The Strange Power

The whole universe seemed to be hushed and waiting, breath held.



But Rob didn't move. He was on the brink of discovery-but not there yet.



me strange rower



He needs help, Kaitlyn thought. He still doesn't understand what's going on.



It was up to her to show him, to help him take that first step-if she wanted to. And she did. Kaitlyn suddenly felt calm and clear. She saw in her mind what was going to happen, like a picture already finished.



She would cradle his face with her hands and kiss him-very softly. And Rob would look at her with such surprise. So completely innocent-but not stupid. Rob wasn't slow to catch on. After she kissed him the second time, the astonishment would turn to dawning wonder. His golden eyes would start smoldering the way they did when he was angry . . . but for a very different reason.



Then he'd put his arms around her, and kiss her- so lightly-and the energy, the healing energy, would flow between them. And everything would be wonderful.



Breath held, Kaitlyn reached up to touch Rob's face, seeing her own graceful artist's fingers on his jaw.



Even that little contact sent sparks dancing up her palm. It all seemed so simple and natural-as if she knew what to do without thinking. As if she'd always known, in some wise place inside.



Imagine it-Kaitlyn the cold, knowing what to do, feeling so sure. It was all about to happen.



Then voices broke into her reverie. Laughing, ordinary voices that didn't belong at all to the beautiful new world Kaitlyn was inhabiting. She looked up in confusion.



Lewis and Anna were just outside the door. Gabriel was behind them.



"Hey, Kait," Lewis began cheerfully. And then, seeing her face, "Uh, oops."



Anna's dark eyes were stricken and apologetic. "We didn't mean to interrupt," she said, grabbing Lewis's shoulder as if to propel him away.



"A little therapeutic touch in the dark?" Gabriel asked blandly.



Sick dismay swept through Kaitlyn. The discovery, the wonder, in Rob's face was shattered. It had been so fragile, something that was about to be born rather than something that already existed-and now it was gone. Snatched away, leaving only Rob's usual kindness and concern. His affection for Anna and Lewis.



And his hatred for Gabriel.



"Kait had a headache," he said, standing up to face Gabriel directly. "If it's any of your business."



"She seems to be better now," Gabriel observed, looking around him at Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn glared at him with deadly heat.



"It would help if people would leave me alone," she said.



"We were just going," Anna said, her eyes telegraphing her contrition to Kaitlyn. "Come on, Lewis."



"That's right," Rob said, and then, to Kait's utter frustration and disbelief, he walked out the door himself.



"Want me to close this?" he asked.



If it had been a ploy to make sure Gabriel and the others stayed away, Kaitlyn would have understood.



But it wasn't. Rob had reverted completely. The only emotion she could see in his golden eyes now was brotherly affection.



And there was no way to get through to him, no way to change things back. At least for today, it was over.



She didn't know who to be angry with-Gabriel and the others or Rob himself. She might just kill Rob-but she loved him more than ever.



"Yes, please close the door," she said.



When they were all gone, Kaitlyn lay on her bed, watching as cool violet twilight replaced the warm light of afternoon. The room became shadowy, mysterious. She shut her eyes.



A sound alerted her-a sound like paper rustling. Sitting up quickly, she stared around the room. There it was, something white glimmering out of the shadows, creeping in under the door. No, not creeping-being pushed.



Kaitlyn quietly got off the bed and padded to the door. Yellow light from the hallway was shining through the crack beneath the door-and the paper was still moving. She ignored it, grabbed the doorknob, and yanked the door open.



Marisol was kneeling on the hallway floor.



The older girl's chin jerked up, and for a moment her brown eyes met Kaitlyn's. They looked shocked and surly. Then she was on her feet and heading for the stairs.



"Oh, no, you don't!" Fired by all the emotions of the past afternoon, Kait pounced. Frustration, excitement, and fury gave her the strength to seize Marisol and spin her around.



"What were you doing pushing stuff under my door? What is that?" Kaitlyn demanded, pointing to the piece of folded paper lying on the threshold.



Marisol just tossed her hair out of her eyes and looked defiant.



Kaitlyn let go of her long enough to pick up the paper, then blocked her as she headed for the stairway again.



"This is my picture!" It was the one Kait had done yesterday, the one of her own face with the extra eye, the one she'd left on the lab floor.



Except that now it had writing on it.



Scrawled across the bottom in heavy black pen were the words: watch out. this could happen to you.



"Another joke?" Kaitlyn said grimly, drawing herself up.



Marisol, who was several inches taller, just looked down at her with smoldering brown eyes. Kaitlyn, reckless of the consequences, grabbed Marisol's arm and shook her.



"Why are you trying to scare me? Is it because you hate psychics?"



Marisol laughed shortly.



"Do you want me to go away? Is it... oh, I don't know, some jealousy thing or something?" Kaitlyn was desperately groping for a reason that made sense.



Marisol pressed her full lips together.



"Okay, fine," Kaitlyn said, her voice slightly shaky. "I guess I'll just have to go and ask Joyce."



She got halfway to the stairs before Marisol spoke.



"Joyce can't help you. She doesn't know what's really going on. She wasn't around for the pilot study-but I was."



"What's a pilot study?" Kaitlyn asked, without turning.



"Never mind. The point is, you won't get help from Joyce. All she cares about is getting her experiments done, getting her name in the journals. She's blind to what's really happening. That's why Zetes hired her."



"But what does this thing mean?" Kaitlyn asked, shaking the paper.



Silence. Kaitlyn turned around. More silence.



"God, you're dumb," Marisol said at last. "Don't you remember the experiment today? Didn't you wonder at all how you got that picture of the grapes?"



Kaitlyn remembered that kaleidoscopic flood of images. "I assume because I'm psychic," she said, but she could hear the stiff defensiveness in her own voice.



"If you were really psychic, you'd figure out why you're here. And then you'd be on the next plane home."



Kaitlyn had had it with innuendo. "What are you talking about? Why can't you say something straight instead of all this secret stuff?" she almost shouted. "Unless you don't really have anything to say-"



Marisol had flinched at the volume of Kaitlyn's voice-and now she suddenly shoved past her, elbowing Kait hard in the arm. As she reached the stairway, she glanced back and snapped, "I came up to tell you you're late for dinner."



Kaitlyn sagged against the wall.



This had been the most confusing roller coaster of a day ... and Marisol seemed to be crazy, that was all.



Except that didn't explain what had happened during Kait's experiment. When Joyce had put that



"electrode" on Kaitlyn's forehead ...



Over my third eye, Kait thought. She looked at the now crumpled paper. The extra eye in the picture stared up at her grotesquely, as if trying to tell her something.



I've got to talk to somebody. I can't deal with this alone. I need help.



The decision made her feel better. Kaitlyn wadded the paper up and stuck it in her pocket. Then she hurried down the stairs to dinner.



"What's it got to do with me?" Gabriel said, flicking the paper back toward Kaitlyn. He was lying on his bed reading a magazine about cars-expensive cars. "It's not my problem."



Kaitlyn caught the paper in midair. It had taken a great deal of control to come here. She probably wouldn't have done it except that she couldn't face Rob alone just now, and Anna had been on the phone with her family since dinner.



Grimly Kaitlyn held on to her precarious calm.



"If there's anything to what Marisol is saying, then it's everybody's problem," she told Gabriel tightly.



"And you were the one who said that there was something wrong here."



Gabriel shrugged. "What if I did?"



Kaitlyn felt like screaming. "You really think something's wrong-but you don't care about finding out?



You wouldn't want to do anything about it?"



A faint smile touched Gabriel's lips. "Of course I'm going to do something. I'm going to do what I do best."



Kaitlyn saw it coming, but couldn't avoid feeding him the straight line. Feeling like Sergeant Joe Friday at the end of a scene, she rapped out, "And what's that?"



"Taking care of myself," Gabriel said smugly. His dark eyes were full of wicked delight at having the last word.



Kaitlyn didn't bother to hide her disgust as she left.



Outside his door, she leaned against the wall again. Lewis was in the study playing Primal Scream's newest CD at tooth-vibrating levels. Anna was still in the bedroom on the phone. And as for Rob . ..



"Did the headache come back?"



Kaitlyn whirled, somehow feeling cornered against the wall. Why didn't she ever hear Rob coming?



"No," she said. "I'm fine. At least - No, I am fine." She couldn't deal with Rob right now, she really couldn't. She was afraid for him-afraid of what she might do to him if she got the chance. It seemed equally likely that she'd kiss him or kill him.



"What's that?" he said, and the next thing Kait knew, he was taking the paper out of her hand. She tried to snatch it back, but he was too fast.



"That's nothing-I mean-"



Rob smoothed the paper, glanced at it, then looked up at her sharply. "Did you draw this?"



"Yes ... but I didn't do the writing. I don't- Oh, it's all so confusing." Kaitlyn had come to the end of her resources. She was tired of fighting, of pushing, of badgering people. She was tired.



"Come on," Rob said gently. The hand that cupped her elbow was gentle, too, but irresistible. He guided her without hesitation to the one room on the second floor that wasn't occupied-the bedroom he and Lewis shared.



"Now, tell me all about it." He sat beside her on the bed, as naturally as if he were her brother, as close as that. And with as little ulterior motive. It was agonizing-and wonderful at the same time.



And his eyes-he was looking at her with those grave golden eyes, extraordinary eyes. Wise eyes.



I can trust him, Kait thought. No matter what else happens between us, I can trust him.



"It's Marisol," she said, and then she was telling him everything. About waking up that first night to find Marisol in her room, about the strange things Marisol had said. Watch out or get out. This place is different than you think. About Marisol claiming it was all a joke the next morning. About the experiment today, and how the pictures had come into her mind-after Joyce put the cold thing on her forehead.



About Marisol pushing the drawing under her door.



"And then I tried to get her to explain-but all she talked about was some pilot study, and how if I knew why I was really here, I would be on the next plane home. And how Joyce didn't know what was really going on, either."



She stopped. She half expected Rob to laugh, but he didn't. He was frowning, looking puzzled and intent.



"If Joyce doesn't know what's going on, then who does?"



"I guess Mr. Zetes. But, Rob, it's all so crazy."



Rob's mouth tightened. "Maybe," he said under his breath. "But I wondered about him. . . ."



"That first day? The speech about us psychics being so superior and following different laws?"



Rob nodded. Kaitlyn was meeting his eyes without self-consciousness now, as grim as he was. He believed her, and that made this whole thing much more serious than before. This was business.



"And why he brought Gabriel here," Rob said.



"Yes," Kaitlyn said slowly. Someday she really would have to talk to Rob about Gabriel-but not now.



"But what does it all add up to?"



"I don't know." Rob looked at the drawing again. "But I know we have to find out. We have to talk to Joyce."



Kaitlyn swallowed. It had been a lot easier to threaten to tell Joyce in the heat of anger than it was to consider going to her now. But of course, Rob was right.



"Let's do it," she said.



Joyce's room was off the little wood-paneled hallway under the stairs that led to the front lab. It had originally been a solarium, a glass-enclosed porch. Not only that, but the French-door entrance was so large that anyone in the living room or foyer could see straight in. Only Joyce, Kait thought, could live in a room like this without any privacy. It probably had something to do with the fact that Joyce always looked good, whether she was doing business in a tailored suit or lounging in layered pink sweats-like tonight.



"Hi, guys," she said, looking up from a laptop computer. Light from her bedside lamp reflected off the glass walls.



Kaitlyn sat gingerly on the bed, and Rob pulled up the desk chair. He was still holding the drawing.



Joyce looked from one of them to the other. "Why so serious?"



Kaitlyn took a deep breath at the same time as Rob said, "We need to talk to you."



"Yes?"



Kait and Rob exchanged glances. Then Kaitlyn burst out, "It's about Marisol."



Joyce's eyebrows lifted toward her sleek blond hair. "Yes?"



"She's been saying things to Kaitlyn," Rob said. "Weird things, about the Institute being dangerous. And she wrote ... this ... on a drawing Kaitlyn did."



Still looking puzzled, Joyce took the paper, scanned it. Kait felt her stomach knot. She had stopped breathing completely.



When Joyce threw back her head, Kait thought for a moment she was going to scream. Instead, she burst into laughter.