“It was the truth,” she continued. “He didn’t assault me, not in that way. But he fully intended to. The reason he didn’t was because the drug only suppressed my ability to move. My psi senses were unaffected. Sexual arousal is heavily influenced by psi patterns. When he put his hands on me, I was able to dampen his arousal enough to make him lose interest. It had the same effect as a cold shower.”
He searched her face. “Are you telling me that Landry didn’t rape you because he couldn’t get it up?”
“Yes. He didn’t realize what I was doing, of course. As far as he was concerned, he just couldn’t get aroused. He said something about not wanting to waste time on an ugly bitch like me, slapped me a couple of times, and then he called room service.”
“Son of a bitch,” he said softly.
Her jaw tightened, and her chin came up in a way that he was coming to recognize.
“You now know why I’ve never found a good match for myself,” she said. “There aren’t many men who would want to risk falling in love with a woman if they knew she had the ability to shut them down in bed.”
He smiled slowly. “Got news for you, sweetheart. Nothing you could do to my psi waves could make me lose interest in you.”
She blinked. Her eyes widened. “I realize you’re very strong. That’s one of the reasons why I knew right from the start that we—” She broke off abruptly, frowning a little. “Doesn’t it make you a little uneasy to know what I can do to a man?”
“You manipulated my psi waves once before, remember? After the fight with Landry’s men.”
“Yes, but I used the red gadget on you that time and for a different purpose. I’m trying to tell you that I can influence your psychic waves even without the artifact.”
“I’m not worried.” He gave her a quick, wicked grin, showing a lot of teeth. “But I’m warning you, if you try your little cold shower trick on me, I’ll get even by going invisible in places that will make you think twice about doing it again.”
She blushed and rushed on. “The thing is, if Hollings tries to control you with his own innate talent, I’m sure you’re strong enough to block him if you realize what he’s doing and act quickly enough. But if he uses the relic on you, it will be a different story.”
“Think so?”
He didn’t sound at all concerned. She wanted to shake him.
“I know so,” she said evenly. “Listen to me, Davis, if he uses the relic, you will have only a two-or three-second window to protect yourself. That’s the length of time it will take him to identify your psi waves and figure out which ones to manipulate. You’ll have to act immediately, or you’ll be overwhelmed.”
“Got any suggestions?”
“I’ve had years to learn how to tune out other people’s psi. But you’ve never had to do it. Throwing up a mental barricade won’t be instinctive for you. I’m not sure how to prepare you.”
“Describe this mental barricade thing.”
Finally, she thought. He was starting to take this seriously.
“The mind can only produce so much energy, and that energy can only be focused in a limited number of ways at one time,” she said. “We can all multitask to some extent, but there are limits. If you think Hollings is using the relic on you, you’ll need to focus as you’ve never had to focus before in your life. Try concentrating all of your psi power on something linked to your survival instinct. It’s the most primitive and most powerful instinct any human possesses.”
“Think that strategy will work?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’ve only used the relic on one occasion, and you were in no condition to resist. I have no idea what will happen if a powerful talent like you actively tries to fight it. I’m winging it here.”
He gave that a few seconds’ thought and then resumed walking toward Hollings’s office. “All right, now I’m going to give you some advice. Don’t get between me and Hollings, no matter what happens. If anything occurs inside that office that makes you think we’re in trouble, you run, you do not walk, to the nearest exit and yell for Trig. He’ll be close by on the street.”
She looked around. “I don’t see him.”
“The panhandler in the doorway over there.” He did not look toward Trig. “He uses more traditional methods, but in his own way, Trig’s almost as good at going invisible as I am.”
Some major cash had been dropped into the renovation of the two-hundred-year-old building that housed Hollings’s office. A small sign declared that visitors were expected to announce themselves by picking up the phone beside the locked front door.
Davis stopped a few feet away from the door and examined the area surrounding the phone. There was a camera mounted above the device. He was careful to keep out of range.
“You make the call,” he instructed Celinda. “Tell whoever answers that you were referred by a friend and that you want to make an appointment. Use the senator’s wife’s name, if necessary.”
“If Hollings is watching the monitor, he’ll recognize me.”
“Odds are a guy running an upscale operation will have a receptionist working for him. Even if he does see you, he’s going to be damn curious to know why you’re here.”
“What about you?”
Davis shrugged. “Now you see me…”
“Now you don’t?” She didn’t look reassured. She looked worried.
“It will only take a few seconds to get through the door. I told you, I don’t get into trouble unless I go invisible for several minutes.”
She wasn’t entirely satisfied, but she picked up the phone. She listened for a moment and then responded, smooth and glib.
“I’d like to make an appointment for a consultation…How did I hear about Dr. Kennington? A close friend told me about him. She said he had done wonders for her. Her name? Jennifer. Jennifer Padbury. Yes, the senator’s wife.” There was another pause. “Thank you.”
There was a sharp snick. The door was unlocked. Celinda pushed it open and moved into a dimly lit lobby. Davis pulsed his own psi power through the amber in his watch, resonating with the dissonance-energy waves at the silver end of the spectrum.
Celinda had been right, he wasn’t fully recovered from the long period of invisibility in the old ruins, but he had sufficient juice to manipulate silver ghost light long enough to slip past the camera and through the door into the lobby.
He went invisible and followed her.
Chapter 35
DAVIS DISAPPEARED. SHE COULD FEEL HIS STRONGLY pulsing psi energy and knew that he was right beside her, but all she could see was a faint shimmer in the air. It was disconcerting, but it wasn’t terrifying. As long as her other senses assured her that he was nearby, she could handle the invisibility thing. If I were blind, I wouldn’t even know that he had vanished.
She closed the lobby door. Davis materialized beside her. She could see signs of strain at the corners of his eyes.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked in a low voice.
“I’m fine. Stop worrying.” The hungry anticipation of the hunter laced the words.
She surveyed the small lobby. It was richly paneled and thickly carpeted. A long, low wooden table that looked like a genuine Colonial antique stood against one wall. On top of the table was an alien antiquity, a green quartz vase that contained a bouquet of elegant emerald roses.
There were two doors; one was unmarked. The other bore a small sign inviting clients to enter.
“That will be the receptionist’s office,” Davis said very quietly. “Go on inside and keep her busy for a few minutes.”
“What are you going to do?”
He looked at the second door. “That’s probably the private door to Hollings’s office.” He took the highly illegal lockpick out of his pocket. “I’m going to have a look around.”
“What if he’s in there?”
“So much the better.”
She wanted to tell him to be careful, but she was pretty sure he wasn’t listening. Davis was on the prowl.