Ghost Phoenix by Corrina Lawson Page A

control. Yes, exactly. She could easily be bowled over by Richard.
    He put his hand on her arm. “I’ll make you a deal. Follow my lead now and if you’re still reluctant after today, then I’ll leave you alone. You have current sources in artifacts of Russian history, yes?”
    â€œI do.” She knew exactly the expert they needed to consult.
    â€œAnd if we find the corpse, I’m going to need your special skills to smuggle him into the United States. Just give me a chance.”
    He stepped closer again, and she felt of the pull of a sun’s gravity.
    She blinked. “All right.”
    â€œStellar,” he said in a California surfer accent.
    She smiled. “So now what?”
    â€œOur watcher has had enough time to become complacent.” He closed his hand around hers.
    She felt like blushing. And she had no doubt Richard knew the effect of his physical touch on her.
    â€œHow have you hidden yourself for six hundred years if you possess this kind of magnetic charm?”
    â€œCalifornia helps. There are beautiful people everywhere there. No one like you, of course.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. The brush of his lips against her skin only made things worse because it felt so good.
    â€œNow we get our watcher to reveal himself.”
    â€œHow?”
    â€œThe easiest way would be to make him think you’re in danger.”
    â€œWhat? Why would he care?”
    â€œIf he comes to your rescue, he’s a man with some morals. We might be able to discuss things rationally with him and his people. I told you, I hate blood feuds. I meant it.”
    â€œWhat if he’s not a good guy?”
    â€œThen he’s no doubt an enemy and I’ll have to take some precautions to protect us before we leave on our quest.”
    â€œPrecautions such as?”
    â€œLeave that to me.” Richard led her toward the carousal, still quiet this early in the morning. “Tell me, what are the limits of your power? Can you survive being hit by a car, for instance?”
    â€œIf you’re thinking of pushing me in front of a car to draw him out, forget it.” She shook her head. He caught on fast to the possibilities inherent in her gift. “I probably could survive, but I won’t take the risk.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    It wasn’t an accusation of cowardice, only a request for more information.
    â€œWhat I do is psychic manipulation of molecules and atoms. The more molecules in motion, the harder it becomes to maintain the phantom state. The window I walked through in my office was unmoving. The air that I walked on moved a little, but I could handle that. But a car is going at a good speed and it’s heavy. So that means a lot of molecules—from me, from the car, from the air, from the driver of the car—going every which way. I could survive if it was a small car, but it would be unpleasant.”
    â€œUnpleasant?”
    â€œLike a million nasty needles against my skin. The more mass moving through me, the sharper the needles get.”
    â€œAh. Not a good idea, then.” He frowned. “Does that mean you can’t turn intangible in water?”
    â€œI can if the water is relatively still. It becomes exponentially more difficult once it’s in motion. Water molecules are heavy. They slam into you.”
    â€œDon’t I know it. I’ll have to teach you how to surf in the normal way, then.”
    Teach her to surf?
    He looked past the carousel. “Then we will do this in a time-honored fashion: a simple misdirection. Pretend as if I’m dragging you somewhere with a gun at your back. We’ll see if that draws out our follower.”
    â€œDo you have a gun?”
    â€œNo.”
    The whole situation seemed absurd but she was sure Richard wasn’t going to hurt her. And she really wanted to know if he was right and someone was following them.
    â€œAll right,