Dahlia: A Novel of Dark Desire

Chapter Six

Dahlia closed the door behind her and let the emotions she'd been pushing down swarm over her: tension, arousal, discomfort. She was about to take a look at her trap and she needed her mind calm and balanced. Suppressed emotions and experiences had a way of bubbling up during work and she didn't need her deranged reaction to Ravin showing up in anything she presented to Borreal or Mazaran. Fine. She tried to relax and let go, not fret over it. The pressure on her psyche mostly vanished and she breathed more easily.

She lit the perimeter of candles so she could remove the effort of holding her shield and then began her meditation. If much of her power came from her mind then it needed to be as clear as her workspace. As she focused and centered her awareness she felt the tension fall away. As she sat and steadied herself she felt the her inner conflict resolve and she was able to accept and let go. Her mind finally quieted and she was ready to begin.

She collected the mirror, sat back on her heels, and pulled at the energy within it. It connected back to the energy she held and she began to watch the scenes. She watch Macada's memories: his reflection of Shann's death, his loyalty to his emperor. Well, at least Ravin hadn't incapacitated the wrong man.

She sifted through, trying to find a reason for Macada's interest in the research journal but every path she followed led her nowhere. She suspected he didn't have the ability himself to hide it so whatever it was he either truly had no idea or it had been skillfully masked from any mental trap that searched for it.

She found something hidden on the edge of his memories and tried to edge towards it from the side, watching it from the corner of her eye. She drew closer and got a vision of a wall made of sand before it collapsed again, taking the thought with it. Skillfully hidden, then. She tried again with the same result.

She felt her frustration building, paused, took a moment just to breathe and then let it go. Frustration wouldn't help her. Instead she began bundling the thoughts and memories into a linear pattern Borreal and Mazaran could review.