Training Rain

by A. S. Fenichel

“Do you have any offensive talents?”

  “No.” Her thoughts immediately went back to the idea that she had no business in this new agency.

  He smiled. Even in the shadows it was devastating. “You know, defensive abilities can be turned to offensive purposes in some situations.”

  Her heart beat faster. She had her mind closed off. How had he known what she was thinking?

  “Don’t freak out. I don’t need to be psychic to know what you’re thinking. You don’t think you belong here. I get that. Maybe you’re right. We won’t know until we test you out.”

  “I suppose.”

  “First you and I are going to have to come to an understanding.” His accent returned.

  Her instincts told her to be cautious. “What kind of understanding?”

  “You are going to have to trust me enough to tell me why I make you so damn uncomfortable, because if you’re afraid of me this will not work. I will have to call Josh and tell him to send a different agent to train you.”

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “Then why is your mind still closed down?”

  She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest again. “Just because I don’t want anyone poking around in my head doesn’t mean I’m afraid. It means I’m cautious.”

  “It means you don’t trust me.”

  “I don’t like the idea of anyone being in my mind.”

  “Why? Do you have something to hide?”

  She laughed, but it was not a pleasant sound. “Everyone has something to hide.”

  That smile again. “That’s true. I will not invade your privacy. I can promise you that. I can’t help hearing emotions that you broadcast the way you did from the bedroom, but I will not go searching for information without permission.”

  Her palms grew sweaty. Should she trust him? “I have your word on that?”

  Jess reached his hand across the space between them. “Trust me.”

  She took it and let down her mental block.

  She could see his body relax. What did he care if she trusted him? Why should it matter to him if she became part of the new Psi Alliance?

  “Do you want to tell me what had you so upset before?”

  “To do that I have to explain a lot of other things and it will take some time.” She hoped that he would be persuaded to wait for another time.

  “Do you think you can go to sleep and not return to your earlier state?”

  Damn him. “I don’t really want to talk about this.”

  To her surprise, he chuckled then he got up and added logs to the fire. “Yes. I got that.”

  Without saying another word, he returned to the couch and lounged while watching her. Rain didn’t like to be the center of attention even when it was good attention. This was not good. He would be repulsed by what she did. At least she would get her wish and Jess McMean would be out of her life. Why didn’t that make her feel any better?

  “I was thinking about the day in Las Vegas. I couldn’t stop. The minute you walked in the memory hit me and I couldn’t let it go. At the time, you were bleeding so I could focus elsewhere, but as soon as I went to bed it was as if I were reliving the events all over again.”

  He leaned forward. “I don’t understand. That was a victory. I’ll admit it was terrible to lose Trip that way, but he knew what he was doing. We both did. We were willing to sacrifice our lives for the greater good. Banta draining our auras would slow him enough for everyone else to have a chance to take him out. It worked. If you hadn’t blocked Banta, I would have died too.”

  Her stomach was in knots. “I don’t think you can understand what happens when I heal someone.”

  “I only know what you told me about urging my body to heal itself. I know that the wound in my arm is almost knitted. I find that fascinating.”

  “That is a small thing. I can’t cure cancer. Well that’s not entirely true, if the person has not had radiation or chemotherapy, I can try to force their immune system to kill the bad cells.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Why not after those treatments?”

  “For selfish reasons.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “You don’t even know me.”

  “Look, I know you’re not used to this environment. It must have been different growing up on the reservation and I’m sure all of this is frightening. I think you’re being a bit hard on yourself.”

  “See what I mean? You know nothing. I didn’t grow up on the Shoshone Reservation. I grew up in Los Angeles. Adianca came when I was eighteen and brought me to Nevada. She saved me from myself.”

  Chapter Two

  Everything she said was in English and yet he didn’t understand. “LA? Wow, that’s surprising, but I don’t know what you mean by Adianca saving you from yourself and what does any of that have to do with last summer and why you were so upset earlier?”

  She physically shook herself and he couldn’t read her. “Nothing.”

  He’d promised not to pry so he’d have to allow her to tell the story her own way. The temptation to poke around in her pretty head was strong. He just wished he wasn’t so distracted by all that long black hair, smooth skin and curves that would not stop. At least when he arrived, she was bundled up for the cold weather. Now she was in a tank top and sweatpants and it was more than he could stand.

  Maybe he should have left her in her bed, left her to suffer alone, but he couldn’t. Somehow, though he didn’t know how, he was responsible for the agony she was experiencing and that would not do. He would try to gentle her into confiding in him.

  “Maybe we should keep it simple, Rain. You said that when you heal you manipulate the body’s cells to work faster.”

  “That’s right.” She looked as if she was surprised he’d been listening.

  “How do you do that?”

  “I experience the event that caused the injury and I use it to turn the negative energy around.”

  Jess was pretty sure his heart had just stopped beating. She could not possibly mean what she just said. “You experience the pain?”

  Her dark gaze was so intense he couldn’t have looked away if he’d wanted to. “The pain, fear, whatever the patient went through.”

  It was too much to accept. She’d saved his life and healed him in Las Vegas, but he didn’t dare ask. Not yet. The idea was far too terrible. “So earlier when you healed my arm, you actually made yourself feel the pain of being shot?”

  “I felt the hot lead tearing skin, the rush of adrenaline and the instant of fear before you became angry with me.”

  He had to get up and move away from her. If he could have left the cabin he would have, but the howling wind told him the storm was far from over. His gut was in knots. “What about in Las Vegas?”

  She lowered her eyes and stared at something only she could see in the wood floors.

  As soon as he realized that she wasn’t going to answer he leaped across the room, grabbed her by the shoulders and hauled her off the couch. “Tell me.”

  Those dark eyes met his and a sad smile touched her lips. “You don’t really want to know this, Jess. If you could leave me here and never see me again, you would do it. Why ask a question you don’t want the answer to?”

  His hands were shaking. She could likely feel it, but he didn’t care. “I took this assignment because I owe you for saving me. I didn’t want you to go through what is going to be a kind of hell on your own. I thought I owed you that much. If what you say is true, there is no way to repay the debt, and I always repay my debts.”

  “Let this go. There is no debt.”

  “Tell me about Las Vegas.” He had pulled her closer. He hadn’t meant to, but his body was touching hers and her lips were too close to his. As her chest rose and fell, her tits rubbed against his chest.

  “Maybe you should let me go, Jess.”

  He did and took a step back. What was it about her that mesmerized him? He didn’t know but he didn’t like it. Once she was seated, he sat
on the edge of the wooden coffee table facing her. His heart raced as if he were on his first assignment. Pull yourself together, McMean.

  Rain’s gaze drifted toward the fireplace. Jess watched the flames dancing in those mysterious eyes. “I never wanted to go with you to Las Vegas, but I couldn’t say no to Adianca. She saved me and so when she asks something of me, I say yes. Your people didn’t want me along either. They thought I would get in the way, and I could understand their concerns. I’m not trained for combat. I know nothing of psychic battles. Yet Adianca was sure I would be needed and she was right as she always is.

  “I’ve never been as frightened as I was that day. I had no weapon. My job was to get close enough to Banta to stop the flow of psi energy so that others could reach him with weapons, psychic or otherwise.

  “Stealing power through the abomination of gathering weakened the madman and I saw my chance. Your friend Trip was already drained of his aura. He lay dead on the cold marble floor. I could see the life drawing away from you. I crawled on my belly across the floor. Banta was so distracted and thought himself so invincible he didn’t notice me. Tessa distracted him, he released his hold on you and when he attacked Tessa I blocked his psi.”

  Everything she said, he remembered as a hazy nightmare. Once he and Trip attacked and Banta countered, everything became out of focus. His life ebbed away and his world began to collapse in on itself. “Then what happened?”

  It was warm in the room, but she shivered. “Tessa killed him and I started to heal you.”

  “I was dying.”

  For the first time she looked at him. “No. You would have lived. Though perhaps you would have wished you were dead. The pain that the leaching of your aura had caused was extreme enough that when I looked in your eyes, there was nothing there.”

  “I don’t remember anything after Banta released me until you were hovering over me.” Jess watched her carefully.

  Her cheeks flushed a fresh pink under the warm tan that was her natural color. “Joshua tried to give Banta one last chance to give himself up. I could tell he didn’t want to kill him, though I can’t imagine why.”

  Jess said, “Troth Banta and Joshua Lakeland were good friends a long time ago. They served together. I’m sure Josh hoped he could save some part of his old friend.”

  Rain’s mouth turned down. “Tessa took the decision out of his hand. She fired and killed Banta. She is a fierce warrior.”

  He smiled thinking about Tessa Clark. She was a warrior. She was also one of the only people in the world that he completely trusted. At one time he had thought that he and Tessa belonged together. Now she was with Josh and it was for the best. “She’s a great agent.”

  Another deeper frown marred Rain’s pretty face. “I don’t know if I could have made that decision.”

  He didn’t argue with her. It was too soon to tell what she was capable of. Still, there was something about her. “What happened after Tessa shot Banta?”

  “I came to you. Your eyes stared up at nothing. It wouldn’t be long before the ambulance came and took you away. I knew I had to act fast or it might not have been possible to help you. It is dangerous to be detached from your aura for much time.

  “I held your body in my lap and took your pain. I mended your soul.”

  “What do you mean, you took my pain?”

  Her gaze locked with his. “In order to heal I must take the pain. I told you that. I knew it would be terrible. I understood the price.”

  His palms were damp. It would have been easier to let it go, but he couldn’t. “What was the price?”

  A single tear pushed out of her eye, tumbled over her bottom lid and slid down her face. Jess’ heart tightened painfully.

  Rain closed her eyes and spoke slowly. Her low, resonant voice vibrated as if it were coming from inside him. “My hands touched your face. There was a day’s growth of beard on your cheek and chin. All the other sounds in the casino stopped. The other agents talking faded into nothing. The calls of your friends were blocked out. No sirens sounded outside. There was only you and me, trapped in a pain so extreme and all-encompassing, I wanted to die. I wished for death to take us both and break us from our torture. Our bodies burned as if they’d been hurled into the sun. Your mind exploded with horrors I cannot begin to describe and I experienced every moment as if they were my own.

  “I disappeared within you and no longer existed. It took all of my strength to break free of your suffering and command your body to heal. You had not lost your soul but the damage was bad enough that I had my doubts if I could return your gifts to you.”

  He was sure his mouth was hanging open. “Are you telling me that I would have lost my psychic abilities if you hadn’t been there?”

  “Yes. It is likely.”

  “I’d rather have died,” he said to himself.

  Her head cocked to one side. “I suspected as much. I did the best I could, but I’m sure you have scars.”

  He thought about the minimal changes to his abilities. Not defects only changes. He had learned to adjust quickly. “And you—were you injured?”

  “There is always a price.” Her smile was sad.

  He had no idea what was causing the pain in his chest but he didn’t like it. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “You should not have had to live through that experience. I would not wish that on my worst enemy and you…”

  “What about me?”

  “Never mind.”

  He had hundreds of questions, but only asked one. “Why do you do it?”

  “Heal?”

  “Yes. Why would you do something that is so terrible for you, something that hurts you?”

  “It is why I’m here. What else am I supposed to do if not use the gifts given to me?”

  “You don’t even know me or at least you didn’t that day. Why help me? Why save me at such a high cost to yourself?”

  “Have you ever seen someone die?”

  “I’m in law enforcement at a pretty high and strange level. Yes, I’ve seen people die.”

  “Strangers?”

  “Some.”

  “Would you have saved them if you’d known you could?”

  She had maneuvered him. Not an easy thing to do. “Yes.”

  “Even if it had cost you? What if you would have died to save them?” Her voice grew intense.

  He couldn’t look away from those fathomless eyes. “Yes, I would have saved them.”

  “It’s no different. I don’t cure all sickness. If the patient will die regardless of my attention and saving them would kill me too, then there is little point. In those cases I ease their pain.” Rain yawned.

  “Go to bed. I’ll wake you early to start your training.”

  She opened her mouth, closed it and opened it again. “I haven’t agreed to the training.”

  His eyes fixated on her lips. He shook himself and focused his gifts on her fears. She might fail, but he would see that she gave it her best shot. “You will.”

  Continuing for a few seconds to bend her decision, he told himself it was for her own good. As soon as he felt her give, he backed off.

  An adorable crease formed between her brows. She had a strong mind. If she really wanted to go back and resume her old life, it would not be possible to sway her. He thought she would argue, but then she shrugged and went back into the bedroom. She left the door open and while he wished it was an invitation, he knew she did it to gain some of the heat from the fire.

  Shit. Jess pulled the blanket over himself and stretched out on the couch. It would be a long time before he fell asleep. He felt it the moment Rain drifted off. Exhaustion had won out over her fears. He was glad for that at least.

  He’d not been conscious in Vegas. The decision had been taken from him, but if he had known what healing him would cost her, he would have refused her services. Now there was a debt and it was one that could never be paid.

  * * * * *

  Three days la
ter he watched as she climbed a tall pine. She was nimble. He’d initially been worried that she wasn’t strong enough for the tasks he would set for her, but she soon proved that she took good care of herself. Her muscles might have been small and feminine, but she was stronger than she looked. What she lacked in brute strength she made up for in determination. She was magnificent and his body reacted on more than one occasion.

  Watching from the ground, he saw her secure herself to a branch with her legs and put the binoculars up to her eyes. “What do you see?”

  “Snow.” The snarky remark tumbled down the twenty feet.

  He smiled. “What else?”

  Ten seconds went by. “There’s a small camp about a mile to the west, just past the treeline. No people, but the fire is still smoking.”

  “I didn’t make a fire for you to find. I left a small white tent to the northwest.” His heart quickened.

  As he watched from below, she turned her head. “I see it.”

  “Go back to the other camp.”

  She was turning back before he made the command. “A green camouflage tent that can sleep several people, ATV with some kind of emblem on the side and the fire.”

  “Weapons?”

  “None that I can see.”

  “What about equipment?”

  “I don’t see anything other than the tent and the ATV, no clothes or coolers, nothing to identify them.”

  “Probably just some campers or more likely hunters. It could even be the ranger taking advantage of the park being closed. Can you make out the emblem?”

  “No. It’s a pale yellow and there might be a bird or a flag. I’m not sure. It’s too small and too far away.”

  Her attention changed. He felt the shift in her mind. “Jess, be careful.”

  He turned. The dog’s ribs were clearly outlined through his brindle fur. The wide chest and strong pit bull jaw squared off at Jess. He didn’t move and neither did the dog. He tried a soft, calm voice. “Okay, boy. Just relax.”

  He bared his teeth, a low growl was the definitive reply. Jess slowly pulled his handgun from the holster. He hated to do it, but he was not going to be mauled by a starving dog.

  “Don’t you dare shoot that dog!” Rain’s voice echoed loudly across the snow. The dog looked up the tree and his bared teeth disappeared, replaced by a long pink tongue and wagging tail.