Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 131364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
“He had a lucrative sideline in blackmail as a teenager—that’s why he could kill with such weak telepathy. He honed it to its sharpest point. Fact is, he should’ve never been able to cause death; that he did speaks to how much effort he put into refining his ability until it became a scalpel.”
Bram made sure Hendricks’s memories were well compartmentalized from his own. Later, he’d tell Adam that the serial killer’s DNA and memories should be analyzed and studied, because there might be other outwardly human or changeling children out there who were just Psy enough for it to be a problem, but not Psy enough that their minds would search for a biofeedback link.
Not every such child would be a Hendricks. Some would be driven mad by the whispers…and perhaps already had been over the centuries. How many of the people in the asylums of old had ever been tested for minor Psy abilities? Those in the Trinity Accord needed to be notified of the need for a new and wide-ranging testing regimen.
For now, he looked at the woman who’d taken his breath away. “I think in this case, you have to accept that he was a bad seed.”
Chapter 40
Bayani: I think this one’s a fail, Saoirse. I’m moving on to batch 14.
Saoirse: Damn. I was hopeful about 12. I’m just starting on 13. Let’s meet after we finish to discuss our next steps before we all fly home to get a few hours’ sleep. We don’t want to mess up the tests due to lack of rest.
Malia: I’ll prepare food for the entire team—Dad’s already muttering about dropping meal packages on your heads, by the way. Tahir’s gonna help because I’m making him and he’s still being a weirdo and treating me super nice. (Don’t worry, Mom, I won’t stress my arm—Naia did another healing session on me and says the bone is knitting at an “excellent” pace.)
—Team El-Shield (now)
His part of the job done, Bram stepped out to take a breath away from the killer, while Adam stayed behind to say a few quiet words to the two guards who had to remain inside with Hendricks.
Dahlia walked over to him, her body and face shadowy in the faint light that fell from the room into the driving corridor. “You look like you could use a drink.”
“Psy can’t process alcohol. Else all Js would be raging alcoholics.”
“What you did, it messes you up, doesn’t it?” Dark, sharp eyes.
“I barely have my own memories anymore,” Bram admitted. “The spaces are filled up with those of murderers and other violent offenders.”
“You do touch?” A nod at his gloved hands. “Eleri was okay with changelings, though she didn’t go overboard.”
Bram’s skin prickled. “Then likely I’ll be fine. Changeling shields are all but impenetrable.”
“Then instead of a drink, how about you work off your funk in my bed?” She leaned in close so the words were a hot breath against his ear, her height perfect for his own. “I mean, all that sexual tension simmering under your surface can’t be good for you.”
Bram wanted to haul her close, bite down into the curve of her neck. His cock throbbed. He was careening out of control. And he wanted more. “I have to return to Hendricks’s house, meet with the task force.” No one was sleeping this night, not with open questions on the table.
“The invitation doesn’t currently have an expiration date, Mr. Bram.” Her hand on his nape, a burn of heat. “Give me your phone.”
He handed it over after unlocking it on autopilot.
“There,” she said after a few taps. “Call me when you’re done.” She slipped his phone into his pocket, and though she’d barely made contact, he felt as if she’d taken him over.
Adam stepped out of the room. “D,” he said, “lock it up and get Naia to give him a once-over. We want him functional for the rest of Bram’s reads.”
“Got it.” Dahlia was back in full professional mode. “What are we doing with him after?”
“He’s going to die in that hole after Bram’s finished,” Adam said flatly after pulling the door shut behind himself. “That’s what he did to his victims—he left them alone in that lightless prison, and only came in to torture them. He’s getting off easy since we won’t torture him, but he doesn’t deserve light or company.”
Bram hadn’t expected such a pitiless punishment. “Will it haunt you?” he asked Adam once they were in the car—after he’d forced himself to walk away from Dahlia. “You’re not the kind of man who’s built for that.”
Adam shot him a smile that was almost amused. “My grandmother literally tore off the head of the man who murdered my parents. I would’ve done it if she hadn’t. Never, ever think that the leader of a clan or pack isn’t capable of darkness when it’s necessary. We just never allow it to swallow us whole.”