Moon - New Moon Part 71

The SWAT team wasn't going to work, because now the drapes were drawn.

The man on the phone had said he wanted an airplane to the Middle East. Did he really think he was going to get it? Or was he completely out of his mind? He didn't sound like he came from the Middle East. He had the same vaguely Scandinavian accent as Rinna Marshall. So was that a coincidence? What if the woman in there really was Mrs. Marshall?

Jake picked up the phone and dialed the number of the house again.

THE communications thing rang, and Falcone looked at Rinna.

"Don't answer it," she whispered. "I need your focus on me."

The phone continued to ring, and she wanted to throw it out the window.

Avery sent it a mental jolt, and the distracting noise stopped.

"Thank you," she said.

He nodded.

"We have to hurry now," Rinna told him. "The policeman outside is going to wonder what you did." She looked around at the faces turned toward her. "All of you, open your minds so I can use your power."

"Even the men who aren't adepts?" Falcone challenged.

"Yes."

She waited with her heart pounding while he brought all the men into the room. Finding a c.h.i.n.k in the plates hadn't been easy. But the hard part was still ahead of her.

"Just open yourself up. Let me draw your energy."

"Where will the portal be?" Falcone asked in a strained voice, and she knew he was as tense as she was herself.

She had picked a spot where she would try to bring the opening into this reality. As though she knew her scheme was going to work, she pointed toward a wall with bookshelves. "There."

Falcone looked like he was preparing to spring through the opening as soon as it materialized.

"Relax," she told him. "Give me your energy."

He swallowed. "Will you be in my mind?"

"No. Just let me use your power." She looked from him to Brusco and Avery. "Let the power flow."

She watched them mentally preparing themselves. She was pretty sure the two adepts would help her. They wanted to get home, and they knew she was their best chance.

But she didn't know about Falcone. He didn't trust her. And if he couldn't cooperate, her plan was doomed to failure.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

"FOCUS ON THE wall with the bookshelves," Rinna murmured. "Picture the plate behind it s.h.i.+fting so a doorway can open."

As she gave the direction, she prayed that she could make it happen.

All the men except Falcone did as she asked. And she could feel them sending energy her way, feel them pulling for her to get them out of this place. The contribution from the soldiers was minimal, since most of them had little psychic ability. But the two adepts added considerably to her power. Still, it wasn't enough because Falcone only stood back, watching.

She took what power she had and directed it toward the wall, imagining the plates between the worlds, imagining that she could focus a beam on them and carve out a hole in the barrier-opening a doorway between this world and another one.

As she directed the energy she had gathered, her head began to throb. And she knew that she couldn't keep up the attempt for long. She was too spent from the effort she had put out defeating the adepts when they had tried to zap her brain.

If she didn't break through the plates quickly, she wouldn't be able to do it at all.

Sweat dripped down her neck, and her body went rigid as she threw everything she had at the barrier, straining to open a door in the wall.

It didn't work.

"What's going on?" Falcone growled.

She shook her head, unwilling to spare any part of her resources for an answer.

"She's lying to us. She's stalling so the police can come in," Falcone muttered.

"No," Avery answered. "She's trying to open a doorway. I can feel her trying. But it's not going to work unless you help."

"For G.o.ds' sake, do it!" Brusco shouted.

Falcone gave him a murderous look.

"Do it," Rinna whispered. "Please," she added, hardly able to choke out the word.

She waited, feeling her fate hanging in the balance. Finally, Falcone gave her a threatening look, then joined the others, sending a mental boost to her efforts. But she knew he was holding something back.

Still, she accepted his help with a tip of her head as she focused on the wall, willing the plates to slip and the portal to open, but still nothing happened.

Falcone turned to her, anger contorting his features. "This is a trick."

"No," she gasped out, then struggled to make her voice more normal. "Give me all of your energy. If you do, you'll see the doorway opening."

"You'll make me weak," he bellowed.

"Do it!" Avery commanded.

Through her own pain, she sensed more power coming from Falcone. "Give me all of it," she demanded.

He grimaced, and she felt a barrier tumble down. As he lent her the psychic energy she needed, the bookshelves across from her began to blur.

Some of the soldiers shouted their approval, breaking her concentration, and the image wavered.

"Quiet," she whispered, redoubling her focus, desperate to open the doorway before she lost her ability to function on any meaningful level.

Putting everything she had into the effort, she focused one last monumental blast. The bookcases seemed to dissolve before her, And then she could see a forest on the other side.