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A violent shudder shook Kyle s body. He slumped back in his chair. Elspeth stepped
back. Rob was at his side in an instant.
Kyle! Kyle, baby! He squeezed the boy s hand. Kyle s velvety brown eyes met his.
I did it. There was wonder in his voice. I took control of the vision.
I strongly suspected that you could, said Elspeth. But I didn t think that you d
believe it without a demonstration. Now you need to practice, to exercise and strengthen
your powers. She turned her attention to Rob. I gather you recognised the location.
I think so. I m pretty sure that it was Sterling.
Call the appropriate authorities and have them check out the school before it opens for
classes tomorrow. It s likely that they ll find a gas leak. Elspeth wiped her hands on her full
skirt. Well, that was quite intense. I think I ll go make supper.
Oh, we couldn t impose, Rob began.
No imposition. I m assuming that you ll stay the night.
Really, no, we have to get back&
Nonsense. It can be dangerous to go wandering in the Quabbin Valley after dusk. She
smiled at Rob, still kneeling by Kyle s chair. Her merry laugh filled the room. Don t worry. I
have a lovely guest room, with a big double bed.
Rob discovered that both he and Kyle were blushing.
NECESSARY MADNESS Lisabet Sarai
72
Chapter Thirteen
Somebody s messing with the space-time continuum. Jezebel removed her
headphones and looked back over her shoulder, trying to get Stefan s attention. He glanced
up from the technical journal he was skimming.
What?
Look. Here. And here. The woman pointed to a complex line graph on one of the
three enormous LCD monitors that surrounded her, a flickering column of numbers on
another. A dizzying array of tables, figures, images and text flashed across the screens,
changing from second to second. A map rose to the foreground, to be replaced a moment
later by a newspaper clipping and then a scrolling table in which certain values oscillated
between red and black. These discontinuities you see? they re not what I d expect. The
normal time currents are suddenly diverted, swinging wildly away from the forecast paths.
Here at the start of this week and then again, a couple of days ago. Somehow, someone or
something is wrenching the flow away from its trend, sending it in new directions. It shows
up all over the place here, in the stock prices, and here, in the daily accident statistics. Even
here in the temperature flux, for Christ s sake!
Stefan nodded, though he didn t see the discrepancies Jez pointed out. He had written
the software she used for her analyses, gathering real-time feeds from every source she asked
for, splashing the results across her screens in a kaleidoscope of information, but he couldn t
make sense of it the way she could. That was her gift, the one he d felt when he first found
her shooting up in that dark alley two years ago. In some other age, she would have read the
patterns in tea leaves or animal entrails. Now, she scanned for truths in the hurricane of bits
generated by the modern world.
What does it mean? Should we be interested?
Maybe. Jez leant back in her chair and rubbed her tired eyes. It could be a sign that
there s a pre-cog out there somewhere, seeing the future and then trying to alter it. Jez
hadn t known much about psi powers when he had rescued her, but she learnt fast.
NECESSARY MADNESS Lisabet Sarai
73
A pre-cog! Stefan s heart raced at the thought. Imagine what he could do, if he knew
what the future would bring. Make almost unlimited amounts of money, for one thing,
though at this point he hardly needed more wealth. But there were far more subtle
possibilities. Elections, for instance. Knowing the results ahead of time would allow him to
easily manipulate them. Or disasters. He could hold whole cities hostage. Better still, he
could be hailed as a hero, the only man who could save lives and salvage hopes when
everything seemed to be lost.
Stop judging me, he snapped as he caught the thread of Jez thoughts. Think of all
the good I could do with that kind of power. Especially combined with the abilities I ve
already gathered.
Think of the risks, Stefan. She swivelled her chair around to face him. The last
transfer nearly drove you insane. I had to sedate you for more than a week.
I didn t expect her powers to be so strong. I just wasn t used to it. Once I got the
telepathy under control, there wasn t any problem. He gripped her shoulders, staring into
her eyes. You re supposed to be my assistant, not to mention my lover. His hands dropped
to her pert nipples, tweaking them through her black jersey. I don t want your guilt-trips.
I didn t say a thing. Jez squirmed at the stimulation as he gave one nub a cruel pinch.
He knew her so well.
You can t hide your thoughts from me and you know it. You don t approve.
Of course I don t approve. I love you, Stefan. I don t want to see you hurt. Quite aside
from the dangers of your taking on more power, murder is bad news, psychically speaking.
It upsets the total energy balance in ways you can t predict. You might be able to circumvent
the laws of men, but you can t, ultimately escape the higher Law that governs us all. There
are always consequences.
Yes, that s what my parents always said. Obey the higher Law, my father would
intone. That meant being satisfied with the crumbs while everyone around me had powers I
could only dream of. When they died, that was the first time I had any respect for the higher
Law. Nature had punished them for their contempt of me.
Please, Stefan& Ow! Ooh& Stefan seized her by the hair and dragged her to her feet.
He fastened his mouth to hers, forcing his tongue between her lips. At the same time, he
thrust his hand through the hole in the crotch-less tights he insisted she wear, deep into her
NECESSARY MADNESS Lisabet Sarai
74
soaked pussy. He felt her pulse quicken at his assault. He heard her thoughts become
scrambled and incoherent with lust. He broadcast an image of her naked body, strapped to
the bondage table in the basement. She moaned into his mouth. He swirled his fingers in her
wetness and she convulsed around him.
When he finally released her, she sank back into her chair, trembling. He gave her his
sticky fingers to lick. How can we find her? Or him?
Who? Jezebel s usually sharp mind was still a bit foggy.
The pre-cog, of course, you kinky cunt.
Don t call me a cunt, Stefan. Her eyes darkened. He loved her when she was pissed
off.
But that s what you are, aren t you? Look, your tights are sopping. Or do you prefer
slut ? He tickled the bare flesh between her spread thighs and she smiled in spite of herself.
Slut s okay. I like slut.
My slut, Stefan sighed, bending to kiss her again.
Your slut, she agreed when she could breathe once more. She sat back in her chair.
We might be able to triangulate among the time-lines. See where they would have
converged if they hadn t been knocked off course.
Do it, then. Find this person for me. And I ll reward you. He sent her another brief
picture, her body lashed to the St. Andrews cross with a huge dildo protruding from her ass.
She shuddered with delight and turned back to her screens.
Meanwhile, Stefan had an idea of his own. Elspeth Holmes, the witch who had so
conveniently assisted sweet Mary in managing her telepathic abilities, might know
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