High Energy (22 page)

He turned to the group at large, his oh-so-sincere gaze focusing on each of them

in turn. "Well, my friends, we have been through a lot with each other this

weekend. I know I don't only speak for myself when I say that I feel I know each

of you now so very well. I think we all feel close to each other after this

special time we've shared."

Several heads nodded in agreement.

"I couldn't help but sense, however, that there is someone among us who

has—shall we say, held back." For an instant his gaze seemed to rivet directly

on Zanita.

Zanita tensed. Was he on to them? She felt Tyber's hand stroke her thigh,

warning her to relax.

"Elizabeth." LaLeche broke his gaze on her, turning to the older woman. "I have

sensed that you are not completely with us this weekend. Am I correct, my dear?"

Elizabeth looked down at her hands, which were tightly clasped in her lap.

"Well, I've tried—"

"I understand. You have much on your mind which weighs heavily upon you, don't

you?" Still looking down, the older woman nodded.

"I have seen a disturbance in your energy flow. There is an angry color swirling

about you in the vicinity of your torso."

"That narrows it down." Tyber's low sarcastic words floated to her. He was

right, of course. The torso could mean just about anywhere on the body. It was a

pretty safe guess, although judging from the rapt faces surrounding them, no one

seemed to realize that.

When Elizabeth nodded, LaLeche continued. "There is an illness within. A

disease." He said it as if it were two words.

"Yes." The woman's voice was a faint sound.

LaLeche leaned to her, taking her hands in his. "Where is it, Elizabeth?"

"My abdomen." Several people in the room murmured in sympathy for her.

Tyber took the opportunity to whisper in Zanita's ear, "Did you notice, he came

right out and asked her where her illness is?"

Zanita patted his leg under the blanket.

LaLeche humbly regarded Elizabeth with the utmost sympathy. "I want to give you

a healing, Elizabeth. Will you let me?"

"Yes, but I don't know if—"

LaLeche spoke gently to her. "This will be a special healing, Elizabeth. I don't

do this often as it is very draining on me, both emotionally and physically, but

I am moved to help you, my dear."

"Thank you." There were tears in the older woman's eyes.

Zanita clenched her fists under the blanket; she couldn't stand to see this poor

woman being so taken advantage of.

"Hang in there, baby." Tyber tried to calm her down. "I believe we are about to

be entertained on a grand scale."

And entertained they were.

LaLeche asked Elizabeth if she would lie on her back on the floor in the middle

of the circle.

Tyber, feeling concern for the older woman, immediately offered her the use of

the blanket beneath him. Elizabeth smiled her thanks, and Tyber spread it out on

the floor for her, once again resuming his seat with Zanita on his lap.

As soon as Tyber had rewrapped them in the blanket, Zanita turned to kiss him on

the cheek. "That was awfully sweet of you, Doc. Forget what I said in the past

about you not being chivalrous."

He cocked an eyebrow as he looked down at her, his tone suspiciously dry.

"Really?" He opened his legs and she fell through to the cold, hard floor.

"Ow!"

"I wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression of me, Curls." Her only warning

was a dangerous grin; his palms came up under the blanket and settled right over

her breasts.

"Tyber," she choked, "Cut it out! You'll cause a scene."

Resting his chin on the top of her head, he chuckled low against her. "I won't."

He slowly rotated his hands on her just to punctuate his statement.

Zanita squirmed and turned red. Quickly glancing around the room, she noted with

relief that no one seemed to be paying any attention to them. Everyone's eyes

were focused on Xavier and Elizabeth.

"Please, Tyber," she breathed as she desperately clutched his roving hands,

trying unsuccessfully to still his movements.

"Uh-uh."

He caught a strand of her hair between his lips.

The pirate! She was starting to get turned on! Well, two could play at his game.

She reached low behind her, between their bodies, and rubbed. Hard.

Tyber stopped his play immediately.

"I—ah, suddenly see the wisdom of your words."

"I thought you might." She smirked. "What's he doing?" She wiggled her rump on

the cold floor beneath Tyber's thighs.

LaLeche had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt past his elbows, revealing

surprisingly well-shaped forearms with a smattering of dark hair.

"Looks like he's preparing for surgery. Up you go now." Tyber's hands settled at

her waist, effortlessly lifting her back onto his lap.

LaLeche leaned over the supine woman. "Are you comfortable, Elizabeth?"

"Yes."

"Good." He flipped on the cassette player and chirping bird sounds filled the

room. "Now I want you to relax. I'm going to start now."

He closed his eyes briefly, then began running his hands down the length of her

body, never actually touching it. "Concentrate with me, my dear, on the flow of

energy through your body."

Elizabeth seemed a little nervous.

"Relax. Stretch your muscles. Breathe deeply. In. Out. Everyone join in."

"Don't you dare take a deep breath while I'm sitting on your lap, Tyber," Zanita

muttered, causing him to let out a bark of laughter which he tried to disguise

as a cough.

"Now, Elizabeth, I want you to see yourself, your body, your energy. Picture the

energy flowing through you, unimpeded, unobstructed in any way. You feel the

strength of your energy flow through you and around you. Good…" As he spoke,

LaLeche moved his hands on a parallel course with her body, up and down, then in

strange circular motions.

"Do you feel the heat of healing energy yet?" he asked Elizabeth.

"A—a little."

"Good. That's good. Keep concentrating as I am—concentrating on feeling you

well, seeing you well…."

Zanita halfheartedly watched the healing until her attention was suddenly

brought up short by a strange glow that seemed to be coming from LaLeche's

hands.

She blinked to clear her vision. Her vision did not change.

Her body jerked upright.

She felt Tyber's hands lightly squeeze her shoulders, a gesture which told her

that while he was acknowledging what they were seeing, he was, at the same time,

encouraging her to relax.

Zanita could sense the others in the room shifting their positions, all watching

the strange phenomenon, each afraid to speak lest they break the spell.

The glow was all around his hands now.

Little arcs of light played around his fingers as he continued to pass his hands

in the air just above her body. LaLeche seemed to be in deep concentration; a

bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

It was an unnerving experience.

It seemed absolutely genuine.

It scared the bejesus out of her.

"Tyber," Zanita croaked in a whisper, "could we have been wrong?"

Tyber didn't respond except to give her the strength of his gentle hug. It was a

welcome ground in a situation that seemed… unearthly.

"Do you feel it, Elizabeth?" LaLeche almost seemed to be speaking out of a

trance.

"Yes—oh, yes! I feel a—heat. It feels—" The experience proved too much for the

woman. She burst into tears. LaLeche sat back on his haunches and wiped the

sweat off his brow.

There was dead silence for several moments, then everyone started to whisper at

once.

Elizabeth clutched LaLeche's hands. "Did it work, do you think?" There was a

poignant desperation in her voice.

"Yes, I know it did." He gave her a small, benevolent hug. Zanita turned to

Tyber, her violet eyes huge in her face.

"Tyber, what did we just see?"

Tyber looked perplexed. He didn't answer her for several minutes. When he did,

it was not the reassurance she was looking for.

"I don't know."

Zanita clutched his arm and he gazed down at her.

"Whatever it was, baby, I can guarantee it wasn't what you think it was."

"Are you sure?"

She looks really worried, he thought, surprised. Her face had gone pale, her

eyes wide. He lifted a finger to run it encouragingly down the side of her

smooth cheek.

"Yes. I'm sure, baby. I just need time to figure it out. It's late; why don't we

make our excuses and head back to the warmth of our room? I think the show's

over for now."

Wise words from a man who was proving himself to be a rock of strength for her.

"I agree." She stood up, stretching her creaking, frozen joints. "We need to go

back and mull this over."

Tyber stood. "The only thing I want mulled tonight is some hot cider, quickly

followed by a hot bath."

They made their way through the throng to LaLeche, acting suitably awed by what

they had seen.

"I'm so glad you got to partake in this particular session." He almost sounded

giddy. "I must tell you, this doesn't happen often."

No, only when you need to drum up some hefty donations. Tyber listened to him

with a bland expression on his face.

"Tomorrow we'll have a brief farewell blessing at noon. I try to keep the Sunday

sessions short because most of us have a rather long trip home." It was amazing

how considerate he sounded. "You will be here tomorrow, won't you, Dr. Evans?"

The man seemed rather overeager to him. Tyber thought quickly. "Actually, we

won't be able to make it tomorrow. I've promised my friend we'd have lunch with

him."

Zanita's head whipped toward him in surprise, but Tyber ignored her, reaching

into his inside jacket pocket to extract his checkbook. He took out his pen,

opened the cover, and stopped, as if something had just occurred to him.

"You know, Xavier, I'm having a few friends of like mind down next weekend.

Would you care to join us for the weekend at my home? That is, if you don't

already have other plans? I'm really very interested in what you've done and I

have to tell you, I'm very impressed."

A glint, somewhere between avarice and exultation, came into LaLeche's eyes.

"Why, thank you, Dr. Evans! Coming from you that is a compliment, indeed. I'm

flattered. Of course I'll accept your invitation!"

It was obvious to Zanita that the man could barely contain his excitement. Tyber

clicked his pen and began writing out a check. A very large check. Zanita's eyes

widened.

Before Tyber could cross the T in his name, LaLeche's hand stopped him.

"No need for that now, Doctor. I appreciate the gesture, but, after all, you've

just invited me to your home. Why don't we wait and see what develops?"

Tyber glanced down at him through veiled eyes. "Yes. Why don't we?" He tore off

the left-hand corner of the check with a secret smile, handing just the little

piece to LaLeche. "Here's the address. We'll expect you around seven—for

dinner."

"Thank you. I look forward to it!" He stuck out his hand. Tyber shook it briefly

before quickly ushering Zanita out into the rainy night.

They made a mad dash through the mud to the truck.

"Heeeeat!" Zanita wailed as soon as Tyber started the engine.

Tyber slammed a couple of levers to the far right and a blast of warm air began

filling the cab. They both moaned in ecstasy.

"We're getting right into a hot tub as soon as we get back to the room." Tyber

negotiated the truck onto the road heading back to the inn.

Zanita tried to talk between the chattering of her teeth. "It was nice of you to

leave those blankets behind."

"How could I not? I hope those poor bastards don't get pneumonia tonight." A

street light illuminated the set of his jaw and the disgust on his face.

"They're adults, Tyber. No one is holding them there; they can leave if they

want to."

Her words visibly relaxed him. "I suppose you're right. Although I'm not sure

that's altogether true in Elizabeth's case. She's looking for a miracle and

perhaps she thinks she's found one. In that case, wild horses wouldn't drag the

woman away from there." The palm of his hand slammed against the steering wheel.

"It's the worst sort of manipulation!"

Zanita put her hand on his thigh.

He turned briefly to meet her eyes. "Now I know why it was so important to you

to go after this guy; I imagine Mrs. Haverhill was much like Elizabeth."

She nodded. "Yes. A very nice woman in a horrible situation. I think she

probably was reaching out for help, for contact with another human being. It was

her last chance to trust someone, and along comes someone like Xavier…."

"It's disgusting," he bit out.

"Tyber… why did you write out such a large check to him? What if he had taken

it?"

"It was a calculated risk. First, I told him we couldn't attend tomorrow,

letting him think this was his last shot at us. Then I took out my checkbook to

confirm his supposition. I thought if I casually invited him to the mansion as I

wrote out a check, he would see the possibilities in a future, even larger

donation." The corners of his mouth lifted slightly in private amusement.

"Something to tide him over the long winter."