Page 48
“Why would you seek this?” A woman demanded from behind.
I turned to find Julian sitting on a picnic blanket alongside a beautiful woman with long silken curls spilling out of the back of her bonnet. They wore clothes that spoke of a time long ago, yet not necessarily of wealth or power. She had a simple gingham blue dress that billowed around her on the ground, the hint of a muslin petticoat peeking out at her ankles. Julian wore suspenders and tan pants tucked into boots and a shirt partially open that appeared stained with sweat and dirt. But he was different than the Julian I knew, and I dropped to my knees in front of him, breath stolen at the warmth in his cheeks, the moisture on his brow, and the glow of his sun-tanned skin.
He was human.
“I do it for love, of course.” He grinned easily and reached out to grasp her hand and squeeze it even though it felt like he’d reached through my chest and crushed my heart.
“Don’t be so naïve,” the woman admonished, tugging her hand away. “Love can be wonderful, but it can also start wars, Julian.” She spoke his name with a heavy French accent so that it sounded like zhoo-lee-awn.
“I would gladly start a war if it meant being with my love,” Julian answered, falling back onto the ground to stare at the sky.
Crawling over him, I saw his still-startling blue eyes sliding back and forth as he watched the clouds through me. They were lighter than his vampire eyes, more cerulean with specks of gold and emerald. My heart ached as I watched the carefree giddiness that used to be his.
I knew I was trespassing on a memory I had no business witnessing. But tearing myself away was harder than it should have been as I reveled in this younger, care-free version of the man I knew as stoic and brooding. Though if he was willing to start a war, I suppose he wasn’t all that different from the Julian I knew.
“It’s power beyond imagining, Annette,” he said, still somehow smelling of bergamot and cloves, even in a memory. “The strength and indestructability Silas offers is beyond reckoning. I wish I could show you.”
“But you know you cannot trust that beast.” Annette’s vehemence forces us both to turn our heads. Her fair skin flushes as she stands, adjusting all the material of her dress. “He’s sold his soul, Julian. Don’t do the same.”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Annette.” Julian rolls and climbs to his feet. “You never believed that rot they preach on Sundays. And no, I don’t trust him. He’s the reason I want to do it. Don’t you see? If I make him think I believe in him and his cause, I can turn on him when he makes me an equal. I’ll have surprise on my side.”
Focus on the now, Pythia whispers.
Right. I have to save the current version of Julian.
Julian, I need you to focus. I step toe-to-toe with him as he stretches. This isn’t now. You’re in a torture device in the brig at SHADE. You smelled the killer, but she still got you. Annette stood behind me, facing him so I was between them. I reached up to grasp his face with my hands.
A shock of electricity zapped through my fingers, and his gaze shifted away from the other woman toward me.
How did she do it? I demanded, desperate to get some semblance of my impenetrable vampire back.
Our surroundings trembled and stuttered in and out of existence. The clouds, the hill, the house, and the well all blurred and spun like an old-fashioned slot machine. We zoomed upward on the invisible platform as colors swirled once again, and when we stopped, a different kind of vision overwhelmed me, this time shown as though I watched a movie screen in 3D.
I saw him dragged away by the men from the basement. Then the elevator halted. Julian knocked out the one on his left, but when he turned, the general was there instead of the other soldier. He froze and I gasped. But it wasn’t the general whose eyes glowed yellow as he opened his mouth with razor-sharp teeth. The scent of something burning wafted into the vision, reminding me of the smell he’d described as associated with the murderer. Then the picture shifted to Julian, struggling against the not-general on the table. But the giant man pressed the silver cuffs on his wrists up to his neck, and the skin I’d kissed on the beach sizzled and puckered with welts. Then the general shoved the wires in his temples with his free hand, and Julian stilled.
Tears spilled from my eyes as I watched him fall to the table, his clothing disintegrating into ash. The general released the cuffs, letting the vampire’s hands flop to his sides where the larger man strapped him in. Julian’s body faded into nothing. Then the general’s enormous hands morphed into dainty smaller ones and he whipped away from the table. A flash of white-tipped fur ended the moment.
She takes their form and their powers? My mind reeled as the weight of that truth sat heavy on my chest. I stumbled backward.
I have to go.
Don’t leave me, Annette. Julian begged with such unfiltered desperation that I felt physically ill. But I willed myself away from the pain and confusion I felt as he grasped for my mind. It hurt to leave him when he clearly wanted me there. Even if he wasn’t sure who I was. But I had to find Midori Jensen and get her to release Julian then bring that bitch to justice.
If only I hadn’t been so focused on getting to Julian when she brought us here, I could have incapacitated her. Why did I never think fast enough? Because I was a scientist and a psychic, not a spy or a combat specialist. I needed to focus on my strengths if I was going to do Julian any good.
“Anything?” Daphne asked softly as I stepped back from Julian, wiping at my face.
“Jensen morphed into the general and managed to subdue him. I saw the whole thing. Any luck finding her?”
Daphne shook her head, solemnly watching the empty space she knew to be the vampire. “The elevator won’t return. Hazel’s working on it. If we’re supposed to be here, it’s one thing, but she thinks Midori Jensen somehow prevented it from coming back. She should be able to fix that with magic.”
I sucked in a breath to steady myself. “Then let’s go see how she’s doing. That fox could be anywhere or anyone by now.”
Leading the way down the hall, I ran through scenarios in my head. Maybe if I could find a sample of her DNA, I could track her somehow or create a way to neutralize her power.
But when we reached the front of the passage, my vision from Hazel’s house came to life before me. Staring at each other stood identical Hazels, except one had glowing saffron eyes. Both witches’ fingertips crackled with green lightening as they circled each other. I came to a stop, holding out my hand, which was sadly devoid of power. In fact, I realized with panic, my powers had been used a lot already, and if someone were prepared to mentally fight my commands, I may not be able to wield my mind-bending more than one or two more times without passing out. I’d used my only Restore Charm yesterday and hadn’t yet replaced it. So that meant I’d have to reserve my magical energy.
“She mimics power as well as appearance?” Daphne asked, watching her hands spark just like the real Hazel’s.
