"The circle made up of salt?"

"Yeah. It had been left unbroken. When I stepped over it, stepped into the circle…I was trapped. Caught. I couldn't move. Couldn't hear. Everything was going dark. That was when I was Tasered. I was held in place like a fly in resin, then deliberately electrocuted."

"Held? How? Are you talking about elemental forces? Or something supernatural?"

"Both. I'm talking about someone with the ability to harness negative energy. Torturing and killing a human being? That's about as negative as it gets. Suffering generates power. Dying violently creates an incredible amount of power; destruction always creates something to replace what's destroyed, even if it's only sheer energy. Couple that with a black-occult ceremony intended to generate even more dark energy, and you'd have enough psychic poison to cripple even a strong enemy."

"You?"

"I'm the one who walked into the trap. I'm the one who woke up crippled."

"I'd argue with that assessment, but never mind. You're saying it was all designed for that end? To disable and then harm you? Using energy?"

His doubt was clear, and Riley hardly blamed him for it. What she was suggesting was incredible.

I bet that's the conclusion I'd come to just before the blackouts, what I began to explain in the report, that-incredible as it seemed-someone was manipulating energy deliberately, dark energy, and that it had all been a setup to get me here. And then destroy me.

But there was something Riley's enemy hadn't counted on, she was almost sure of it. Something she herself was only beginning to understand.

The wild card was Ash.

Chapter 18

Riley-"

"Ash, there's nothing magical about it. Nothing unnatural, except in how it was used. It's…the corruption of a perfectly human ability to manipulate electrical and magnetic fields. We all do it every day in small ways; our bodies are filled with electrical impulses firing off all the time. Automatic. Unthinking. But in this case, someone has found a way to absorb dark energy, negative energy, and use it, even direct it back outward for a specific purpose."

"Riley, is that even possible? To absorb energy from something else? From someone else?"

She drew a breath and let it out slowly. "I really hope this doesn't creep you out. Take a closer look at my face."

He did, and his frown deepened. "You look…your face doesn't seem so thin. So exhausted as it did a few minutes ago. What-"

Ash was nothing if not quick. His gaze dropped to her hands gripping his wrists-and he got it.

"Wait a minute. You're pulling energy from me? From us?"

Glad he had added that last bit, she nodded. "I'm pretty sure, yeah. Feeling stronger by the moment. It's not something I've ever been able to do before. And we've tried, believe me."

"We?"

"The SCU. One of the ways Bishop matches some partners is by complementing abilities. Matching a strength with a weakness. My weakness has always been that I use so much energy during a case I end up exhausted, sometimes at very critical moments. So he tried matching me with team members who have…energy to spare. But that never worked, because I could never tap another source, even someone I trusted, someone entirely willing to share. Bishop said-"

"What did he say?"

Riley hesitated. But however uncertain her memory, her body knew, had clearly known for some time, at least one truth.

"He said there's a rare kind of trust he's only seen between some siblings and lovers. A trust so deep and so absolute that all the barriers that separate people from each other disappear. He's like that with his wife; they share their thoughts, their abilities, everything they are. Like two halves of a single soul."

She drew another breath and finished, "He said I'd probably find that when I fell in love. And if I did, I'd also find an amazing source of strength I'd be able to tap into. He and Miranda are precognitive, so when he says probably, you can pretty much take it to the bank."

When Ash didn't immediately respond, she added hastily, "It's not like I'm an energy vampire or anything like that, it's just-"

Ash kissed her. Long, slow, and impossibly deep.

When she could, Riley murmured, "Wow."

He smiled, but his voice was husky when he said, "Honey, the first time we made love, we generated enough heat to ignite a small star. So believe me when I say that I understand how human beings can create and channel energy. Especially the right human beings in the right combination."

She cleared her throat. "Man, I wish I remembered that."

"I'll remind you tonight. If not sooner." He kissed her again, briefly this time, and added, "Whatever energy you're drawing from me at the moment, I'm more than willing to give, especially if it's helping you. Besides, far as I can tell, it's nothing I can't spare."

"No, you're one of those people who have…excess. More than you need or would ever use." Something she had sensed in him from that first moment at the crime scene, memories or no memories, that palpable force of intensity radiating from him.

"You have to buy a new watch every month or so, because they always stop running, and I'll bet you have problems with ATMs and other computers."

"I do, as a matter of fact. On both counts."

"Some people produce a lot of energy and can't really productively channel the excess. Others burn it off quickly. Even too quickly."

"So we match perfectly. What I don't understand is why you're just now realizing you can tap into my energy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but up until now, I was under the impression that I was one of the major drains on your energy. Or our relationship was, at any rate."

"You're not wrong." She thought about it. "My best guess is that because of my uneasiness about not being in control I wasn't able to try to tap into your energy, consciously or even subconsciously, until I was desperate. Until my reserves had gotten so low it was a matter of sheer survival. You showed me my reflection, and on a very primitive level I realized I had to reach out-or die."

With a half smile, he said, "Have you talked to somebody about these control issues of yours?"

She couldn't help but laugh, albeit briefly. "Yeah. Besides, you're just the same. It's hard taking a leap of faith."

"And putting your fate in someone else's hands. Yes, I know. You were fairly pissed off about it."

Riley had to laugh again. "I'll just bet I was. But it does explain some of this uncharacteristic behavior of mine, huh? I've never been in love before."

"So you said. Scowling at me."

"I didn't."

"Yes, you did. Scowled. Not that I cared. I've never been in love before either, and I was a bit cranky about it in the beginning myself. You asked about how open our relationship was around here; I don't think either of us was able to hide much, and we were…fierce…about each other from the moment we met."

"The moment?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, you were on a date with Jake when we met. He introduced us."

Riley winced. "Ouch."

"Yeah."

"Well, no wonder he's been…difficult."

"I've tried to make allowances," Ash admitted.

She pondered for a moment, but then shook her head. "I can't think about that right now. We'll mend fences or build bridges or do whatever we need to do with Jake later."

With a lawyer's ability to stay on subject when necessary, Ash said, "Okay, so back to your belief that losing energy the way you have is due to someone else's influence."

"Yes. If I'm right about that-and I think I am-then the purpose of all this ritualistic occult activity, including the murder or murders, isn't so much a smoke screen as it is a device."