Кей Хупер - Blood Ties

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

They were silent for the remainder of the walk to the B&B. It was nearly dark when they got there. Bright porch lights already burned, and through the screen door they could hear the low hum of conversation as agents and cops took advantage of their hostess’s offer to serve coffee and sandwiches to the troops. Instead of entering through the front door, they slipped around to the darkened rear stairs that led up to the second-floor balcony.

Miranda went up, followed by Dean, and knocked lightly on the door to her suite before going in. “We’re home,” she called quietly.

Dean Ramsey came out of the bathroom, holstering his gun. “Damn, you’re quiet as cats. I barely had time to duck into the bathroom.” He stared at his double, shaking his head unconsciously. “Could you de-glamour yourself, please?”

“Don’t use a magick term. This isn’t magick.”

“It sure as hell looks like magick.”

“Like everything else, it’s just energy. And a shift in perspective.”

“Well, could you please tell Ruby to cut it out, or shift it the other way, or whatever it is she’s doing? Because looking at a mirror image talking back to me is creepy as hell.”

“Sorry.” Thanks, Ruby. You can let go now .

There was a peculiar sort of shimmer in the air—or so it seemed—and Bishop stood there.

Dean shook his head. “That little girl has a scary gift.”

Sober, Bishop said, “It’s powerful, all right, even more than it was a few months ago. But I don’t want to put too much strain on her by having her hold it unnecessarily.”

“So I get to be me?”

“If you don’t mind. Did you get any sleep?”

“I caught a nap.”

“Good. You’re on until midnight. Go back down the outer stairs and in the front. You’re here to pick up a couple of agents to relieve Tony and Jaylene in the command center.”

“Copy that. And tomorrow?”

“I’ll let you know in the morning.”

“Okay. You two try to get some rest, huh? Even if all goes according to your plan, tomorrow’s gonna be a real bitch.”

“Good night, Dean,” Miranda said.

“‘Night.” He slipped out onto the balcony, closing the door behind him.

Miranda locked the door, unfastened her vest and dropped it into a chair with a faint grimace, and went into Bishop’s arms. “God, I’ve missed you,” she said.

He held her tightly, nuzzling his face into her neck. “I’ve missed you too, love. But it’s nearly over now.”

“You’ve talked to Gabe and Roxanne?”

“We managed to meet up just after I went out there as Dean.”

Miranda nodded. It was normal for her to communicate with him telepathically a great deal when they were alone. But not this time. “What about Galen?”

“I hate not warning him,” Bishop admitted quietly. “Hate not telling him what we know now. But it could be the only edge we’ll have tomorrow.”

“He’ll forgive us. I hope. And Bailey?”

“She knows. It goes against the grain for her to leave Ruby unshielded, but there’s no other way. Powerful as she is, Ruby won’t be able to maintain the illusions we’ll need tomorrow if she’s behind Bailey’s shield.”

Miranda drew back just far enough to look up at him. “As much as she’s our edge, Ruby is also a potential danger. To us—and to herself. Galen knows what she can do, so they have to be wondering where she fits in.”

“Maybe not. Bailey says Galen’s locked up tight. Maybe tight enough.”

“And if not?”

“The unpredictable variable. There’s always at least one.”

She nodded. “Brisco?”

“On his way to the hospital. Maybe there by now. I had a slight head start only because my jet was fueled and ready to go.”

“Are they okay up there? At the hospital? I haven’t been able to sense a damn thing outside our connection.”

“Yeah, I felt the effects as soon as we touched down. Samuel had some very apt pupils.” He shook his head, then added, “Quentin’s holding on. I think Hollis and Reese are trying to help Diana.” He shook his head. “I’m still not sure whether alerting her to possible deception in the gray time was a good idea.”

“It put her on guard. And she needed to be.”

“Yeah. But assuming all that ends well, when she finds out I sent a strange psychic into the gray time with her, she’s liable to be… a little upset.”

Miranda smiled ruefully but said, “I wish we could see how it turns out, for Diana and Quentin. So we’d know.”

“That one’s out of our hands, love.”

“I know. Still.”

He kissed her, and they stood there for a long time just holding each other. Finally Bishop said, “You didn’t get any rest at all last night. You need to sleep. Especially now, you need to sleep.”

“I’m fine.” She smiled up at him. “And I’ll sleep. Later.”

Hollis wasted no time in grabbing Diana by the hand and pulling her into the nearest alleyway. “We can circle around the back while he’s checking the front. He’ll never see me.”

“Sooner or later he will. And then he’ll know you came through a door. He’ll know you can get out even if I can’t.”

“You’re going to get out,” Hollis told her, keeping her voice low. “I’ll be damned if I’ll leave you here after all this.” She was pulling Diana along.

“You don’t understand. That’s Samuel. He wants out of the gray time. He wants to live again. And we can’t let him do that.”

“He wants to live again? You mean in the flesh? Is that possible?”

“Yes,” Diana replied simply. “If he gets out. If he can possess a living host.”

“Possession is real too?” Hollis shook her head. “Damn, I love my job. Learn something new every day.”

“Hollis—”

“Diana, all we have to do right now is get out of here without Samuel seeing us use the door. Right?”

“But someone else could—”

“What, come here and let him out? If nobody’s come in all this time since he died, I think we can probably feel safe in leaving him here for another week or two. Until you’re stronger, until you’re healed. And, in the meantime, we’ll figure out how to keep his ass here for good.”

“Not for good,” Diana murmured, thinking. “Only until his energy is… pulled apart. Forced out of here. As long as the door to our side is closed until that happens, he’ll have to cross over.”

“Great. Then we just have to keep our door closed.”

“By making sure I don’t go to sleep?”

“We’ll think of something. The point is that you need to leave here, get back to your body. I didn’t pour all my energy into healing you just so you’d look good in a coffin.”

As intended, the words shocked Diana out of her lethargy. “Damn, you can be hard-nosed.”

“When it comes to saving my friends, you bet I can.” She pulled Diana into another alleyway and crept toward the front of the building. Peeking around quickly, she saw the fake Quentin. “Okay, he’s more than a block down and still moving away. We should have time to get out of here.”

“You can’t leave yet.”

Hollis started, then stared at Brooke. “Where’d you come from? Never mind, never mind.”

“Diana can’t leave yet. She has truths to uncover.”

“She has a body to get back to,” Hollis told her.

“No,” Diana said. “Brooke told me when—when I was shot that I came here to uncover truths. If that’s the rule, I can’t leave until I do it.”

Hollis bit back a sigh of impatience. “This is more your world than mine, that’s for sure. Okay, so which truths?” She took another quick peek around the corner to make sure Samuel-as-Quentin was still moving away from them.