Blood Lines
own desperate sucking in of air that tasted of shower mold.
There…
Although unlocked, the heavy door stayed securely closed and Vicki realized she had no way to pull it open.
'NO!" One knuckle split with the force of the blow and then she had to scramble back out of the way as the door flew open toward her.
She couldn't mistake the arm that wrapped around her and kept her from falling, nor the embrace she suddenly found herself enfolded in. With adrenaline sizzling along every nerve, she fought to get free.
'Goddamnit, Henry!" Something started her trembling violently. It felt like anger. "What the fuck took you so long?"
The sound of the shower had been going on for a long time. When it finally shut off, the two men looked at each other across the width of the living room.
'You've known her longer," Henry said softly. "Is she okay?"
'I think so."
'It's just she doesn't seem to be…" He spread his hands.
'Feeling anything?"
'Yes."
'It's all there. It's just all locked in behind the anger."
'She has every right to be angry."
Celluci scowled. "I didn't say she didn't have."
During the ride back to Henry's condo, Vicki had spat out the bare bones of what had happened to her. Both men had listened quietly, both recognizing that interrupting with either questions or passions would stop the flow of words completely. When she'd finished, Celluci had immediately begun making plans to take care of Gowan and Mallard, but Vicki had glared through the spare pair of glasses he'd brought for her and said, " No. I don't know how or when, but the pay back's mine. Not yours. Mine ."
Her tone left little doubt that Gowan and Mallard would get exactly what they had coming.
And then she'd added, " I want Tawfik , " in such a voice that even Henry had found himself chilled by it.
They turned toward her as she limped into the living room, wet hair slicked back, the bruise that discolored one side of her face a sharp contrast to the pallor of the other cheek. The hand smoothing the front of her sweatshirt was wrapped in gauze.
I've seen holy fanatics , Henry thought, as Vicki crossed over to the window, wearing exactly that expression . Again, the two men exchanged worried glances. She moved, not as if she might break at any second, but as if she might explode.
'Before we begin," she said to the night, "order a pizza. I'm starving."
'But we still don't know," Celluci pointed out, waving a piece of gnawed crust for emphasis, "how Tawfik found out about Vicki."
'Once Cantree told him about you, it wouldn't have been difficult for Tawfik to have lifted the information from his mind." Henry paused in his slow pacing and looked down at Celluci. "Cantree would believe that anything you knew, you would have told Vicki and Tawfik must have decided to tie up the loose end."
'Yeah? Then why such an elaborate scenario?" Celluci tossed the crust into the box and straightened, wiping his hands.
"Why not get rid of her the way he got rid of Trembley? Kapow and it's over."
'I don't know."
'It seems to me that you spent at least as much time talking with him as Cantree did. How do we know you didn't say anything?"
'Because," the pause filled with something very close to menace, "I wouldn't."
Celluci fought a nearly irresistible urge to drop his gaze and continued, his voice beginning to rise. "We know he can mess with people's thoughts-the staff at the museum are proof of that. How do we know he didn't lift her from your mind?"
'No! I would never betray her."
Celluci "s eyes narrowed as he realized the source of the pain that shadowed Henry's protest. No, he wouldn't betray her. He loves her. He really loves her. The son of a bitch. And he's afraid he might have done it. That Tawfik might have lifted Vicki out of his head . "Would you have even noticed him doing it?" The question needed to be asked. He wasn't just twisting the knife. At least he didn't think he was.
'No one walks uninvited through my mind, mortal." But Tawfik had touched him just by existing and Henry had no real idea what the wizard-priest might have picked up. For all his declared certainty, this showed in his voice. Celluci heard it and Henry knew he did.
'Enough." Vicki threw herself up out of the armchair, wiping grease off her mouth with the palm of her hand. "It doesn't matter how he knew about me. It's over. The only thing that matters now, and I mean the only thing, is finding Tawfik and taking him out. Henry, you said that the woman who left
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