"You will do this." His voice was soft, without inflection. He didn't need it. His eyes held enough violence to spark a war. "You will find my brother, whatever the personal cost. You owe him your life, and you will return the favor."
"Stephan," Jessie warned softly, touching his arm.
He swung away and resumed his pacing. There was a savageness in every action, a raw brutality that had not been evident before now. Was this the real Stephan, or was it merely a by-product of his worry for Gabriel?
She suspected the answer lie somewhere in-between the two.
Jessie touched her hand again. Sam met her cat-green gaze.
"I showed Gabriel how to use the link. That's how he found you at that demolition site."
"Then thank you for saving my life. But that doesn't mean I can return the favor."
"Yes, it does. The link would not have formed if one or the other did not have the capacity."
"But I don't have the capacity. Ask him." She pointed her chin toward the pacing Stephan. Even that small movement sent ripples of pain down her body. Her stomach turned, threatening to rise. She swallowed heavily. "He's seen the test results. I came in negative."
"You came in neutral," Stephan corrected. "Not the same thing."
"I've never attempted anything like that. I wouldn't even know where to start."
"As Stephan said, that's why I'm here." Jessie's gaze was shrewd, calculating. "Are you willing to try?"
She had a choice? "What do you want me to do?"
"Close your eyes." Jessie's soft voice took on an almost hypnotic quality. "Concentrate on the darkness and the sound of my voice. Take deep, slow breaths."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Pain ripped through her, as sharp as knife. She swore vehemently. "Get me some damn pain killers or I'm out of here."
As threats went, it was pretty lame, not only because she was strapped down, but because her leg was as numb as her arm and any sort of quick movement would be nigh on impossible anyway.
"No." Stephan said, voice abrupt, harsh. "Pain killers will dilute your ability to concentrate."
She glared at him. She was really beginning to dislike the man. Yet, it was easy to see why he, rather than Gabriel, ran both the SIU and the Federation. "So does pain, buddy, believe me."
Jessie squeezed Sam's fingers lightly. "This won't take long, as long as you concentrate. Then we can let the medical help in."
Meaning they were going to keep her in confinement until they'd thoroughly checked her story? Bastards. And that fact, if nothing else, hardened her resolve. She'd meant what she'd said before — she'd had enough of these people. She wanted out, wanted to go back to the State Police. At least there she'd be treated a little more fairly — even if she had shot her partner.
"Let's get on with it, then." She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the throbbing aches in her body.
"Bring Gabriel's image to you mind. Concentrate on it."
She frowned and did as Jessie asked. Gabriel's image swam through her mind, its focus blurred, distant.
"Concentrate," Jessie whispered. "Imagine your mind as a hand, capable of reaching out and touching him."
Sweat trickled into her closed eyes, stinging. She tried to ignore it. Gabriel's image went in and out of focus, as if viewed with some ill-adjusted lens.
"Reach for the image, Samantha. Reach out and touch him."
"I can't," she whispered. There was some sort of barrier between them, preventing her from reaching across. A fence of her making, not his.
"Focus on the image, Samantha. Focus until you can feel his presence within every fiber of your being. Then let your mind touch his."
She concentrated on the blurred image, willing it to become clear. Sweat trickled through her hair, along the side of her face. Abruptly, the image became focused, and she was there, sharing his mind, his thoughts. His eyes.
The ground sped underneath them. They arrowed toward a doorway, heart pumping as fast as their wings. Behind them, the air shuddered with sound. Heat sizzled. They soared upwards. The shot hit the wall, spraying metal through the air. They flew through the doorway and into the open skies. Freedom, if they could get clear fast enough. Another shot. Again, they dodged. But this time the shot hit, exploding through wing and muscle and bone.