The Dream Thief, Kari Kilgore [reading well TXT] 📗

the tripod and started to take her pack. She jerked it away and got the Dragon out herself. She glared at him as she put the headgear on and attached the cable.

"Be sure you have that hypo ready," she snapped.

Karl held it up.

"Afraid of what she'll Build?" he said.

"You don't know what some of these people wanted for their little collections, Karl. Nothing we could easily explain if it just appears in someone's bed. I remember Mrs. Labine here. She was a collector."

"Take care, then," he said, shrugging. "Make this a set of diamond earrings."

She scowled as she settled onto the floor, again sitting against her own heels. With a great, deep breath, she closed her eyes. Karl didn't want to get distracted by her face, or his body's reaction, so he watched Mrs. Labine.

For a long moment, she was perfectly still, long enough that he was starting to wonder if this was a waste of time. Then Mrs. Labine opened her eyes, staring right into Karl's. He took a step back, making sure he was out of her reach.

"The thief..." she whispered.

Loretta didn't seem to hear, lost in her trance.

"What thief, Mrs. Labine?" he said.

Her voice was low and urgent, her words nearly too fast to follow.

"Stealing my mind, breaking everything. The thief scrapes against me, grinding at my brain. The thief cannot get inside. Not anymore."

He jumped when Loretta spoke.

"Karl, this isn't—"

Loretta gripped his calf, her fingers digging into the flesh. He didn't look away, not wanting the patient to see Loretta crouched on the ground beside her bed.

It didn't matter. Mrs. Labine's gaze darted to the other woman.

"Don't steal from me." Her voice was barely audible but gaining volume with every syllable. "Don't steal from me! Don't steal from me!"

Karl grasped one of the frail arms and injected the full dose of sedative, hoping that it would take effect before anyone located the source of the screams.

Mrs. Labine stared at her arm, eyes comically wide. By the time she looked back up at Karl, her ability to focus was failing.

"She breaks everything. She breaks...everything. She...breaks..."

"Pack up, now," he said. "Someone probably heard her. We have to go."

When Loretta didn't move, Karl pulled her headgear off.

"I said put it away, Loretta. Now!"

He reached for the Dragon, and she finally moved, knocking his hand aside. Karl checked Mrs. Labine's pulse before he flipped the chart back over. Neither of them spoke until they were in the damp corridor below the hospital.

"What happened back there?" he said.

She stopped walking and leaned against the damp brick wall. Karl leaned against the opposite side.

"I couldn't find her," she said. "At least I couldn't find the way in. She felt like this damned wall." She smacked the bricks with her palm. "What was different with her? I've never felt anything like that, never."

"She's off Crumble," Karl said. "I don't know why, and when I asked, I didn't get anywhere."

Loretta was across the tunnel in a flash, driving both fists into Karl's chest.

"Why didn't you tell me? I'm not one of your crazy patients waiting for your experiments! To The Pit with you, Karl! That hurt!"

He caught her wrists before she could hit him again.

"What do you mean, it hurt?" he said. "Hurt what?"

Loretta twisted away from him and stepped back.

"I don't know," she said, rubbing her forehead. "Whatever it is inside my skull that does this. Her screaming hurt my ears on top of it all. Why didn't you warn me?"

Karl thought of explaining how he hadn't wanted to bias the experiment by telling her the difference, how a trial had to be properly conducted to yield useful information. He didn't need anyone to tell him that would be a mistake he'd come to regret at some point.

And he hadn't expected to hurt Loretta. He already regretted that, and he hoped Mrs. Labine hadn't felt the same thing.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I should have. I didn't know it would cause you pain. I thought... I thought you wouldn't be able to get through, that's all."

"It felt like dragging my brain across these damned bricks," she said. "Like I was rubbing my mind raw. And no, I couldn't get through at all. Satisfied?"

"Not really. That doesn't answer much, except that whoever you use needs to be on Crumble. I'd guess everyone except Mrs. Labine in all of Alterra is. Her and you. I still have no idea why she's not on it. I shouldn't have used you like that, Loretta."

"Do not let it happen again."

She didn't have to say it, but even in the dim light Karl could see the rest in her eyes. All agreements, including not using his family for Building, would be off if he did.

"I won't. You have my word."

She took a deep breath and let it out in a harsh sigh.

"What do we do now?" she said.

"Everyone else we could try with will be getting their lunch over the next hour or so. We might as well go back to my room and do the same."

Chapter 21

Karl locked the door to his apartment and dropped his keys into his pocket. He rubbed his temples, wishing he could go right back inside and go to sleep and forget about this whole damned mess. His growling stomach got him moving.

Sure, it was fun to be doing some kind of research, learning something new that no one else was even thinking about. But he was afraid the cost would only keep going up the longer he was associated with Loretta Schofield.

When he walked into the cafeteria, he was surprised to see George sitting at the table closest to the door. His friend actually cooked in his own apartment, and he rarely ate in here off-duty or over the weekend. He'd never seen George sitting in such a high-traffic location. Karl joined him with a groan.

"How's your weekend going, Karl?" George's smug grin made it clear what he was really asking. "Everything working out the way you wanted?

"More exhausting than anything.