The back of her neck prickled. Why did he sound so familiar?

  “The Institute didn’t believe such an ability could exist,” Sam said. “But Anthony, I’m sure, can tell you otherwise. He’s going to help us find the monsters we’re looking for.”

  June perked. “Oh, so like—you know where they’re gonna be at a certain time?”

  Anthony shook his head. “It’s not quite like that.”

  “Let’s get something to drink,” Sam said. “We can all sit down, and you can fill June in. Come inside.”

  They all went in and to the kitchen. Something else about Anthony made her wary, something about his overall demeanor and the way he carried himself. Alarm bells rang in her head.

  Sam made himself and Anthony coffee, and June had water. They all sat down in the dining room at the table, which was freshly cleaned. The scent of oil soap hung in the air.

  June sat across from Anthony, Sam at the head of the table between them.

  Anthony smiled faintly. “Are you ready to have your mind blown, June Coffin?”

  “What’s left of it.” June stared at him.

  “Do you know the cosmological theory of parallel universes?”

  She propped her elbow on the table and rubbed her forehead. “Is it vital that I do?”

  “What cosmic theorists speculate, I know as fact, but in such a way they can’t imagine, and it would be impossible for me to clearly describe it to them. All you need to know is that every possible outcome of every second—everything you think, do, and say—is played out in an infinite number of universes. Everything that can happen does happen. I shift among the universes, so to speak, so I see all possible outcomes.”

  June dropped her hand away from her face. “You shift among universes?”

  “Well, my mind does. And that’s a very crude way to describe it. It’s much more complex.”

  June narrowed her eyes. “Saying, ‘if you make a decision, anything can happen’ isn’t exactly telling the future.”

  Sam spoke up. “You’ll have to excuse June, Anthony. She’s a skeptic.” He was nearly bouncing in his chair, seeming excited about whatever this power was that Anthony had.

  Anthony smiled wider. “‘Parallel’ is a misnomer. What I experience is more like a gel flowing in all directions. Everyone shifts. I’m just cognitive of it. The reason I can know a certain future is because people are sort of like”—he looked upward thoughtfully—“pin balls.” He looked back at her. “You get a swat with the paddles when you’re born, and there’s all sorts of chutes and holes and things for you to bump into. And every time you make a decision—when you drop back down to the paddles—you get thwacked in a certain direction. That’s when I see where you’re going in this universe, after that smack. People’s wills keep them going in the direction they’re sent. It would take a pretty hard shake of the machine to change it. But I can—usually—only see one smack at a time. A series of decisions becomes astoundingly convoluted.”

  Sam rubbed his chin. “And you have to be face-to-face with a person to know their future, right?”

  “Yes, technically. I can also see a bit of the future of people that person has recently come in contact with. It’s like a residue that gets caught in their head.”

  “You can do it at will?” June was barely following this.

  “For me, it’s as perennial as breathing. Just like I don’t have to think about breathing, I don’t have to think about my power.” He paused. “I can hold my breath or focus on my breathing, though. So in the same sense, yes, I can control my power.”

  “How does it not drive you mad?” June shook her head.

  “How does not being able to do it not drive you mad? I don’t know what it’s like to be normal.” Anthony’s eyes flashed. She definitely didn’t imagine it this time.

  June frowned. “What’s going on with your eyes?”

  “It happens when my ability happens—makes life a little awkward, especially since it happens reflexively more often when I’m tense or emotional. I’m seeing the light spectrum. You’re seeing me shift.”

  “So why doesn’t your whole body do it?”

  “Our eyes are connected to our brains, and to our powers.”

  She knew that all too well from her own vibrant green, intense, freaky eyes.

  “Okay…” June said. “So how is this going to help us find Robbie and Occam? You said you have to be in contact with a person to see their future. So that means you have to find them, like we do.”

  Anthony held up a finger. “Or someone who’s recently been in contact with them, as I said.”

  June shook her head. “I’m sure Robbie is not going to be in contact with anybody we know.”

  Anthony’s eyes flashed again and he looked away. “I know who Robbie’s in contact with.”

  Sam drew himself up in his chair and cleared his throat. “June, Anthony is…Robbie’s brother.”

  June stiffened. Her instincts weren’t off. She had recognized something familiar in him.

  “Are you kidding me?” She nearly shouted.

  Anthony looked back at her. “I’m not my brother’s keeper.”

  “Anthony is one of three known precognitives in the entire world,” Sam said. “The Beecher bloodline is incredibly strong with paranormal powers.”

  “How can you let this man sit at your table?” June clenched her hands into fists. “After what his bloodline did to you and your friends?”

  “Robbie is not my blood,” Anthony said. “I’ll gladly deliver him into Sam’s hands.”

  “He’s our only chance of finding Robbie,” Sam said. “Robbie is not going to walk right up to us. If he does, we’ve got much bigger problems.”

  “Robbie has had people watching me,” Anthony said, “ever since he made his grab for power back in January at the press conference. He’s always tried to sell me on his dogma, but I was never keen on it. I’m sure he was hoping I’d be impressed.”

  June remained guarded. “He was hoping a lot of people would be impressed, including the vampires.”

  Anthony crinkled his forehead. “I’m not surprised he’s trying to impress the vampires. Robbie hasn’t been well for a long time.”

  June sat forward. “Could you imagine the monster he’ll be if he gets a vampire to turn him? A man as powerful as he is who can’t be affected by anything?”

  Anthony sat forward too. “We’ve never seen eye-to-eye. I’m sure he’s waiting to see what I do, see if I’ll join him or oppose him. He can’t read my mind. I at least have that advantage. But I know his mind well enough, and I don’t like it.”

  “So you always knew what he was up to?” June glared at him. “Before he orchestrated a massacre?” She was not going to trust Anthony, not so easily. She didn’t care if he claimed to hate his brother. She’d been told too many lies already.

  “I didn’t know the extent of his intentions. He’s always been a bit of a fanatic. He liked to go off on these long rants about the Institute and about the Paranormal Alliance and how he’d run it differently—all the things he didn’t like about Sam.”

  Sam huffed. “The feeling is entirely mutual, trust me.”

  “He was always cocky and grandiose,” Anthony said. “I’d tune him out. We never got along very well. I think he resented the fact my power wasn’t eating me away too.”

  “That’s the thing with fanatics,” June said. “No one takes them seriously until they finally kill a bunch of people.”

  “If I could have stopped that”—Anthony’s voice dropped a notch—“I would have. I never dreamed he would go that far.”

  “You’re not much of a fortune teller, then,” June said dryly.

  Sam shot her a wide-eyed look, the kind she got from her mother as a child when she was acting up in a public place.

  “My power doesn’t work like that, as I explained,” Anthony said. “I don’t blame you, June, for mistrusting me, when my brother has done such horrible things to you and your friends. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry those things happened. I’m part of the Paranormal Alliance, too, even if I don’t go to any meetings. Those were my friends he killed as well.”

  June clenched her jaw. She was trying to have faith Sam’s trust was well placed, but he’d trusted Robbie once too. She wished more than ever that Muse were there.

  “I don’t get out much,” Anthony said. “I’m a bit of a recluse. Socializing is…exhausting. It’s hard to be around people when my power mostly behaves of its own will.”

  “We won’t keep you long, then,” Sam said. “I was just thinking you could explain this to her better than I could.”

  Anthony’s eyes flashed. “Robbie has people watching my house. I see cars all the time. I don’t know if he’s planning a visit. I haven’t seen or spoken to him since late last year.”

  “Did you join the Paranormal Alliance together?” June asked.

  Anthony shook his head. “I wasn’t part of it until a few years ago. Robbie joined around the time it was formed.”

  “What made you join it?” She couldn’t read minds like Muse, but she could damn sure interrogate him.

  “Sam is inspiring. He finally made me believe in something. He made me believe that no matter how hard things are, there’s a place for people like me in the world.”

  Sam beamed.

  “I was able to get involved in some of their programs. I branched out a little and made contact with other people. It was nice.”

  He spoke to part of her soul—being hidden away and feeling disconnected. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to trust him wholly.

  “So how are you going to find Robbie?” she asked.

  “I’m going to suck it up and socialize. I’ll talk to the people watching me in the hopes one of them has been in contact with him recent enough that I’ll see where he is.”

  “And then we’ll have some idea how to proceed,” Sam said.

  June narrowed her eyes. “So you’re going to strike up a conversation with the people watching you?”

  “I’ll take a walk. Go by the car. I’ll say, ‘I know my brother sent you, and I’m tired of you watching me.’ Something like that.”

  June folded her hands on the table. “Does your brother know how your power works?”

  “Yes…”

  “Then there’s no way he’s going to risk coming in contact with any of the spies he sends in the timeframe you’d be able to see him. He’s really fucking clever.”

  “He doesn’t know Anthony came here,” Sam said. “He doesn’t know he’s going to assist me. So why would Robbie care if Anthony sees him? He might even want him to, to entice him.”

  “What about the spies?” June opened her hands. “If someone is spying on you, that means they know where you’re going.”

  “I was careful.” Anthony sat back. “I sneaked out. No one saw me.”

  “You’re absolutely sure of that?”

  Sam leaned over to her. “This is the best chance we have of finding Robbie. It’s our only chance.”

  She looked him in the eye. “I know. But you can’t just throw caution to the wind.”

  “No one saw me come here,” Anthony said. “And I will find my brother, even if I have to talk to all of his spies.” His eyes flashed. “However hard it is for me, I have to do this. I have to help Sam find him.”

  She didn’t understand what the hell Sam planned to do once he did find him.

  “What about Occam?” she asked. “You said this would help us find both of them.”

  Sam sighed. “That will be harder, but Anthony is willing to help us on that too. Even if it means we have to go into Old Town.”

  “Your power works on vampires?” June asked. “I thought nothing did. That’s like, one of the perks of vampirism.”

  “My power is extremely unique. It’s one of the very few things that does work on vampires.”

  “How do you know that?” June stared him down. “You don’t like to socialize. How do you know it works on vampires?”

  Anthony shifted. His shoulders were hunched. His anxiety was not her problem.

  “I’ve spoken to vampires before.” He sounded edgy. “Robbie made sure I was exposed to all sorts of supernatural people when I was younger. It was his favorite game. He said it was good for me to learn about my own kind. My power works on vampires. It works on everyone. Which is what makes it so…consuming, at times.”

  “So we can talk to the vampires,” Sam said. “Until we find one that leads us to Occam.”

  “What’s in it for you?” June asked Anthony.

  Anthony focused on her, eyes wide and intense. He did remind her of Robbie, something about the narrowness of his face, his willowy limbs, his penetrating stare.

  “I mean,” June said, “nobody does a favor like this just because they admire someone. It sounds like it’s a pretty big deal to you. What’s your stake in this?”

  “June,” Sam said lowly. “There’s no need for—”

  She cut him off. “You trusted Ethan Roberts. You trusted your entire organization, half of which were actively working against you behind your back.”

  Sam’s face hardened. His eyes glittered.

  “They even got past your foolproof telepath,” June said. “So forgive me if I don’t trust anyone you bring in here to try to solve our problems for us.”

  Anthony pushed his chair back. “I think you two should discuss this on your own. I need to get some fresh air and clear my head.” He stood.

  “What’s your stake in this?” June slapped her hand on the table. “Why do you want to do this for us? And don’t say because you respect Sam. Lots of people respect Sam. I want a better answer.”

  Anthony stared at her. His eyes flashed once, and then again. His hands were clenched at his sides.

  “I want my brother to pay.” His voice was strained. “I want him to pay for what he’s done.”

  “To us, or you?” June kept her gaze fixed on him.

  Anthony walked swiftly out of the room.

  Sam pushed his chair back sharply. “You’re being rude and mistrustful.” He stood.

  She gaped at him. “After all we’ve been through, don’t you think mistrust is common sense?”

  “You can’t mistrust everyone, not if we want to win this. We have to trust someone.”

  “That someone sure as hell isn’t going to be Robbie’s brother.” She got up and stalked out of the room.

  Back out on the patio, her phone rang. It was Trina.

  “Hey, I’ve got news,” Trina said.

  June squinted into the sunlight, scanning the grounds. Anthony going to “get some air” could be his way of creeping around the property, spying.

  “What’s the news?” June asked.

  “You still want to see Micha?”

  Her heart jumped, her attention immediately shifting. “Yes.”

  “I pulled some strings, but it has to be today. You have to get over here as soon as you can. You need a ride?”

  She looked into the house. “I think so.”

  “I can come pick you up. Tell me where you are. I’ll be there soon.”

  Chapter 8

  Driving out in Trina’s car would probably prove less conspicuous than leaving in one of Sam’s, who had been frosty and silent since June announced where she was off to, even more so than he already was about her fit over Anthony.

  When Trina arrived, June stood in the driveway, waiting. Sam stood on the porch.

  “Do you want to come?” she asked. “For moral support?”

  He stared down at her. “Do you want me to?”

  “You don’t have to. But I need to see him, and he deserves this visit. He deserves to see us again. We can’t just abandon him.”

  “I don’t disagree.”

  “I don’t know if they’ll let you in, but you might as well come. I’ll tell him you said hi.”

  He walked down the steps. “Fine.”

  Such a bratty child.

  Trina pulled the car up next to her and parked.

  “I don’t want you going anywhere alone right now, anyway.” Sam strode over to her. “It’s not safe.”

  “You mean anywhere without you.” She walked around Trina’s car. “I’m not alone.”

  Two security guards flanked the gate. People stood across the street, holding cameras. Sam and June slumped down in the backseat until they passed by them.

  “Jesus,” Trina muttered. “What a circus.”

  June sat up. “Well, you know, if someone hadn’t decided he was running for mayor…”

  Sam sat up as well. “They’d be here even if I hadn’t. Welcome to freedom.”

  June gazed out the window.

  The hospital was near Trina’s clinic, and it took them almost a half hour to get there. June’s stomach knotted up as they pulled into the parking lot.

  “I can’t take you both in,” Trina said. “Only June. I’m sorry, Sam. They have all these rules. You could wait in the waiting room, though.”

  “It’s okay,” Sam said. “I’ll wait out here. I don’t think he really wants to see me, anyway.”

  June looked down at her hands in her lap. Her palms were sweaty.

  “We won’t be long,” Trina said. “They’ll only allow a brief visit.”

  Sam’s expression was blank, but his eyes were hard.

  “You sure?” June asked Sam, trying to lighten the mood. “Sitting out in the car like a dog?”

  He grunted. “Just crack a window for me.”

  Trina parked, and they got out of the car.

  Walking up to the hospital, June tried to brace herself. “He’s not okay, is he? You’ve been lying to me.”

  Trina glanced at her. “You’ve had enough on your plate.”

  “I hate when people lie to me.”

  “Is Sam angry you’re doing this?”

  “I don’t care what Sam thinks. He makes a lot of choices I’m not happy with, either.”

  Trina guided her inside and into an elevator. June kept her head down and avoided eye contact with anyone. In the elevator, a man seemed to recognize her, or else was curious about her tattoos, as he kept sneaking glances at her. He didn’t speak, though.