“If you’re so worried about the doll, why don’t you turn it off?” Earring snapped. “I’ll handle the woman.”
Now this was interesting, Slade thought. There was a lot of jittery tension in the room and it wasn’t coming from Charlotte. She was scared as well as furious, but these vibes were different. Ponytail and Earring were nervous about the prospect of dealing with the Sylvester weapon.
“Shut up,” Ponytail said. “We’ve wasted enough time because of the woman. Make sure of that damned doll and double-check to be certain the cop is dead.
“Yeah, sure,” Earring muttered.
They weren’t even going to bother to set up a plausible murder-suicide scenario, Slade realized. Definitely not high-functioning thugs.
Down below the loft, Earring moved gingerly into the living room, careful to keep the watch aimed straight ahead. Two more steps brought him within range of the sleeping loft but Slade let him pass. Earring was not the one with the gun and for the moment, at least, he was completely focused on locating and deactivating the deadly toy.
“I don’t see the cop,” Earring called to his companion. He peeked cautiously down the hall. “Or the doll.”
“Check the bedroom and the bath,” Ponytail ordered. “The cop might have made it that far before he collapsed and the doll might have kept moving for a while before it shut down.”
Earring took a hesitant step into the hall. He was getting more nervous by the second. The pocket watch in his hand shook a little.
“Shit,” he said, backing quickly out of the hall. “This isn’t good. I can’t see the cop or the doll. The door of the bathroom and the bedroom are closed. I know they were open when we set up the doll.”
“Don’t panic.” Ponytail shoved Charlotte ahead of him and followed her out of the kitchen. “The cop probably staggered around before he collapsed. Maybe he made it into the bathroom or the bedroom. Check both rooms.”
“What about the doll?”
“Listen, you idiot, do you hear it?”
“No,” Earring admitted.
“Then it switched itself off like it’s supposed to after a few minutes. Find the body.”
Earring disappeared into the hall. Slade heard the bathroom door open slowly. The light came on inside and spilled out the opening.
There was a short, tense silence. Ponytail pushed Charlotte a couple of steps farther into the living room. He was directly under the sleeping loft now.
“We’ve got a problem,” Earring shouted. “We need to get out of here.”
“What the hell?” Ponytail said.
His attention was focused on the hall. Instinctively, he focused the gun in the same direction. Energy flared in the small space. He had jacked up his talent.
Charlotte looked up and saw Slade. She kicked Ponytail hard in the leg. It was a slick, calculated move that caught Ponytail in the vulnerable spot at the side of his knee. He staggered violently and yelled in fury but he did not go down. His hunter-talent reflexes kept him on his feet.
“Bitch,” he snarled.
He swung the gun toward Charlotte. But Slade was already falling toward him. The force of the impact took them both to the floor. Slade heard the gun clatter across the floorboards but there was no time to grab it. Ponytail was fast. He twisted with the lithe, wiry energy of a specter-cat and produced a knife.
Slade tried to grab the man’s knife hand. He missed. Ponytail’s eyes blazed with fury and psi. The guy was strong, Slade realized. And cat-fast.
Slade went hotter, flying straight into the stormlight at the end of the spectrum. He did not need any instruction this time. He did not have to run an experiment. With his senses running wide-open he could see the dangerous psychic currents of Ponytail’s talent. He knew exactly what to do. He pulled dark energy and focused it.
Ponytail stiffened as though he had been struck by lightning. An instant later he went limp.
There was no time to comprehend what had happened. The second man was shouting.
“Get it off, get it off,” Earring shrieked.
Slade rolled to his feet in time to see Rex clinging to the back of Earring’s neck, small claws dug into the windbreaker and probably some skin as well.
Frantic, Earring tried to back up against the nearest wall, intending to squash Rex.
Rex leaped nimbly free, twisted in midair, and landed lightly on his feet. He faced Earring, snarling silently.
Earring was clearly traumatized but he produced a gun from under his windbreaker. Oblivious of Slade, he aimed the weapon at Rex.
Slade moved. He caught Earring’s gun arm, jacked up his talent, and reached into the storm.
Earring went limp and collapsed to the floor.
Slade went quickly around the room, collecting weapons. He found two pairs of handcuffs in his desk drawer, FBPI issue, and used them to secure the wrists of the unconscious men.
He went to Charlotte. She watched him with wide, psi-hot eyes as he gently pulled the tape off her mouth.
She gasped, taking in great gulps of air. He dug out his Takashima pocketknife and went to work freeing her wrists.
“Are you okay?” he demanded.
“Yes, sure, never better,” she managed. “Scared to death, though. And they broke my glasses. Bastards.”
“What happened?”
“They were watching the house, like you said. They blocked the entrance of the drive with their car. The creep with the ponytail made it clear he would shoot me through the windshield if I didn’t get out of the car.”
“I knew they would come back for the clockwork gadget,” he said. “They couldn’t afford to leave it at the scene of the murder too long because of the risk that someone would find it.”
“They talked about it on the way down the drive. By then I figured out that you must have already run into the doll and dealt with it. I realized you were probably setting some kind of trap. I also knew that I had screwed things up for you.”
“You had no way of knowing what had happened and there wasn’t time to tell you.” He looked around. “Do you see that gold watch the second man brought along?”
“Sorry,” Charlotte said. “I can’t see very well without my glasses.”
Rex appeared from under the couch, muttering excitedly. He waved the gold pocket watch and rushed across the floor to his clutch bag. He pried open the purse and put the watch inside.
Charlotte squinted. “Did he just put the watch in the clutch?”
“He did,” Slade said grimly.
“Good luck getting it back.”
“Maybe I’ll let Arcane handle that job.” Slade reached for his phone. “I’ll call Willis and have him pick up these two.”
Charlotte frowned. “Hang on. They’re hunter-talents, aren’t they?”
“They were a little above midrange, I think. Not exactly the stuff of legend.”
Charlotte tilted her head ever so slightly to one side. “They
“They’re just normal bad guys now. Willis can handle them.”
Charlotte cleared her throat. “Why are they merely normal?”
He looked at her. “Remember you told me that I probably wouldn’t figure out what I can do with all that stormlight energy until I found myself in a position where I needed to use it?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I found out a few minutes ago what I can do with my talent.”
