Gaslight (Crossbreed #4)(8)
Niko often found the swell of energy in a crowded room overwhelming. He couldn’t distinguish one stranger from the next, but he recognized the people closest to him. Their energy was a unique fingerprint of color, texture, and movement. Niko didn’t understand colors in the sighted world. Having never been a sighted person, all he could do was use common color names to describe the variations. He understood texture—that was something he could feel with his hands. Some energy was smooth like polished stones and some crackled. Some had light that bounced off objects around them the way water does in the shower. It had taken Niko centuries to recognize the differences and categorize them.
So it was easy to spot Claude’s smooth sage light as he entered the room. Hard to miss energy like his that towered at six and a half feet.
“Claude!” Gem called out. “Over here.”
The heavy tread of his footsteps approached. “Sorry I’m late. Someone wanted a last-minute perm. What’s shakin’?”
Though Claude must have washed his hands, Niko could still pick up the faint scent of chemicals.
“Claude, I’d like you to meet Hooper. Hooper, this is my dear friend Claude.”
Claude’s light flickered with Gem’s introduction. Most Chitahs were innately protective of women. It was harder to conceive girls among their kind, so one could assume that large families of brothers with one sister nurtured that behavior. But Niko had learned that some traits were simply instinctual.
“How’s it going?” Hooper said in greeting. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about you. Well, you and everyone else here. Gem hangs out with a motley crew.”
Claude’s energy moved lower as he seated himself in Raven’s empty chair. People often remarked that Niko was missing out on people’s subtle facial expressions and body language, but Niko had the ability to pick up a lot of information from a person’s light.
Like the fact that Shepherd was no longer engaged with the group. His energy grew dimmer by the minute.
“Hooper was just telling us about his trip to Peru,” Niko said impassively.
Hooper cleared his throat, his light pulsing with excitement. “It’s the closest you’ll ever be to God, or whatever you believe in. We hiked up to the ancient ruins on Machu Picchu. Tall mountain peaks, trees as far as the eye can see, and in the morning, a veil of fog surrounded us and lifted with the sun.”
“Morning?” Suspicion rose in Claude’s tone. “Isn’t that a tourist place with set visiting hours?”
“Yeah, but I know a guy. They have hotels where the tourists stay, but we camped off trail—away from all the humans. If you ever want to go, give me a call and I’ll hook you up. You’ve never laid eyes on anything like it.” Hooper hesitated for a minute. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude or anything.”
Niko didn’t need to guess that the comment was directed at him. He gave a curt nod, a gesture he’d learned to avoid addressing the subject further. People accepted physical cues, one of many things his old sensei had taught him. The sighted world often felt guilty when describing things he couldn’t see, but Niko was over a thousand years old and had relinquished his envy a long time ago.
“So what are your plans with my girl?” Claude asked, a growl lingering in the back of his throat.
“Just chillin’ tonight,” Hooper said. “If she likes me enough, I might ask her out to the library.”
“Library?” Claude chuckled. “Doesn’t seem like your kind of place.”
“I spend all day working behind a bar,” Hooper explained. “It’s good to get out and do something different. Plus Gem likes books.”
That wasn’t entirely wrong, but what Hooper probably didn’t know was that most of the books Gem read were ancient language books. She didn’t devour the latest fiction from the bestseller lists—not unless she did it secretly. Based on all their conversations, Gem was fascinated by history and linguistics.
“Anyone up for a game of darts?” Hooper asked.
Gem’s chair scraped against the floor before she stood up, her light now taller. “I’m on your team.”
“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline,” Niko said.
Claude rapped his knuckles on the table. “Shep? You up for a game?”
“Not tonight.”
“Oh, come on,” Gem insisted. “We can’t play teams with only three.”
“Don’t you know I count as two?” Claude announced, his green light moving toward the dartboards.
For a moment, Gem and Hooper’s light merged, the colors rippling together like two streams converging. Niko sensed they had exchanged a kiss, and his stomach knotted. Why would a Sensor have any interest in a Mage, who could kill him during intercourse? Sexual light pooled in a Mage’s hands when aroused, and only another Mage or Vampire could handle that energy. Aside from that, a Mage couldn’t have children.
Once alone, he steered his attention toward Shepherd. “You haven’t been yourself since our last case. I’ve never seen you so sullen.”
Niko recognized the familiar sound of a match striking.
“You read into things too much,” Shepherd grumbled. “You should turn that shit off and give yourself a break. I do. You think I like constantly feeling people’s emotions?”