But the most incredible, absolutely unbelievable part?It hadn’t hurt.
Agent Breaker, whose talent could crack a mind like an eggshell given the proper motivation, had one severe drawback.His Talent killed or drove people mad.He literally couldn’t make mental contact without intense pain for his subject and himself.
But linking with her hadn’t hurt at all.Suddenly, he was intensely hungry to do it again—feel the brush of that clean deep mind against his, feel the strange sense of calm sinking into his skin with a crackling electric glaze.
“Delgado,” Andrews barked.
Kill him now, or later?It was tempting.For a moment Del considered unleashing his talent on Andrews.It would be satisfying, if agonizing, to break the Colonel’s lapdog.Then he could elude the Sigs and follow the woman who had turned all their careful plans and procedures into a complete clusterfuck.
Easy as pie, right?
Only one consideration stopped him.He had to get as much information as he could from Sigma before he made the break.It was the way he’d done it before.
A mind I can make contact with, without pain.And she knew something about him, something he’dpushedhimself to forget.The hypo-marks in his arms burned, reminding him that very soon he’d need another dose of Zed.If he wanted to break the addiction again, could he?It had been hell the first time.
Now he had an objective to pursue, not just a simple escape to plan.If there was anything Sigma had trained him for, it was the single-minded pursuit of a target.
“Delgado!”Andrews repeated.Del stiffened reflexively.
“What?”Good luck catching her now.I must have trained her; she’s too good for anything else.
Anderson’s blue eyes blazed.For a moment Del wondered if he was going to unleash his own Talent on Del.Which wouldn’t be comfortable for either of them.
Maybe Andrews remembered, because he only snarled, “You fucking well trained her, what’s she going to do now?”
Yap, yap, little dog.That’s the wrong question.The right question is, what is Henderson going to do now?He’ll wait for a little less than twenty-four hours, then break camp and move everyone out, after Sigma thinks he’s already blown town.If you want to catch them, you’d better start setting up grids now.
“They’ll be heading out of town,” Agent Breaker lied, smoothly.“As fast as fucking possible, they’ll head for the city limits.They’ll be gone in two hours max.Not enough time to get a full-scale grid going.”
For you, Miss Price.I’m not going to let them catch you until I’ve had a little personal chat or two.
The woman probably couldn’t hear him; there was no answering echo inside his head.The need to feel her again was almost as bad as the need for Zed.If he put the two addictions together, which one would win out?
I don’t want to be caught in the middle of that.He was still trying to track down the third emotion she’d drowned him with.Desperation, relief, and what else?It bothered him that he couldn’t find a word to describe such a clear beautiful emotion.It was too pure, and he had nothing to compare it to.
Andrews’s blue eyes narrowed.“Why?”he challenged.
“Because it’s what I’d do.”I wouldn’t.I’d button everyone down and stay tight unless you were running grids.“And I supposedly trained her.”
“Didyou train her?”Andrews hopped out of the van-turned-impromptu-command-center, landing lightly as a cat.If Del was going to attack him, the time was now.
He let the moment pass.“She’s too good for anything else.”His voice was steady, and his pulse had returned to its regular rhythm.
“Where’s she going next?How can we track her?”
Get a fucking grid going now, you idiot.“Set up check teams on every major avenue out of town for the next couple of hours.Then you’re going to have to shift to chatscan.”Delgado shrugged.“If you sent me out with a full team and support, you might have a chance.”
Andrews laughed mirthlessly, his hand on a pistol-butt.If he draws I’m going to take him,Delgado thought, and felt the clear calm of adrenaline freeze lower over him.And if I take him, I have to take everyone in the van, too, and then figure out some way to get the hell out of here.
“You think I’m going to send you out with a full team?I’d never hear the end of it.All right, we’ll set up check teams and do chatscans as well.One of the snipers got her in the shoulder.The rats’ll have a wounded golden girl to get out of the city, and that’ll slow them down.”
Not likely.Everything he’d seen pointed to a resourceful enemy who wouldn’tleta wound slow her.And if Henderson was able to command a severely-compromised group away from the wreck and ruin of the Society’s Headquarters, he was capable of getting a team with one wounded member to safety.All things should be so easy.
But the thought of her hurt, the idea of a bullet in the body that housed that clean, deep mind… He had to exert control, keep himself still and collected.
“—the Tracker,” Andrews said.
Del replayed his mental footage.They’re going to send us the Tracker.
