The Lies Behind That Smile

Chapter Twenty-One

"So what else is new?" Josh reached in to the packet of crisps, grabbed a handful and stuffed them into his mouth.

"Yeah, what was that thing you did to Joanne?" Sam asked, staring at Nikki through narrowed eyes. "Was it hypnosis?"

Nikki curled her feet underneath her and leaned back against the headboard. Her new clothes were a strange mismatch of casual and nightwear but she didn't care, she was just grateful to have something that was hers and not caked in filth. Sam had crashed through the door, full of apologies, with his arms full of clothes, not long after Josh and Nikki had finished their heart to heart.

"The gift shop isn't exactly well stocked, but I got what I could. The clerk said to take them back if they don't fit but," he waggled his eyebrows, "I think I got a handle of your body--"

Josh had launched a pillow at his friend's head and Sam had held his arms out in protest. "--Size!" he'd finished. "I was talking about her dress size!"

She'd dressed quickly, uncomfortable in only her towel in Sam's company. When she'd emerged from their bathroom, the three of them had fallen quickly in to easy chatter.

Nikki grabbed the pillow from behind her and hugged it tight.

"No it wasn't anything like that. I can influence certain emotions. I have the strongest results with fear, anger and aggression. I think that's down to the demon I inherited it from. He was an old comrade of Zeke's. He'd stumbled upon us is Poland and gone to shift back to Latébris but Zeke stopped him. I managed to grab him and with a lot of effort and fighting, burned him but somewhere along the way we merged."

The Guardian's threw her looks of confusion.

"You what?"

She inhaled. "You know we're telepathic, but because we have no allegiance to Latébris we aren't connected to any of their demons. It's one of the ways we managed to stay hidden from them. Well somehow when we fought, my conscious merged with Daskante's. I think that's what actually killed him, I think I burned him from the inside out but that's just a theory. Anyway, that's when I got it. It helps me control emotions but only when they're heightened. Like now, I couldn't get you mad just by touching you but if you were already angry I could absorb it and you'd feel much calmer. Joanne was terrified so I just took it away. Exhaustion and her own coping mechanism put her to sleep but, it's happened before so I had a good idea that she'd end up that way."

"So no hypnosis?" Sam pressed.

Nikki grinned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh Sam, why must you suck the magic out of everything."

He smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "Okay what else?"

"Well my newest thing seems to be speed. It's not quite up to your standards but since you replenished me, I'm much faster."

A fleeting look crossed Sam's face and he turned away.

"Hold up, what was that?" Josh questioned, shifting at the foot of the bed to see Sam better.

"What?"

"That look, that little flash of guilt."

"I don't--"

"Don't lie, what's going on?"

Nikki sat up a little straighter and watched the exchange with keen interest. "It was Elizabeth wasn't it? She told you how to save me."

The two men turned to her, one remorseful the other inquisitive.

"Yes." Sam drew the word out.

"She gave you more than just information didn't she?"