Page 27 of Soul Sucker

“Yes.” Vadim stared at her and then glanced across at Feehan. “Is there a point to these questions?”

“I’m just interested as to when you started to believe your empath had lost touch with the case and become a liability.”

Vadim’s face became a mask and Alexei cleared his throat. “We all noticed something was wrong on her twenty-seventh birthday. No one was prepared for her to implode so completely.”

“Why didn’t you take her off the case?” Feehan asked.

Vadim put the pen down with a definite click. “Because we were so caught up in the matter we couldn’t afford the time to bring another empath up to speed. We needed her input and right up until the last moment, she seemed perfectly fine.”

“Even though you all thought there was something wrong with her on her birthday? You just assumed that was normal for an empath?” Her question was general, but her gaze remained on Vadim. “Even though you in particular, Morosov, knew her really well?”

“She assured me that everything was okay. I believed her.”

Ella thought about the files she’d read the night before. “You sure did.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She shrugged. “Just that you fucked up.”

Feehan frowned at her. “That’s an inappropriate remark. Apologize.”

“Why should I? Morosov isn’t exactly leaping to his own defense, is he?” Ella tapped her laptop. “Didn’t you read the files, Mr. Feehan? He fucked up. He didn’t double-check the information she fed him about the murderer and almost got himself and his whole team killed.” She waited until everyone was looking at her. “So all this shit about the empath letting everyone down? How about looking at who let her down?” She glared at Vadim and Alexei. “Her whole team knew she was under considerable stress, and yet they put their need to get the killer ahead of her.”

Vadim made an impatient gesture. “That’s not the way it was. If Natasha was under stress, all she had to do was ask for help. She chose not to and herchoiceput the whole team in danger.”

“Don’t you understand anything about empaths? They don’t have many choices at all. Natasha might not even have realized her gift was so depleted.” Ella sat back. “Shekilledherself. You have to accept some of the blame for that.”

Vadim held her gaze and she saw it then—the emotion behind the cold exterior, thepain…

Feehan clapped his hands and stood up. “Let’s move on, shall we? Does anyone else have any more questions for Vadim about the older cases?” He nodded at Liz and Alexei. “I’m sure you two will work this information into your webs as soon as possible and let me know anything useful.”

“Of course, Mr. Feehan.” Alexei nodded, as polite as ever. He looked across at Liz. “Perhaps we might have lunch together?”

“Sure.” Liz smiled. “That would be great.”

Feehan picked up the pen Vadim had placed on the table and strode back to the board. “Let’s recap. Christa Morehouse rented the apartment in the city so that she could spend the summer getting to know her OCOS mate, George Ralston. Mr. Ralston is due to arrive today at the airport, where we will pick him up and bring him here for questioning.”

“Does he know about Christa yet?” Liz asked.

“I don’t think so,” Feehan replied. “We’re interested to see how he reacts to the news.”

“Well, if he’s only just arriving in town, he can’t be the murderer.”

Ella forced herself to stop staring at Vadim. “I’ll confirm that when I meet him. He’s only one-sixteenth Fae, but he should give off some kind of vibe that I can read and match to my memory of Christa.”

Alexei looked interested. “You can pick up signals like that?”

“Usually, although with Christa’s mind being wiped, I’m not so sure.”

“I don’t think Natasha had that ability,” Alexei mused. “It might have helped.”

“Maybe it was one of the things she lost. Some empaths lose their facilities really fast the day they turn twenty-seven.” It was hard to speak so casually about something that might soon be happening to her. “What time will Ralston be here?”

Feehan consulted his watch. Ella noticed that apart from the two Russians, he was the only one wearing a traditional watch. Everyone she knew used cell phones to check the time.

“He should be here in about two hours.” He glanced around the table. “Can you all make sure you’re available?”

There was a brisk knock and Sam stuck his head around the door.

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