Eye of the Falcon (Psychic Visions #12)(51)

And, as he considered Issa inside the house, he realized he felt the same way about her. But she was in too much danger here. Except it wasn’t like he could put up a sign, saying she was no longer here, get the hell away. Because assholes were assholes, and they wouldn’t give a damn. They’d burn the property to the ground just to make sure.

He followed the tracks back to the highway again, the bloody trail easy to see, particularly when he’d gotten to the fence. The injured man had rested against the fence, then climbed over—likely with help. Both sides of the wood were covered in fresh blood. That, in itself, would bring in more predators.

He’d be totally okay with that. He just wished that the four-legged predators would take out the two-legged ones. He had no trouble doing the job himself, but obviously his security needed a bit more work.

Returning to the house, he quickly reset the system.

Inside he found Issa sitting cross-legged on the couch, her hands palm up, like a yoga meditation pose. But her head had dropped to the back of the couch, and her gaze stared straight at the ceiling.

The hairs on the back of his neck lifted. She had exhibited the same behavior before. He carefully walked over and studied her gaze. He’d been racking his brain for a logical explanation since the first time he’d seen her like this. It was so bizarre and so otherworldly, so far off the state of normal that he had no idea how to deal with it.

And that same weirdness was happening all over again. If he could just accept that and move forward, it would help them all. The dogs lay down in front of her feet. He crept a little closer and stared down into Issa’s wide-open gaze. Once again her eyes glowed. As if he could see blue skies twisted with midnight stars. A sense of timelessness.

He shook his head, crouched lower to see what she was staring at …

Something was going on above him. He knew it couldn’t come from anything other than her, but, at the same time, there was just no reason for it to be here in the first place. He couldn’t make out what he was seeing. … His mind couldn’t make sense of the weird sparkling ball of color up in the rafters of his ceiling. Was that a field? A lake? He didn’t know what the hell was going on. He extended his hand to touch Issa, to have her wake up, and one of his dogs growled.

He turned to stare at Gunner, only to have Hatter step forward, an odd look in his eyes.

“Well, I’ll be,” Eagle said softly, frowning at the dog’s behavior. “What’s the matter, Hatter?” Eagle reached out again toward Issa, and again Hatter growled.

“You don’t want me to touch her, is that it? I won’t hurt her,” he said incredulously, and he let his hand fall away. He stared at the dog. “What the hell?”

His phone rang. He pulled it quickly from his pocket, realizing the noise had disturbed Issa in a way. Her gaze was still locked on the ceiling above them, but her hands went limp in her lap.

“Hello?” he said in a low tone.

“You can’t touch her when she’s like this,” Stefan said. “She’s contacting Humbug and Roash.”

Swallowing hard, Eagle pinched the bridge of his nose, straightened, and strode toward the front door, leaning against it. “You realize we had intruders tonight, right? She was busy hiding documents we took from her mother’s house. I came back in from making sure nobody was around, only to find her sitting in this bizarre position.” He threw out his left hand in frustration. “I go to touch her, and my dog growled at me. I raised that dog from a pup.” He glared into the phone. “And, out of the blue, you call me again. What the hell is going on?”

“I suggest you take some time to study psychics, empaths, and realize that you have an incredibly strong one on your couch. Her skills could be limited to just birds, but the entire natural world will be affected by the rippling effect of what she can do. If your dog did that, the chances are he could see what you can’t see, and he’s bonded with her in some way.”

“When the damn falcon returned, he was riding on my other dog’s back,” Eagle snarled. “That’s when I found her nude in the long grass. She’d been tortured. Now she’s being hunted. Do you know how far off the deep end I’ve gone here?” There was a long silence. The air buzzed around him.

“Yes, I do,” Stefan said quietly. “I know you’re not a big fan of the law, but it might be something to consider this time.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen. If I was to do that, I would’ve when she first arrived at my place.”

“True, but these men, they won’t stop,” Stefan said carefully. “You might consider getting some help.”

“I don’t know why the hell I should believe you.”

“You looked me up. You know I’m for real. I also do a ton of work for law enforcement. Hadrid, the falcon of Issa’s childhood, is part of the reason Issa was held captive and tortured, I believe. These men won’t stop until they get what they want.”

“But it’s dead, right?” Eagle asked cautiously.

“Yes, I believe it is dead. If they capture her once more, they’ll take her underground, and you won’t see her again. But something else is going on here—you need to be careful.”

Eagle spun around and stared at the frail, gentle woman on his couch. “Nothing makes sense.”