were injected five days ago, Helga,” Anabel went on cheerfully. “And you do not look good. This suggests to me that maybe you weren’t being completely honest with us about the effects of Psi-Max 48. Maybe you were trying to poison us? Oh, Helga.” Anabel looked hurt. “How could you? After all we’ve been to each other.”
Helga gasped and twitched as the mental probe sank in, like a heavy hook thrown into her flesh. The woman didn’t bother to be gentle. It was breaking and entering, poking, jabbing, knocking things over.
“Don’t think you can play your new illusion trick, Helga, like you did on Roy,” Anabel whispered. “I am so on to you. Roy’s just a dog.”
Helga stayed calm while Anabel ravaged. Stillness surrounding her secrets. Floating separate, apart from the ransacking invader.
“Roy and his Arbatov thugs killed Yuri,” Anabel said. “But not before they dragged every last detail out of his thick brain that would stick. Let’s see . . . Joseph, right? Your ex-husband? And the B dose?”
Anabel felt the jolt of alarm in Helga’s mind. She tittered.
“You can’t block me. You made Psi-Max 48 a binary drug, hmm?
Naughty, naughty! You thought you’d inject us, and then be able to control us by withholding the B dose? You thought you could cut us a deal, Helga?”
I had to try. Helga whimpered, writhing. Blood trickled from her nose into her throat, making her cough.
“Nina!” Anabel crooned, triumphantly, at the goodies she prized out of Helga’s mind. “Nina Christie. The New Dawn Shelter. We’ve got her already. Yuri gave her to us. She’s meat, Helga. And we’ll get Joseph, too. They’ll tell me everything.
They always do.”
Helga tried to stop the tail as it flicked out of control—
But Anabel caught it, with her lightning mental reflexes, and followed it down to the source. “Oh!” she whispered. “You’re still fussed about Lara? A little late to worry about her now.
You’ve signed her death sentence, you dumb cow. Some mother you are. We’ll tell her how badly you handled everything . . . before we kill her.”
Helga writhed, arching in the bed. Anabel stared down, bright blue eyes white-rimmed and burning, face contracted in a feral snarl.
“Tell me now, Helga,” she hissed. “Tell me where the B dose is, and maybe Lara’s death will be a little quicker. Tell me! ”
Helga twitched as that probe got closer and closer to the dark hiding place. Another second, and Anabel would be inside, sacking the inner sanctum. Think, you idiot, think.
She glimpsed that face, reflected in the shiny paneled surface of the medical equipment on the nearby table, and baited the trap, tossing up a thought tail for that vain bitch to catch. Mirror, mirror . . .
Anabel took the bait, like a trout after a fly. She looked into the reflection, and for a brief moment, she caught sight of herself and was distracted by the way that the glitter of the teardrop diamonds in her ears set off the perfectly sculpted angle of her jaw . . . now!
Helga punched into the other woman’s unguarded mind, and Anabel’s reflected image transformed. Her skin wrinkled, horrified blue eyes bulging in dark sockets, her lips shriveling from lengthening teeth. Her skin withered, splitting like old leather.
Maggots boiled out.
Anabel opened her mouth to scream, but maggots squirmed out of her mouth, too. She went down to the floor, gurgling and thrashing.
Helga watched her fall. Anabel made noise, but she couldn’t hear it. So far away. People were rushing into the room, but she was falling backward, arms out, into the waters of the dark lake.
One lingering thought linked her to the chaos of pain, strife. One last desperate wish.
Nina, please try.
And the dark water accepted her, closing over her head.
Chapter 5
Nobody here. Nobody here.
Nina huddled on the subway seat, twisting her hands together until her fingers were colorless. Scared to death, but not of being noticed. On the
Helga gasped and twitched as the mental probe sank in, like a heavy hook thrown into her flesh. The woman didn’t bother to be gentle. It was breaking and entering, poking, jabbing, knocking things over.
“Don’t think you can play your new illusion trick, Helga, like you did on Roy,” Anabel whispered. “I am so on to you. Roy’s just a dog.”
Helga stayed calm while Anabel ravaged. Stillness surrounding her secrets. Floating separate, apart from the ransacking invader.
“Roy and his Arbatov thugs killed Yuri,” Anabel said. “But not before they dragged every last detail out of his thick brain that would stick. Let’s see . . . Joseph, right? Your ex-husband? And the B dose?”
Anabel felt the jolt of alarm in Helga’s mind. She tittered.
“You can’t block me. You made Psi-Max 48 a binary drug, hmm?
Naughty, naughty! You thought you’d inject us, and then be able to control us by withholding the B dose? You thought you could cut us a deal, Helga?”
I had to try. Helga whimpered, writhing. Blood trickled from her nose into her throat, making her cough.
“Nina!” Anabel crooned, triumphantly, at the goodies she prized out of Helga’s mind. “Nina Christie. The New Dawn Shelter. We’ve got her already. Yuri gave her to us. She’s meat, Helga. And we’ll get Joseph, too. They’ll tell me everything.
They always do.”
Helga tried to stop the tail as it flicked out of control—
But Anabel caught it, with her lightning mental reflexes, and followed it down to the source. “Oh!” she whispered. “You’re still fussed about Lara? A little late to worry about her now.
You’ve signed her death sentence, you dumb cow. Some mother you are. We’ll tell her how badly you handled everything . . . before we kill her.”
Helga writhed, arching in the bed. Anabel stared down, bright blue eyes white-rimmed and burning, face contracted in a feral snarl.
“Tell me now, Helga,” she hissed. “Tell me where the B dose is, and maybe Lara’s death will be a little quicker. Tell me! ”
Helga twitched as that probe got closer and closer to the dark hiding place. Another second, and Anabel would be inside, sacking the inner sanctum. Think, you idiot, think.
She glimpsed that face, reflected in the shiny paneled surface of the medical equipment on the nearby table, and baited the trap, tossing up a thought tail for that vain bitch to catch. Mirror, mirror . . .
Anabel took the bait, like a trout after a fly. She looked into the reflection, and for a brief moment, she caught sight of herself and was distracted by the way that the glitter of the teardrop diamonds in her ears set off the perfectly sculpted angle of her jaw . . . now!
Helga punched into the other woman’s unguarded mind, and Anabel’s reflected image transformed. Her skin wrinkled, horrified blue eyes bulging in dark sockets, her lips shriveling from lengthening teeth. Her skin withered, splitting like old leather.
Maggots boiled out.
Anabel opened her mouth to scream, but maggots squirmed out of her mouth, too. She went down to the floor, gurgling and thrashing.
Helga watched her fall. Anabel made noise, but she couldn’t hear it. So far away. People were rushing into the room, but she was falling backward, arms out, into the waters of the dark lake.
One lingering thought linked her to the chaos of pain, strife. One last desperate wish.
Nina, please try.
And the dark water accepted her, closing over her head.
Chapter 5
Nobody here. Nobody here.
Nina huddled on the subway seat, twisting her hands together until her fingers were colorless. Scared to death, but not of being noticed. On the
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