. "I'm not letting you put yourself in danger. "
"There's very little danger, almost none, in telepathy. "
"Yeah, well, maybe this guy falls into the 'almost. ' He's different - he was able to trap you into the visions. "
"Perhaps," she agreed. "But that doesn't change anything. "
He didn't reply, the jaguar very much apparent in his eyes.
So she spoke to the animal. "You once asked me about guilt. I said I didn't feel any. That was a lie. " She forced herself to break another wall of Silence - to do and feel was easy compared to putting those things in words. "The guilt walks beside me from morning till night, from instant to instant. I'm an F-Psy, but I couldn't save my own sister's life. That makes me a failure. "