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“Liz,” Aiden said softly. “You need to tell us what you see.”
I jumped and fought to place a layer of distance between the thick heat of her emotions and me. “She was on her way home when she heard the screaming. It sounded like her friend Jimmy, so she ran to help him. What she saw instead…”
I paused, and swallowed heavily as the images once again flared thick and fast across my senses. Jimmy with two women who were both beautiful and naked. Women who attacked him, shredded him with claws and teeth, their bodies slick with his blood as he screamed and writhed. The abrupt silence as he died, and yet remained upright and still as the women stripped him of all humanity before finally licking his bones clean. Bones that were unnaturally white in the gleam of the moon. Oh God, oh God…
Lizzie, came Belle’s warning. Pull back.
I shuddered and did so. As distance returned, I was suddenly aware of my rapid breathing and the thick churning in my stomach. I swallowed heavily, and then said, “She saw the two Empusae attacking Jimmy… and then she ran.”
Back down the forest, away from t
he destruction. And yet, for all of her terror, for all of her fear, she had the presence of mind to call the rangers.
“Can you describe these women?” Joseph asked. “Give us facial composites?”
“Yes, although I’m not sure they’ll do much good, given Empusae also have owl form and can basically hide anywhere.”
“We’ve already organized a reservation-wide search for possible dens,” Joseph said. “If these things are hiding in any of our forests or compounds, we’ll find them. It’s the possibility of them hiding within our residential areas that worries me.”
“From the little we’ve learned of them, that’s not likely.”
“What about Byron?” Aiden said. “Why did he get out of the SUV?”
I took a breath and went back into Jeni’s memories.
“They were both in the SUV, as ordered. Byron was trying to calm Jeni down, without a whole lot of success. Then someone else began screaming… a woman, in the forest behind them rather than at the crossroad ahead where Jimmy died.”
I paused as Jeni’s panic washed through me—her fear that Byron was going to leave her in the truck alone. Her begging him to stay, to not get out and investigate. The screaming intensifying, and then the door being wrenched open. And then, and then…
“Lizzie,” Aiden said, again softly. “Tell us what you’re seeing.”
“Byron didn’t get out of the car.” Tears slipped past my closed eyelids. I could not only see his death through Jeni’s memories, but also feel Byron’s horror, his confusion, and the utter, mind-numbing agony he’d so briefly suffered in those few brief minutes of sensation between life and death. I swallowed heavily, my voice quavering a little as I added, “He was distracted by the screaming of one Empusae while the other snuck up and wrenched the door open. Jeni fled as he was being torn apart.”
Dear God, what she’s witnessed… Belle said. I have to help her, Liz. It’s the only way she’ll get through this.
I know. I removed my hands, swiped at the tears, and then raised my gaze to Jeni’s parents. “My friend Belle can mute her memories of this event if you wish. It may help her recover.”
Ryanne frowned. “Wouldn’t it be better to totally erase them?”
“Full erasure really isn’t possible.” Which wasn’t exactly the truth; a strong enough telepath could do so, but it wasn’t something that was either recommended or often even tried, as it left the recipient extremely confused and sometimes unable to fully function. “But we can certainly cloud her memories of the event. She’ll know what has happened, but it’ll no longer have the same immediacy or effect.”
“When can your friend get here?” Ryanne immediately said.
I glanced at Karleen rather than replying. Her smile was tight—she did not want another outsider in the compound. Especially when that person was linked to me. “It would perhaps be better if Jeni is taken out of the compound to be treated.”
“But surely—” Sean began, only to be cut off by a look from Aiden’s father.
“Is there anything else in her mind that could help?” Aiden said.
“No.” I returned to the end of the bed and then glanced at Jeni’s parents. “If you want to give us a call at the café later this morning, we can make arrangements for Belle to come and see Jeni. I’d keep her sedated though—her memories are… harrowing.”
They both nodded. I flicked my gaze over to Karleen. “Thank you for allowing me up here today.”
“You’re quite welcome.”
Her reply was as insincere as my thank you, and amusement stirred. Hopefully, I managed to keep it in check. I glanced up at Aiden. “If you want to get back to the crime scene, just drop me off outside the compound, on the main road. I’ll get Belle to come pick me up.”
“After all the help you’ve been giving us, the least I can do is take you home.” He glanced at his parents. “I’ll update you when I know more.”
