It wasn’t the threat that made Davis pause; it was the slashing wave of psychic energy that slammed across his senses, deadening them.
“You fool,” Hollings shouted. “You have no conception of the kind of power I can wield down here.”
Another tsunami of psi crashed across his numbed senses. Everything started to darken around him.
Try concentrating all of your psi power on something linked to your survival instinct.
Celinda. He seized on the name like a talisman. It glowed like a jewel in the gathering night.
Another ferocious wave of energy slammed through him. This time everything went black except for Celinda’s name.
Names have psychic power. He did not know how he knew that, but he was absolutely certain of the knowledge. Celinda’s name had the power he needed to fight the onrushing tide. He concentrated on it.
At first it was only a name, but after a couple of pounding heartbeats there was more. Emotions became attached to the name, faint at first and then gradually strengthening. Hunger, longing, a desire to keep her safe.
Safe. He had to fight back. If Hollings won this battle, Celinda would be in mortal danger.
The silent, screaming waves of energy continued to cascade against his senses, but they began to splinter and fall apart when they crashed against the name Celinda. Keeping her safe was more important than his own life.
The tide of energy ceased as abruptly as it had begun.
“No,” Hollings screamed. “It’s impossible.”
Davis could breathe once more. His psi senses rebounded.
He saw that Hollings was moving again, leaning down to reach into a small cave. When he straightened, Davis saw a mag-rez gun in his hand.
“You’re crazy,” Davis said. “You can’t use that thing down here.”
Hollings was beyond reason. He aimed the mag-rez at Davis.
Davis reacted instinctively. He pulled silver, went invisible, and dove for the ground.
Hollings’s eyes widened in horror. “Where are you? Where did you go? You can’t hide from me.”
He started firing. The first two shots went wild. The third time he rezzed the trigger, the mag-rez exploded in his hand.
By the time Davis reached him, he was dead.
Chapter 39
“I SHOULD THANK YOU, CELINDA,” LANDRY SAID. HIS smile was hellish. “If it hadn’t been for you, Hollings would never have contacted me for help in retrieving the second relic. I wouldn’t even know the damn things existed.”
“He told you his real name?”
“Sure. Hollings and I are partners.” Landry smirked. “Temporarily, that is.”
Erratic, flaring psi pulsed and surged. What little control Landry still wielded over his insanity was slipping badly.
There was no sound from the inner office. Celinda prayed that meant that Miss Allonby had gone into her own office to call for help.
“You’re a hunter,” Celinda said. She was shivering, but she managed to keep her tone calm and steady. She had to give Miss Allonby time. “A very powerful hunter, it’s true, but you don’t have the kind of psychic talent it takes to manipulate the relic.”
“Not a problem. Hollings will work it for me until I locate others who can do what he can. That shouldn’t be hard. I’ve got the resources of the Guild behind me. Once I’ve replaced Hollings, I’ll get rid of him. Don’t trust the slippery bastard.”
“That plan sounds a little shaky, if you ask me.”
“I don’t want your opinion.” His eyes sparked with rage. “All I want from you is the other relic.”
“Why would I give it to you?”
“Because if you don’t, I’m going to kill you.”
“You’ll kill me anyway once you have the relic.”
“True.” He smiled slowly. “But there are different ways to die. Fast and slow. You’re lucky. You’ve got a choice.”
“You think the local Guild won’t notice that something happened to me?”
“There won’t be any evidence. You’ll commit suicide by walking off into the rain forest without tuned amber. If anyone does eventually find your body, there won’t be anything left of it except bare bones. The jungle is like the Guild, you see. It takes care of its own problems.”
“You’re forgetting one very important factor. Davis Oakes.”
“Oakes is a dead man. Hollings will take care of him with the relic.”
“Don’t count on it,” she said tightly.
“The relic is very powerful when it’s used belowground. Hollings won’t have any trouble dealing with Oakes.”
A figure moved in the doorway. Celinda saw Miss Allonby standing there, a trancelike expression on her face. She did not appear to notice the gun in Landry’s hand.
“I’m afraid both of you will have to come back some other time,” she said, severely polite. “I have to burn Dr. Kennington’s papers now. He left strict instructions.”
Landry scowled. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Dr. Kennington was very clear,” she said primly. “He told me that if anyone tried to harm him or take him away, I was to burn his papers immediately.”
“Ghost-shit,” Landry said, suddenly comprehending. “His research. You can’t destroy those papers, you stupid woman. I’m going to need them after I get rid of him.”
Miss Allonby stopped long enough to give him a stern look. “I’m just doing my job.”
“Take one more step, and I’ll kill you.”
Miss Allonby drew herself up proudly. “I’ll have you know I am a professional. I would not dream of failing to execute my responsibilities.”
“Stop, you stupid bitch,” Landry bellowed.
Miss Allonby tut-tutted. “Language, sir. Language.”
Landry started to aim the mag-rez gun at her. Celinda readied herself to spring at him. She would go for his gun arm, she thought. It wasn’t much of a chance, but it looked like the only one she was going to get.
As if he had read her mind, Landry hesitated. Then he took two steps forward, hooked an arm around her throat, and dragged her hard against his body.
She gasped for air. He was half-strangling her, but she did have physical contact. Struggling to breathe, she opened her senses to the sick tide of psi energy that pounded at her and began to probe delicately.
Certain that he had her under control, Landry concentrated on Miss Allonby.
“Don’t move,” he ordered.
“You are not my employer, sir,” Miss Allonby informed him. She turned her back to him and started to walk into the office.
Crushed against him, wide open to his psi patterns, Celinda was intensely aware of the slight jump in tension as Landry prepared to pull the trigger. He was taking his time, hesitating just a bit. Probably worried that someone outside in the street would hear the shot, she thought. Whatever the case, it gave her a precious few instants of time. She had one advantage. She knew Landry’s energy patterns all too well. She still encountered them in her nightmares.
The roaring pulses of cold, crazy rage were shatteringly clear on the paranormal plane. The problem was that the pattern was so frighteningly abnormal. Desperately she tried to establish a counterpoint rhythm capable of dampening the most violent psi waves.
She knew she was having a measure of success when she opened her eyes and saw that Miss Allonby had disappeared into the office. Landry had not pulled the trigger.
“What’s happening?” His hand tightened around her throat. “What are you doing to me? I can’t rez the trigger.”
She did not even try to answer. All her concentration was on disrupting his energy rhythms.
He started to shake. Still pinned against him, she could feel the tremors going through his body, just like that night when he had tried to rape her. On the psychic plane, all was chaos. She heard the gun clatter on the floor.
Landry shouted something. He sounded terrified. Abruptly he released her, spinning away from her. His breath came in great, gulping gasps.