Magic Graves

and enticing. I hadn't seen a man pull off that look so well since Aragorn in Lord of the Rings , and his eyes...
    Were no longer closed. They opened, not an indistinct gray from the colorless lens of the past, but a rich copper shade encircled by rings of evergreen. I would have thought they were beautiful, but at the moment, they looked as though they were staring right into mine.
    It unnerved me, but I reminded myself it was only coincidence. No one ever knew it when I used my abilities to establish a link. I could be the world's biggest voyeur if I wanted, but my most fervent wish was to know less about people, not more -
    "Who are you?"
    I jumped as though stung. If I hadn't seen his finely shaped lips move, I would've thought I'd imagined the words. Coincidence , I reminded myself again. Any second someone would come into my line of vision and I'd see who he was really talking to -
    "I'll ask a second time," his deep, slightly accented voice said. " Who are you, and how the hell are you inside my head?"
    That scared me into dropping the link at once, forcing all of my focus back to the hotel room with my four kidnappers. The ornate bed with its encircling drapes disappeared, replaced by ass-ugly wallpaper and a bed that would probably result in my getting bug bites. I let go of the silver knife as though it burned me, still reeling over what just happened.
    "Well?" Jackal asked. "Did you find him?"
    "Oh yeah." My voice was nearly a croak from shock.
    " And ?" he prodded.
    No way was I going to tell him the firestarter had somehow realized he was being been spied on. If Jackal knew that, he'd kill me on the spot so the firestarter couldn't follow the link back through me to find him. It was possible. If he could feel me in his head, the firestarter could probably hear me, too...
    With a flash of inspiration that was more reckless than smart, I knew what I had to do.
    *** *** ***

    Twitchy, Pervert, and Psycho had already left the room, but Jackal stayed by the tiny desk. From his expression, he had no intention of moving.
    I let out a sigh. "You think I'm going to escape out the window if you leave me alone? Come on, the others would hear it and stop me. Can't call 911 and say, "Help, a bunch of vampires kidnapped me!" either. Even if they didn't think it was a crank call, you'd just mesmerize any cops into leaving. Or eat them. Either way, I'm not going anywhere and I know it."
    "You're up to something," Jackal stated.
    It took all my willpower not to flinch, but I schooled myself to stay absolutely still. Don't panic, don't panic...
    "I don't know what, but I can smell that you're plotting something," he went on.
    I cleared my throat. "What you smell is someone whose been breaking out in cold sweats ever since she was kidnapped by vampires . If you want more information on your fire guy aside from how nice his drapes are, then leave. How am I supposed to concentrate when I'm being stared at by a pack of creatures that keep looking at my neck and licking their lips?"
    He was suddenly in front of me, his hand gripping my chin. "What are you really trying to do?" he asked, forcing me to look into his now-glowing eyes.
    Their effect was immediate. I felt drowsy, unconcerned, and talkative even as a part of me screeched in alarm.
    "Can't link to him with all of you watching," I mumbled. "Can't get deep enough in his mind for it to work."
    His eyes brightened until it almost hurt to look into them. "That's all?"
    The words "he sees me, too" hovered on my lips, about to fall and seal my fate. But though I felt like I'd just smoked a pound of weed, I found the strength to say something else.
    "Too scared...with you here."
    That was the truth, but the reasons why remained unspoken. Jackal released me, his gaze still lit up. "You won't call anyone or try to leave this room."
    His words resonated through my mind. I nodded without thinking. He shoved me and I fell back onto the bed, but to my relief, Jackal then headed to the door.
    "You have an hour. Find him again, and more importantly, find where he will be in the future."
    He opened the door, and then paused. Before my next blink, Jackal had ripped the phone cord in two.
    "That's for insurance," he muttered, and finally left.
    I waited a few seconds and then let out the breath I'd been holding. Holy shit, that was close! I had no idea how I'd managed not to spill everything when Jackal turned his Lite-Brite's on me, but I'd count my blessings later.
    They say the