The Hot Zone (A Rainshadow Novel Book 3) (9 page)

“That means that, whoever it is, he has some idea of what I’ve become,” she whispered.

“I think so, yes.”

“Blankenship.”

“Or someone working for him.”

“Buzzkill and Hulk,” she said. “His so-called assistants. I wouldn’t have thought either of them could work trap energy, though. They seemed like traditional hunters who were jacked on steroids. Setting a trap requires a certain finesse, to say the least. One false move and the tangler gets caught in his own trap.”

“True.” Cyrus waited a beat. “Any idea why Blankenship would go to the trouble of trying to kidnap you? From what you’ve told me, it sounds like it would be simpler to find himself a new research subject.”

In spite of everything, she managed a grim smile. “I’ve got a pretty good idea of why he wants me back.”

“I’m listening.”

“Blankenship was using some kind of paranormal radiation to prepare the serum. I don’t have a lot of clear memories of the time I was locked in the dreamstate, but I do know that the crystal that he used in his experiments was vitally important to him. He kept it in a steel-and-glass strongbox. I sealed the container with a little fire lock before I escaped from the lab. Sealed the doorway of the lab, as well.”

Cyrus’s eyes sharpened. “Are you telling me that Blankenship needs you to unlock both his secret lab and the strongbox?”

“Yep.” She finished the last of the tisane and set the cup down. “Looks like I may have shot myself in the foot, doesn’t it? Now he’s out to kidnap me. And he’s got Kirk Morgan, the boss of the Gold Creek Guild, to help him.”

“You’re sure Morgan is his accomplice?”

“All I know is that Morgan left me behind after I diverted the river for him and his men. The kidnapper was waiting at just the right place in the Rainforest to grab me. What are the odds that was a coincidence?”

“I agree the kidnapper had help, but it could have come from someone else who was on that exploration team that day.”

Sedona wrinkled her nose. “I suppose so. But I saw Morgan’s face just before the gate closed. He knew what he was doing when he left me behind. I’m sure of that much.”

“Maybe.”

She shook her head. “None of this makes any sense, does it? Everyone knows that the Guild bosses do favors for each other all the time. Why send someone to kidnap me when it would be so much simpler to just ask the new Rainshadow Guild boss to pick me up and transport me back to Blankenship’s lab?”

“Another good question.”

Sedona went very still, her imagination conjuring a horrible possibility, one she had not even considered until now. Her pulse skittered. Her breath tightened in her chest and her senses flared. Cyrus watched her, waiting calmly for the verdict.

Lyle hopped into her lap and rumbled in concern. She put one hand on his furry body, taking comfort. With an effort of will, she forced herself to think logically.

“You’re wondering if I’m the one who set the trap, aren’t you?” Cyrus asked. “Or if I arranged to have someone else do it for me.”

She did not take her eyes off him. “It wasn’t you who set that trap tonight.”

“What makes you so sure?”

She moved one shoulder in a small shrug. “Among other things, it doesn’t seem like your style, for some reason. I think that if you wanted to take me down and ship me back to the lab you would be a little more direct and discreet about it.” She sighed. “I’d probably be on my way there, as we speak, in a private charter plane.” She looked down at Lyle. “And then there’s Lyle. He’s a pretty good judge of character. He seems to like you.”

“Good to know I’ve got him as a reference,” Cyrus said. “Getting back to your question, I think the reason that Morgan didn’t call on me for any favors—assuming Morgan is involved in this thing—is that he knows I would not be inclined to do one for him.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“The short story is that I’m a Jones and I’m Arcane. There’s a longer version but it’s complicated, and this is not a good time to go into old history. You need to get some sleep.”

Sedona got to her feet. She studied the hallway for a moment. “Not much in the way of evidence, is it?”

“No.” The corner of Cyrus’s mouth kicked up in a cool smile. “But I’m a Guild boss, remember? According to some folks, we don’t need much in the way of evidence. We make our own rules.”

She looked at him, trying to read his sorcerer’s eyes. “Do you really believe my story of what happened here tonight?”

“Yes.”

That was all he said but it was enough.

“Thanks.” She paused. “I know I need sleep but I’m not sure I will be able to get any tonight. I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

“Bad dreams?”

“Nightmares about my time in Blankenship’s lab,” she said.

“You used a lot of energy tonight fighting off the trap. It won’t be long before you crash. You’ll sleep and I’ll keep watch while you do. You’re safe, Sedona.”

She wasn’t sure where to go with that. She was dreading the deep sleep of the crash that always followed a major psi-drain. She did not like the idea of being vulnerable.

She went to the window and watched the waves of aurora light shift restlessly through the fog.

“Thanks,” she said. “I mean it. I appreciate your offer to act as a bodyguard tonight.”

He came to stand beside her at the window.

“No problem,” he said. “As a contract employee, you’re entitled to Guild protection.”

She started to remind him that she had not actually signed a contract but at that moment, the aurora flashed especially bright, illuminating the fog with a dazzling brilliance. Another shiver of intense awareness swept through her. The nervy, edgy sensation grew stronger.

Cyrus touched her shoulder. It was a slight, fleeting touch, meant only to calm her, but her senses reacted as if some of the aurora fire had sparked right through her. She went very still.

Cyrus watched her closely in the ghostly light. “Are you all right?”

She took a sharp breath. The fear she was trying to suppress was abruptly swamped by the cleansing fire of anger.

“Yes, damn it, I’m fine,” she said through set teeth. “But I sure as hell am not looking forward to crashing, especially not now that I know that Blankenship has found me and that he sent someone to take me back to that lab.”

Cyrus cupped her face between his hands.

“Take it easy,” he said. “I told you, I’d stay until dawn, remember?”

“I appreciate that but I hardly know you, and Blankenship or one of his people is out there somewhere in the night, waiting to grab me. I was just getting to the point where I could sleep again, thanks to Rachel’s tea and the fact that I felt safe here on Rainshadow. Now I’m back to square one.”

“I’ll deal with Blankenship.”

She hesitated, wanting to believe that Cyrus could do exactly what he said he could do.

“But what if Blankenship has the backing of the Chamber?” she said.

“I don’t think that’s the case but if it is, I’ll deal with the Chamber, too.”

“Really? And just how do you plan to do that? No offense, Jones, but it’s not like you’re the head of one of the big city-state Guilds. Rainshadow is a very small territory. Heck, the island itself isn’t even on most maps.”

Cyrus’s mouth curved slightly in a secretive smile. She could have sworn that there was a little more heat in his eyes.

“Trust me,” he said. “I can handle the Chamber.”

“The weird thing is that I do trust you.” She searched his face in the shadows. “Why is that?”

“Maybe because one of your ancestors, a woman named Arizona Snow, and one of my ancestors, Fallon Jones, had some history back on Earth.”

“What?”

“It doesn’t matter now. The important thing to remember is that the Joneses have a very long memory. You can consider me an old friend of the family, Sedona Snow.”

His mouth closed over hers before she could ask any more questions.

And suddenly her senses were on fire.

Energy splashed through her. The rush caught her and swept her away on a great wave of sensation.

She made a soft, urgent little sound, gripped Cyrus’s shoulders, and returned his kiss with all the heat that was burning inside her. His own talent flashed into full-rez mode, challenging her to a reckless paranormal duel. She met the midnight ice of his energy field with the blazing fires of her own psychic senses.

The clash of their auras was the most exhilarating experience she had ever known. For the first time since the Disaster, she felt free to let herself test the limits of her new talent. Thrill after thrill coursed through her. She did not have to be cautious with Cyrus. There was no need for restraint.

“You can handle my aura,” she whispered against his mouth.

“Anytime, sweetheart,” he said. His mouth shifted a little, deepening the already deep kiss. When he raised his head his eyes were pools of hot ice. “Anytime.”

The sexy edge on the word sent more chills of excitement across her senses. She reached up and pulled his mouth back down to hers. A daring recklessness drove her now.

The heat building between them threatened to outdo the fireworks produced by the aurora light. She had never been so thrillingly aroused in her life. She wrapped one jean-clad leg around his thigh. He groaned, caught her around the waist, and lifted her higher so that she could get both of her legs around him. She clung to him, kissing him wildly.

He swung around and braced her against the wall. Flattening one hand on the wooden paneling beside her head, he undid the front of her shirt. Her bra surrendered beneath his touch and then he was cupping one of her breasts in his palm. His thumb teased her nipple. His breathing roughened. She knew that she was pushing him to his limits and she savored the knowledge that she had the power to do it.

“Yes,” she whispered into his ear. “Yes. Tonight. Now.”

Another burst of aurora light lit up the room. Cyrus abruptly went very still. It was as if the pulse of paranormal energy outside had flipped a switch somewhere inside him. She could literally feel the mag-steel gates of his control slam into place.

“No,” he said. His voice was ragged but resolute. “Not tonight. You’re about to crash.”

“Not yet. Besides, I told you, I probably won’t be able to sleep at all tonight.”

“You’ll sleep. The crash is going to hit you hard.”

He eased her away from the wall, cradled her in his arms, and carried her toward the bedroom.

He was right. She knew it. But she did not have to like it. She told herself that after-burn sex was always a bad idea, the kind of sex a woman usually regretted in the morning. She had made it a long-standing rule to avoid it. After-burn sex was all hormones and hot psi; not real emotion.

But after-burn sex with Cyrus would have been different, she thought.

No, probably not.

The bedroom was lit with the same flashing paranormal shadows that blazed in the living room. Closing the drapes wouldn’t do much good. Much of the energy came from the paranormal end of the spectrum. It passed easily through fabric. Darkness would come only when her skyrocketing senses finally shut down for some extended rest, assuming they did shut down tonight.

Cyrus set her on her feet and pulled back the covers. The moment his hands left her body she felt the heaviness of the oncoming crash. She yawned and swayed a little.
After-burn sex was always a bad idea
.

“Thanks,” she said. “I guess.”

She sank down on the edge of the bed and started to remove her shoes.

Cyrus watched her for a moment. “Are you going to be all right?”

“Sure, just peachy. Go on, get out of here. You don’t need to keep watch until morning, really.”

“I’m staying. Lyle will be my backup. Between the two of us, no one else will bother you tonight.”

She wanted to protest, but at the same time logic told her that she could not risk becoming sleep-deprived. Sleep-deprivation had disturbing effects on the paranormal senses. Besides, she didn’t think she could ward off the crash for much longer.

She had to rest and recover, and that meant, for now, she would have to trust Cyrus Jones. To her vague astonishment she fell hard into a dreamless sleep.

One kiss would never be enough. Not with Sedona Snow.

Cyrus found a coffee machine on the tiled counter. There was a jar of ground coffee next to it. He set about making a pot of caffeine, his senses, both normal and paranormal, still dazzled by the one kiss.

It was going to be a long night, not because he would have trouble fending off sleep—he could use psi and coffee to take care of that problem—but because he was going to be spending the hours until morning alone in the living room. The fantasies would be murder. He needed to find something to take his mind off the lady he was supposed to be protecting.

Lyle bounded up onto the counter to watch the coffee-making process. He clutched a bright bit of quartz in one paw. The stone had come from a collection of small stones arranged on the windowsill. He gazed at the coffeepot, evidently entranced by the sight of the brewed coffee dripping into the glass carafe.

“You like coffee?” Cyrus said. “Guess we’ll both be a little buzzed on caffeine tonight.”

His phone rang. He unclipped it from his belt, saw Marlowe’s code, and took the call.

“I thought you were going to bed,” he said.

“I am but I wanted to let you know that I found something on Blankenship,” Marlowe said. Excitement laced her voice. “Not much, but it’s a start and it looks promising. Blankenship joined the staff of the Gold Creek Guild’s medical division and worked at Amber Crest Hospital for nearly a decade. He did some pioneering work in the field of psi-burn treatment. His career has been nothing short of stellar. He’s been a leader in devising new therapies designed to treat ghost hunters and others who have suffered serious trauma to the para-senses.”

“What happened to him?”

“He resigned his position nearly a year ago. He didn’t exactly disappear but he’s been keeping a very low profile ever since he left Amber Crest. He does some consulting and occasionally attends a para-psych conference but mostly he’s become something of a recluse as far as I can tell.”

“Does it look like he might have the kind of scientific background it would take to re-create the formula?”

“Who knows what it takes to re-create the drug?” Marlowe said. “All I can tell you at this point is that his resume is very strong in the fields of chemistry and something called Extreme Paranormal Radiation Therapy. That last field was his specialty at Amber Crest. It’s not considered to be mainstream medicine. Highly experimental.”

“Sedona said that Blankenship used a special crystal to irradiate the serum. Does he have any connection to Arcane?”

“You’re wondering how he might have discovered the old formula, aren’t you? The answer is, I haven’t been able to find any link between Blankenship and Arcane but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. A lot of the colonists who were members drifted away from the Society after they arrived on Harmony. The thinking was that this would be the land of milk and honey for people with genuine psychic talents. Who needed a secretive, fuddy-duddy, Old World organization that was founded by a freaky alchemist?”

“In other words, the Society has lost track of a lot of its members.”

“Right. There’s no telling how a version of the formula fell into Blankenship’s hands. But one thing’s for sure. The old genie is out of the bottle.”

“Anything new on Sedona Snow?” he asked.

“Nothing more than what you already know. Both of her parents were married to other people when they had an affair. The birth of Sedona was a massive embarrassment to both sides of her family, blah, blah, blah. Evidently her parents didn’t care about the social stigma. They were both academics specializing in para-archaeology. They were killed in an explosion of some kind while excavating one of the ruin sites.”

“Sedona was thirteen at the time,” Cyrus said. “Just coming into her talent.”

“Right. The families of her parents had certain legal obligations, which they dutifully carried out. The Snows and the Callahans packed her off to a fancy boarding school and dumped her out into the world, alone, at eighteen. From what I can tell, Sedona hasn’t had much, if any, contact with either of her families since the day she graduated from that boarding school,” Marlowe said.

He had only known Sedona for a few hours but he had a hunch it would take a hell of a lot to make her go to her relatives to ask for help with anything—money, a job, or introductions to potential marriage partners.

“The fact that she is so alone in the world might be one of the reasons Blankenship decided to use her in his research experiments,” Marlow said.

“He knew that no one would look too hard if she went missing,” Cyrus said.

“Anyone who had decided to look for her would have to have been in a position to apply pressure to the Gold Creek Guild or else fund a private search-and-rescue operation,” Marlowe said.

“The Snows could have done both.”

“So could Brock Prescott, her ex–MC husband,” Marlowe said. “But he didn’t bother.”

“The son-of-a-bitch.” Cyrus tightened his grip on the phone. “How did Sedona end up working for the Guilds?”

“She came into her gatekeeping talent in high school. There’s not a lot you can do with that talent except open gates and control energy rivers in the Underworld. After she graduated she started taking contracts. She made good money and used it to put herself through a couple of years of college before eventually leaving to work full-time in the Underworld.” Marlowe paused.

“How did she meet her ex?”

“In the course of a Guild contract job. Prescott’s company does a lot of business in the Rainforest. Prescott was touring one of the company projects and met Sedona. Evidently they hit it off right from the start. Prescott asked her out to dinner. The rest is the usual sort of MC history.”

“Anything else?”

“That’s it for now,” Marlowe said. “I’ll pursue the Blankenship and Amber Crest leads in the morning. How’s the monster-hunting going?”

“Haven’t done any hunting yet. But something interesting did happen tonight.”

“What?”

“Someone set a psi-trap for Sedona.”

“Good grief. Were you able to get medical attention for her there on the island?”

“She’s okay.” Cyrus looked toward the bedroom hall. “She’s asleep now.”

“How can she be okay if she tripped a trap?”

“Her talent saved her. She’s strong.” No need to mention that it was Sedona’s new talent that had protected her. Marlowe would be seriously alarmed if she thought that the experiments on Sedona had been successful.

“Hmm,” Marlowe said.

“It was a close call but she’s all right,” Cyrus said smoothly. “The point is that it looks like someone—most likely Blankenship—tried to grab her tonight.”

There was a taut silence on the other end of the line.

“Are you absolutely certain that she stumbled into a trap?” Marlowe asked. “By all accounts, she must have been badly burned on her last job. It’s a wonder she survived whatever Blankenship did to her. She might be suffering some serious side effects. Hallucinations and bad dreams are not uncommon in such situations.”

“The trap was real. Trust me.”

“Guess that means you’ve got other problems on Rainshadow besides finding Sedona Snow and hunting monsters.”

“Looks like it.”

“Where are you now?”

“Playing bodyguard while Sedona sleeps off the post-burn buzz. She used a lot of energy evading the trap tonight.”

“Bodyguard? That sounds . . . cozy.”

“Got to go now, Marlowe. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

He ended the call before Marlowe could ask any more questions.

The coffee was ready. Cyrus poured a cup for himself and then put some in a shallow bowl for Lyle. He carried the mug and Lyle’s bowl into the living room and set the coffees on the table in front of the sofa.

Lyle chortled and hopped up onto the table. He put down the quartz pebble that he had been playing with and headed straight for the bowl of coffee.

“It’s hot,” Cyrus warned.

He picked up the chunk of quartz. It glittered an attractive shade of yellow and gold, illuminated from the inside by some kind of energy. When he rezzed his senses the quartz went dark. The currents deep within the stone flatlined.

He sent the quartz spinning across the table. The little rock fell over the edge and landed on the hardwood floor.

Distracted from his coffee, Lyle chortled and chased after the quartz. He hopped down, retrieved the rock, and bounded back up onto the table. He gave it to Cyrus who sent it skittering once more across the table, this time with more force. It shot over the side of the table with some momentum.

Gleefully, Lyle charged after the rock.

Cyrus used his phone to go online. He was making notes on the cursory search-and-rescue operation that had been launched by the Gold Creek Guild after Sedona was reported missing when another phone chimed.

He got to his feet and followed the trail of sound until he saw Sedona’s phone sitting in a charger on an end table. There was no movement from the bedroom. Sedona had crashed. It would take an earthquake or a volcanic eruption to wake her for the next few hours.

He looked down at the screen of Sedona’s phone. The caller ID gave no name, just a phone number. He recognized the Resonance city-state code.

Like the other city-states, Resonance was a large, sprawling region that encompassed the city itself, as well as miles of outlying suburbs and agricultural areas. A lot of people lived in Resonance, including many of the members of the Callahan family, Sedona’s mother’s clan.

“Could be a coincidence,” Cyrus said to Lyle.

Lyle consumed the last of his coffee and bounded off the low table. He fluttered across the room to play with his collection of quartz stones on the windowsill. The phone stopped ringing. After a moment an icon appeared. The caller had left a message.

“According to the file, Sedona has been estranged from both sides of her family for years,” Cyrus said quietly to Lyle. “It’s entirely possible she has some other connections in Resonance City, but if so they aren’t in the file, which is pretty damn complete. I think we have to assume that Sedona’s mother’s people are trying to get hold of her.”

Evidently unconcerned by the question, Lyle continued to arrange and rearrange his quartz collection.

Cyrus went back to his research.

Toward dawn he thought he heard a faint, distant roar. He jacked up his senses. The sound emanated from inside the Preserve. It could have been thunder. But it also could have been the hunting cry of a great beast of prey.

Over on the windowsill, Lyle sleeked out. His second set of eyes opened. He looked hard into the night.

“It’s okay,” Cyrus said. “The experts from the Foundation are sure the critters can’t escape the Preserve. Then again, experts have been known to be wrong.”

Lyle continued to stare fixedly out the window. After a moment Cyrus put down his computer and went across the room to see what had fascinated the dust bunny.

The aurora energy had all but disappeared. The fog was lifting slowly and so was the heavy darkness that presaged dawn. Cyrus could just make out the gates of the Shadow Bay Cemetery.

As he and Lyle watched, the flat gravestone inside the locked cage swung open. The eerie green glow of the Underworld briefly illuminated two shadowy figures as they emerged from the catacombs. Between the lingering fog and the paranormal shadows spilling out of the gravesite, Cyrus could not even be sure if the figures were male or female.

One of the pair quickly lowered the gravestone back into place. Darkness descended again. But a moment later the narrow beam of a flashlight speared the predawn gloom.

Cyrus watched the flashlight change direction as the figures hurried out of the mag-steel cage and disappeared into the trees.

So much for Foundation security at the entrance to the catacombs. The question was, who would want to take the risk of going down into the Underworld alone in the middle of the night?