"You're telling me it would be easier for you to accept telepathy than psychometry?"
"Well, there are a lot of instances of people believing they've seen or heard things that they couldn't have sensed in any normal way." Verity picked her way painfully through the words. "I don't know, Jonas. As dumb as it sounds, I think it's easier to believe in some form of telepathy than in psychometry. When you talk about psychometry, you're talking about the forces of the past. To be honest, that gives me the creeps."
He smiled wryly. "Compared to that, telepathy looks normal, right?"
"More acceptable, maybe," she admitted. "Were you ever tested for that while you were at Vincent College?"
"Yeah. Sorry to disappoint you. I showed absolutely no trace of telepathic ability, not even after the psychometry started getting so strong."
Verity sat in silence, trying to come to terms with a host of strange concepts. "You really believe everything you're telling me, don't you?"
"It's almost killed me, Verity, or worse. And it almost made me kill another man. Yeah, I believe it. I've been forced to accept the reality of it."
"And now that you've got me to hold on to, you want to test yourself and see if the talent is more controllable, is that it?"
"Yes. I wasn't going to rush you. To be honest, I didn't know how to go about explaining the whole thing. But last night you were exposed to everything, so there's no point pretending any longer."
Verity sighed. "By all means, Jonas, let's stop the pretense."
He flexed his fingers on the wheel and glanced over at her. His lashes hooded his narrowed eyes.
"You'll help me run some tests?"
She must be the crazy one in the car, Verity decided. "All right. I know I'll probably live to regret this, but good help is hard to get. I don't want to have to advertise for another dishwasher. I'll let you run some experiments with me, if that's what you want."
"Gracious as ever, little tyrant."
But when she looked over at him, she saw that he was grinning.
* * *
Tavi poured more coffee for her employer and carried it to where Caitlin sat staring out the window.
"Do you really think you can control his actions the night of the ball?" she asked.
"You saw the way the rapier affected him last night."
"What we saw was a man who almost collapsed. When he did manage to pull himself together he went charging out of the room as if he intended to murder someone. I think he was close to being out of control, Caitlin. You said he was not a danger as long as the current context did not resemble the past associated with that rapier."
"His reaction was a little stronger than I expected," Caitlin admitted. "But he eventually did control himself."
"You're lucky he didn't put that blade into Verity's throat. Or yours, for that matter. He looked crazed when he picked it up." Tavi stood beside Caitlin and stared stonily out to sea.
Caitlin shook her head. "It doesn't work that way. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. I studied all the research reports. Every last one of them. I know more about Quarrel than he knows about himself."
"You're sure that you can get him to kill Kincaid for you?"
"Very sure. He's been tuned to that particular rapier now, you see. The next time he touches it, he'll fall far more quickly under its spell. That's the way it works. Once the connection has been established between him and a certain event or emotion from the past, especially the Renaissance era, it gets easier and easier to reconnect. On the night of the ball I will see to it that the present will strongly resemble the past."
"He'll use the same rapier on Kincaid that was used on you," Tavi concluded with deep, knowing compassion.
"Yes." Caitlin's face was a frozen mask. The scar was white against the cream of her skin.
"Your plan hinges on Kincaid trying to seduce Verity. What makes you so certain Kincaid will find Verity sexually interesting?"
Caitlin looked at her companion in surprise. "After all these years of studying him, I know Kincaid's habits very well. He'll be bored and looking for sexual entertainment on the night of the ball. I have made it clear that his invitation is for one, only. He won't be bringing any female companion with him.
Verity will appeal to him. She's just the type to bring out the evil in his nature. In addition, I'm counting on this house, looking exactly as it did that night ail those years ago, to inspire some memories in the man."
"The kind of memories that will incite his lust?"
"Inciting lust in Kincaid is never difficult. It's his nature to always be on the lookout for victims. I will see to it that Verity will look like a victim. Dressed in a Renaissance gown with her hair pulled into one of the classic styles, I think she will be quite striking. In addition, there is a rather charming aura of innocence about her, don't you think? That should be the frosting on the cake as far as Kincaid is concerned. He won't be able to resist the opportunity of despoiling something that is cleaner and more innocent than himself."
"Verity is no innocent. She's sleeping with Quarrel," Tavi pointed out quickly.
Caitlin smiled. "Innocence is not just a matter of virginity, Tavi. You should know that. It's a thing of the spirit. Verity's spirit is still bright and clean. It shows in her eyes and in her smile. I'm sure that's why Quarrel hangs around her. To a man with a spirit as haunted as his must be, she would be a compelling creature. In a different way, Kincaid will find her equally fascinating."
"I don't like it, Caitlin. I don't like any of it. This plan you've constructed is too complex, too dangerous. It's not too late to cancel everything. We can put all the vengeance behind us and get on with our lives." Tavi spoke with the desperation of a woman making one last stand against a terrible future. "Please think this through one more time, I beg you."
"I have thought of little else since the night Kincaid raped me, Tavi. Believe me, I have done all the thinking necessary. The way I have chosen will bring me justice and satisfaction and maybe peace. It is the only way that will. When this is over, everyone will call it a great tragedy. They'll say Quarrel was mentally unstable, that he must have gone crazy. No one will connect the killing with me. Only you and I and Kincaid will know that justice has finally been done."
"In killing Kincaid, I fear you will kill yourself, Caitlin," Tavi said. "It's not worth it."
"You're wrong," Caitlin said calmly. "It will be worth it."