Blood Promise (A SkinWalker Novel #4) (A DarkWorld SkinWalker Novel) (36 page)

I was shrugging into it when rapid footsteps clattered on the kitchen floor tiles and a moment later a small body slammed into me.

"Hi," sang Alina, her arms around my waist, a wide grin on her face as she stared up at me.

"Hello, you," I said, tapping her nose. "What are you up to?" I picked a leaf from the mess that was her red hair.

"We've been rolling in the leaves," said Alix, looking on from the kitchen doorway. He was watching his sister with an almost jealous expression, as if he too wanted a hug but didn't want to admit it.

I walked over to him and knelt. "Looks like too much fun," I said, grinning. When I saw the tiny lift to the corner of his mouth, I took that as my cue. "How about a hug? I came all this way so I might as well collect."

He hesitated but I pull him close. He resisted for the briefest moment, then squeezed back.
 

Satisfied I'd breached at least one of his defences I let him go, not wanting to overwhelm him with emotion.

He wasn't the only one on the edge of emotional overwhelm. I found myself far too happy to see them too. It felt strange to find that my affection for them had grown since I'd met them. Seems I was a kid person after all.

The air beside me shimmered and Jess coalesced beside me, holding onto a young woman whose blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail at the top of her head. Was this really our Eraser Darcy?

Alina gasped as the two women solidified a foot from her, and Alix jumped back into the kitchen.
 

I squeezed Alina's shoulder. "It's okay. Why don't you and Alix go and clean up? I'll see you both later."
 

Alix watched Jess and Darcy suspiciously and didn't move until Alina went to him and held out her hand. Then together they walked past us and up the stairs without a backward glance.

They still needed to adjust to other paranormals but they seemed to be pretty resilient. I only hoped that we were able to help them in the long term.

"Hey," I said to Jess, giving Darcy a smile. "This must be Darcy?"

The girl nodded while Jess said, "Kailin Odel, meet Darcy Graham. I have already apologized to Darcy for the early morning request."

"And I've already assured Jacinta that I am happy to help Logan out." She glanced at Jess, and I sensed they were having a conversation that went beyond the words they spoke, as if they both knew something hat I didn't, and were reaching some sort of understanding.

"I'm so glad you're here because we seriously need your help," I said holding out my hand to shake hers. Her handshake was firm and confident and I found that I liked her already.

"Was Saleem busy, Jess?" I asked, wondering what had happened to our expected transport.

"He was unreachable." She gave me a teasing smile "I was the second choice.".

I grinned, hiding my worry for the djinn. It was rare for Saleem to be unreachable.
 

I waved them inside the living room where the fire was crackling nicely, and where Dad and Logan were deep in conversation beside the floor-to-ceilings window.

Truthfully, I was surprised that neither appeared to be uncomfortable or want to rip the other's throat out.

Good.

We'd just completed introductions when my brother, Iain, arrived. I was tall, but Iain towered over me by a full head. His bright smile and fast, hard bear hug warmed me more than the fire did.
 

When I introduced him to Darcy, I didn't miss the rosy tinge to her cheeks, or the way Iain's gaze stayed on her face for a bit longer than was normal.

Since his wife Sonia had been killed, Iain had kept his relationships light and fun, and never too serious. But he seemed to have taken a shine to our Eraser.

Interesting. It could be a relationship worth prodding in the right direction.

But first, our current business.
 

"Darcy," I said. "Thanks for coming. We need help urgently."

At my words Logan and Dad ended their private conversation and joined us. "I have reason to believe," I continued, "that someone's memory has been erased against their will."

Darcy's gaze flicked immediately to Jess and again they appeared to share a look. "Such a thing is easy enough to accomplish if the subject is sedated."

"Is sedation necessary?" I asked.

She pursed her lips. "Not necessary, but recommended. Mind-melding in any form takes time, and with a conscious--or even semi-conscious--subject it's far too easy to lose concentration."

"How long would such a process take?" Logan asked. His expression was off--tense and strained as he studied Darcy's face.

I wondered if he too was taken with the lovely mage but decided his expression appeared to be more like he was struggling to figure out where he'd seen her before.

She hesitated then, her discomfort clear. "It depends on what I'm doing. For a full erase it's quick, although extremely painful for both the subject and myself."

"And if you're just removing specific memories?" I asked.

"It takes much longer. Anything between eighteen hours and two days, depending on how intensive the wipe needs to be."

Logan frowned. "So you can remove specific pieces of information from a person's memory?"
 

Immediately I understood what he was getting at.

Could it be possible that the memories he was trying to recall had been wiped from
his
mind? I felt a little ill at the thought and had to focus to hear Darcy's answer.

"Yes," she said. "Imagine you're eating an apple and I go in and remove the memories of what you ate. And replace the apple with a peppermint." She smiled, yet the corners of her mouth didn't rise high enough, as if some form of tension still controlled her responses.

Logan thought about it. "I'll recall that I ate a peppermint?"

She nodded. "If I gave you a new memory of an actual peppermint, yes. But if I didn't replace the actual apple with an actual peppermint you'd recall eating an apple but not see it, and you'd recall the taste as peppermint, not the crunchy sweet apple itself."

"Sounds like a bit of a mind-fudge." I kept it clean since Jess and Dad were present. "Does it ever go wrong?"

She didn't hesitate. "It can. I could make a person recall eating a live snake instead of an apple. Or erase every apple they've eaten in their life. There are limitless possibilities, but few are ethical."

So all that protected us were the ethics of the practitioner. That was scary. "How long do the effects of such an erase last?"

Darcy considered. "It depends on the job and the particular need. It could be forever. Or I could make it only temporary."

"What are the signs that an erased memory is returning?" I asked, my heart beginning to thump harder.

"They usually begin with dreams that allude to what's been erased and odd flashes of memory that are usually sensation-related."

"Sensation?" asked Logan softly.

Jess glanced at Logan as Darcy answered. "Yes. Sensations are often the most difficult to erase. We can remove the apple but the experience of the eating is incredibly hard to remove and replace. Erasing is usually the only viable choice. In the 'eating an apple' case there you won't recall the apple but you'll remember the feel of eating it, the taste of the fruit and the juices. The context in which you ate it will also remain."

I nodded then glanced over at the fire. "So if you removed my mom from my memory, but she always burned toast,"--Dad and Iain both laughed--"then every time I smelled burned toast, my mind would search for the association with that smell and find nothing."

She nodded.

"And I'd feel like something is missing?" I asked, giving Logan a glance. He was staring at the fire, the expression on his face pained. He was making connections.

I turned back to Darcy and found that she too was watching Logan, her expression sad.

Then she caught me watching her and her expression returned to calm professional. "A lot of people never feel they're missing something," she said, "but there are a small number of subjects whose emotional strength can override the erase." She tilted her head. "Is this the problem you have for me?"

Somehow I knew she was aware it wasn't.

"I have two kids," I said, "whose memories of an attack on them have been taken. Their recollections are more in terms of association and feeling--which means their descriptions can't be fully trusted. Are we able to do anything to help them remember. Or to overturn the erase?"

Darcy tapped a finger on her lips. "I can try. If you arrange a meeting with them, I'll try a few exercises. Perhaps I could even do a search within their minds to find out if their memories have been erased to begin with."

I nodded but glanced over at Logan.

Darcy leaned forward. "I really am happy to help, Kailin. When can you arrange for me to meet them?"

No help from Logan, then. "And that," I said, "is where we have a little problem."

Her eyebrows lifted slightly. "Why is that?"
 

"They're dead."

Her eyebrows hit her hairline. "Yes," she said. "That does complicate things."

I
T
WASN
'
T
UNTIL
EVERYONE
LAUGHED
that I realized how tense the conversation had become.
 

"
Can
you examine the mind of a dead person?" I asked.

Expecting Darcy to give a flat-out
no
, I was surprised when she smiled and nodded.
 

"It will be a complicated exercise," she said. "But yes."

I let out a relieved sigh. "We can do 'complicated'. It's the 'not possible' we have a problem with."

She laughed softly. "I understand. I'll need a DeathTalker to set up the mind-link. A person's mind doesn't disappear once they die. It exists within the soul-aspect--or the spirit, as some people call it. It's much, much harder to access, but if the subject is willing then their willingness removes a number of the mental barriers. So yes, I can help. Although it does depend on what you expect of me."

"How do you mean?"

She lifted a shoulder. "Do you just want information? Or do you want me to erase something from their minds?"

I thought of the ghosts and their desire to help me. I wanted to give them something in return. "To be honest, I'd like you to put their memories back the way they were. But if you can't, I'll be happy with just information."

She nodded. "Unfortunately, information is the best that I can offer. Only an Immortal can manipulate the memories of the dead."

The temperature in the room seemed to plummet and the chill lifted the small hairs on my arms.
 

Only an Immortal can manipulate the memories of the dead.

Logan's dark look told me what he too was thinking.

Storm.

Beside him, Jess's face tightened with shock. Now, she too had to admit that Storm was a strong contender for the guilty title.

And then time froze as Jess decided we needed a private conversation.

"Sorry to do this to you again, Kailin," she said, her expression strained. I nodded my understanding, and she continued, "Are you
absolutely
positive about what the children said?"

I was no longer struggling with the idea that Storm could be our killer/mastermind, but the Titan certainly was. It was clear that whatever previous relationship she'd had with Storm was influencing her current state of mind. A good thing I'd always been a little intimidated by Storm and kept our relationship merely cordial.

"I'm sorry, Jess." And I truly was. "I know this is hard for you to wrap your head around. He was your friend. Sorry, he
is
your friend. I understand if you need more proof."

But the Titan was shaking her head, a blonde strand escaping from the low bun at the back of her head. Her eyes, usually blue and sparkling, were now just a dull grey.

"I am trained to be impartial in all matters, but I now understand how humans think and feel, always swayed by emotional attachment. As much as I want to believe Storm incapable of such dreadful crimes, I cannot ignore the truth. I understand him to be
able
to do the things you accuse him of. I had thought him too ethical to do so. And yet--"