Chasing the Shadows (Nikki & Michael 3)

Her smile became warmer, but no less strained. “You're probably right."

"There's no probably about it. I was with the man. Believe me, annoyed doesn't begin to cover it.” He hit the elevator button again and the door slid open. “You going up to your room?" She shook her head and followed him in. “Neither of us is going anywhere alone from now on. If you want something to eat, I'll follow you into the dining room. I can grab a coffee, if nothing else."

"Nik, you can't fuel you talents on nothing but coffee, you know."

"You've been hanging around Michael far too much." He smiled. “He's only echoing what I've been saying for years." She snorted softly. “This from the man who didn't believe in my talents for how many years?" "I didn't dis believe, you know."

The doors slid open again, and Jake led the way into the dining room. She waited until the waiter had taken Jake's order then placed the box on the table and began unwrapping it. Inside was a single braided rope bracelet, similar to the one she'd worn to stop Cordell's magic from touching her. Only this one had several tarnished charms woven through the thick red, yellow and blue cords.

"What is it?” Jake said, when she held it up.

"From what Michael said, it's supposed to break the link Farmer has with me.” She slipped it over her wrist and up under her sweater. The rope was slightly scratchy against her skin and oddly warm.

"A piece of rope and a couple of old coins are supposed to do that?” Disbelief edged his voice. She grinned. “Yeah, I know. But her charm worked the last time I tried one, and I'm not about to discount this one. We need all the breaks we can get."

"Amen to that."

Her coffee was brought to the table, then his meal. Jake thanked the waiter then attacked his steak with a gusto that made her look away. She might have to eat to fuel her talents, but right now just watching him was almost more than she could bear.

"So is it?” he asked, waving his knife at the charm hidden under her sweater.

"I don't know.” She leaned back in the chair, frowning as she searched for internal changes. The bracelet's pleasant warmth was beginning to flush through her, and for the first time since she'd arrived in San Francisco, she felt an odd sort of peace. It was as if she'd stepped into a cone of silence, without having realized before then just how much noise there was around her. “Maybe."

"Will that thing affect your ability to find Michael?" She wrapped her fingers around the cross in her pocket. Warmth pulsed through her fingers and shadows crowded her mind. He was regaining consciousness—but if those ghostly, distant images were anything to go by, he was still heavily drugged.

"No, it won't.” If only because their connection went far deeper—and was far stronger—than any of her talents. She would have been able to find him even without the aid of the cross and her psychometry skills.

"So what's the game plan?"

She sighed and rubbed a hand across her eyes. “I don't know. I just know we can't rush in and try to rescue him because that's what Farmer wants."

"And if he doesn't get what he wants, he'll try something else."

"I know."

Jake finished his steak then pushed the remaining vegetables away and leaned back in his chair. “First things first. Weapons?"

"You've got your gun, and we've got that rifle we confiscated." He nodded. “I also took several knives from the kitchen, but I won't guarantee how much silver there is in them."

"Probably not a lot, but Farmer's younger in vampire years than Jasper, and a silver kitchen knife certainly helped do him in.” She frowned, trying to remember everything Michael had said about vampires over the past few months—which was not a lot, in reality. “What about wood?"

"As in stakes?"

She nodded. Wood in any form was supposedly deadly to vampires—not that she really wanted to confront Farmer armed only with a sharpened piece of wood. That would be nothing short of foolishness.

"I can get some."

"Good."

A waiter approached and refilled their coffee cups. Jake waited until he'd left then said, “You know he's not going to be alone."

"I know.” And she didn't know how they were going to handle a harem of fledglings plus Farmer. “I wish we were back in Lyndhurst. At least we could call in MacEwan." Jake's smile was wry. “Bet you never thought there'd come a day when you'd be saying that."

"No.” MacEwan had been the bane of her existence as a teenager, and one of the biggest decriers of her talents on the police force. Yet, oddly enough, he was one of the few cops they could go to for help, no matter what the situation, simply because he'd known them long enough to trust them. Up to a point, anyway.

"We could call him,” Jake said. “Ask if he's got free time. At the very least, he might get us some credibility with the cops here in San Francisco."

"I've got a feeling we haven't that sort of time.” Which was not exactly the truth. What she was really feeling was that, as of five minutes ago, they'd totally run out of time. Her gaze drifted to the maître d', and a chill ran down her spine. Something had happened. Something more than Michael. The phone rang shrilly, and her heart lodged somewhere in her throat. The maître d’