“In other words, Griffin Chastain made certain that Crocker Rancourt and his descendants would never be able to use those weapons. Your grandfather may have saved a lot of lives. He may even have saved the country. The Rancourts were powerful but their history with the Foundation is nothing compared to what would have happened if they had been able to access true paranormal weapons.”
Sierra sat back in the seat and watched the city streets. It was late. There was very little traffic. Next stop was the airport, where the Foundation jet was waiting. In a few minutes she would be waving goodbye to North, maybe for good.
“Hard to believe it’s over,” she said. “It seems like we’ve been on the move ever since you landed in Seattle.”
Except for those few thrilling hours in the basement of the Fogg Lake library, she thought. She would treasure that time—that night—for the rest of her life.
“It’s not over until I find out if I can unfreeze the paralyzed bands of my father’s aura with that crystal gun,” North said.
“Of course. Promise me you’ll let me know as soon as you find out if the gun works on your dad.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be one of the first to know.”
“You have my phone number.”
“Yes, but I won’t be needing it. You’re going with me to Vegas.”
“I am?” She straightened in her seat. Then she caught sight of a familiar sign. “Wait, you missed the on-ramp.”
“We’ve got time to stop at your place first so that you can pack a bag. Don’t worry about bringing a lot of stuff. You can buy anything you need in Vegas.”
Sierra tried—and failed—to suppress a little thrill of delight. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m anxious to see if the gun works on your dad, so I’m okay with a side trip to Las Vegas. Besides, my parents are still there. But technically speaking, you don’t need me anymore.”
“I know,” North said. “But you need the protection of the Foundation a little while longer. Security will be easier to handle in Vegas than it is here.”
She winced. So much for hoping that he wasn’t ready to end their very short relationship. Then again, one night of hot sex in a library basement didn’t actually amount to a relationship. She forced herself to consider the logic of the situation.
“You think Loring might send his Puppets after me?” she asked. “But I’m just the go-between.” She groaned. “Not that it seems to matter to some people.”
“Sooner or later the Foundation cleaners will pick up Loring and the Puppets and recover the cache of weapons, but until they get this thing wrapped up, you’re vulnerable.”
“Because I know too much?”
“Yes. And because when Loring finds out he can’t use that tuning crystal to activate the rest of the weapons, he’s going to be pissed. Enraged. And probably a little crazy. He’ll be out for revenge. It will be hard to get to me, but you’re an easy target.”
“I can take care of myself,” she muttered.
“You’ll be outgunned and outnumbered.”
She folded her arms. “Okay.”
North glanced at her. “I was sort of hoping you would want to come with me to Las Vegas.”
“Oh,” Sierra said. “Yeah. Well, I do.”
“We’re a team, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“The lack of enthusiasm is hard on my ego.”
“You want enthusiasm?”
North flexed his hands on the steering wheel. “Well, shit, I thought we were at the start of an affair. Was I wrong? Was last night just adrenaline sex?”
She went very still in her seat. “No. No, last night was not just adrenaline sex. I never sleep with clients.”
“But you slept with me.”
“Yes.” She took a deep breath. “Yes, I did.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Nope. Not one bit. But I should warn you that I’ve never actually had a successful long-term affair. My relationships tend to end quickly and badly.”
“So do mine. But the way I look at it, there’s always a first time for everything, including a successful relationship.”
Her spirits skyrocketed. “You’re right. Always a first time.”
“Good,” he said. “That settles it, then.”
She looked at him. “It does?”
“For now.”
So much for an intimate conversation. Well, this was hardly the time for one of those anyway. They had other priorities.
North drove down the alley behind her apartment tower and stopped in front of the heavy garage gate.
“Damn.” Sierra unbuckled her seat belt. “I just remembered I lost the remote opener when those Puppets firebombed my SUV. There’s a security box beside that door over there to the right of the gate. I’ll use my fob to open the door. Once I’m inside I can open the garage gate.”
She got the SUV door open, jumped down to the pavement and hurried toward the door. A swipe of her fob and she was inside. She went to the security panel next to the gate and punched in the code.
The big steel gate rumbled as it rolled up into the ceiling. North drove into the garage and stopped. She opened the passenger-side door and used a handhold to hoist herself onto the seat.
“My parking spot is number one-oh-three,” she said. “Second level.”
North waited until the gate closed before driving up the ramp. He turned the corner and cruised down an aisle created by two rows of vehicles.
A screech of tires on cement shattered the gloom-filled silence of the garage. The vehicle appeared at the far end of the aisle. It stopped, blocking the exit.
“We have a problem,” North said.
He threw the SUV into reverse and started to retreat swiftly back toward the opposite end of the aisle. He slammed to a halt when another set of headlights appeared, blocking that route.
“Out,” he said.
He unclipped his seat belt and leaped from behind the wheel. Sierra scrambled out of the passenger’s side.
“The elevator lobby and the emergency stairs are that way,” she said, pointing toward the center of the garage. “The lobby is locked. If we get inside we’ll be safe.”
“We don’t have enough time,” North said.
The doors of the cars blocking them slammed open. Two of Loring’s men charged out of one of the vehicles. The other two emerged from the second car. They raced toward the Foundation SUV. Sierra saw that three of them were clutching conventional handguns, not paranormal weapons. The fourth, Ralph, had a glass globe in one hand.
“They’ll head for the elevators,” Ralph shouted.
“They’ll never make it inside,” Joe said. “I disabled the security panel.” He raised his voice. “Hear that, Chastain? You and the bitch are trapped.”
North pushed Sierra down behind the protection of a car and crouched beside her. He slipped his gun out from under his leather jacket. She sensed energy rise in the atmosphere. They were both running hot now.
“Loring got the damn crystal,” North said, raising his voice to be heard in the echoing garage. “What do you want from us?”
“The boss says he wants to talk to you,” Ralph said. “He wants to do a deal with the Foundation.”
“What kind of a deal?”
“He’ll turn over the entire cache of weapons if Arganbright agrees to let him and the four of us leave the country,” Ralph said.
“I’ll deliver the message to Victor Arganbright,” North said. “You can go now.”
“Not quite that simple,” Ralph said. “We need a little leverage to make sure Arganbright doesn’t send his cleaners after us.”
“You mean you want us for hostages.”
“Just until we’re in the clear,” Ralph said.
“You really expect me to believe that story?” North said. “Loring sent you h
ere to get rid of us. You might as well get on with the job.”
“Whatever,” Ralph said.
He lobbed the glass globe across a row of parked cars. The device shattered on the concrete floor.
In the next instant a dazzling light exploded. Currents of energy flooded the atmosphere. They struck Sierra like a giant ocean wave, making it impossible to breathe. A heavy weight settled on all of her senses, dragging her under.
She realized she was losing consciousness. Frantically she tried to fight her way back to the surface.
She felt North wrap one hand around her upper arm, pulling her into the protection of his aura. He hauled her upright and gripped her fingers.
“Whatever you do, don’t let go,” he said.
She felt his energy field flare, swallowing up all the light. The garage was plunged into an impossibly deep darkness. Bottom-of-the-ocean darkness. Monsters-under-the-bed darkness. Mind-shattering darkness.
And then she felt North’s energy resonating with her own aura. Suddenly she could see the night as she had never known it. Auroras shimmered and glowed. She realized that because of the physical contact, she was seeing the world as North saw it in that moment, his senses revved to the max.
That was when the screaming began.
“Welcome to the abyss,” North said.
CHAPTER 41
The problem with using the abyss trick was that while it was visually impressive, it did not effectively blind anyone beyond a radius of about twenty to thirty feet. Human-generated paranormal energy had its limits.
But at least two of the Puppets were close enough to be hit with the lightning shock produced by the paranormal forces involved. North studied the footsteps that seethed on the concrete floor of the garage. They glowed with a twisted energy that indicated a deeply disturbed aura. He followed them, careful to keep his grip on Sierra’s hand. He knew from the way she moved that she could see their surroundings almost as clearly as he did.
The footsteps led to the orderly who had confronted them with a gun the night they had taken the crystal tuner from the locked ward. He was cowering between two cars, sobbing in panic. When North touched him he flinched violently and screamed.
“I can take care of him,” Sierra said.
She palmed her locket. Energy sparked. The Puppet crumpled, unconscious, to the cold floor.
The next set of footsteps radiated equally erratic currents. They led to a second man, who was clearly in the grip of a panic attack. Sierra did her thing with the locket. He collapsed.
“Two down,” North said. “That leaves us with Ralph and Joe.”
He turned, searching for more footprints. A car engine roared. Tires screeched.
“They’re getting away,” Sierra said.
North lowered his senses. The abyss evaporated. The dazzling light of the glass bomb had dissipated. In its place was the cold, dull glow of the garage fixtures.
One of the two vehicles the Puppets had used was rapidly speeding down the ramp toward the exit.
“Gone,” Sierra said. “What do we do now?”
North took out his phone. “Now we call Olivia LeClair and ask her to arrange for a local Foundation team to pick up the two Puppets we took down. With luck they will be able to give the cleaners a lead on Loring and the others.”
“And we head for Vegas.”
“Right. Forget packing a bag. We can’t waste any more time. We’re going straight to the airport.”
CHAPTER 42
Are you sure you know what you’re doing, North?” Lucas Pine asked.
North got another cold chill of near-panic. If he screwed up he was probably going to kill his father. But his intuition was riding high. The tuning crystal on the mantel at Griffin Chastain’s big house had come to life when he poured energy through it. He had used it to reignite and retune the currents of power that had devolved into chaos in the night gun. The device would function as it had been designed to do, he was certain of it. He was also sure he could control it. The real question was whether it could actually reverse the damage it had done when it had been used on Chandler.
North looked at Lucas, who was standing on the opposite side of Chandler’s hospital bed.
“No,” he said. “What I’m sure of is that this is the only chance we’ve got to reverse what’s happening to Dad’s aura.”
The hospital room was crowded. Victor and Lucas were present. Lily gripped Chandler’s hand. Sierra and her parents were watching from a few steps away.
The medical team had been ordered out of the room. If the project went bad, North did not want to be responsible for any more collateral damage than was necessary. Half of the staff of Halcyon Manor appeared to be gathered at the observation window. Someone had asked him how he could operate the light gun now that he was psi-blind. He had explained that he still had the Chastain psychic signature, and that was all that was required to activate the device.
Sierra flashed him a reassuring smile. “Hey, no pressure. You’ve got this.”
“Right,” he said.
For some reason the exchange broke some of the tension. North took a firm grip on the crystal gun.
Lily looked at him. “Go ahead, North. We know it’s a risk, but I promise you your father wants you to try.”
“Of course he does,” Victor said. “The bottom line here is we don’t have any other options.” He glanced at Sierra’s mother. “Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Allegra said. “I might be able to keep him stable for a while longer, but that’s not a cure. I know he doesn’t want to be trapped in that dream state for the rest of his life.”
There was no point dragging it out, North thought. His father had suffered enough. Either the gun would work or it wouldn’t. The waiting wasn’t helping anyone.
He eased energy into the crystal weapon. It responded just as it had when he had retuned it an hour ago, as if it had been made for him. He could control it the same way he did the crystal tech gadgets in his grandfather’s mansion—intuitively.
The colors of midnight began to glow, illuminating the hospital room in the strange light of dreams. The auras of everyone gathered around the bed flared, bright and strong, a distraction he did not want.
“Step back,” he ordered quietly. “I need to focus on Dad’s energy field.”
Sierra and her parents retreated a few more steps. Victor and Lucas also moved away. Lily hesitated.
“Please, Mom,” North said. “I have to isolate Dad’s aura.”
Lily squeezed Chandler’s hand one last time and stepped back.
In the light of the night gun, Chandler’s aura was revealed in brilliant detail. North wielded the gun gently, raising the energy level bit by bit.
And suddenly he could see the power lines that affected every part of Chandler’s body. It was like looking at a human version of the grid of the legendary ley lines said to connect the sacred places on Earth; like viewing a chart of the meridians and qi in the human body described in ancient medical treatises; like a detailed illustration of the delicately balanced humors medieval doctors had used to diagnose their patients.
In the light of the night gun it was clear which wavelengths in Chandler’s aura had been disrupted.
Relying on his intuition, North concentrated on resetting the distortions in his father’s energy grid. He worked carefully, delicately, aware that if he made a mistake he could easily stop Chandler’s heart.
Gradually the disrupted currents began to oscillate in a regular, healthy pattern.
Chandler blinked a couple of times, sucked in a deep breath and lurched upright to a sitting position. For a moment he just stared at the room, as if he had found himself in another dimension.
Then he looked at North.
“Thanks, son,” he said. He managed a shaky grin. “I needed that.”
North shut dow
n the artifact. He realized he was shivering a little—adrenaline and relief.
Lily flew into Chandler’s arms. “I’ve been so scared.”
Chandler hugged her close. “You and me both.” He looked at North. “I take it you found the dowsing rod?”
“Gwendolyn Swan gave it to me when Sierra and I interviewed her,” North said. “Took me a while to figure out what it was good for, though.”
Chandler nodded. “I got a message from someone claiming to be a go-between informing me a crate of artifacts that had been picked up at auction by Swan contained some items that might be of interest to me. At first I figured it was just one of the freelancers trying to put together a deal. But I suspected I was being followed. When Swan showed me the items in the crate I recognized the vibe in the dowsing rod immediately.”
“That’s when you got suspicious?” North said.
“I knew a find like that wasn’t a matter of luck. I realized I was probably being watched. I bought the rod and another artifact.”
“The old radio,” North said. “We found it in Loring’s lab. He had smashed it. Guess he was pissed.”
“It was definitely vintage and definitely had some heat, but it was nothing special. I told Swan I would be back for the rod but that if you showed up instead she was to give it to you.”
“Do you remember anything about the person or persons who attacked you?” Sierra asked.
Chandler rubbed his temples. “Not much. A couple of men dressed as hotel maintenance staff were waiting for me in the hallway outside my room. One of them had that crystal gun you’re holding.”
“Not a gun,” North said. He hefted the crystal artifact, aware of the energy locked inside. And suddenly he understood. He smiled. “An aura-balancing device.”
Chandler winced. “Call it what you want. One of the men pointed it at me and that’s the last I remember.”
Victor and Lucas looked at North.
“Nice work,” Lucas said.
Victor regarded the artifact with a thoughtful expression. “Interesting. You’re sure it’s not a weapon of some kind?”
“Positive,” North said. “Although it can kill.”