The Gemini Hustle (The Zodiac Files Book 1) by McClure Kathleen & Brown L. Gene

Author:McClure, Kathleen & Brown, L. Gene [McClure, Kathleen & Brown, L. Gene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fadge Press, LLC
Published: 2017-04-27T22:00:00+00:00

* * *

Inside the communications room of her private flat, Mariska Breeshandra closed out the Council session with a reminder of the importance of tonight’s summit. The planned alliance would strengthen both the Black Rose and Draconis positions and, united, both cartels stood a better chance of putting a stop to the scourge of deaths each organization had suffered over recent years.

Of course, it wasn’t until the death toll began to escalate in numbers and ferocity that both the Brotherhood and the more reluctant Sisters bent enough to acquiesce to Mariska’s planned union.

Now she waited as the damas winked out one by one, until only she and the holo of Seth Aliombe remained.

A heartbeat later, Neishi Fabria’s image joined him.

“My apologies, Dama,” Seth began, “for any difficulties Finn’s presence has caused.”

“Your apology means nothing,” Mariska told him. “What I value are results. Whatever your issues with this man, they cannot interfere with tonight’s summit.” She watched him dip his head in acknowledgment. “You are, I presume, searching for him?”

“Both he and Slater, yes,” Seth agreed.

“Keep on it,” she said. “The sooner Finn is contained, the better.”

He nodded again, then turned to Neishi, who placed her hand over his ravaged features in a gesture of farewell.

As Mariska watched, the man’s body gave a shudder of pain, underscored by an undeniable pleasure.

It was both fascinating and disturbing to view the tether by which Neishi held him in check.

Then the moment ended and Seth, with one last caress, stepped out of view.

Neishi’s eyes tracked to her right, and a few seconds later turned back to Mariska. “He is gone.”

“Good,” Mariska said. “Now tell me about this conditioning of Finn’s. Did you honestly sense such a thing, or was it a way to turn the others to Seth’s cause?”

“I sensed it,” Neishi said, her expression serious. “There was a pattern to his responses, one that repeated. A telepath would catch more detail, but from an empathic standpoint, the more pain I gave him, the further away he went.”

“Where did he go?”

“A place of burning, of utter desolation so real to him, I smelled the smoke, experienced his anguish. I’ve encountered the like before,” Neishi said. “It was the czozprjz andi.”

Mariska hissed out a breath. The technique Neishi spoke of was more than conditioning. Psionic adepts in Rasalkan society used the czozprjz andi as a method of healing traumas, but there were also instances of spycraft, wherein the subject was imprinted with false memories before being embedded to protect their legend.

But no Rasalkan had ever used the czozprjz andi on an alien.

Which made Neishi’s revelation both curious and potentially useful, if she ever needed to fan the flames of xenophobia back home.

“I will keep it in mind,” she said briskly, “but for now, how bad is Finn’s escape for us? Not for the Sisterhood,” she clarified. “Us.”

“It might not have been bad at all,” Neishi said, her expression more uncertain than Mariska had ever witnessed. “Except I’ve only just had the chance to return to the cell from which he escaped, and found my toolkit is missing.

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