VISIONS OF HEAT

“I know a couple of cops we can trust,” Clay replied, surprising her. “If they make the arrest, it’ll be legal.”


“And the killer will be out by nightfall, sprung by the Council. He’ll disappear into the Net, never to be seen again.” Sascha’s voice was grim. “They’ll either kill him to ensure no one learns of the breakdown in the Protocol, or if he’s one of theirs gone rogue, attempt to reinstate control.”

Lucas dropped his feet to the porch and leaned over to kiss his mate. Softening, she curled her fingers around his biceps, but Lucas’s eyes were narrowed when he turned back to them. “Sascha’s right. We saw what happened last time.”

Anger was suddenly alive in the air. Faith happened to be looking at Sascha and saw the other cardinal breathe deeply several times, eyes going the pure black of a Psy expending large amounts of power. The anger level dropped.

“I can take care of him.” Judd sounded like he was talking about the weather. “Even from a distance.”

Faith’s stomach curdled. “No. We can’t commit one murder to stop another.” She’d thought to do precisely that, but that had been in the red-hot heat of anger. She was no stone-cold killer.

“You have a better idea?” Judd asked, something very much like insolence in his otherwise icy tone.

“Back off,” Vaughn said, in a very quiet voice. She could hear a difference from his reaction to Clay—he was dangerous this time, where before he’d been issuing a warning. “You’re here because you helped save Sascha’s life, but that only goes so far.”

The other male’s smile was humorless. “It doesn’t go far at all.”

Faith was a babe at understanding emotion, but it seemed to her that the Psy wanted a physical fight. What could possibly inspire that kind of death wish? Even if Judd was an Arrow, Vaughn was a jaguar.

“Wait, I do have an idea.”

Everyone looked at her.

“Incapacitate him.” She stared at Judd. “Tie his mind up in mental ropes he’ll never be able to break.”

“What makes you think I can do that?” Judd stared back, daring her.

“If Arrows exist, then you were an Arrow.” She heard Sascha gasp. “A telepathic Arrow is likely to be trained in all sorts of things.”

He didn’t deny either her accusation or her guess about his Tp status. “It’ll send him insane. Imagine never being able to act out any of your impulses—he’ll function, but only on a very basic level.”

Faith felt fury arc through her. “Then that will be his life sentence.” At least he’d have a life to live, unlike Marine and the other women he’d killed. And there had definitely been others. His appetite was too certain, his tastes too set.

“Will you have to hack the PsyNet to do what Faith’s suggesting?” Lucas asked. “Will they be able to track it back to you?”

“No, I can do it telepathically, but it’s a specialized skill. They’ll deduce that they have an unknown renegade, but they already know that.” He didn’t explain why. “However, it’ll involve getting through his protective walls.”

“How hard will that be?”

“He has to have considerable power given what Sascha’s told me about his effect on Faith, but he’s going to be in the grip of the killing instinct. Anyone affected by strong emotion becomes vulnerable. He’s going to be no exception.” He looked at Faith, unblinking, eerily focused. “If you distract him at a critical moment, it’ll ensure I get through.”

Vaughn’s growl was almost too low for Psy hearing, but she felt it in her bones. “She’s not going anywhere near the son of a bitch.”

“Vaughn, listen—”

“No way in hell, Red. Forget about it.”

“It needn’t be physical,” she said. “I could just brush up against him telepathically. He’d recognize my mental scent.”

“Because he’s somehow able to connect to you through the visions?” Sascha clearly remembered their earlier conversation.

“Yes. I see the future, but I see it through the lens of his mind,” she explained for the sake of the others. “It’s as if we experience the visions together. . . .” Her mouth fell open. “An F-Psy. He must be one of my designation.” The implications were staggering.

“Maybe,” Judd broke in. “But before we get into that, are you sure you can identify him?”

“Yes. Don’t worry that you’ll be incapacitating an innocent man.”

“I’m Psy. Worry is a changeling emotion.”

She wondered which one of them he was trying to convince, because the truth was, Judd was no longer Psy. He’d ceased to exist in the PsyNet, probably been written off as dead. And now he lived in a different world. “I’ll know. I’ve seen his face.”

All sound ceased.





CHAPTER 23





Judd picked up the logical disconnect in milliseconds. “You just said the visions are from his point of view.”

“They are.”

“Then how, Red?” Though there was no anger in Vaughn’s voice, she knew he had to be asking himself why she hadn’t told him earlier.