Chapter 1
The sound of Jo’s voice echoing through the intercom sent Ciaran and Madeline charging up the stairs. They stormed into Tadgh’s room, finding him lying flat on the floor, unconscious.
Ciaran took Tadgh’s pulse. Steady, he mused. His brother was clinically alive and well.
But something was missing inside Tadgh. Something profound. Fundamental. Something that, as a scientist, he didn’t care to speak of or even theorize.
Tadgh’s soul is gone.
Ciaran shook his head. He couldn’t believe he’d let that thought cross his mind. He had no idea how to explain this. Fear clawed at him.
He could cure his little brother of any earthly problem that could be scientifically explained. He had even manufactured the perfect level of sugar in Tadgh’s blood—a minor issue Tadgh had when he was a kid.
Ciaran could even help with anything physiological or emotional his little brother might encounter. But the only thing he couldn’t help Tadgh with was his mind.
That was the most scientific he could make it. Calling it the mind.
When it came to something as metaphysical as a soul, Ciaran didn’t even know where to begin.
“How could this happen? One minute we were talking, and the next, he fell to the carpet!” Jo exclaimed.
“He’s all right, Jo.”
“He doesn’t look all right, Ciaran. Is he traveling into another dimension like you did the day before yesterday?”
Ciaran shook his head. “Let’s put him on the bed.”
Madeline nodded. As soon as she grabbed Tadgh’s arm to help, she yelped and released it. A tear rolled down her face.
“What is it, Madeline?” Ciaran asked.
Madeline’s eyes were glazed for a short moment, and then they became clear again. “He saw Kyle Wolf. But not via his own eyes,” she whispered.
“So whose eyes did he see the monster through?” Ciaran muttered, more to himself than to Madeline. It a rhetorical question. He didn’t think Madeline knew the answer. But he had a feeling someone did. Ciaran looked at Jo.
The blood drained from Jo’s face. “The eyes of the victim. He could see their emotion and the monster’s emotion. He saw Kyle’s satisfaction when he ripped the innocence out of someone. Like he once did to me,” Jo spoke under her breath.
Ciaran grabbed Madeline’s cold, shaky hands. “Sit down, will you?” He nudged her down onto a chair.
“It’s horrible.” A tear rolled down Madeline’s face.
“Let it calm down. It will pass.” He kissed her lightly. “Okay?” he asked. She nodded.
On the floor, Tadgh stirred, and his eyes fluttered and opened. Ciaran darted over. Tadgh’s eyes were distant, as if he hadn’t yet come back to reality. Then in a brief second, Ciaran knew his brother was back.
“Tadgh, you passed out. You remember anything?” Ciaran reached his hand out to pull him up.
Tadgh glanced around the room. He paused at Jo’s face. Then his eyes hardened. The darkness in his brother’s eyes worried Ciaran. “You can see emotion since you stupidly injected the poison into your body, but it shouldn’t force you to connect with Kyle.”
“No way am I connected with that monster. I don’t have a choice here. I see what I see,” Tadgh muttered. “Fuck this!” Tadgh kicked the chair, the table, and another piece of furniture as he moved across the room. Ciaran let him go for a couple of minutes then tackled him to the floor.
“Let go of me.” Tadgh shoved Ciaran off and stood up.
“Do I have to assign security and keep you chained up, Tadgh? We’re going to Australia tomorrow . . .”
“I’m going with you,” Tadgh snarled.
“Give me a very good reason to allow that, Tadgh.”
“I need to kill the fucking bastard.”
“What did you see?”
“Can’t tell you. And there’s nothing you can do.”
“You can’t be sure of that,” Ciaran countered.
Tadgh stared at Ciaran and said nothing more.
“Very well, you will stay here. I’ll assign security and take away all of your access to transport.” Ciaran strode toward the door of the room.
Tadgh darted after him and grabbed for Ciaran’s shoulder. The momentum of Tadgh’s hand pushed Ciaran, shoving him forward. “Don’t be ridiculous, Ciaran. I can help you.”
Entering the reception room at the end of the corridor, Ciaran turned around. “I said no. You and Jo stay here. I can’t take care of you in Australia.”
“Let me put this another way, big brother. How can you be so sure Kyle wouldn’t try to kill you in Australia?” Tadgh cocked an eyebrow in challenge. “I need to go with you.”
“Then tell me what you just saw.”
“Kyle was doing what he did to Jo to another girl in London,” Tadgh said and glanced at Jo.
“How did you see it? I could feel the vibration of Kyle’s energy when I touched your arm,” Madeline said.
Tadgh shook his head. “I didn’t see much. Just got a glimpse of objects and shapes, and I heard some sounds. The shapes and sounds translate into emotion. That’s what I feel. I extrapolate the action that cause the emotion and the owner of the emotions afterward.”
Tadgh flopped into a reading chair and closed his eyes.
“And you did all that in a few minutes?” Jo asked.
“He’s a walking, talking computer, Jo,” Ciaran said.
“I can tell if Kyle is coming when he’s miles away. Like now. He’s in London. I can’t tell the precise location. But if he takes any action on anyone, I can tell from miles away,” Tadgh said.
“I can’t risk him controlling you. Madeline and Jo saw that happen,” Ciaran explained.
“Madeline knocked me out way before they could even tell if I was able to resist Kyle.”
Ciaran looked at Madeline. She nodded to confirm what Tadgh had just said.
Tadgh grunted and held his head.
“I’ll have to knock you out, Tadgh,” Ciaran said.
Tadgh gestured for Ciaran to stay away. “It wasn’t Kyle. It’s the girl . . .” he grunted again and looked as if he was in excruciating pain. Ciaran approached.
“No, no. I can take this.” Tadgh held his head and closed his eyes. After a while, he opened his eyes and looked at Ciaran. He was as white as a ghost.
“Turn on the news,” Tadgh said numbly.
Ciaran turned on their private channel. As the latest news flashed, the blood drained from all of their faces.