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Joseph frowned. “I don’t understand—”
“What Liz is about to try isn’t telepathy,” Aiden said. “It’s more an immersion in Jeni’s memory—she’ll see and feel what Jeni did.”
“That sounds… dangerous,” Ryanne said.
“It can be,” I said. “Which is why I need to connect to Belle.”
“She’s the telepathic one, isn’t she?” Joseph said.
“Yes. She’ll monitor my thoughts and drag me out of Jeni’s mind if I go too deep and get caught up in her emotions.”
“Why would that be dangerous?” Sean asked.
“Because, as Aiden said, I’ll be fully immersed in her mind, and I’ll see and feel what she did. But if those memories overwhelm me and I lose my control, it’s possible neither of us will come out of it whole.”
“That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?” Karleen’s expression was skeptical. “I mean, how is something like that even possible?”
“I was deeply immersed in Karen Banks’s mind, trying to discover where she was and what she was doing when the vampire took her life. Her death could have been mine, because my body was reacting to what was happening to Karen as if it was happening to me. It’s only thanks to the fact that Belle got me out in time that I’m standing here now.”
“Ah.”
One word that somehow managed to convey understanding while still sounding skeptical.
“Is there anything you need to do in preparation?” Joseph asked.
“I’d normally raise a protective circle to keep evil out, but that’s not necessary in this case.”
Mainly because Jeni was alive rather than dead.
“Then please proceed when you’re ready.”
Joseph stepped back from the bed, as did Jeni’s parents. Karleen remained exactly where she was. Not giving ground, not even for something like this. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and then walked to the front of the bed. Jeni’s face was pale, but her breathing was even and her aura relatively calm. The drugs they’d given her had been strong enough to soothe both mind and soul.
“Aiden, can you pull the bed away from the wall for me?”
He immediately did so. I slipped into the space between the bed and the wall, and then carefully placed my hands either side of Jeni’s head. No images stirred in response. The drugs had done their job.
I took another deep breath and—keeping mental fingers crossed that Belle was awake—reached for her.
There was no immediate response, which meant she was probably asleep. While I could break the spells that protected her room from the constant buzz of my thoughts, it would take more time and energy than I really wanted to expend right now. Which meant that I might have to go on alone—
You called? came her thought.
Yeah—did I wake you?
Nope. I had to pee. What’s the problem?
There have been two more murders, but this time, we have a witness. She’s been heavily sedated, so I’m going to directly connect with her mind and relive her memories.
And you want me to monitor, just in case. Wait a sec while I get comfortable. There was several seconds of silence, then, Right, go for it.
I immediately closed my eyes and pushed into Jeni’s mind.
Nothing happened. Not straight away. All I felt were the muted echoes of her horror and disbelief. The deeper I went, the greater those two emotions became, until they crawled across my senses and dragged tears from my eyes. It was warning enough that the memories I was about to access were very bad indeed.
I pressed past another layer. While the drugs still held sway here, images were now flickering. They were fragile wisps that spoke of blood and gore and horror, but they fragmented and spun away the minute I reached for them.
Then, with an abruptness that had my breath snagging in my throat, I was in… Saw Byron, who should have protected me, reduced to bits in an instant. Blood… and body parts… everywhere. On the ground, on me. It’s all I can smell, all I can see…
