Chasing the Shadows (Nikki & Michael 3)

Yes. Nose deep in trouble, as usual.

Seline's smile shimmered through his mind. I'm liking this girl more and more. You're really going to have to introduce us.

That would probably create more havoc than I can handle. The last thing Nikki needs is you telling her all the ins and outs of getting around my moods. She has enough tricks of her own. Seline laughed, a warm, throaty sound. Sounds like you're starting to hit trouble. That he was—though he still didn't entirely understand why Nikki refused to listen to common sense. But he had no intention of admitting that to Seline. All he'd get was an I-told-you-so. We've rescued the third victim. She's been sexually assaulted and looks to have suffered a heart attack, but the doctors seem reasonably confident of a recovery.

At least she's alive. I gather you found nothing on the fiend behind all this?

No, but Nikki seems to think it centers around revenge. If that's true, then it means the three women are all connected somehow.

They are. Apparently all three went to the same high school in Boston. Did they know each other?

From all reports, they were classmates rather than friends. There had to be some deeper connection than that. The man behind these kidnappings didn't just want revenge, he wanted to destroy them—emotionally as much as physically. Can you get a list of everyone who was in their classes and do a crosscheck? I've got a feeling we'll come up with a lot more missing women.

Doing it as we speak. She hesitated. Why does Nikki think it's revenge behind all this?

She's sensing him. He sipped his wine, watching the lights of an approaching car flare against the wall of white fog. Have you found anything else about thralls yet?

We found an old journal from one of the ancients that looks promising. It's just taking a little time to translate it. Worry whisked down the line between them. How is Nikki sensing him? I thought her only gifts were telekinesis and psychometry?

They were. And yet she has been able to sense my thoughts from the beginning, which suggests a latent ability in telepathy.

Telepathy is not clairvoyance. She shouldn't be able to sense this fiend with telepathy. Nikki was starting to do a lot of things she shouldn't be able to do, and it was worrying the hell out of him. Her gifts are mutating faster, Seline. And that's not all—remember the flame imps?

Remember them? Had a chat with them a month ago. Wonderful creatures, they are. Wonderful or not, they appear to have given Nikki the ability to produce flame with just a thought. And if it were a developing gift, it was one they had to get under control fast. Pyrokinesis is a rare talent these days. And a dangerous one. She hesitated again, and her confusion swirled around him. What about you?

He frowned. What do you mean?

There's been a connection between you and Nikki from the very start. It's that connection that allowed you to share your life force and make her a thrall. But unlike most thralls, Nikki was given eternal life out of love, not necessity.

So? The car crested the hill and the light separated, becoming twin beams of brightness before abruptly dying. The fog swirled around the vehicle, almost washing it from sight. He smiled. Whoever was in that car would undoubtedly regret their parking choice in the morning. They were stopped in a tow-away zone.

So what if you shared more than you were meant to share? And what if that sharing went both ways?

Both ways? He certainly hadn't developed any of Nikki's talents ... the thought stopped cold as he remembered this afternoon. Remembered sharing the sensation of evil with her. I don't get what you mean, he said. Even though he was beginning to.

She sighed. Remember, I'm only theorizing, but what if that warning we found—the one that suggested it was better not to turn those with psychic talents into thralls—was more a warning of the dangers involved to the maker, not to the thrall?

How can it be dangerous to the maker? Other than the initial shock of transferring his life force, he'd felt no different, nor had he noticed any change in his psychic abilities—until this afternoon. Thralls are generally created as little more than servants, are they not?

He gave a mental nod. Servants, or, as in Elizabeth's case, obedient lovers. So what if turning someone with psychic talents created a thrall who was not a servant but an equal? One who could not be ordered around?

He raised his eyebrow. Nikki would certainly be pleased to hear that snippet of information. I can see where it would create problems for those vampires who did not care for their thralls. Indeed. And what if turning someone you loved into a thrall took it one step further?

He took another sip of wine and watched the silent car as the implications of her statement swirled through his mind. You think there's been some sort of psychic sharing between us?

No. What I think is happening is more a merging. And if that's the case, you're both going to have to be very careful until you discover the full extent of the merger.

People can't share psychic talents, Seline.

You're right. People can't. But you and Nikki are no longer just people. Amusement threaded her mind voice. The possibilities of this union are damn exciting, let me tell you. The only union I'm interested in with Nikki is one of the heart. I don't want her joining the Circle. I don't want her accompanying me on missions.

And what of her wants?

Nikki had voiced her wants loudly enough, but he had no intention of giving in. It was just too dangerous—for them both. Her pain this evening had been a knife stabbing deep inside, momentarily freezing him. Had he been fighting older vamps rather than fledglings, he could have been in real trouble. You can't keep her wrapped in cotton for the rest of eternity, Michael. Nikki had said much the same thing. He wondered if the old witch had been talking to her behind his back. It's only been four months. Cotton is allowed, I think. Her chuckle surrounded him. Three hundred and sixty years old and still so much to learn. Better than being one hundred and eighty and thinking I know it all, he said, amused. I don't claim to know it all, but I do claim to be a very wily old witch. The wise listen to me. He smiled. And how often has that gotten me into trouble in the past?

Only three or four times. Her mind voice was prim.

You forgot to add the dozen in that amount. No one had gotten out of the car yet. Curious, he switched to the infrared of his vampire vision. Listen, when you're doing the crosscheck for classmates, could you also check how many of them might currently be in San Francisco? It could give us a lead to the next victim.