He turned, searching for more footprints. A car engine roared. Tires screeched.

“They’re getting away,” Sierra said.

North lowered his senses. The abyss evaporated. The dazzling light of the glass bomb had dissipated. In its place was the cold, dull glow of the garage fixtures.

One of the two vehicles the Puppets had used was rapidly speeding down the ramp toward the exit.

“Gone,” Sierra said. “What do we do now?”

North took out his phone. “Now we call Olivia LeClair and ask her to arrange for a local Foundation team to pick up the two Puppets we took down. With luck they will be able to give the cleaners a lead on Loring and the others.”

“And we head for Vegas.”

“Right. Forget packing a bag. We can’t waste any more time. We’re going straight to the airport.”

CHAPTER 42

Are you sure you know what you’re doing, North?” Lucas Pine asked.

North got another cold chill of near-panic. If he screwed up he was probably going to kill his father. But his intuition was riding high. The tuning crystal on the mantel at Griffin Chastain’s big house had come to life when he poured energy through it. He had used it to reignite and retune the currents of power that had devolved into chaos in the night gun. The device would function as it had been designed to do, he was certain of it. He was also sure he could control it. The real question was whether it could actually reverse the damage it had done when it had been used on Chandler.

North looked at Lucas, who was standing on the opposite side of Chandler’s hospital bed.

“No,” he said. “What I’m sure of is that this is the only chance we’ve got to reverse what’s happening to Dad’s aura.”

The hospital room was crowded. Victor and Lucas were present. Lily gripped Chandler’s hand. Sierra and her parents were watching from a few steps away.

The medical team had been ordered out of the room. If the project went bad, North did not want to be responsible for any more collateral damage than was necessary. Half of the staff of Halcyon Manor appeared to be gathered at the observation window. Someone had asked him how he could operate the light gun now that he was psi-blind. He had explained that he still had the Chastain psychic signature, and that was all that was required to activate the device.

Sierra flashed him a reassuring smile. “Hey, no pressure. You’ve got this.”

“Right,” he said.

For some reason the exchange broke some of the tension. North took a firm grip on the crystal gun.

Lily looked at him. “Go ahead, North. We know it’s a risk, but I promise you your father wants you to try.”

“Of course he does,” Victor said. “The bottom line here is we don’t have any other options.” He glanced at Sierra’s mother. “Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Allegra said. “I might be able to keep him stable for a while longer, but that’s not a cure. I know he doesn’t want to be trapped in that dream state for the rest of his life.”