Generation 18 (Spook Squad 2)

Jessie walked in and dropped several sheets of paper on the table. “We traced the birth certificates for every one of the Greenwood adoptees. Emma Pierce is listed as birth mother for nine of them.” She hesitated, tears suddenly welling in her green eyes. “The killer is working straight down the list. Miranda…”

She broke off. Stephan stood, gathering her in his arms and holding tight. Gabriel reached for the papers. Emma Pierce’s children were highlighted. Miranda was number five of nine. He looked up.

“Then we know the next victim. Jeanette Harris is number six on the list.”

Charles smiled grimly. “Get protection on her right away.”

“Already done,” Stephan said. He handed Jessie a handkerchief, then met Gabriel’s gaze. “If our killer is a cop, she’ll know about the safety measures we’ve taken.”

“It won’t stop her. She’s a hybrid. If she’s in animal form, more than likely our people won’t even see her.” He hesitated. “But Sam might be able to.”

Charles studied him through narrowed eyes. “Why do you say that? I thought she didn’t have any talents.”

No talent or too much talent? He was beginning to think it was the latter. “Test results to date indicate no psychic inclination, but I’ve seen her in action. In certain situations, she can sense the presence of other nonhumans. She sensed the shifter who’d attacked Finley in the labs, for instance, even though no alarm had been given.”

“And didn’t she sense the fact that Mary was a vampire long before either of us were aware of it?” Stephan said.

Gabriel nodded. “And yet she didn’t know you were a shifter and that Martyn was also a vampire.”

“As if she could sense the evil in people more than what they were,” Charles murmured. “How very interesting.”

“And useful, if that is the case,” Stephan said. He glanced at Gabriel, his gaze hardening. “Assign her to Jeanette Harris immediately.”

Gabriel stared at his brother for several seconds, then reached for his wristcom. In that instant, pain hit—a sledgehammer that belted him sideways. He hit the floor hard, clutching his head, desperate to break the connection running fire up the left side of his body and into his brain.

“Gabriel!” Fear and confusion ran through his brother’s voice.

Hands grabbed him, touching his neck, feeling for a pulse. Darkness welled, a tide that threatened to overwhelm him. “I’m okay. It’s not me,” he managed to gasp out.

“Sam?” Stephan’s voice, close by his side.

He somehow managed to nod. In that instant, as fast as it had come, the pain eased, becoming a muted throb in the back of his mind. He took a deep

breath, shook off his brother’s grip and struggled to his feet.

“What the hell was that all about?” Charles demanded, his lean face pale.

“It appears Gabriel and Sam have formed a telepathic bond of some kind,” Stephan said. “What you just saw is him experiencing what has happened to her.”

Though Stephan’s voice was tightly controlled, Gabriel nevertheless felt his twin’s anger. It was as if the link being forced with Sam had somehow unfettered the link with his brother. Neither of which he wanted.

He tapped his wristcom again and quickly dialed her home number. No answer. He tried her wristcom, and got the same result. “She’s not answering.”

“I’ll arrange for a team to go and check her apartment.” Stephan’s phone beeped. He moved away slightly and answered it.

Jessie touched Gabriel’s arm, catching his attention. “You can use the link to find her, you know.”

He met his sister’s compassionate gaze and knew she could taste the worry in his mind. Jess had taken after their mother, and was both an empath and a clairvoyant. “What do you mean?”

Her quick smile was sad and, in some ways, an echo of the almost bitter smile Stephan had given him last night. “Your connection with this woman must be strong if a link has been forged despite your determination to avoid all such bonds.” She hesitated and tucked a wayward brown curl behind her ear. “If you open fully to the bond, you can use it to track her down.”

Once opened, never closed. He didn’t want that sort of closeness with anyone ever again. Coping with the death of a loved one was bad enough in itself, but when you could feel it within every pore and fiber of your being…

“Andrea was a long time ago,” she said softly.

A long time, yes, but still not forgotten. In the worst of his dreams he could still feel the bullet that had torn through her heart and shattered his world. Could still feel the hand of death as it reached for her soul.

Jessie touched his face gently, like a mother calming a frightened child. “Such fear was perhaps understandable when you were younger, Gabriel, but it is way past time you accept what has happened and move on with your life. Blocking the world out is never the answer—and you have hurt Stephan more than you can ever imagine.”