The Lost (9 page)

A panel of monitors jumped to life after the system confirmed his identity. Each screen contained different bits of information, from the sensors tracking the incoming storm to the readings from his last energy-harvesting session. The end result of that experiment, the withered remains of the small purple foxglove plant, sat on the worktable.

He had chosen the foxglove for its known medicinal values, and to his surprise, the readings he had gotten from the plant had been higher than those from the plain old potted fern he had used as a baseline. That had served to put him on notice that he might want to somehow gather those different healing energies.

But he wasn’t the one needing healing, he thought, recalling Bobbie’s pained expression and the guarded way she had moved after the run-in with the men.

Too bad his only power seemed to be to take and not to give, he thought, with a last look at the emaciated plant. He had only sipped a bit of its life force, but it had been too much for the plant to handle. The power he had gathered
had not even been enough to allow for any physical change from the energy.

Not that he had any intention of shifting into your average garden-variety petunia. Too many remnants of the borrowed life force often came over during such an exchange, like the flight instincts of the cat that evening. He had no idea what would happen if he shapeshifted into a nonsentient form.

Tossing the pot into a wastebasket, he sat down at the computer and viewed the radar reports on the incoming weather. The brighter orange and red markings delineating the strongest cells in the thunderstorm were moving quickly and would soon be directly above his Spring Lake residence. With a wave of his hand over a button, he released the lightning rods built into the uppermost story of his home.

Almost as soon as he had done so, the low rumble of distant thunder warned that the tempest was growing nearer. For months Adam had been monitoring such storms using high-speed video. Shooting over fifty thousand frames per second, he had been able to detect the smaller ribbons of electricity that actually composed what the eye saw as only one huge bolt of lightning.

He had also discovered another interesting phenomenon. With him maneuvering the lightning rods by remote, he was actually able to reliably draw the bolts to those devices. It was as if his natural affinity was beckoning the energy to join with him.

Acting quickly, Adam engaged the junctions that would funnel any electrical strike he attracted to a series of sophisticated energy cells and capacitors. The purpose of the collection was twofold. If the array could collect
and keep the charge, SolTerra might be able to develop a new source of energy to be marketed.

If he could then personally absorb the power from the energy cells, he hoped to be able to take that force and calm the growing need within him. Afterward, he might be able to direct it to something or someone else without causing harm. Unfortunately, his control was sporadic, even after so many years of trying. Plus there was the recent phenomenon he had been experiencing, which created intense static in his brain and pain if his energy levels fluctuated too greatly.

He suspected that part of the problem was the source of his power. Man-made power did not produce the same results in his body as natural supplies from the cosmos or other living things. As for his shapeshifting experiments, he chose his subjects carefully and made sure he didn’t take too much of their vitality, hence his need for alternate ways to recharge his power.

An insistent beep-beep-beep intruded from a nearby computer. The weather service was issuing a severe thunderstorm warning.

Perfect, he thought, and flipped one of the monitors to the security camera watching the rooftop. He shifted the camera’s orientation with a joystick, training its view onto the two lightning rods. Then he grasped the remotes for the rods, directing them toward the storm, focusing his attention on the rods while occasionally shooting a half-glance at the video from the high-speed cameras recording the experiment.

Anxiously he waited, his heart drumming in his chest and his core growing warmer as he absorbed some of the free-floating electrical energy increasing with the approach of the storm.

A flash of light brightened the night sky in the distance, followed several seconds later by the crash of thunder.

Another minute passed.

Another flare of light. More distinct. Closer this time. The thunder followed within a few heartbeats, its vibrations thumping against his senses.

The storm was nearly overhead.

Less than a minute later, the first zigzag spike of lightning blasted into one of the metal rods. A second followed ferociously.

Adam turned from the sight of the strikes, their images alive on his retinas as he glanced at the screen tracking the energy levels in the battery array. Only a slight rise. Not nearly enough for the cells to be used as a power source.

Anxious minutes passed before he pulled another bolt of lightning to the rod, and this time it ramped up the readings, as did a fourth hit. Each strike increased the power levels in the cells, but the storm was shifting by too quickly. As fast as the squall had moved in from the land to the west, its fury sped eastward out to sea.

Turning on a different camera, Adam observed as the lightning brightened the inky night sky over the ocean, blinding white silver bursts racing down to midnight sea.

With the storm gone, he checked the readings on the batteries, smiling with pleasure as he noted they had not only finally picked up a substantial amount of the charge but were also retaining it. Tonight’s crucial success storing the energy meant he would finally be able to proceed to the second part of his experiment.

The personal part of his research.

He removed his shirt and sat on a stool by his work-
table. Carefully he wired himself to an EKG unit, a pulse oximeter, and a computer, which would monitor his vital signs while a second workstation was set to track any fluctuations in energy within his body.

In the event of any drop in his vital signs or dangerous electrical surges, he had programmed the system to engage various safety overrides to prevent any damage to him or the battery array.

Running a quick check of the networked peripherals, he nodded in satisfaction and issued a series of short mental commands to the computer. Before him the monitor flashed off and on as the image of the sea at night with the fading storm was replaced by the program showing the energy levels in the batteries.

He engaged the vital sign checks, and a third monitor provided information from the various wires he had stuck onto himself. Assured that all was in order, Adam picked up the leads connected to the bank of batteries and started a video camera to record the experiment.

With a deep breath, he braced himself and thought,
Computer, engage batteries tenth power.

A tingle immediately commenced in his palms, like the sensation of holding a small hand massager. Within his gut came a sympathetic vibration, but Adam was uncertain if it was truly power gathering within him or wishful thinking.

The power levels on the battery meter dipped, but his vital signs and energy flow remained normal. The latter was a disappointment, since even during the earlier experiment with the foxglove he had detected a spike of power in his body as he had sucked the plant’s vitality.

Determined to see some change happen, Adam rose
from his desk to the open space behind it to push the experiment to the next stage.

Computer, engage batteries half power
, he commanded silently.

There was no denying the stronger force pulsing against his palms. It danced up his arms from where he held the leads and coursed through his body, creating a dense ball of heat with more intense pulsations deep in his core.

He glanced at the monitors and watched as the battery levels dimmed, but those within his body steadily increased. His pulse and other vital signs jumped slightly as his core accepted and stored the energy taken from the lightning. As he glanced at his hands, the tendrils of power were visible, encircling his wrists and the leads, writhing and dancing in a vivid display of royal blue and silver light along his hands and up his forearms, like a string of flashing Christmas lights wound around his extremities.

Adam had to find out just how much more power he could absorb, and he instructed the computer to ramp up the delivery to 75 percent.

The surge yanked him off his feet, charging every cell in his body. The heat that had solely been at his center moments earlier raced through his body and overtook him completely. Wired from the power pulsing through him, Adam could barely focus on the data before him. As had been happening with the unexpected bouts lately, his mind became filled with static from the forces zooming along his extremities and core as he became part of the electrical current circulating from the batteries. Before his eyes, rays of light danced across his vision and he
followed them, watching as they swirled around his body and into him, like tree roots digging deep into the soil, their colors almost iridescent against the blinding brightness creeping into his vision.

Have to get control
, he thought, and mustered enough cognition to see the rapidly draining power levels on the array and the dangerous spikes of energy in his body.

His vital signs were jumping erratically now.

Heart, breathing, and pulse were all reaching critical levels, or at least he thought so; the waves of power were clouding his eyesight. Noise filled his brain and pressure built until he thought his skull would explode.

In the distance, because he felt disconnected from the world around him, Adam heard a warning alarm from one of the units connected to him.

Have to shut down
, he thought.

Fighting against the power searing through him, he tried to speak and instruct the computer, but couldn’t. The muscles in his body were spasming uncontrollably from the current racing in and out of his being, passing through him as if he were insubstantial or maybe because he was now a part of the circuit. One with the power.

Let go of the leads
, he thought, as lightning brightness obliterated what he could see, but his body refused to cooperate. Summoning the last of his fading consciousness, he managed one final word.

Release.

T
he energy streamed through them like a tsunami crashing across the shore. Kellen and Selina braced themselves, absorbing the flood of power that the humans in the area would not even notice. But the energy would be felt by all the Hunters within several miles, awakening them to the existence of a great presence—another Quinchu, and a powerful one at that, considering the size and strength of the energy wave.

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Selina asked, covering her husband’s hand with hers. The wave of energy had touched her deep inside, rousing memories of Kikin and how his aura felt as he nestled beside her. Inside her as a baby, she thought, laying her hand over her belly as she experienced a phantom kick.

Kellen nodded, wanting to believe the power had emanated from their son, but uncertain, given the earlier reports from his cadre captain and sergeant. “If it is, we must act quickly. If the Shadows arrive—”

“We will lose him.”
Again
, Selina thought, but couldn’t say so out loud. For so many years her husband had blamed himself for the loss. She would not add to his misery.

They would not lose their son again.

A muscle jumped along Kellen’s jaw, vibrating with anger. “We will find him. We will take him back.”

The continuation of their clan depended on locating their missing son. Kikin should possess the ability to gather energy to feed those in the clan who could no longer replenish their life forces. At fifty-two, Kellen and Selina were into the last decade of their second triad and could no longer meet all the clan’s demands. Their powers were gradually diminishing, and because of that their Hunter clan declined in number as illness and time eroded their life forces.

While Hunters were stronger than humans in many ways, they had their weaknesses as well. Lately it seemed as if those debilities were taking the forefront, necessitating the infusion of energy from a Quinchu like their missing son.

But the safety of the humans also depended on keeping the Shadow Hunters away from Kikin, especially now that he was close to the Equinox. With such power, the Shadows would multiply in number and would need to drain more humans in order to keep the smallpox from ravaging their bodies.

“What if they find him before we do?” Selina asked, mirroring his own concern.

“Then it’ll be war once again.”

War. It had cost them so much last time. So many lost lives, both human and Hunter, he thought.

But there was no choice. They had searched for far too long not to accomplish their mission.

Kikin had to be found and brought back into their fold, no matter the cost.

How do you explain the unexplainable?

Avoidance, Bobbie thought later that night as she left a voice mail message canceling the physical therapy sessions she had scheduled for the rest of the week. She wasn’t ready to deal with giving reasons to her therapist for her sudden and seemingly miraculous recovery. Rotation, strength, sensation, and responsiveness in her left arm and hand were almost all back to normal. She wasn’t going to complain, but she was going to try to find out what had happened.