A stranger’s voice at his shoulder said, “It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?”
He turned to look at the speaker, only to find nobody there. Frowning, he spun around and then turned to look back in the direction he’d been. “What the hell?” he whispered.
“It’s Stefan,” the voice said at his shoulder.
He turned in an ever-so-slow loop again. “Where are you?”
“I’m here,” he said, “but, while you’re studying the energy of those two over there, you’re not looking at my energy.”
“I can’t see anything.”
“Go back to the position where you were standing originally,” Stefan ordered.
Obediently Richard turned to study Frankie and Cayce, who were standing and discussing a corner of this massive painting. “And?”
“Now look out of the corner of your eye.”
He turned a bit, looked out the corner of his eye, and, sure enough, there was a yellow glow. “Is that yellow goldenness yours?”
“Yes,” he said calmly. “I’m outside. I dashed in to take a look. I’d like to talk to you.”
“And you didn’t have another way to do it?”
“You seem to need proof,” he said, “so—”
“I’m coming,” Richard said, and he walked out the front door. “Where am I coming to?” Then he turned and up front was a sports car, with a man in a beautiful suit leaning against it, who stared at him. Richard walked up and said, “Stefan?”
Stefan gave a clipped nod. “I am, indeed.”
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
“An energy is all around her,” he said. “And it’s not all hers.”
“And that means what?”
“You see? You’re one of those guys who uses instincts, gut feelings, and that little bit of energy that you can see as a way to do your job,” he said. “But, if you would open your eyes and see what’s really there, you’d be incredible at your job,” he said.
Immediately Richard could feel the anger sparking. “Who the hell are you to tell me that?”
“Just Stefan,” he said. “Somebody who sees a whole deeper level than most people are expecting.”
“Okay,” he said. “And what is it that I’m supposed to see?”
“The energy that’s not hers.”
“Is that normal?” He turned to look back at the building. “You could have told me this while I was in there, so I could look.”
“Yes, but you have to separate it by shades. I counted no less than seventeen people.”
“Jesus. That seems like a lot.” He stared at Stefan. “And yet you don’t seem terribly shocked.”
“I’m not,” he said. “I’m saddened, but I’m not shocked.”
“Saddened?”
“Because it’s much harder for her to function if she’s also carrying all these people.”
“And who are they?”
“In most cases, I would say that they are likely to be people who she cares about, with a few more unsavory energies in the mix.”
“I’m not sure she cares intimately about anybody in her world, now that Elena is gone. Is there anybody else?”
Stefan smiled and laughed. “It’s one of those things that we do unconsciously in any relationship, intimate or not,” he said. “Generally, if you have more than a cursory relationship, their energy is attached to you. That will include people you work with, who you knew growing up …”
“Okay,” he said. “So, is it wrong for her to have these seventeen people?”
“Not necessarily all are wrong, but some of them? Yes.”
“Such as?”
“You’ll never convince her that carrying something of Elena’s energy is wrong.”
“I doubt anybody would feel that way,” he said. “Doesn’t it help to keep them close?”
“Yes,” he said, “it definitely does. And, whenever she did a bit of work with Elena, they would mix their energies. Cayce would use Elena’s light in order to make everything glow around the model. And then, as Elena would step away, it would be almost like a light dimmed the painting behind her. Elena used her own energy in the painting to make it glow as well.”
“And that was part of the artistic show that the model herself would put on?”
“Absolutely,” he said, “and now, without Elena, Cayce can’t do that. Or at least not as well, not as easily.”
“Which is why her last few have seemed different.”
“Yes. And nobody’ll understand why,” he said. “But she understands, and she’s looking for another source, so she’s trying out other energy relationships. Seeing if she can work with them.”
“Is she hurting them?” He turned to glance back in her direction.
“No,” Stefan said emphatically. “In no way is she hurting these people.”
“So Cayce’s requesting these energies?”
“Most of them, yes,” he said, “but not all. And it’s the other ones that worry me.”
“Why is that?”
“Because a couple of them are very dark, and I think that’s what makes her tired and is holding her down, making it hard for her to sleep.”
“What can she do about it?”
“She has to toss those energies,” Stefan said quietly. “But she has to do it in such a way that she doesn’t scare them, so there’s no backlash. She has to keep herself safe at all costs.”
“How dangerous is it?”
“Very,” Stefan said. “The ultimate worst-case scenario is the loss of her life.”
That message was bad enough, but then Stefan added one more cryptic message. “One energy is there that—” and he stopped his words abruptly.
Richard leaned forward. “You can’t stop there.”
Stefan shrugged. “I can’t be sure it’s the problem.”
“Can’t be sure of what?” Richard bit off.
“I can’t be sure,” Stefan said, measuring his words carefully, “but something about that one energy I recognize.”
Richard sank back on his heels, crossing his arms over his chest. “In what way?”
“An old case,” he said. “The problem with this is, energy changes, but the signature is always the same. This signature is different.”
Confused at the new terms, Richard just stared at him. “Meaning?”
“Meaning,” he said, “that I’m thinking, and I can’t be sure right now, but I’m thinking that this might be somebody who’s related to somebody who I encountered in an old case.”
“Are you saying, something like a criminal’s son?”
“Or brother or father or mother, et cetera,” Stefan said. “But I haven’t seen this
