the weight of what she laid on him, she was left staggering under the burden of what he was carrying—all the stuff he’d acknowledged . . . and all the misery he’d been hiding from. It was enough to break her, if she let herself think about it.
But Nalini hadn’t come this far to break.
None of them had.
Filtering all that ragged, rampant emotion out of herself, away from him, she breathed through it, focused, breathed . . . and she might have even prayed a little. As the worst of the grief finally passed, she found herself fighting tears at the depth of the pain building inside him.
Pain.
Anger.
Too much of everything, all because he wouldn’t open his damned eyes.
She wanted to smack him. But it was going to have to wait. He was finally calm. Or calm enough. If she hit him, the impression would fade and then she’d have to start all over again.
He was steady, for now. That was all that mattered, all that could matter, as they hurtled down the highway into the coming twilight. He couldn’t get through this thinking about everything that had him so burdened.
But even as they sped down the highway, that ever-present threat lurked in the back of her mind. Not much time . . . not much time at all.
* * *
GETTING a message to Tucker was as easy as she’d expected, even with a guard lurking outside her door.
The fool thought having her sent to her “rooms” would do much good.
Pissant.
He’d do well to be more paranoid, she thought.
The last time she’d been out here, Dru had managed to stash several throwaway phones and not a one of them had been found. Including the one she’d managed to tape to the back of the bathroom sink. It was out of sight, inside a plastic bag, and once she’d pulled it out, she plugged it in and let it charge just enough to send the text. As it was charging, she finished up everything else she needed to do.
Running gear—excellent clothes for tonight. The tights would be horribly hot, but it didn’t matter. They were close-fitting, they let her move, and when paired with a long-sleeved black shirt, it would help her hide in the dark.
She twisted her hair into a tight braid, securing it with a band, and tucked it inside her shirt. A quick look at the phone told her it still needed a few more minutes. No surprise there.
That was fine. She needed a few minutes herself. Taking up position with her back against the door, she did the one thing that was crucial. Dangerous, possibly, but crucial. Her shields were faulty, weak, frail, and if she didn’t do something about it, all it would take was the wrong touch from the wrong person at the wrong moment and she was done for.
Psychic shielding wasn’t like putting on a jacket and taking it off. It took practice and patience and control. If she didn’t bolster the shields when she felt them faltering, she was, plain and simply, fucked. With her back lodged against the door, she closed her eyes.
This was always the worst. When she meditated, she had to let her guard down to some extent. Leaving herself unaware. Exposed.
Lesser of two evils, Dru, she told herself. Do this now . . . or have one of them touch you later and you know what will happen then.
She could control the flashes, and break away when she had to, but if she faltered in her control, then she could lose herself. Not an option.
So . . . do it now.
Endless moments later, she emerged from the light trance, panting slightly, a light sweat on her skin. And the restlessness that had hovered just outside her awareness faded a little as her shields settled smoothly back into place. She could get through this. She would get through this.
All she had to do was get the hell out of this house.
That part might be tricky.
She didn’t take much. The clothes hanging in the closet didn’t matter. Her cash, she was definitely taking that. She didn’t worry about the fake IDs or the credit cards he’d given her. One quick glance at the cell phone told her that it had maybe a quarter of a charge on the battery.
Good enough. She sent the message before she unplugged it and then wrapped up the cord, tossed it under the sink counter so it was out of sight.