Chasing the Shadows (Nikki & Michael 3)

What actions? And who was this ‘he’ Seline was talking about? It could have been any one of hundreds—between the two of them and the Circle itself, they'd been responsible for a fair number of dispatches back to hell.

And if what Seline was seeing was indeed the future he faced, then in many ways, it only ratified his determination to keep his life with Nikki truly separate from his work. He is a brother who has kissed the night good-bye, she continued absently. If he cannot steal your heart, he will steal you then destroy you. But only after he has destroyed all you care for. A cold sensation crawled through his gut. Seline's visions were vary rarely wrong. The ending often varied, but never the initial facts. If she saw this madman taking vengeance on them both, then it would happen. Lord, he had to walk away from Nikki. He couldn't risk dragging her into something like this.... No. Michael, no. Seline's mind voice was suddenly clear again, but filled with fear. I sense it is already too late for that.

I won't have her involved—

She's already involved. This man has been planning his revenge for a very long time. And there's nothing either of us can do to stop him until he comes out of the shadows and actually attacks. He took a deep breath and released it slowly . Did you have any sense of time?

No. It could be next week, next year, or ten years from now.

Do a search, he said. Backtrack over every case you and I have handled. See which of them had brothers who turned. I want this madman found before he finds us. Will do. In the meantime, be wary of Farmer. If he has stolen the knowledge of the master who turned him, then he may prove very dangerous indeed.

I'll be careful. Just make sure you are from now on, too.

I rarely leave headquarters nowadays. I am as safe here as I would be anywhere. Then make sure you don't leave at all. Not for anybody.

I won't. By the way, I've couriered that charm you wanted. You should be getting it late tonight or early in the morning.

Thanks, Seline.

He cut the link and pushed away from the wall. Farmer obviously wasn't that attached to his fledglings, because it certainly didn't look as if he was coming down to check what had happened to them. Time to get back to Nikki. Before she did something stupid—like try to track Farmer's whereabouts. He stopped suddenly, a cold sensation running down his spine.

Or try to enter a dying woman's mind to search for clues.

He swore softly and blurred his form, running for the hospital.

* * * *

Nikki took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies battering the walls of her stomach. Though they felt more like condors than butterflies.

A steady bleeping filled the silence. Dale's heartbeat, stable for the moment. Dale herself lay on the bed, her face as white as her sterile surroundings. She hadn't yet woken. Nikki suspected she never would.

"Five minutes is all you have,” Jake prompted softly.

She took another deep breath and released it slowly, gathering her courage. Then she glanced past Jake and met Mark's red-rimmed gaze. In his brown eyes she saw a mix of emptiness, despair and deep, dark fury. The sort of fury that fired the bitter quest for revenge.

"I can't promise this won't hurt her,” she said. “I've never tried anything like this before." His nod was tight. Angry. “The doctors said she might never...” he hesitated, his gaze moving back to his wife as he took a deep, shuddering breath. “If she doesn't, I want the bastard that did this to her. I want him dead. You understand me? Dead ."

Jake placed a comforting hand on his friend's arm. Mark shook it off. “Just tell me you'll try. Tell me you won't hand this bastard over to the cops. He doesn't deserve justice. All he deserves is death. A long and lingering death."

"We'll do all we can.” Jake glanced at her. “You sure you want to do this?" She nodded. “It's our only chance of finding out where Farmer might be hiding."

"Then do it now, because we're running out of time." She walked over to the bed and stared down at Dale's still features. Goose bumps chased their way across her skin, and the sensation of evil stirred through her mind. Imagination, she thought. She flexed her fingers then raised her hands, lightly touching Dale's temples. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the condors making such a mess of her stomach, and gingerly reached with her mind.

And met not the thoughts of a sick woman, but the trap of a vampire.

Chapter Twelve

For a second, Nikki froze, like a deer caught in the glare of headlights. Farmer's laughter spun around her, cold and victorious. Her first instinct was to pull away and break the connection between them, but she resisted the urge. If they were going to stop this man, they needed to know more about him, and that might only be achieved by actually talking to him.

I know how your mind works, remember, he said, his mind voice devoid of any emotion, yet somehow chilling. It was not hard to guess you'd try something like this. Haven't you done enough to her? she spat back . Leave her some dignity in death, at least. Why should I? They gave me no dignity in life.

School children are notoriously cruel. That's a fact of life. Something we all had to live with at one time or another.

But these twelve were not children. They were adults. There were no excuses for what they did. Just as there was no excuse for taking over the minds of those two young women, forcing them to get drunk then jump off the roof. Though it was a guess, she knew it was a fairly safe one. There was really no other sensible explanation for what had happened—not that the authorities would ever consider that a sensible explanation.

An easy death, compared to the hell they gave me.

Or the death you're now giving the remaining ten.