He rubbed his eyes. “Maybe a twenty-minute nap.”

“A nap isn’t going to cut it. You’re suffering from severe sleep deprivation, North. The only reason you haven’t collapsed is because you’re pulling on your paranormal senses. You’re strong, so you’ve been getting away with that strategy. But your psychic vibe won’t keep you going much longer.”

“It’s my problem. I know what I’m doing. I’ve been getting by with the naps for a few weeks.”

“You burned a lot of energy tonight protecting us from the light grenade. If you don’t get the rest you need, you’ll drop. That might come at a really awkward moment for both of us.”

“Define ‘awkward.’”

“Say we encounter another light grenade or that flashlight gun that Matt described,” Sierra said. “If anything like that happens again, you won’t have the energy left to protect us.”

North did not respond. He just sat quietly, staring through the windshield. At least he was listening. She decided to keep talking.

“Maybe the lack of sleep was your problem before you became a client,” she said. “But I’m working with you now. That means your problems are now mine. Trust me, if you keep drawing on your senses you’re going to crash.”

“You don’t understand,” North said. “I’m not refusing to sleep. I’m trying to tell you that I can’t sleep. Not for more than a few minutes at a time. I’m not wearing these damned glasses because they are a fashion statement.”

“I see.” She gripped the steering wheel and took a deep breath. “What happened to you?”

“We’re in this together, so you deserve to know the facts. I’m going psi-blind. Losing my talent.”

“Oh, shit. I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t have time for the sympathy.”

“I understand. Was there an accident of some kind?”

“No. I started having problems with my talent a few weeks ago. The situation has been deteriorating. The doctors don’t know what’s going on. The assumption is that I may have encountered some unknown radiation on one of my jobs that affected my night vision talent. Whatever the case, the medics are not hopeful.”

“I see. And the glasses?”

North smiled a cold smile. “The glasses are supposed to keep me sane.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If I take them off for more than a minute or two I start hallucinating. The lab techs came up with these glasses. They’ve got special crystal lenses that keep me from seeing things that aren’t there. They work, but when I’m wearing them I can’t access what’s left of my vision talent. Soon, that won’t matter, because it’s fading anyway.”

“Will you still have your basic senses? Intuition? Your ability to detect paranormal energy?”

“Maybe. If I’m lucky. Nobody knows. Right now, it doesn’t matter. I’ve got a job to do.”

“We’ve got a job to do.” She pulled away from the curb. “And you’re not going to be of much use until you get some sleep.”

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”