to your shadow-talent?”
“No. That is my first talent, the one that developed when I was in my teens.” He reached into the
drawer and removed the velvet-shrouded object inside. “I have recently gained the ability to
plunge another person straight into a waking nightmare.”
She frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I, at least not entirely.” He examined the velvet sack. “For obvious reasons, there has
not been much opportunity to experiment. All I can tell you is that I can trap a man in a
nightmare. What he does while he is lost in the dream is unpredictable. On the one occasion I
actually employed the talent, the individual collapsed and died.”
“I see.” A chill slithered through her. Never forget that he is a crime lord . Men in his profession
were not above murdering people to achieve their objectives.
There was a muffled thunk when Griffin set the black velvet sack on top of the steamer.
“I have reason to believe that my victim had a weak heart,” he said.
She recovered from the initial astonishment. “Well, that might explain a great deal.”
“Certainly.” His voice was cold and dry. “Another man might have merely been maddened by
the visions and perhaps decided to jump out a window.”
He began to untie the knot in the black cord that secured the sack.
“You are quite sure you generated nightmare energy?” she asked, curious now.
“There is no doubt in my mind.”
“Actually, that is very interesting,” she said.
He slanted her an unreadable look over his shoulder. “I have just told you that I can kill a man
with my new talent, Mrs. Pyne. You do not sound suitably impressed, let alone horrified.
Somehow I expected a stronger reaction from a social reformer.”
She ignored his sarcasm, too intrigued with her own reasoning. “What you describe is not unlike
what I can do with my own senses,” she said.
His smile was pure steel. “You are in the habit of dispatching people with your talent?”
“No, of course not. The most I can do is render an individual unconscious, as I did with that
enforcer in the alley behind the brothel. But the principles of the para-physics involved may be
similar.”
“You sound like a scientist making an observation in a laboratory. We are talking about a killing
talent, Mrs. Pyne.”
“Hear me out, sir. Our mutual affinity for the energy in the lamp indicates that we both draw our
powers from the dreamlight end of the spectrum. But it sounds as if you are simply capable of
reaching much deeper into the dark ultralight regions than I can.”
“Simply?”
“I do not mean to minimize your ability,” she said quickly.
“Mrs. Pyne, when you put Luttrell’s enforcer into that very deep sleep, did you touch him?”
“Yes, of course. That is the only way I can generate the level of energy required to do such a
thing. Physical contact is required.”
“The other night I killed a man who was standing a good three, maybe four paces away from
where I stood. I never laid a hand on him.”
She drew a sharp, startled breath. “That is a very powerful talent, indeed. How did you discover
it?”
“While I was engaged in what you would no doubt consider the sort of hobby one would expect
a crime lord to pursue.”
“What hobby?”
“I was conducting some business in the study of a certain gentleman at about two o’clock in the
morning. Suffice it to say that the gentleman in question was not aware of my presence in his
household.”
She drew a sharp breath. “You broke into someone’s home and searched his study?”
“Does that surprise you?” The cold amusement was back in his voice. “Given my profession,
that is?”
“Well, no. I suppose it doesn’t. It’s just that, considering your obvious rank and position in the
criminal underworld, one would have thought that you no longer dabbled in such petty crimes, at
least not personally. You control a vast
“No. That is my first talent, the one that developed when I was in my teens.” He reached into the
drawer and removed the velvet-shrouded object inside. “I have recently gained the ability to
plunge another person straight into a waking nightmare.”
She frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I, at least not entirely.” He examined the velvet sack. “For obvious reasons, there has
not been much opportunity to experiment. All I can tell you is that I can trap a man in a
nightmare. What he does while he is lost in the dream is unpredictable. On the one occasion I
actually employed the talent, the individual collapsed and died.”
“I see.” A chill slithered through her. Never forget that he is a crime lord . Men in his profession
were not above murdering people to achieve their objectives.
There was a muffled thunk when Griffin set the black velvet sack on top of the steamer.
“I have reason to believe that my victim had a weak heart,” he said.
She recovered from the initial astonishment. “Well, that might explain a great deal.”
“Certainly.” His voice was cold and dry. “Another man might have merely been maddened by
the visions and perhaps decided to jump out a window.”
He began to untie the knot in the black cord that secured the sack.
“You are quite sure you generated nightmare energy?” she asked, curious now.
“There is no doubt in my mind.”
“Actually, that is very interesting,” she said.
He slanted her an unreadable look over his shoulder. “I have just told you that I can kill a man
with my new talent, Mrs. Pyne. You do not sound suitably impressed, let alone horrified.
Somehow I expected a stronger reaction from a social reformer.”
She ignored his sarcasm, too intrigued with her own reasoning. “What you describe is not unlike
what I can do with my own senses,” she said.
His smile was pure steel. “You are in the habit of dispatching people with your talent?”
“No, of course not. The most I can do is render an individual unconscious, as I did with that
enforcer in the alley behind the brothel. But the principles of the para-physics involved may be
similar.”
“You sound like a scientist making an observation in a laboratory. We are talking about a killing
talent, Mrs. Pyne.”
“Hear me out, sir. Our mutual affinity for the energy in the lamp indicates that we both draw our
powers from the dreamlight end of the spectrum. But it sounds as if you are simply capable of
reaching much deeper into the dark ultralight regions than I can.”
“Simply?”
“I do not mean to minimize your ability,” she said quickly.
“Mrs. Pyne, when you put Luttrell’s enforcer into that very deep sleep, did you touch him?”
“Yes, of course. That is the only way I can generate the level of energy required to do such a
thing. Physical contact is required.”
“The other night I killed a man who was standing a good three, maybe four paces away from
where I stood. I never laid a hand on him.”
She drew a sharp, startled breath. “That is a very powerful talent, indeed. How did you discover
it?”
“While I was engaged in what you would no doubt consider the sort of hobby one would expect
a crime lord to pursue.”
“What hobby?”
“I was conducting some business in the study of a certain gentleman at about two o’clock in the
morning. Suffice it to say that the gentleman in question was not aware of my presence in his
household.”
She drew a sharp breath. “You broke into someone’s home and searched his study?”
“Does that surprise you?” The cold amusement was back in his voice. “Given my profession,
that is?”
“Well, no. I suppose it doesn’t. It’s just that, considering your obvious rank and position in the
criminal underworld, one would have thought that you no longer dabbled in such petty crimes, at
least not personally. You control a vast
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