Кей Хупер - Whisper of Evil

"I know," she murmured. "I felt that too."

"And you felt it whenever I'd start thinking about trying to find you. Because almost as soon as I'd think about it, I'd know you didn't want me to. That's all, just that strong negative, that refusal. Stay away .

Sometimes I thought I was just imagining it, yet part of me knew I wasn't."

"Max —"

"You could warn me off, deliberately, but you couldn't tell me why you'd run away, or where you were, or even if you were building a happy life for yourself. And I couldn't tell, not from the little that got through. But I knew there were hurts and worries and fears. And I knew you were alone."

"Sometimes it's best to be alone."

Max nodded as if he'd expected the answer. "That's really it, isn't it, Nell? You have to be alone, have to keep that door between us closed as much as you can, because you're convinced the Gallagher curse really is a curse, something unnatural, dark, even evil. You're convinced that sooner or later it will drive you insane."

Nell drew a breath and released it on a little laugh that held no amusement whatsoever. "Why should I be the exception? It drove the rest of them mad, so why not me?"

Quietly, Max said, "I know the stories. After you left, I did a little research. So I know most of the Gallaghers who claimed psychic abilities ended up… under medical supervision."

"You mean ended up in padded cells screaming their guts out," she corrected. "All of them did, as a matter of fact. Sooner or later. Some, like my grandmother, lived to old age with their wits reasonably intact, so they were only called eccentric by their families and neighbors. I understand she was fairly rational right up until the last few months of her life. By then she had to be restrained."

"Nell —"

"She was a Gallagher cousin, you know, as well as marrying my grandfather. Her father died in a lunatic asylum. Going back two hundred years, long before they settled in Silence, the Gallaghers lost at least one in every generation to stark raving insanity. And they all had the curse. Of course, they didn't call it that back then. They actually called it a gift. Even a blessing. In whispers. 'She has a gift.' 'He has the sight.' And it drove every one of them out of their minds."

"It won't happen to you."

"No? How do you know that, Max, when nobody else can offer me a guarantee? I told you once that not even the doctors can be sure what's going on inside my brain, but most of them agree that all that electrical energy they can see on their various tests doesn't really bode well."

"I know it won't happen to you because I've been inside that brain of yours, Nell." His hands slid underneath her shoulders, holding her as if he feared she would try to escape him. "I've felt the strength and power of it, and I've felt that cool, confident reason at the center of your mind. Christ, you're the sanest person I know."

"Maybe now. But what happens later? Do you realize that there isn't even a name for what I can do? I see into time. Literally into time."

"Places have memories, that's what you said."

"Yes. And tapping into those memories at least has a rational explanation, one I partly understand and can accept as reasonable. But I can't explain how I can see something that hasn't happened yet. And I can't explain how I could find myself in Ethan's home watching him have an argument with Hailey that took place more than a year ago. And I sure as hell can't explain how I was able to be there, actually there in the past. She saw me, Max. Hailey turned around and saw me there."

His arms tightened around her. "You're sure?"

"Positive. I was there, physically there in the past." She forced a laugh. "Still think I'm not losing my mind?"

"Is that why you said… When you came out of that vision, the first word you said was evil . Was that why? Because your abilities worked in a way they never had before and you were convinced it was something evil?"

"I don't remember saying that, but probably. It's what I feel. What I've always felt. And it's stronger now, so much stronger. Max… you can't deny you've felt it too. That darkness in me. The blackouts coming more often and more suddenly. 1 think… I'm afraid it's just the beginning of the end."

"I don't accept that." He was tempted to repeat what Galen had told him about Bishop's private concerns, that Nell's blackouts could be at least partly due to something she was unconsciously repressing, but he was afraid it would do more harm than good. The human brain tended to repress information or experiences only for very good reasons, and the only thing he was sure of was that forcing her to face anything like that before she was ready to was a very bad idea.

"I know you don't accept it." Nell smiled faintly. "Hey, I hope you're right."

"But just in case I'm not, the door stays closed."

"Most of the time." Her arms slipped up around his neck. "But not all the time. You asked me earlier today if I could have settled for something ordinary, something that wasn't half of what we had together. I couldn't. Max, this is the one good thing that ever came of the Gallagher curse. And whatever the price is, I'll pay it."

"Jesus, Nell —"

She kissed him, inviting him closer. Closer. Opening the door.

Galen had long ago perfected the knack of napping like a cat, all his senses alert, at least half his mind completely aware of his surroundings even as the other half rested. A twenty-minute nap now and then, and he could function at top efficiency for weeks. He could also respond instantly to a threat or any summons.

Which is why when a call came though his cell phone, set to vibrate rather than ring, he was answering it while his eyes were still opening.

"Yeah."

"Anything to report?"

"Nothing to speak of. I told you what went on at the powwow after it broke up. Byers and Shelby Theriot are long gone, probably back at her place."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. They had that look."

"What about Nell and Max Tanner?"

"Well, he hasn't left yet." Galen checked his watch. "After midnight. I'd say he's there for the duration. There are still lights on downstairs, but the lamp in Nell's bedroom went out a few minutes ago."

"You don't see or hear anything that troubles you?"

"Looks and sounds like a peaceful night. I hear bullfrogs and crickets, even an owl. Not a thing suspicious stirring out here in these woods. And since our killer struck so recently, I'd say it would take something seriously threatening to set him off again so soon."

"So you're feeling unnecessary as a watchdog?"

"Pretty much. Tanner's hardly let her out of his sight, and I'd back him no matter what the fight was about, so she's in good hands."

"Then maybe this would be a good time for us to meet."

"Isn't that taking a chance?"

"Yeah, but I've got a few things I want to show you, and I can't stay out of touch too long. Better if we meet up closer to town."

"And we're less visible in the middle of the night. Okay. Say where."

SUNDAY, MARCH 26

Doing his meditation thing was a bit harder than usual, not because he was particularly tired but because he was keyed up. So he had to calm himself first, really meditate and get centered and balanced.

That was all bullshit, of course.

What he really had to do was take that leap of faith that was required whenever one left one's body. He had wondered idly more than once what would happen if somebody found his body while he was out of it. He'd used a camcorder to tape himself once, curious to see what his body looked like when he was gone, and had been disappointed to find that he'd merely looked like he was dozing.

But what if somebody tried to wake him? Would that jerk him back into his body? Or would touching him at all break the fragile connection that kept him tied to that husk of muscle and bone?