'What are you saying?' Briana demanded.
Calvin gave her a brief, disinterested glance. 'Stonebraker will follow Orchid here tonight because she is his mate. He will come alone because that is his nature. When he arrives, he will discover that he must do battle with me in order to reclaim Miss Adams.'
'Talk about primitive thinking,' Orchid muttered. 'You know, Calvin, it's guys like you who give strat-talents a bad name.'
'I told you, only another strat-talent can possibly savor the blood-rush of a life-or-death hunt when the quarry is as dangerous as the hunter.' Calvin breathed deeply. 'Only another strat-talent can know the primeval call of the wild. The exhilaration of the stalk. The elemental pleasure of the kill.'
Orchid half expected to see steam jet out of his nostrils. She felt the invisible pulse of a deeply disturbed psychic talent. Energy hummed in the air around Calvin, unwholesome, monstrous, dangerous. He had definitely gotten worse during the past three years.
She was careful to keep her own psychic power securely battened down. She did not dare risk giving Calvin a prism to focus his talent. One experience with a psychic vampire tonight was enough.
Calvin smiled at her. It could have been a trick of the light, but she could have sworn she glimpsed fangs.
The hair on the nape of her neck stirred. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Briana tremble. She understood the involuntary reaction. They were, after all, in the presence of a very dangerous beast of prey.
'You know something, Calvin?' Orchid said. 'I think you may have overestimated Rafe's interest in the sport of hunting.'
Calvin's smile held no humor. There was a terrible excitement in his eyes. 'Stonebraker and I have never met except for that day in the woods outside Northville. But I know him better than you or anyone else ever could. We were both born for the hunt and the kill. Only one of us will survive this night.'
'Don't rush me, damn it.' Selby concentrated on the array of valve handles in front of him. 'This isn't easy, you know.'
'You're supposed to be a high-class tech-talent.' Rafe aimed the small flashlight at the instrument panel. 'Figuring out what all those widgets do should be child's play for you.'
'I'm working without a prism, remember? It fates longer this way. I have to go more on intuition and gut reaction. Now shut up and let me think.'
Rafe shut up. While he held the flashlight steady, he tried another psychic probe, seeking contact with Orchid.
Still no response. But he knew she was here. He could feel it.
'Okay,' Selby said after a while. 'I think I've got most of these lines figured out. Fire suppressant, hot and cold water, and jelly-ice supply. But I don't recognize this red one.' He tapped a valve. 'It's a gas line, but I don't have any idea of what kind of gas it carries.'
Rafe studied the symbols etched on the valve. 'Chemistry is not my strong suit.'
Selby frowned. 'I can read the symbols. They just don't make any sense. Not in those proportions. If this were a hospital, they might indicate some type of anesthetic. But who would pump anesthetic gas throughout a big facility like this? There's no point in it.'
Rafe recalled the security data he'd pulled from his computer. 'I think it's an emergency system. Some kind of gas used to control the patients if they become violent. The stuff is piped everywhere throughout the facility. It's very subtle. Makes everyone euphoric and then puts them to sleep.'
'That might make sense.'
'Cousin Selby, I think you have just saved the day,' Rafe said. 'But before we use that stuff, we need to find out exactly where Bracewell and the other guy are and where they've got Orchid and Briana.'
'Who's this other guy you keep talking about?'
'There's another strat-talent here somewhere.'
Selby glanced at him sharply. 'How do you know that?'
'I just know it, that's all.'
'You used to say stuff like that when we were kids. It bugged me then, too.'
'How do you think I felt when you always got your new some-assembly-required toys up and running before I could even get mine out of the box?'
Calvin nudged the alien relic with the toe of his shiny black boot. 'You know, the really funny part is that this whole thing started because Bracewell actually believed this thing would give him some kind of super psychic power.'
Orchid held her breath when he reached down to pick up the artifact. She glanced at Briana, who watched with agonized eyes as Calvin tossed the object lightly into the air and deftly caught it.
'Like you said,' Orchid murmured. 'Bracewell was crazy.'
'Yeah. But I'm going to be a wealthy man because of the little bastard. Guess I owe him something.' Calvin's mouth twisted slightly as he glanced at the body. 'Too bad it's too late to repay him. But, hey, those are the breaks, right?'
'Right. Say, Calvin, have you given any thought to your own somewhat limited future?' Orchid asked.
'There won't be any limitations on my future after tonight. I just told you, I'm going to be very, very rich.' He frowned at his watch. 'Stonebraker should be inside by now.'
Orchid chilled. 'How do you know that?'
'Same way I know he'll come alone. Besides, I made it easy for him. I gave most of the security guards the night off. I left only a few on duty so that no one would be suspicious but the majority are assigned to B and C Labs.'
'You're here in A Lab all alone?' Orchid said. 'I don't believe it.'
Calvin chuckled. 'You do know me, don't you Orchid? You're right. I've got some backup. The two men who brought you and Mrs. Culverthorpe here tonight are still nearby. They're keeping an eye on the entrance to this lab. I gave them instructions to stay out of sight unless something goes wrong. I don't want them interfering in the evening's entertainment unless absolutely necessary, you see.'
Full comprehension swept through Orchid. 'You've set a trap for Rafe, haven't you? This whole thing was designed to lure him here so that you could hunt him down.'
Calvin grinned. 'You've got it, babe. I went along with Bracewell's plan to kidnap you because I knew that I could use you as bait to draw Stonebraker here where we could hunt on my turf. I know every hall, every underground tunnel, every nook and cranny in this facility. And I've got my two men waiting in the wings for backup if things go wrong. Stonebraker won't stand a chance.'
'I thought this was supposed to be an equal battle between two strat-talents. Mano-a-mano. The blood-rush of the ultimate duel to the death between equals, etc., etc.'
Calvin's laugh rang out. It bounced off the stainless steel lab bench and ricocheted off the white tile walls. 'I'm a strat-talent, not a fool.'
A frisson of awareness set up a tingle on Orchid's nerve endings. The questing probe of a clean, strong, strat-talent. Rafe was somewhere in the vicinity. The probe came and went but she knew he would seek her out again in a moment. She dared not give him a prism in case Calvin intercepted it.
'Don't be too sure of that,' Orchid whispered.
Calvin continued to show his teeth in a cruel grin. 'The only risk factor here is you, Orchid. I know you need to be in close proximity to a talent in order to focus for him. I intend to keep you out of Stonebraker's range. But if he gets near enough to use you for a prism, I'll have to take steps to prevent that from happening.'
'Steps?' Orchid asked.
'The first step will be to shoot Mrs. Culverthorpe, here.'
Briana groaned. 'Not again.'
'Step two will be to shoot you, Orchid. I really don't want to do that unless absolutely necessary. I've got plans for the two of us. We have some unfinished business, you and me. I'd really like to keep you alive for a while. I want Stonebraker to watch me take his woman on the floor in front of him.'
Orchid braced herself against the sick hunger that swirled in the room. 'Don't you think that's just a little bit on the primitive side, Calvin?'
'Primitive.' Calvin savored the word. 'Yeah. That's me.'
