Page 106 of It takes a Psychic

“My para-psych profile is almost identical to Molly’s. You’ve already determined she’s not a triple, so obviously, I’m not, either.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

“Why are you obsessed with finding out whether or not I’m a multi-talent?”

“Because you’restable,” Melody snapped, “like me.”

“Well, you’re not in an asylum, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call you stable.”

“I’m a direct descendant of Vincent Lee Vance.” Melody’s voice rose. “I inherited his enhanced talents and his para-psych profile—his quartz-solid,stableprofile.”

“You’re sure about the stability thing?”

Melody’s face tightened into a mask of rage. She aimed the flamer at a point slightly to the right of Leona’s head and fired. The bolt of fire struck the wall, doing no damage to the nearly indestructible quartz, but the shot came so close, Leona felt the heat. She flinched and instinctively stepped sideways.

“Yes, I’m fucking sure I’m stable,” Melody rasped. “Just like Vance.”

Leona took a deep breath. “Right. In that case, why are you worried about me?”

Melody took a breath and appeared to steady herself. “There have been some minor setbacks with the approach to enhancement that my people have been using in our labs. I need to know if Nigel Willard’s methods were more successful.”

“I see. This is all about you trying to build Vortex 2.0.”

“Let me explain it to you in simple sentences,” Melody said. “Whoever controls a reliable, successful enhancement process will hold all the power.”

“And you intend to be the only one in control of that process, is that it?”

Melody raised her chin. Her eyes heated. “I am going to succeed where Vincent Lee Vance failed. I have a destiny to fulfill.”

“You think you can do that because you’re his descendant?”

“Yes, and because I am a stable multi-talent.”Once again Melody made avisible effort to regain control. “Back at the start I assumed I had the inside track. I discovered that the head of Spooner Technologies was working on a modern Vortex machine. When I realized that Spooner had it tucked away in a secret lab in the tunnels, I went to work for him. I became his trusted administrative assistant. Spooner is now in an asylum. I control the company and the Vortex experiments. I was certain we were on the right track until my aunt died and I got her diary.”

“Did you know your father was the dead man we discovered in the Lost Creek Vortex machine? His name was Cyrus Willard.”

“I figured it out,” Melody said. “Believe it or not, I wasn’t even aware of that side of the family until I got the box containing Agnes’s personal possessions. In addition to the diary, there were several letters from Nigel and Cyrus. Lab notes, really. They were both obsessed with Vortex. They are what led me to Lost Creek and Thacker.”

“You were the elderly woman who made sure that Thacker found the fake Vance letter, the one about the so-called legend of the bride and the key. And then you used the pendants to manipulate half the town of Lost Creek with the Voice.”

Melody smiled. “I am, among other things, a very, very good hypnotist.”

“Obviously. You were also the mysterious acolyte. You found the Vortex machine in the Lost Creek tunnels, didn’t you? But you couldn’t open it.”

“Sadly, a talent for paranormal locks is not one of my abilities. But when I found Vance’s machine, I also discovered the key crystal. Cyrus Willard’s papers made it clear the pyramid was the secret to unlocking the machine, but I couldn’t resonate with it.”

“You were desperate, so you tracked down Molly and me.”

“According to Nigel’s notes, he had used the same kind of crystals in his own machine to irradiate your mothers and the babies they were carrying. When I realized that you and your sister both wear tuned Vortexcrystals, I knew there was a high probability you could resonate with them. Neither of you is the type to wear untuned stones.”

“The Griffin sisters were on your psi-dar for two reasons,” Leona said. “First, because you wanted to know if we were stable triples. Second, you thought one of us might be able to use the pyramid key to unlock the machine in the Lost Creek tunnels. Initially you went after Molly, but when your overly complicated plan fell apart, you tried to set me up at the Antiquarian Society reception. But there was a serious flaw in your plan, right from the start.”

“There was no way I could have known about the fucking FBPI raid,” Melody shouted.

“That wasn’t the flaw. That was a twist, a glitch. Instead of letting it throw you off balance, you should have seen the flower of opportunity that was blossoming in the shadows.”

Melody was suddenly so enraged, Leona was afraid she might burst into flames.

“Don’t quote that stupid book to me,” Melody screamed. “Achieving Inner Resonanceis fucking ghost shit. Every fucking word.”

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