Penumbra (Spook Squad 3)

Though if she knew the future, then maybe she could change it. Surely such things weren’t set in concrete but fluid, shifting according to the decisions she made?

She gulped down more coffee, then, after a slight hesitation, held out her hand. Jessie’s fingers wrapped around hers, her touch warm.

Almost too warm.

Sam resisted the temptation to pull away and watched the other woman carefully. Though she’d often seen clairvoyants work the Brighton market near her old apartment, she’d never been tempted to get a reading done herself.

Jessie’s face lost its animation, and her eyes were suddenly distant. “Do not trust the dream man. He tells no lies and yet speaks no truths.”

Dream man? Did she mean Joshua, or Joe? Both haunted her nights and her thoughts. But Sam held the question back, knowing that if she spoke, she might break Jessie’s concentration.

“Do not fight the storm bond. It will save you when nothing else can.”

Again, a statement that only raised more questions. Jessie knew about her ability to siphon the power of the storms; she’d been at the warehouse when the storm’s energy had helped her defeat Orrin and Rose, and save Gabriel’s life. And yet, she had an odd feeling it was not that storm bond that Jessie was referring to.

“When Hopeworth tests, remember the dreams. Channel, as you did back then.”

Not if, but when. Gabriel’s feeling about Hopeworth would obviously reach fruition, and trepidation danced a chill across her skin.

“Watch the man with the dead gray eyes. He is more than his makers believe. He beds the devil and walks the path of treason. He is our enemy, but not yours.”

And yet he’d seemed very much her enemy in all of her dreams. So who was right? The dreams, or Jessie’s sight?

Jessie suddenly shuddered, and she squeezed Sam’s fingers lightly before releasing them.

“Not what I’d expected, to say the least,” Jessie said, wiping a hand across her brow.

Sam smiled at the wry edge in her voice. “You were trying to get a reading on me and Gabriel, weren’t you?”

“Yes.” Worry clouded the amusement in her eyes. “My visions merely show a possible outcome. They don’t always come true, you know. Life has a way of taking its own path.”

But Sam had a bad feeling that this was one set of visions that would come true.

“Then I’ll try not to panic just yet.” Sam glanced at her watch again. “Look, I really have to go, or I’ll be late for my appointment with O’Hearn.”

Jessie smiled again. “At least if I lose you on the way back, I’ll know where you’re going.”

Sam grabbed the bill and stood up. “You won’t tell Gabriel about the house, will you?”

Jessie raised her eyebrows. “Did you buy it?”

“Yes.” And no doubt he’d tell her she was a fool to spend so much money on a run-down pile on the edge of nowhere.

“I won’t if you don’t want me to. But be warned: Gabriel’s almost as adept as Stephan when it comes to sniffing out secrets.”

“He doesn’t see me enough to know whether or not I’m keeping secrets.” He barely saw her enough to say hello.

“That will change, believe me.”

“Oh yeah? Saw that in your visions, did you?”

Jessie’s sudden smile was almost blinding. “No, just a sister’s instinct. You’d better get moving. My next shift to watch you is Monday. I’ll give you a call then, okay?”

Sam nodded. As she paid the bill and headed for her car, she couldn’t help feeling oddly buoyed. Maybe she’d not only gained a house today, but the beginnings of a lasting friendship.

—

Gabriel drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. If the traffic didn’t start moving soon, he was going to abandon the car right here and take to the sky. It was four forty already. Twenty minu