everything he had not to snarl. Not to pound him bloody. Instead, he pushed deeper . . . looked for more. Found it.
“Okay, Bryan.”
Lids flickered at the sound of the man’s real name. “Yeah,” Joss said, smiling. “I know who you are. Bryan Hennegan. Scum-sucking pervert. Rapist. Monster. Kidnapper. Thief. Killer. There are other crimes, but those are the ones I really want to bury you for.”
Bryan started to struggle and Joss narrowed his eyes, flexing that insane power inside his head. It rushed to the forefront and he could all but feel it as the air molded under his tutelage, wrapped around Bryan, pinned him. Damn. That’s some scary shit there, he thought, a little dazed as the man’s struggles abruptly stopped. “You can’t get away from me. You can’t escape. And you’ll be lucky if you survive long enough for me to turn you over to my boss. Mark my words, I’ve never wanted a man dead so much as I want you dead.”
Bryan whined. It was the most he could manage.
The sound made Joss smile wider. “Feels like a bitch, don’t it? Being helpless.” Fisting his hand in the front of the man’s designer shirt, he dragged his motionless body through the cabin. Needed to hide him. Just get him out of sight for now, before he gave in to temptation and crossed a line.
There weren’t a lot of options, so he shoved Hennegan’s worthless ass into the minuscule closet in the bedroom. He’d have to improvise, and fast, if the upcoming meeting involved the bedroom, but for now, this would work. He cuffed the man’s hands behind his back, used a cable tie on his feet.
Then, because he couldn’t risk the guy screwing this up, he did a mental job that sent Hennegan careening into unconsciousness. Hopefully, he’d stay out for a good long while. Hopefully.
Once that was done, Joss headed back into the main part of the cabin and did a quick look around, searching for any sign that might set off an alarm. He and Hennegan were damned close in height, even in body type, so that was good, in case his visitor was looking for a six-feet-five white guy with dark hair. He saw a cell phone, a set of keys. Touching the phone was a bit of a shock, although he’d already figured out that Jillian had psychometry crammed into her crafty psychic bag of tricks. Just touching an object was enough to let her pick up images, impressions. And that was now inside his head, too, and he didn’t want that trip into Hennegan’s brain.
Shoring up the shields, he steadied himself as he turned off the ringer. I can do this. I can do it . . .
After he’d set the phone to silent, he scrolled through the recent numbers, texts, committing them to memory. Useful ability in his line of work, a photographic memory—and that skill was all his.
One set of messages made his mind buzz. There was a series of them. Just the number had set his teeth on edge and he knew, just knew, this was the guy—Jillian’s monster.
Meeting set for tonight. Looking forward to discussing the new venture. So mild and unassuming. But even reading it made Joss’s gut churn. Made screams echo through his mind.
Meeting . . .
As his rage spiraled out of control, he found himself lost in the torrent of Jillian’s nightmares. The walls of his control started to crumble. And icy tendrils wrapped around him.
Dez’s ghosts. Creeping out to play. That gift was easier for him to control, but once that wall crumbled . . . their whispers were like a cloak of ice, wrapping around him.
Help me . . . please . . . find me. I don’t want to stay lost . . .
What happened . . . ? I just want to go home—
“Fuck!” He threw the phone down and buried his face in his hands. In his mind, he visualized that stone wall. Jillian’s shield. Then his own series of doors, shutting everything out.
To the ghosts who had crept in, he said, I’ll help. I’ll find you. But first, I have to find a way inside.
They didn’t listen.
Chances were the ghosts weren’t even cognizant. Many of Dez’s ghosts weren’t. They were just echoes of who they had been in life, and it would take a deeper connection before he could communicate with them. Easing them back into the compartment he’d created in his mind, he slammed the door shut