Amaryllis

the struggles of a wounded animal drew hopeful scavengers.

Lucas grabbed Amaryllis's hand. 'Time to leave.'

'Definitely.'

She ran with him toward the car, which Lucas judged to be closer than the safety of the main strip.

He risked another glance over his shoulder as they pounded down the street. The new arrivals were still milling about, apparently trying to decide upon a course of action. He hoped that they would opt to go through Rand's and Dancer's pockets rather than try to run down the escaping prey. A tough decision, but someone had to make it.

He spotted the two men lounging against the fender of the leer when he and Amaryllis were still half a block away.

'Five hells.' This whole thing was starting to look a little too organized for his peace of mind. The tactics were not unlike the ones the pirates had used in the islands. He wondered how many of the riffraff had escaped after the main force had been routed.

'This way.' He yanked Amaryllis around the corner of a building.

'There they go.' One of the men leaning against the leer straightened. 'Shit, they're getting away. After 'em.'

Lucas drew Amaryllis past several darkened doorways. She was breathing quickly, but she was keeping up with him. They bred them for endurance in the country, he reflected. He would have been dragging a city-born lady along the sidewalk by now.

He spotted the deep darkness of a nearby alley. He hesitated briefly, but when he heard the sound of pounding footsteps closing in swiftly from behind, he knew he had to evaluate the limited options. He wasn't president of a major corporation for nothing. He knew how to make executive decisions.

He pulled Amaryllis into the alley. It took approximately three seconds for him to realize that there was no opening at the far end. By then it was too late. The footfalls of their pursuers were too close.

Then again, Jackson had always told him that he wasn't executive material.

'We're trapped,' Amaryllis breathed.

Lucas pressed her back against the nearest brick wall. 'I hope you're as good as you keep telling me you are.'

'What are you talking about?'

'Link.' Lucas grabbed her hand. He needed all the power he could get.

'What good will that do? I hate to be a wet blanket, but your ability to detect other talents, impressive as it is, isn't going to be of much use here, Lucas.'

'Don't move, don't say a word, don't even breathe if you can help it. Just give me a clear prism so that I can focus.'

Amaryllis did not hesitate. A few seconds of blind seeking, a slight sense of disorientation, and then a crystal-clear prism formed out on the psychic plane.

He sent the raw energy of his talent through it and watched with a sense of satisfaction as it separated itself into colored beams. He chose the darkest band.

And then he went to work Grafting a solid brick wall across the entrance of the alley.

He heard Amaryllis draw in her breath when she saw what he was doing. He knew she must have been shocked, but her concentration did not waver.

The wall materialized out of the dark night. It matched the walls of the buildings on either side.

The running footsteps were very close now.

Lucas was torn between the necessity to work quickly and the equally urgent need to work carefully. The danger was that he could easily overwhelm Amaryllis's ability to focus if he used too much of his talent. She was full spectrum, but he was off the chart.

He was already pushing her harder than he had ever pushed a prism. But she did not waver. He used a little more talent. He knew he was going beyond the range of a class ten now.

The focus stayed steady.

Lucas took a chance and eased more power through the prism. The illusion of a brick wall became increasingly solid. It blocked the entire entrance of the alley. Lucas could no longer see the street, which meant that their pursuers could not see the alley.

The nature of an illusion was such that even a good one could not completely block out direct light. The effect was that, viewed from the alley side, the wall glowed because of the light from the street lamps. But since there was no light from the alley to pass through the illusion, the wall would appear solid when seen from the sidewalk.

At least, Lucas hoped that it appeared solid.

The other potential problem with the effect was that the 'wall' had no substance. If someone tried to lean against it, he would tumble straight through and find himself in the alley with Lucas and Amaryllis.

Lucas felt sweat trickle down his back. At any second he might overpower Amaryllis. If that happened, things were going to get nasty. But even in that dire moment, a part of him took a surging pleasure in being able to use the full range of his talent for an extended period of time. The experience was intense and incredibly satisfying. Lucas reveled in it.

Footsteps came to a halt on the other side of the illusory brick wall.

'Where the hell did they go?' a man growled.

'Must have ducked into a doorway or somethin'.'

'They gotta be around here somewhere. I saw 'em turn down this street.'

Lucas realized that some of the bricks at the top of his wall were partially transparent.

Amaryllis gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. She said nothing, but he sensed that she was trying to tell him that she was all right. He remembered what she had said when they had linked the night of the reception. I won't break.

Lucas eased a smidgen more talent through the prism, just enough to solidify the upper layer of bricks.

'These doors are all locked or boarded up,' someone said on the other side of the illusion. 'So are the windows. They didn't have time to pick any locks or bust any glass. Where are they?'

'Looks like they got away,' a second voice declared in disgust. 'I told you we shouldn't have tried to work with knife-happy Dancer and his pal. Guy's never been the same since the Western Islands Action.'

'Not like we had a lotta choice. Wasn't time to hire reliable talent. The client's pissed off. Somethin' to do with gettin' even because Trent threw him outa the city. He wanted the Iceman taken out at the first opportunity. This was it.'

'Yeah, well I guess your client's gonna have to stay out of the city a while longer. Dancer and Rand really screwed this one up. Come on, let's get outa here before someone calls the cops.'

Lucas listened to the receding footsteps. He held the brick wall illusion in place until he was certain that the men were gone. When he was satisfied that he and Amaryllis were alone on the street, he cut the flow of energy.

The wall vanished. The empty sidewalk and street in front of the alley reappeared.

He heard Amaryllis exhale slowly and deeply. She did not say a word. The glorious satisfaction that he had experienced a moment ago vanished along with the illusion of the wall. Reality returned with a thud.

Now she knows, Lucas thought. A cold chill settled in his gut. Amaryllis was the first person to learn the truth about him since Dora had died.

Psychic vampire.

'Let's go,' Lucas said wearily. 'We need to find a cop. A real one.'

Dancer and Rand were still lying on the street where Lucas and Amaryllis had left them. Their pockets were empty and they were not in a cheerful mood. They were more than willing to blame their companions who had been assigned to wait near the leer.

'We'll pick the rest of them up soon,' one of the officers assured Lucas. 'We know most of these guys. Any idea of why they targeted you tonight?'

Lucas rubbed the back of his neck. 'I think a guy named Beech can answer that question.'

'Is that a fact?' The officer gave Lucas a speculative look. 'You must've pissed him off.'

'I sometimes have that effect on people.'