Part 8 (1/2)

”I see.” Her gaze ran over her husband, pausing on his bare head. From her thoughts, I could see his words weren't completely unusual, as he often entertained Hunters, but the only place she ever saw him without his hat was in bed. ”You don't need any more coffee? Croissants?”

”No, dear.” Emerson a.s.sured her. ”What you already brought is perfect.”

”Okay. Well, if you're busy here, Josi and I are going to take Sierra shopping. She's actually up, if you can believe that. She's excited about finding something to wear for her date tonight.”

”I'm sure she'll find something beautiful with your help.” Emerson swiped a hand over the moisture beading on his forehead.

After Charlaine left, we all returned to the library, with Emerson stopping where the rooms adjoined to pull out pocket doors on either side of the wide doorway. I hadn't noticed them before, and they were flimsy enough to still give me worry, but the lock should at least give us warning if anyone approached.

Mari had moved Brody, and blood stained the white carpet where he'd lain. Two spots several inches wide where the blood had leaked down on either side of his neck. Not a lot, but enough that it would cause immediate notice. Emerson stepped over the marks and knelt by his son, taking his hand. ”He has a pulse.” Amazement filled his voice.

”You accuse me of working with Unbounded,” Keene said, ”and here you have one in your own household.”

”Apparently, I was right about you.” Emerson looked up at Mari with a pointed stare. ”Want to tell me how she can move so fast?”

Things were growing more complicated by the moment. Before we left, I would probably have to knock him unconscious and remove his memory of Mari.

”Let's focus on your son.” I put acid in my voice. ”You have some explaining to do.”

Emerson's gaze dropped to Brody. The wound was noticeably healing now, and relief vied with horror on Emerson's face. ”He's not my son.”

”Yes, he is.” I wanted to shake him.

”I mean, he is, but he's adopted. Both our kids are. We couldn't have children, and I admit, I was worried about pa.s.sing on the gene. I know with each generation it becomes less likely, but it's happened, and I've seen good men have to . . .”

The scenes of carnage in his mind made me sick. ”The Emporium must have had a hand in your adoption process.”

Emerson frowned. ”Why would they? I'm well-known in Hunter society, and they listen to me, but I'm a busy man. I haven't been on an actual hunt since before Brody was born.”

”But you do pa.s.s on orders to others.” Amazingly, I kept the bitterness to myself.

He shook his head. ”I'm in the Hunter Circle, and I do give orders, but there are many others who are far more active. We made sure that no one man would have total control. We couldn't risk that the Emporium would be able to put an end to us, to our work.”

Emporium. He'd singled them out again.

”So,” I said viciously. ”He's unconscious now. You can call your friends. They can dispatch him for you.”

Emerson's eyes grew wide and his expression contorted. ”No, no. Not my son. I can't.” His voice grew stronger, his eyes hard. ”I won't.”

”Even if he's not working for the Emporium already, they'll be watching, waiting for him to Change.” Keene leaned against the back of the couch, looking considerably worse for wear. Not at all like his usual self.

Emerson's head swung back and forth. ”No, they won't know.”

”Of course they will.” Keene's lip curled in a sneer. ”The Emporium has been foisting their offspring on mortals for years, tampering with genetics to get a higher rate of Unbounded and checking back to see if they Change. Likely they picked you because of your position with the Hunters. Probably trying to get a man inside. Your son's about thirty, isn't he? The Change usually takes place between thirty-one and thirty-three. Oh, yeah, they'll be watching and waiting to pounce, to convert him to their cause.”

”Brody would never-” Emerson began.

”You'd be surprised what people will do to survive, especially once that gene kicks in. Like you, I've been hunting Unbounded all my adult life,” Keene said. ”I know.”

Renegade Unbounded, he meant, but a chill ran over me that had nothing to do with his former allegiance. That sensation I sometimes had in my gut was screaming warning. With a sinking feeling I realized we shouldn't have come here at all. Because while the Emporium might not have noticed Brody's Change before, it was likely that the sensing Emporium agent from last night had noticed him as I'd been noticed, and while the Emporium might delay contacting him because of more pressing matters, they'd keep a closer eye on him. Especially knowing Ava had sent us to the hotel last night. They would worry that she'd have identified Brody's nature, and Keene and I were well enough known by the Emporium that our coming here would set off all kinds of alarms.

I pushed out my thoughts, pa.s.sing the walls of the townhouse and into the street. Life forces gleamed as people careened by in cars or moved more sedately on the sidewalk. The blocked life forces were easy to locate: two seated in front of the building, probably in a car. Two more across the street. They hadn't been there when we'd entered, but at least one of them had been nearby to alert the others. Or they had the place on electronic surveillance.

Only four agents? I doubted it. Not for three of us. They'd want to be sure-and that meant at least one more, a sensing Unbounded who could hide from me and could possibly hide other agents as well.

If Keene hadn't come, I'd s.h.i.+ft out with Mari. As it was, he'd created a liability we might not survive. I stepped over to Keene, motioning for Mari to join us.

”He's not with them, I tell you,” Emerson insisted, fear showing as red blotches on his face. ”He'd never join them.”

”s.h.i.+elds,” I said in an undertone to the others as we ignored Emerson. Mostly I spoke for Mari's benefit and I was relieved when the worried excitement she'd been broadcasting vanished. ”They're here. At least five. Possibly more.”

Keene's face looked pained. Any other day, I'd tease him, but this was too serious.

”I can s.h.i.+ft to the compound and tell Ritter,” Mari said.

”He won't be able to get here in time. I'm betting they'll wait to attack until we leave, to see if we have Brody with us.” At least the four seemed to be staying in place. I wished I knew where the sensing Unbounded was. Or was I only imagining the additional trouble?

”What is it?” Emerson asked, looking up at us from his place on the floor next to Brody.

I stared at him, an idea coming to me. ”I think they might have noticed your son's Change. Maybe that's why the Unbounded were there last night. For him.” I didn't believe that last part was true. The Emporium's primary purpose for being at the fundraiser had to be to protect Patrick Mann and also his father, though we didn't yet know why the vice president would be in danger. Still, it didn't hurt to plant the idea in Emerson's head.

Emerson's breath came faster. ”Please, help him. Help us.”

”Of course we will.” I reached for my coat over the arm of the couch, removing a syringe with a smaller needle and handing it to Keene. By the size, he'd know what it was for. ”They probably want Brody to give them your genealogy records, but as long as those records aren't here, they have no reason to break in right away. The records aren't here, are they?” Of course, I already knew they were upstairs in his safe, and my whole premise was absurd, because the Emporium's main goal would be to get Brody and convince him to work for them, knowing he could get the records later. Only our presence-Renegade presence-would make them act earlier, but in Emerson's highly emotional state, I doubted he'd notice details.

Emerson choked. ”They're-they're . . . oh, they're in my safe.” He thought about the safe behind the picture above the fireplace in his upstairs bedroom, and I could see the combination in his mind. Interesting what a little suggestion could do.

”Don't worry,” I said. ”We'll help you. We're all in this together.”

A sudden gasp cut through the silence in the room. All heads turned toward Brody, who was breathing now, his eyes rolling in fear. A ghastly hoa.r.s.e sound came from his throat.

”It's okay,” his father soothed, patting his hand. ”It's okay. Rest. You'll be fine.”

”Don't try to talk yet.” Keene was already in place behind Emerson. ”You'll heal soon enough.” He lowered the needle into Emerson's neck, pressing the plunger.

”What? Wh-” Emerson keeled over, sprawling across his son.

Keene dropped to his knees next to Brody. ”Sleep,” he said, injecting a larger portion of liquid from the syringe into Brody. ”This will help with the pain.”

Brody lapsed back into unconsciousness, though with his accelerated metabolism and the curequick, it wouldn't last long. I knelt between him and his father, placing a hand on Emerson's forehead and pus.h.i.+ng my thoughts down. Instantly I was in his mind. Instead of the sand stream of thoughts that existed during consciousness, a lake glistened below me. I dove inside the liquid, swimming deeper. Most unconscious minds were symbolized by lakes, but a few weren't and I was happy not to have to learn a new system. Bubbles containing thoughts circled around me and I carefully extracted a few: Mari s.h.i.+fting, his later thoughts about her, the needle going into his neck. The memory segments were short and his attention so riveted on his son, that I doubted he'd even notice their absence. I was tempted to remove the entire meeting, but that would leave a black hole he'd certainly question. Besides, he needed to know about his son.

Seconds later, I was diving into the lake of Brody's mind, extracting only the very last memory of seeing his father drugged. It wasn't more than a glimpse and he wouldn't miss it. I could see from the memories that he'd been conscious for a few minutes before he'd started breathing and the sensation had terrified him. I left that. He needed to learn that part of being Unbounded as well as the rest.

As I searched for the memory of Mari's first s.h.i.+ft, something interesting caught my attention. In his mind, I was glowing in the hallway and as I sat on the couch. Odd that I hadn't noticed this before when I'd been in his mind. Energy seemed to pour off me. I resumed my search and found more energy, this time leaking from Mari as she s.h.i.+fted over to Emerson.

Only when she used her ability. I'd been using mine almost the entire time.

Curious, I moved further into his past, dodging memories as they floated by. I quickly found what I was looking for: me at the fundraiser when our eyes met. I was glowing, though less noticeably. More brightness came from the electric cables, floodlights, and other equipment around the photographer's backdrop, the greater the energy expended, the more the object glowed.

Odd.