“I’ll deliver the message to Victor Arganbright,” North said. “You can go now.”

“Not quite that simple,” Ralph said. “We need a little leverage to make sure Arganbright doesn’t send his cleaners after us.”

“You mean you want us for hostages.”

“Just until we’re in the clear,” Ralph said.

“You really expect me to believe that story?” North said. “Loring sent you here to get rid of us. You might as well get on with the job.”

“Whatever,” Ralph said.

He lobbed the glass globe across a row of parked cars. The device shattered on the concrete floor.

In the next instant a dazzling light exploded. Currents of energy flooded the atmosphere. They struck Sierra like a giant ocean wave, making it impossible to breathe. A heavy weight settled on all of her senses, dragging her under.

She realized she was losing consciousness. Frantically she tried to fight her way back to the surface.

She felt North wrap one hand around her upper arm, pulling her into the protection of his aura. He hauled her upright and gripped her fingers.

“Whatever you do, don’t let go,” he said.

She felt his energy field flare, swallowing up all the light. The garage was plunged into an impossibly deep darkness. Bottom-of-the-ocean darkness. Monsters-under-the-bed darkness. Mind-shattering darkness.

And then she felt North’s energy resonating with her own aura. Suddenly she could see the night as she had never known it. Auroras shimmered and glowed. She realized that because of the physical contact, she was seeing the world as North saw it in that moment, his senses revved to the max.

That was when the screaming began.

“Welcome to the abyss,” North said.

CHAPTER 41

The problem with using the abyss trick was that while it was visually impressive, it did not effectively blind anyone beyond a radius of about twenty to thirty feet. Human-generated paranormal energy had its limits.

But at least two of the Puppets were close enough to be hit with the lightning shock produced by the paranormal forces involved. North studied the footsteps that seethed on the concrete floor of the garage. They glowed with a twisted energy that indicated a deeply disturbed aura. He followed them, careful to keep his grip on Sierra’s hand. He knew from the way she moved that she could see their surroundings almost as clearly as he did.

The footsteps led to the orderly who had confronted them with a gun the night they had taken the crystal tuner from the locked ward. He was cowering between two cars, sobbing in panic. When North touched him he flinched violently and screamed.

“I can take care of him,” Sierra said.

She palmed her locket. Energy sparked. The Puppet crumpled, unconscious, to the cold floor.

The next set of footsteps radiated equally erratic currents. They led to a second man, who was clearly in the grip of a panic attack. Sierra did her thing with the locket. He collapsed.

“Two down,” North said. “That leaves us with Ralph and Joe.”