Obsidian Prey

by Jayne Castle

  The tech opened his mouth to argue, but Benson shook her head.

  “It’s okay,” Benson said.

  “Yes, ma’am.” The tech stood back.

  Benson got in and went to work slapping monitors on Cruz.

  Jeff vaulted up into the rear of the vehicle and sat down beside Lyra. The doors slammed shut, and the ambulance pulled away from the curb.

  “What happened back there?” Jeff asked.

  She gave him a quick rundown of the events.

  “Two men?” he asked. “Are you certain?”

  “Yes.”

  “That doesn’t sound right. How the hell did two men manage to take down the boss?”

  “I don’t know. He got both of them under control almost immediately. Then he sent me back inside the apartment to get something he could use to secure them. That’s when everything must have gone wrong. The next thing I knew, the two intruders were trying to drag me out the door. Cruz was just lying there on the balcony, not moving. I thought at first they’d shot him, but I didn’t hear a gun go off. Then, all of a sudden, Cruz was back on his feet coming at one of the men with a knife.”

  “If he had to resort to the knife, it was because he could no longer use his talent,” Jeff said grimly. “For some reason he had to jack up so much psi he shattered black obsidian just to deal with a couple of street thugs. It doesn’t resonate.”

  “That’s all I can tell you. Things happened so fast.”

  Jeff took a phone out of his pocket. “You’re sure there were only two men?”

  “Yes.”

  Jeff spoke quickly into the phone, issuing more orders.

  “Get a PF team inside Miss Dore’s loft immediately,” he said. “They’ll be looking for psi traces of two men, probably ghost hunters. At least one of them generated a ghost. One got away. We have the other in custody. Point of entry was the balcony. Exit was the front lobby of the building. Make sure all those locations get covered. I want a full report as soon as you have anything.”

  Lyra touched his arm to get his attention. He looked at her, one brow raised in inquiry.

  “There may be more blood from the one who got away,” she said. “I think Vincent bit both of them.”

  Jeff glanced at Vincent, who was huddled on Lyra’s shoulder.

  “Nice work, big guy,” Jeff said.

  Benson smiled. “They say that with dust bunnies, by the time you see the teeth, it’s too late.”

  “It’s a predator thing,” Jeff said.

  He went back to the phone and spoke tersely for another minute before he ended the connection.

  “What’s a PF team?” Lyra asked.

  “Short for para-forensics.”

  “Good grief, you mean AI Security has its own forensics lab?”

  “Keeps things simple,” Jeff explained. “And also quiet. Remember what you said about discretion being important in the amber tuning business?”

  “Yes.”

  “Amber Inc. Security has a similar business philosophy.” He looked at Benson. “How’s he doing?”

  “Believe it or not, he seems to be fine.” Benson checked the instruments. “Looks like just a real serious postburn crash but nothing worse.”

  “I told you so,” Lyra said. But she was more relieved than she wanted to admit. “What’s the problem with obsidian amber?” she said. “I know very few people can rez it, but it can handle a lot of power, can’t it?”

  “Sure, it will take a lot of psi,” Jeff studied Cruz. “The problem is that when it does get overloaded, it doesn’t just shut down the way regular amber does. Instead, the pattern of the waves breaks up in weird and unpredictable ways.”

  “That’s what you call shattering obsidian?”

  “Right. It’s like suddenly you’re pushing energy through a zillion little psychic mirrors. The psi gets reflected right back at your aura. Sets up an unstable resonating pattern that fries the senses of whoever is generating the currents through the stone.” He paused a beat. “The theory is that the effect is probably permanent.”

  “Theory?” she said, alarmed all over again. “You mean you don’t know?”

  “The problem is that we don’t have enough experience with black amber to be able to predict the outcome in a situation like this,” Benson explained. She did not look up from the monitor. “Very few people can even rez it, let alone actually generate enough power to fracture a stone. So, yes, mostly, all we’ve got to go on is theory.”

  “Mostly?” Lyra whispered.

  “I checked the Arcane Society files on the way to your address tonight,” Benson said. “There are only two other cases on record. In each instance the victim lapsed into a coma after shattering obsidian. One died. The other survived, but his para-senses were destroyed. He eventually committed suicide.” She paused a beat. “They were both Sweetwaters.”

  Lyra tightened her grip on Cruz and pulsed more psi. “He’s not in a coma.”

  “No,” Benson said.

  “And he’s not going to slip into a coma,” Lyra said. “He needs to recover from the psi drain, that’s all. When he wakes up, he’ll be fine.”

  Benson studied her for a moment. Then she switched her attention to Jeff.

  “This is the one, I take it?” Benson said.

  Jeff smiled slightly. “Yes.”

  “Not quite what I expected,” Benson said.

  Lyra glared at both of them. “What one?”

  “The woman who broke Cruz Sweetwater’s heart,” Benson said.

  Chapter 24

  HE’D LOST THE BIGGEST SALE OF HIS CAREER. THE AMETHYST relic was worth a fortune.

  Valentine Fairstead’s hand shook as he opened the back door of the gallery. Frustration, rage, and anxiety coursed through him. It had been so close. He’d had Wilson Revere, himself, right there in the vault room. When it came to high-end clients, it didn’t get any richer. Well, with the exception of a Sweetwater, of course.

  But he’d never even tried to court the Sweetwaters. For one thing, rumor had it that their private vault was already overflowing with priceless amber of every kind and description, both archaeological relics and laboratory-grade specimens. He had never come across any piece that he thought would interest anyone in that family.

  Truth be told, he had always been relieved by that knowledge. For some reason, he had never wanted to deal with the Sweetwaters. Something about that clan made him nervous.

  Wilson Revere, however, was another matter entirely. Revere was a sophisticated, polished, well-educated man with exquisite taste, just the sort of client that the Fairstead Gallery preferred to cultivate.

  He got the door open and hurried into the back room. Turning, he swiftly unlocked the rear door. He breathed a little sigh of relief. The dark alley behind the gallery always made him nervous. You never knew who might be hiding behind a trash container. The Quarter was not the safest place in the city at night.

  But the man he had come here to meet insisted that he arrive at midnight and use the back door. There were other instructions as well. He was not to turn on any lights until they were in the windowless vault room.

  He made his way by feel into the main sales room. From there he groped a path between the ranks of display cases until he reached the door of the vault room. He de-rezzed the lock and moved into the small space. Finally, he was able to switch on a light.

  The door opened a moment later. A man entered the room.

  “About time you got here,” Fairstead growled. “I still say this is unnecessary.”

  “You’re the one who screwed up the deal,” the newcomer said. “Now I have to clean up your mess. Open the vault.”

  “Sweetwater never even saw the relic, I tell you,” Fairstead insisted. He went to work on the lock. “There’s no way he could have known it was in here.”

  “He must have suspected something. Why else would he have turned up at your gallery today? He’s not one of your regular clients.”

  “It was the woman, I tell you.
He was with her, and she was here because Revere wanted an outside opinion. The fact that Sweetwater was present had nothing to do with the relic.”

  “I don’t like it. Too much of a coincidence. We’ve got to cut our losses and fast.”

  Fairstead pulled the heavy vault door open and stepped inside. “What are you going to do with the amethyst?”

  “Make sure it gets found so that Sweetwater will stop looking for it. We need to get him off our trail. At the rate he’s going, he’s liable to uncover our little sideline. We can’t afford that.”

  Fairstead picked up the amethyst relic. The stone was warm in his hand. It glowed faintly. For a moment the connoisseur in him surfaced. He savored the strange, elegant carvings that covered the purple amber.

  “Exquisite,” he breathed. “If only we knew how to activate the energy inside. Is it true that Lyra Dore can rez up images inside these stones?”

  “That’s what they say. Give it to me.”

  Fairstead sighed and handed him the relic. “Pity. It would have been the biggest sale we’ve ever made.”

  “Some risks aren’t worth taking.”

  “I agree.”

  Fairstead walked out of the vault. He turned to close the door.

  He never saw the mag-rez gun in the other man’s hand. The first shot struck him in the back, flinging him halfway into the vault. The second shot took him in the head.

  Chapter 25

  CRUZ AWOKE TO A WARM, SILKEN BREEZE THAT CARRIED the familiar scents of the ocean and the feel of Lyra’s fingers entwined with his own. Satisfaction flooded through him.

  He opened his eyes and saw her. She was sitting in a chair positioned very close to the bed, holding his hand and looking out the open glass doors of the bedroom, watching the sun-flashed sea. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a snug little black T-shirt. She looked incredibly sexy. The shirt hugged her breasts and emphasized the sleek curves of her shoulders and upper arms. Then, again, she always looked incredibly sexy.

  For a moment he did not speak or move. He just watched her, fascinated by everything about her. It had been like this the first time he saw her, he thought. And it would be like this every time he looked at her for the rest of his life. The psychic connection between them was real, and it was intense, just as everyone in the family had promised it would be when he finally found the right woman.

  Vincent chortled exuberantly and bounded up onto the bed. His beret was at its usual rakish angle. He fluttered up the quilt to perch on the pillow.

  Startled out of her reverie, Lyra turned in the chair. It seemed to Cruz that everything about her glowed.

  “Hey,” she said, smiling. “About time you woke up.”

  “How long was I out?”

  “It’s a little after nine AM. You’ve been in la-la land since late last night.”

  He looked out the open doors again, taking in the lush green gardens and the view of the sea. He knew the setting as well as he knew his own name. They were in his personal cottage on the island, the one above the cove.

  “You got us to Amber Island,” he said. “Good.”

  “Jeff took care of everything. How much do you remember?”

  He thought about that for a moment. “The two men on the balcony. The hallucinations—”

  She blinked. “What hallucinations?”

  “Yeah,” Jeff said from the doorway. “What hallucinations?”

  “That’s the interesting part.” Cruz gave Lyra’s hand a quick squeeze and then shoved aside the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He looked down and discovered that he was still wearing the pants he’d put on just before the intruders had arrived. The trousers were splashed with dried bloodstains. More memories slammed into place. “Someone used some kind of psi on me last night. It created a dreamscape like the waking nightmares that you described, Lyra.”

  “You’re kidding,” she said. Her eyes widened. “You think one of those attackers created those hallucinations?”

  “Someone is responsible for inducing them. I’m not sure who, yet. One thing I do know, you can be certain you aren’t on the verge of a mental breakdown, Lyra. And neither am I. Life is good.”

  She stood, picked up Vincent, and hugged him close. Her eyes were shadowed, but he could see the relief shining in them.

  “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered. “After all these weeks of wondering.”

  “We’ve still got a problem,” Cruz pointed out. “We need to find out why that pair was trying to kidnap you.” He looked at Jeff. “What have you got?”

  “The man you took down last night will probably make it, but he’s still zoned out on the drugs they gave him for the surgery. We picked up the other one last night, but I gotta tell you, he doesn’t seem to know much.”

  “Just more dumb muscle off the street.” Cruz rubbed his jaw. “Like the first two someone sent to take me out.”

  “Looks like it. Same vague description of whoever paid them. Guy was wearing some kind of face-distorting mask.”

  “Not a mask,” Cruz said. “He was generating a hallucination that concealed his features—” He broke off as another memory slammed home. “Damn. He was there last night. I saw him.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jeff said.

  “There was a third man. Last night I thought he was just part of the dreamscape, but he must have been real. Make sure the PF team checks out the adjoining loft. He was on the other balcony.”

  “I’ve got people there now.” Jeff took out his phone. “But they’re only looking for the psi traces of the two men who left residue in Lyra’s place. I’ll tell them to go next door and search for a third guy.”

  Cruz headed for the bathroom doorway. “I need a shower, and then I need food.”

  Jeff looked at Lyra. “See? That’s why they made him the boss of AI Security. He knows how to prioritize.”

  Lyra gave him a weary smile. “I could use a shower, myself. I’ll see you gentlemen later.”

  With Vincent tucked under one arm, she walked out of the bedroom.

  Jeff watched her go and then turned back. “She spent the night sitting beside you, holding your hand. At first she wouldn’t let go of you at all. Benson, the med tech, finally convinced her that you were okay. But aside from changing into some clothes that we picked up for her at the loft and using the powder room a couple of times, she wouldn’t leave your side.”

  “She saved my life,” Cruz said. He went to the sink. “Or, at least, my senses.”

  Jeff said nothing. He didn’t need to. They both knew that, for anyone in the family, it amounted to the same thing. The thought of having your psi senses permanently fried was harrowing. Over the years more than one strong talent in the Sweetwater clan had opted to take his own life when some rare catastrophe had deprived him of the psychic side of his nature.

  The thought reminded Cruz that he’d ruined a perfectly good piece of obsidian. Automatically he glanced down at his hand and saw that he was still wearing his ring. The black stone glinted in the light.

  “I need to get some fresh amber,” he said. He glanced at Jeff through the open doorway. “I destroyed mine last night.”

  Jeff grinned. “No problem. Lyra retuned your ring for you while you were sleeping.”

  He frowned. “She tuned obsidian?”

  “I get the feeling she can tune just about any kind of amber.”

  Cruz thought about that for a moment. “She uses amethyst. Within the Society there have always been a few rumors about people who can work that kind of amber.”

  “I know,” Jeff said. “They’re supposed to be descended from Old World crystal workers.”

  Officially, all types of psychical abilities were considered equal within the Arcane Society, but human nature being what it was, some forms of talent got more respect than others, just as some were more feared than others.

  Historically, those who worked crystals had always occupied one of the bottom rungs of the Society’s social
ladder, ranking below aura readers and low-grade intuitives. They were right down there with sleight-of-hand talents, another bunch who tended to make their livings in less than legal ways. A psychic skill with sleight of hand usually pointed one toward a career as a pickpocket or card shark. Those with the ability to read crystals had often ended up as carnival fortune-tellers who took advantage of the gullible.

  But the Sweetwater family talent hadn’t always been considered respectable, either, he reminded himself. And just as Harmony had produced some interesting twists in the clan’s various psychic abilities, it had probably had some unpredictable effects on people like Lyra.

  “You know, sir,” Jeff said, “if you’re really nice to her, she might give you her special amber tune-up service. She did my amber and, wow, what a difference.”

  Cruz swung around and started toward him.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked softly.

  “Hey, don’t look at me like that,” Jeff retreated toward the open doors. “I didn’t mean anything like what you’re thinking, honest.”

  “Yeah? What was I thinking?”

  “Haven’t got a clue,” Jeff said quickly. “Look, I’m just trying to tell you that Lyra has this really cool thing she can do when she tunes amber. I saw her do it for one of her clients. I asked about it, and she did it for me.”

  Cruz closed the distance between them. “What kind of really cool thing are we talking about?”

  Jeff took another step back. “She locks the frequencies on to your specific wavelengths. It makes the focus more precise. When you use the amber, you don’t have to generate as much raw power to get the same effect. Think about what that might have meant last night. You wouldn’t have had to push so much energy through your ring. Maybe it wouldn’t have shattered.”

  Cruz stopped, frowning a little. “Assuming she can do that special tuning thing to obsidian.”

  “Right. Assuming. But I use tourmaline, and she did it for me. You know how complicated tourmaline is. I ran some experiments yesterday. Works like a charm. Not only do you get more bang for the buck, you get incredible precision. It’s the difference between driving a tractor and a Slider. Both will get you from point A to point B, but the tractor requires more fuel, and it squashes a lot of stuff along the way.”