Heart Of Obsidian Part 2

"No. You don't want to see inside my mind." It was a warning. "The rumor in the Net is that I can drive people insane."

No terror, no fear, just unwavering attention that said she heard far more than he said. "Can you?"

"Yes." He wanted to ask her what she saw when she looked at him, whether the nightmare was apparent to those midnight eyes. "Until they see phantoms and hear terrible voices, until they can no longer exist in the rational world and become broken facsimiles of who they once were."

"Why?"

"Because I can."

Chapter 4.

SHE HEARD HIS answer, this man as unreadable as a cobra about to strike, his voice raising every tiny hair on her body, but she knew he wasn't telling her all of it. The reason for her certainty, and for the inexplicable violence of emotion that drove her to strip away his icy facade, was not anything she could articulate. One fact, however, was suddenly crystalline in its clarity in this instant when she could think, could reason-she needed her abilities against the cold strength of him.

There was no other way she'd survive.

Unlike those who had kept her in a cage while they attempted to break her, the cardinal across from her wouldn't be forced to a halt by the labyrinth. He'd dig, go deeper, drag her out of hiding with vicious determination. He would be ruthless in his pursuit, brutal in his purpose. Nothing and no one would stop him-least of all a Psy who had hobbled her greatest strength.

Drinking the rich, sweet liquid he'd given her in a gesture of care she knew had to be calculated to earn her trust, she- The labyrinth twisted.

However, this time, she twisted with it, unwilling to lose her train of thought. The food in her belly, the warmth of the chocolate in her throat, the fresh bite of scent that was Kaleb's newly showered body . . . different from the clean, masculine sweat she'd smelled the previous night as his skin gleamed in the moonlight . . . it all served to convince her that this wasn't a hallucination.

Kaleb could never be a hallucination-he gave off a sense of power that was a near-gravitational force, a silent reminder of the strength that lived in his veins, a strength that had taken her from her prison to this house that might be another prison, in the blink of an eye. No, she couldn't survive him in her current condition, her psyche in pieces, her ability barricaded behind a tangled maze so intricate, none of her captors had ever come close to navigating it.

"I created a key to unlock the labyrinth," she murmured.

He went utterly, absolutely still, a sculpture carved in clean lines. "Where?"

"Inside my mind." She spoke more to herself than to him as the labyrinth continued to alter shape, but in a way that no longer shredded her thoughts . . . as it hadn't truly done since she woke from the first true hours of sleep she'd had for an eon. Her thoughts had been lucid for over an hour, her sense of self, of memory, becoming ever more coherent.

And she understood what she'd done.

There was no manual way to unlock her mind and reverse the creation of the labyrinth. Not even she could undo the intricate tapestry of the psychic trap on command. Torture, bribes, mental force-they had only served to strengthen the twisted forest that protected her. Her captors could've beaten her to death, could've burned her alive, and it would've gained them nothing.

The only way to reverse the ruinous effects of her own creation was for her to be put into an environment her subconscious recognized as "safe."

It was impossible that this situation fit those parameters-the male with hair of jet-black who smelled of ice and pine in a way that made her want to rub her face against his skin, and whose eyes never moved off her, was clearly not safe in any way, shape, or form. He was a predator: he'd told her of his ability to cause madness, displaying his utter lack of remorse in committing such a heinous act. More, his motives in appropriating her from her former prison were worse than opaque.

Yet the labyrinth continued to unst.i.tch itself, her mind brushing off cobweb after cobweb as she came out of her long hibernation, splintered memories merging into a moth-eaten stream. So when Kaleb's eyes went pitch-black without warning, she had the knowledge to understand he had to be using a great deal of power . . . and since he was a power, that meant something very, very bad was about to happen or had already done so. "Kaleb."

THE psychic surge impacted Kaleb's mind with the force of a slamming blow.

The velocity of the wave made it deadly clear the damage that had produced it was catastrophic. Locking down the house with a single telekinetic command, he shot out into the PsyNet to see hundreds of thousands of minds flickering in a way that denoted stunned shock at the sudden insult.

It was the one vulnerability of the Psy, their need for the biofeedback provided by the psychic network that connected their race. That connection meant Psy could go anywhere in the world on the psychic plane, could share data with an ease the other races couldn't imagine. It also meant they couldn't escape the devastating aftershocks of a fatal event that had happened on another continent-in a city called Perth, Australia.

A city he'd now reached.

The black fabric of the PsyNet, the minds within it flashing red in panic as their conditioning shattered with the onset of agonizing pain, was crumpling inward here, in a pattern he'd witnessed only once before. Hundreds had died then-men, women, children-but Cape Dorset's population was minuscule in comparison to Perth's.

Throwing out a protective telepathic shield the instant he was close enough, he halted the collapse. And knew that thousands were already dead, their minds severed from the Net at implosion in a brutal punch of pain that would've ended the lives of children at once. The adults would've lived a few seconds longer, the toughest lasting perhaps a minute.

The anchor network in Perth has been compromised, he communicated to the leader of the Arrows, covert operatives who were the most highly trained and dangerous in the world. Initiate secondary backup. That backup system, put quietly in place after Pure Psy began to target the anchors, the linchpins who kept the Net from collapsing, was still a work in progress.

Initiated, Aden replied within a split second. I'll a.s.sist with the shield.

Unnecessary. Kaleb could seal up the breach on his own. Find out how this was done. The telekinetic behind the earlier murders was dead, gutted by a changeling during another attempted killing. Every other anchor in the world had been notified, and the majority were now in hiding, their locations known to only a select few in each region.

There are reports of fires in several parts of Perth, Aden said after a short pause. Vasic and I are teleporting to the affected area.

Suturing the bleeding gash in the psychic fabric of the Net with measured efficiency, Kaleb spoke to the minds whose lives hung by a thread he held in his grasp. This is Councilor Kaleb Krychek, he said, using his now-defunct t.i.tle because it would foster calm. I am in the process of stabilizing this region. You are safe.

Simple. Matter-of-fact. Effective.

None of these people would ever forget who it was that had come to their aid when their world turned to h.e.l.l.

ADEN looked across the road at the pile of burned timbers belching black smoke in the noon sunshine, the beams glowing dark red from the fire that continued to lick at the remains of what must've been a small cottage. One of his people in the region had just confirmed the cottage had been home to an anchor, regardless of the fact that it was in a suburban area when the majority of anchors were known to prefer solitude.

It had been thought the locality would provide better camouflage.

Eyes on the destruction that bore silent testament to the failure of the strategy, he said, "What did you use to facilitate the teleport?" to the man who'd brought him to the location.

Vasic nodded at the gathering of neighbors in the distance, many with sleek camera-enabled phones in their hands. "One of them is live-broadcasting and panned the area. I saw this building."

"It was a good choice." The whitewashed wooden church where they stood sat across the road from the burning house. It provided both privacy and an excellent vantage point. "This appears to have been a brute attack." No finesse, nothing but the intent to take a life on which hinged the lives of thousands of others.

"Accelerant and a Molotov c.o.c.ktail to set it off, if I'm reading the signs right."

"Cheap and effective." Aden considered the mechanics of the attack. "It's the accelerant that's the issue-how did they get enough of it on the house to trap the target inside?" Glimpsing a small sign on the mailbox of one of the neighboring homes, he had his answer. "Gas. They tampered with the gas lines, somehow initiated a leak-gas also explains the localized explosion reported by neighbors. Victim could've already been dead by the time the fire started."

"Doable . . . especially if Pure Psy had a believer in the utility company." Vasic's cool gaze took in the fire crew's attempts to contain the ravenous flames, and suddenly the r.e.t.a.r.dant was doing a much more effective job.

"Don't waste your power," Aden said, aware his partner had used his kinetic energy to fight the energy of the fire. "All of the nearby homes have been evacuated and we need to check out the other sites."

Vasic glanced at the computronic gauntlet that had become part of his arm, fusing into his very cells in an experimental process to test biocompatible hardware. There were significant risks in the procedure, and Aden had advised Vasic against it, but the other male had made the decision that if someone in the squad needed to test it, it should be him.

Vasic wasn't too concerned about his future life span.

"I have image locks for all of them," he said now.

"Go."

Each site proved identical to the first-a flaming and collapsed building. In two cases, the fire had consumed a number of neighboring houses, the inferno spreading before the crews could reach the scene, though their response times proved to have been impeccable in spite of the sheer number of simultaneous targets. The likelihood of gas and the violence of the fires also meant there was no chance of survivors-little chance of even finding a body still in one piece inside.

Outside was another story. A man identified as a worker with a gas utility had been discovered in the cul-de-sac in front of one of the sites, his body flung violently outward by the force of the blast when the house exploded. "He didn't clear the scene fast enough," Aden said. "Or he made a mistake."

"He was only a p.a.w.n."

"Yes."

As Vasic again used his telekinetic abilities to subtly a.s.sist the firefighters at the most dangerous location-the fire only a street away from a hospice, the patients too unwell to be evacuated-Aden made his report to the former Councilor who had almost completely sealed the tear in the Net using a vast telepathic ability that marked him as an impossible dual cardinal.

The region has suffered a significant information leak, he said. The locations of at least half of the anchors and their failsafe networks were fatally compromised. Pure Psy couldn't have reached this many people at one time without a specific road map. No chance of survivors.

Track down the individual responsible and make an example of him or her.

Aden and the Arrows had aligned themselves with Krychek, but it was understood that they would not blindly follow his orders. The members of the squad had learned their lesson after their experience at the hands of Ming LeBon, understood that loyalty was a coin easily spent outside their own. It was only because of Kaleb's track record of never turning on those who had offered him their loyalty that they had chosen to work with him. Trust was a different matter.

This particular order, however, didn't require much thought. I'm already working on it. Aden had no ethical problem with a.s.sa.s.sinating the traitor in a b.l.o.o.d.y, public way that would make the consequences of betrayal clear, not when one of the murdered anchors proved to have lived a hundred meters from a nursery school used by Psy parents. All of those children had been connected to the PsyNet in the region that had imploded. All of those children were dead.

PSYNET BEACON: BREAKING NEWS.

*PsyNet collapse in Perth, Australia, caused by attack on local anchor network. Pure Psy claims responsibility. Eight thousand confirmed fatalities and rising. Councilor Kaleb Krychek able to seal the breach, allowing anchors from nearby regions to b.u.t.tress the weakened section.

DO NOT VENTURE INTO COLLAPSE ZONE. REPEAT. DO NOT VENTURE INTO COLLAPSE ZONE. ANCHOR NETWORK IS STRETCHED THIN AND CANNOT SUPPORT ADDITIONAL MINDS.

This feed will continue to be updated as further news becomes available.*

PSYNET BEACON: CURRENT EDITION.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

I write in regard to your correspondent's recent extended essay in relation to the violence in California. I have been a supporter of Pure Psy since it was first formed. I believe Silence is the reason for the survival of our race and that without it, we would've long sunk into murderous depravity.

However, I now find myself conflicted. I agree with your correspondent's argument that violence such as that mounted by Pure Psy against the changelings runs counter to the aim of Purity espoused by the group and is in direct violation of the founding tenets of Silence.

It has left me in a position where I do not know if I am any longer a supporter of Pure Psy. I remain very much a proponent of the truth that Silence is the reason for the survival of our race.

Yours sincerely, Name withheld by request (Prague) Your correspondent's reporting was extremely biased in pitching the battle as being against the changelings.

The truth, as every intelligent mind in the Net realizes, is that the violence was unfortunately mandated by the coterie of defectors in the region who act as agitators in attracting and encouraging others to break conditioning. This cannot be permitted to continue, and I, for one, am in full support of Pure Psy's actions in this regard.

E. Miller (Mexico City) I would like to congratulate you on your continuing unflinching and critical coverage of recent events. Pure Psy's intimidation tactics are now a matter of public record, and it is to your correspondent's credit that he did not give in to such threats-threats that, as he says, strike at the very heart of the protocol Pure Psy says it seeks to uphold.

C. Prasad (Nairobi)

Chapter 5.

KALEB'S THOUGHTS TOOK an instant to normalize when he returned to his body. It was a predictable result of the amount of power he'd expended to seal the breach while continuing to function on a basic level in Moscow-to the point where he was never vulnerable to a physical or psychic attack.

Blinking to clear dry eyes, he reached for the gla.s.s of water beside his hand, the gla.s.s positioned beside several nutrition bars. None of it had been on the table when he entered the Net. "Thank you," he said and began to methodically eat his way through the tasteless items of food, his energy levels already nearly back to peak efficiency. Most Psy couldn't recover as quickly, but Kaleb had long been aware that he wasn't "normal" in any way, his DNA holding a thousand secrets.

Finishing the third nutrition bar, he looked across at the woman for whom he might yet cause a ma.s.sacre that'd make today look like the merest incident. And saw that she'd changed in a fundamental way-her back was no longer bent, her head no longer ducked. Rather, she sat straight up, her hair tucked behind her ears, the dark blue of her eyes focused on him with a vivid intelligence that had always tested his own.

If he hadn't had such granite control over his body and mind, his heartbeat might've accelerated, his breathing might have turned ragged. She was coming back. "The labyrinth," he said through the primal scream inside him, "you've navigated it?"

"There was no need. It has dissolved."

Her response was unexpected-the mind he'd glimpsed during teleport had been so chaotic a mess that it seemed impossible the strands had untangled themselves. "Have you regained your memories and abilities?" Do you remember?

"My abilities, yes. The entirety of my memories, no." She folded her arms on the table and he saw again how thin they were, how fragile her body.

Rising, he mixed up a nutrient drink flavored with her favorite, cherry. She accepted it and took a sip. Eyes widening, she took another. "Cherry." A sigh heavy with pleasure. "Thank you."

He gave a curt nod before retaking his seat.

"The duration of the labyrinth," she said, her voice still husky from disuse, "may have caused permanent damage to my memory centers. I was very young when I created it, not yet fully trained, and the construction was rough."

Sixteen. That's how old she'd been when she had disappeared. "What is your name?" he asked, every cell in his body motionless as he waited for her answer, waited to see how much of her had come back.

Midnight blue caught his own, his image reflected in the opaque depths. "Sahara Kyriakus, of the PsyClan NightStar."

SAHARA'S revelation incited no visible change in Kaleb's expression, not even the flicker of an eyelash. His Silence, she thought, taking another sip of the cherry-flavored drink he'd given her, must be pristine. Wholly unlike her own. Yet her responses . . . she knew they weren't quite right, weren't quite rational, given her precarious situation.

I am, she realized within her strange calm, not yet truly awake.

"What do you know about NightStar?" the dangerous man across from her asked in that chill-as-frost voice that resonated inside her in a way she couldn't understand-as if she heard things in it he didn't say, knew him in ways that were impossible. Even in her current state, she recognized that a man like Kaleb Krychek would trust no one with his secrets.

And if someone had the misfortune to discover them?

That person would not live long enough to share the discovery. With his black hair, cardinal eyes, and honed physique, Kaleb might be almost shockingly handsome, but the beauty was nothing but a mask for the deadly mind within. The knowledge should've made her afraid, but she found herself fighting the strangest compulsion to cry, her eyes burning as the eerie calm threatened to splinter.

"NightStar is an F-Psy clan," she said, her voice rough from the effort it took to hold those unfathomable tears at bay-for a stranger who might well end her life when he realized she had no intention of cooperating with him any more than she had with her previous captors. "But I do not carry the PsyClan's name as my last, as I am not a foreseer, do not see what will be."

"No." The black silk of Kaleb's hair glinted in the morning sunlight, and she had the disorienting sense that she'd been here in this moment before, sitting across from this man while the sun played over his hair. "You see the past."

Fighting her way through the sticky threads of a web seductive in its insistence she trust Kaleb, she fell back on facts burned into her long-term memory. "Sahara Kyriakus, Clan NightStar, custodial parent Leon Kyriakus-Gradient 7.7 M-Psy with recessive F genes.

"Biological mother Daniela Garcia, Gradient 8.2 telepath, part of a small but highly regarded family group based out of Cuba." Her skin tone, she thought as her eyes fell on her arm, came as a result of the mix of maternal and paternal DNA, would turn a deep golden brown with further exposure to the sun.

"Daniela Garcia also possesses markers for recessive F abilities, the latter the reason she was considered a good genetic match for my father." Foreseers ran in the NightStar family tree, and the clan did everything it could to maintain that lucrative line. "While I am not a foreseer, I am placed in the same designation, subdesignation B."