What little I knew of Rei Bathory, I liked. Blunt, hot, mysterious-how could you hate on that?

Too bad she wasn't headed to rural Connecticut.

I sighed. Such is life.

We spent the rest of the night reading quietly. Somewhere around dawn, I finally killed off Ulysses. I knew it was a stupid ritual, but it sure beat biting my nails. The Sword of Damocles lifted from my throat, I drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 6.

NEW YORK.

The bus was already pulling into a station when I woke. I looked out the window at huge building that surrounded us. We had arrived in New York City, and stars above, was it big. Rei was roused from her sleep as well. She had nestled back in her hoodie and looked as groggy as I felt.

"It was nice riding with you," I offered.

She covered her mouth and yawned. "One moment," she said, leaning over.

She drew so close I could smell her skin.

I swallowed.

With a single gloved hand, she reached up and ripped my Band-Aid off.

"Youch! What about a little warning, first?"

"What would be the fun in that?" Rei asked dryly. She examined my forehead with interest. "The bleeding has ceased. There is no need for a new one. You heal quickly."

I shrugged. "Good genes, I guess."

"Indeed," Rei said with a smile.

The ma.s.s of people in front of us was clearing. I watched as the little girl next to us hopped into the aisle and ran towards the exit. "Well I guess this is sayonara. It was nice to meet you, Ms. Bathory."

Rei shook her head and sighed. "Dieter, 'sayonara' implies we will never see each other again."

I knew what sayonara meant. That's why I chose it. When did she expect to see me again exactly?

"Fair enough, Ms. Bathory. I guess I'll see you when I see you, then."

I bowed grandly as I stepped into the aisle.

Rei nodded, and turned to collect her pack.

So that was that. She wouldn't even mention why she was traveling. I a.s.sumed she didn't want me to know. I decided it was best to avoid dragging out the awkward parting, and headed down the aisle-but the further I got, the more I regretted not asking for her number. I began to doubt my read. What had Rei meant by that last line? Was that a cue for me to do something? Say something?

Frustrated, I thought about turning around, but I was already caught in a wave of people. Running away was far less complicated. I chickened out, hustled off the bus, grabbed my duffle, and ran all the way across the station. My retreat complete, I found a bench and sat down.

According to my watch, I had a four-hour wait ahead of me. What to do? Maybe I could spend some time checking out the city. I looked around. We had enormous buildings in Vegas too, but it was amazing how they managed to pack so many of them into such a small place. If one tipped over, it looked like the entire city would go down like a cascade of dominos. It took a special type of hubris to pack so many people so close.

I shook my head. New York City lived up to the hype-but it was also as hot as b.a.l.l.s and smelled like donkey b.u.t.t. From across the station, I watched Rei shuffle off the bus, her enormous black hoodie wobbling about, totally oblivious to the heat. That girl was capital S strange. I was sitting there chuckling at little black riding-hood when my Sight caught fire.

I wasn't prepared, and I sucked in air like I'd just been burned. I started hyperventilating as thousands of tiny blades raking against my skin. The image of Tyrone, rock in hand, forced its way into my mind. I knew I was still sitting on a bench in New York's Penn Station, but I could see the rock flying at my head, feel the inhalation of energy, the blinding whiteness, the heat of the explosion, even the spray of blood on my face. My sense of balance faltered. I flopped off the bench and landed in the anonymous grim below.

The fall knocked the wind out of me, and my emotions were a jumble as I struggled to my feet. Fear, terror, and excitement all mixing together in a confusing jumble. I couldn't control my breathing. My lungs were constricting like an asthmatic. Air came in short, rapid spurts. I realized if I didn't fight the panic, I was going to pop-and this was most definitely not the time to pa.s.s out.

Instinct told me there was something lethally dangerous nearby. This was no misfire. This was the real deal. I needed to break the cycle, and I needed to break it fast. As the fear dumped adrenalin into my bloodstream, I strained my muscles against the panic in my head. My body quivered in protest, but the effort stopped the worst of it. I focused on steadying my rasping breath-and as I calmed down, more clarity came to my Sight. The source of the icy cheese grater was isolated to my left side-but it was moving, as though someone in the crowd was shedding it as they walked. I threw my will into sharpening my Sight. I was running on a mix of instinct and intuition, but it seemed to be paying off. Moments later, I thought I had located the source. It wasn't easy, there were a lot of people around, so it helped that he stuck out from the crowd.

He moved smoothly through the ma.s.ses. Or rather, they parted as he walked. He was a tall man and wore a well-tailored black suit. A gaudy piece of red jewelry hung from his neck. Flanking him were two giants. One wore a blue sweat suit, the other, a red one. Stone-faced, they walked a step behind, a broad wall of flesh that said quite loudly: Do. Not. Disturb.

Some sort of bodyguards? I wondered. I turned my attention back to the tall man in the well-tailored suit. He was just oozing energy. It hummed off his body as he walked, and it was near identical to the sensation I felt when Tyrone tried to kill me. So this was killing intent. The man in the nice suit was preparing to take a life. But what was the deal? Tyrone only emitted death-rays for the briefest moment, only when he had committed to caving in my face...I frowned. Maybe it was because Tyrone wasn't a killer. He was s.a.d.i.s.tic, sure, an a.s.shole, sure, but he had his limits. I had challenged him to a fight, embarra.s.sed him in front of his entire crew, and ruined his playing career before he lost it. The man in front of me was a different animal. That instinct we all have-the one that kicks in when a rabid dog turns and snarls-it was screaming at me.

Its advice? Back-the-f.u.c.k-off.

In the meantime, the part of me that likes to build with blocks was jumping up and down shouting for attention: "I just wanted you to know," it bleated helpfully, "that if Mr. Bada.s.s and the Sandbag Twins are following a straight vector, they're headed straight over to the nice girl in the black hoodie."

I flinched and double-checked the path, and d.a.m.n it, they were still closing on Rei. I looked around me. We were in a crowded place. No matter how hardcore they were, they surely couldn't pull something here. There were too many people for anything that brazen.

The men picked up their pace.

"Stars above," I protested, "it's the middle-of-the-freakin-day."

But my gut told me otherwise. Those three men meant to do something terrible. I scanned the area for police, but there weren't any. And the intense waves rushing over my Sight weren't letting up. Every second they were getting closer. What should I do? I couldn't reach her in time if I walked, and darting over might not be the best idea. There was something wrong with that guy. My body kept screaming at me to keep away.

Rei was looking at a city map, matching something written on a piece of paper with cartoonish city diagram, when her body suddenly tensed. It was like watching a nature doc.u.mentary. If she were a deer, her ears would have been twitching. I watched as she calmly glanced into their reflection off the gla.s.s.

Smart, I thought, but how the h.e.l.l did she know to look?

The men were less than fifty yards away when the realization shook me. The parking lot last night. I could have kicked myself. My Sight hadn't misfired last night; it had been played with. In haste, I re-directed my Sight towards Rei. I was greeted by the same tingling as last night. She was broadcasting it loudly now, like a switch had been swung. And I bet she could sense it too, that she could feel the tall man's killing intent. And...no, that couldn't be right. I had never used my Sight like this. Heck, I never even knew it was possible. I could sense their feelings-and things were seriously f.u.c.ked up right here. The men were slowly closing in on her, and yet Rei was getting excited. I put aside the issue of why the h.e.l.l I was able to sense what Rei was feeling. The pressing question was why the h.e.l.l anyone would feel excited by the s.h.i.t this guy was spilling out. There was no doubt in my mind. Something deep in my bones was telling me that this guy meant death. And yet there Rei stood, quivering in antic.i.p.ation.

A terrible thought crossed my mind. Maybe Rei didn't quite get it. I'd seen the type before. They'd read a bunch of fighting magazines and always thought it would be cool to be in one. Rei had lived a sheltered life. She might be about to do something really stupid. And this mistake wasn't just going to cost her a bloodied nose...I only knew one thing for certain. I wanted answers. For seventeen years I had lived with the mystery of my Sight, and now, for the first time ever, a clue was dangling in front of my nose. And at that very second, Rei set off into the city.

I hissed a curse. She was leaving the station? How stupid could she be? Did she want to get herself killed?

The three pursuers saw her go and picked up their pace.

I gritted my teeth. I was about to do something stupid.

Let me take a moment to point out the glaringly obvious. Humans are idiots.

Over millions of years, a species' fitness is tested in a game of life and death. The rules are quite simple: Fail and turn to dust, survive and reproduce. Some animals fail because they do stupid s.h.i.t, others because they were just plain unlucky, but on the whole, the ones that were a bit smarter, quicker, or simply more paranoid than their fellows survive a bit longer. And that little bit is usually just long enough to make some babies. The cycle continues, and a sort of survival manual is etched straight into the DNA. It keeps progeny from doing silly things that failed creatures have tried before. Things like jumping off cliffs, poking snakes, or eating dirt (worms excluded). But humans just have to be different. We get a little more brainpower than your average mammal and decide that the manual shouldn't apply. After all, how can a few million years of collective experience compare to the incredible insight we've accrued through a few decades of foraging at grocery stores and microwaving TV dinners? The result? Unlike our fellow mammals, we humans are p.r.o.ne to some really boneheaded decisions. And in the middle of a crowd, in the nation's largest city, I was about to make the first in a series of them. I grabbed my bag and headed over to the lockers. Keeping my eye on the tall man, I fed the locker some change and stowed my bag. Then, taking a deep breath, I chased after the party.

What can I say? I'm only human.

Chapter 7.

TRAILING THE TALL MAN.

We traveled through the busy streets on foot. I kept a good fifty yards back, but it wasn't because I was worried about being spotted. There were plenty of people to mask my tail. No, that wasn't it. I had to hang back. The nasty vibe that tall b.a.s.t.a.r.d was sending off was simply too much to handle. If I got closer it started to mess with my mood. It was like a grab bag of misery. Despair, hopelessness, and fear, take your pick, it was like a direct challenge to my psyche. Each wave that hit me sent my heart racing.

Nerves on edge, my Sight was staying active. Normally, I was limited to using it during moments of intense emotion. My Sight was always fleeting, and I never had time to play with it, but the intense aura this guy was throwing off was somehow keeping it switched on. As we walked, I learned I could direct my Sight onto others as easily as I had done the tall man and Rei. It just took a bit of mental focus. I swept it like a flashlight, focusing it on one person after another. Every one of them had a faint hint of light surrounding their bodies.

I wiped the sweat from my brow. Auras...I was looking at auras. After looking at a number of people, I began to pick up on patterns. The color of the aura seemed to be dictated by the person's mood. Blue was for bored. Red was for angry. The aura of a man scribbling in his notebook was a vibrant purple. Inspiration, I guessed. It was simply amazing. All I had to do was train my focus and my Sight worked like a charm.

The usual waves of color were there as well. Motionless objects didn't emit them, but most moving objects had a current of waves preceding them. Why did some objects emit and other not? I was getting the sneaking suspicion that the motion had to be driven by a conscious act. I could see a door swing open before a person exited, but the model train racing across the toy store window didn't have any waves at all.

What about animals? I wondered.

I spotted a dog watching a child eating an ice cream cone. It was a faint but muted green. The emotion was envy; that was obvious enough. (Then again, I didn't really need an aura to understand the emotional state of a dog.) Still, the discovery was important. It meant that my Sight was somehow tied into the energy of life-and the moving objects that were the extensions of life.

I shook my head. None of it made any sense, but it sure was fascinating.

I turned my Sight back to Rei. She was far off in the distance, but I wondered if it might feel like the cold flame I sensed back at the bus station. Instead, only a vague grey haze quivered about her body. I frowned. What the heck was that? It didn't look like any of the others. Maybe it was the distance?

I focused more mental energy into my Sight, and the world around me faded.

I paused. So focusing my Sight diminished my other senses? Strange. Was this safe? I wondered. The quivering haze continued to cloud around Rei. I couldn't see through to the core. I couldn't fight the temptation.

I thrust more energy into the effort-and then the whole exercise went awry.

It was as if I had tripped and fallen, but not downward. I was falling towards her. Part of me was still walking down the street working its way through the crowd, but another part of me was sliding forward through s.p.a.ce at an incredible speed. I was in two pieces, and before I knew it, half of me tumbled inside her. My thinking clouded. Strange thoughts intruded on my attention. My senses tasted foreign. I smelled the hotdog stand next to her. Felt the rush of humid air blowing from a grate below her. Heard the tap of her boots out of step with my own. Stranger still, although my own rational mind was intact, I didn't quite feel the same. It took me a few moments to sort out it out, a few moments to realize that I was so...happy. Sure, I was tired, but I could sleep later. The fatigue was melting away as a rush of adrenalin overrode it.

Finally, I thought. An opportunity. The cursed restraint...I could cast it aside. The rush of blood, the crunch of bone, the yielding of flesh...Could I even remember what torn skin felt like on my lips? And now the time was near. Just a little bit further...Just a little bit...

Rejecting the foreign input, my mind shook. I wrenched out of Rei, emotions tumbled this way and that. In my confusion, my physical body b.u.mped into a cop. He scowled. Told me to watch were I was going. For a flash, I stared at his windpipe. I wanted to tear it out with my bare hands.

I mumbled an excuse and lumbered on. A cold sweat was running down my brow. Emotions-our emotions-were mixed like laundry. Figuring out which were mine was taking time, time I should have been spending forming some sort of plan. Meanwhile, Rei had led our merry caravan into a run-down section of the city. I didn't like where this was going, but if I didn't keep moving I was going to lose them. What was I getting myself into? I was flying blind and chasing questions down the proverbial dark alley. Shouldn't I be considering the risks of this little adventure more carefully? But these clues to my Sight, all the years of not knowing, how could I turn away now?

Rei halted before I could decide. No crowds to hide me, I stepped into a doorway. I watched as she checked the address and examined her small notepad. She was looking at an old rundown warehouse. Rei returned the pad to her pocket and walked over to the loading dock. Hopping up, she disappeared inside.

I looked up and down the street. It was Sunday. Most of the businesses were closed. Only a few people were wandering by, and no one was stopping.

A deserted building on a quiet street. Wonderful.

I hung back as the three men followed her in. I had two good reasons: 1) The lack of foot traffic was making me more noticeable, and 2) Instinct had just filed an emergency appeal. Machismo needed to re-argue his case before I was stepping one foot inside of that building.

"Your Honor, Dieter is going to get himself killed," Instinct argued.

Machismo huffed up his chest. "Your Honor, despite Ms. Bathory's rather colorful personal-"

"You mean homicidal?" asked Instinct.

Machis...o...b..istled. "Despite that, Rei is a lady in distress. We are duty-bound to respond."

"And how do you plan on responding?" Instinct asked. "Let me guess...you plan to karate chop the two man-mountains, deliver a nutter to the tall fellow, and then gallantly embrace the swooning female?"

Machismo nodded eagerly.

Instinct looked at Machismo with disdain.

"Fool. She's the type that would tear out our heart as a thank you."

"Well..." Machismo replied. "That's a good point, Instinct, she might be a bit dangerous, but I've been doing some thinking..."

"Oh, stars above, Machismo," Instinct said with a sigh.

"Just listen, you prude. Yes, it does look like she is luring these guys, and yes, it does look like she wants to beat the c.r.a.p out of them, but didn't we do the same thing when we called Tyrone out? Didn't we just spend all last night explaining how if you don't stand up and fight you'll just get trampled? It might be our fault that she's picking this fight. Martial arts training or not, Ms. Bathory probably doesn't know the first thing about street fights. Our little pep-talk might be about to get the young lady killed."

"Hmm," the judge brooded. "Good points. Good points."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Machismo added. "I noticed there's a steel pipe lying over there. I would like to enter it into evidence as exhibit A."

"Exhibit A?" Instinct asked.

"Yeah, A stands for a.s.s-kickin'."

The judge frowned.

"Hmm, Machismo makes a good points. Plus, thugs kind of p.i.s.s me off. I'll allow it."

"We're an idiot," Instinct lamented.

I picked up the pipe and swung it. A good five pounds, it hummed as it swept through the air.

I was so going to get myself killed.

Phase 1 of my plan required ninja-quiet. By that I mean I tried to sneak into the warehouse on my tiptoes. The tall man and his goons had entered the building about a minute ago, so I figured enough time had pa.s.sed. Pole in hand, I hopped up onto the loading dock and idled up next to the door. The door opened into a darkened storehouse. Inside, I could hear the echo of voices. The tall one was saying something. He stood ten paces back with the two thugs flanking him. He was gesturing toward Rei, but I couldn't make out the conversation. Pressing my luck, I scooted inside, snuck behind a stack of merchandise, and squatted down to listen.

"...don't give a d.a.m.n who you are," the tall man said. "I will ask you only once more. Where is your package, dear?" The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. The tall man's voice was cool and methodical, and the threat of violence hung in the air. I looked to Rei. Her enormous hoodie masked most of her face. She stood loosely, her arms resting at her sides.

"Silly, magus," Rei replied. I raised an eyebrow. Her voice was so cold-its normally melodic ring had been replaced by something horrid. She tilted her head up and stared the tall man down, her tongue slipping over each and every syllable. "I already told you, magus. It's right here in my pocket. Why don't you come over here and get it?"

Christ, Rei was reading straight out of a Spaghetti Western. How could she be taking this so lightly? Yet the glint in her eye...it made me uneasy.

A grating laugh erupted from thug in the red sweatsuit. I guess he thought that line was as ridiculous as I did. He leaned forward and grabbed his belly.

It was the last mistake he ever made.