“Is this the beginning?” I asked when we left the immediate area.
“Probably.” Raphael's expression darkened. “Hopefully, if we quickly take out their scouts, it will delay things for another decade, but the Earth is in their sights.”
“What the hell happened back there?” Wallace asked from the driver seat. “There was a hole the size of a basketball in his chest.”
I knew Wallace was nervous and trying to fill the quiet, but I didn’t want to talk about almost losing myHKarlin. “Nick happened,” I said, catching his eyes in the rear view mirror. “He saw the D'val hit me and lost control.”
The van swerved suddenly, and Nick moaned. The dashboard lights flickered, and the engine sputtered.
“Shit,” Wallace muttered, wrestling with the steering wheel. “He's affecting the electronics.”
Leaning down, I stroked Nick’s hair. “Nick, it's me,” I whispered. “You're safe now. We’re both okay.”
His eyelids fluttered again, but the electrical disturbance subsided. I soaked up the energy he’d absorbed and gave it to Raphael when he held out his hand. For the rest of the ride I maintained contact with Nick, hoping to keep him calm until we got to the house.
“That’s good. Keep him calm,” Raphael said. “We’re almost there.”
We turned onto a quiet, tree-lined street in the expensive section of Northwest D.C.
“Pull into the garage,” Raphael told Wallace when we stopped in front of an utterly ordinary looking house.
Wallace hit the remote, and the garage door slid open. We pulled inside and the power dampeners activated. The floor lowered, taking us twenty feet below ground. Bright institutional style lights illuminated the space.
"Get the D’val to the containment room," Raphael directed Wallace as we exited the van. “Henry, take Nick to a bedroom on the second floor.”
I carried Nick upstairs, entered the first room I came to, and gently set him on a bed. Grasping his hand, I ran my thumb over his skin. He was warmer than usual, but otherwise seemed calm.
The lights overhead flickered briefly, and I felt Nick was still pulling power from the electrical system. It was an extraordinary talent that rivaled my father and uncle’s, which was also astonishing since he was completely untrained.
“How is he?” Victoria asked from the doorway.
“Calm, but still drawing energy.”
“That’s unbelievable,” she said. “Trevor’s here, by the way. He wants to see Nick, but is afraid to ask you.”
I smiled because when I first showed up he’d have barged in first and dared me to make him leave. “Tell him he can come in.”
Trevor slunk around Vicky and cautiously approached the bed. “Is he okay?”
He sat on the other side and picked up Nick’s free hand. Remarkably, Nick didn’t react like he had with Vicky and Raphael. “Raphael said he’s in overload. I think he’s still reliving the fight. If anyone other than me—and now you—touches him, he reacts like he’s under attack.”
“I think you’re right,” Raphael said. “You need to gently bring him back to consciousness before we can treat his burnout.”
I heard the words, but was afraid of the implication. “What do you mean?”
“His unconscious mind doesn't understand what he’s seeing isn’t real,” he explained. “You’ll need to use your bond to speak to him. Once you convince him the fight’s over, he’ll wake up.”
The last thing Nick saw was me getting slammed into a wall. “He thinks I'm hurt.”
“That would explain the continuous energy pull,” Raphael said. “He’s trying to save you.”
I squeezed Nick's hand, drawing off the excess energy. “How do I reach him?”
“You're hisHKarlin,” Raphael said. “He’ll recognize you instantly.”
He made it sound so easy. “I’ve never spoken with him mind-to-mind. What if he doesn’t believe it’s me?”
“You need to convince him.” Raphael's expression turned grave. “If you can’t, then we keep drawing energy until, he wakes up, we exhaust ourselves, or his body gives out.”
