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limits. Do you believe
me now?"
    She
nodded, not like someone who was unable to speak, but like someone
who was worried that speech would shatter the illusion and wake her
from a dream.
    "What
do you want? What is your price? We…we don't have any money."
    "What
would having Keith back be worth to you? What would you be willing to
give up in order to have things be like they used to?"
    "Anything."
    Geoffrey's
emotions surged up in a tidal wave that nearly cracked his composure.
He was so adept at interpreting other people's emotions, but
sometimes it was all but impossible to properly categorize his own.
    Relief
was certainly a huge component, but it was more than just that. He'd
sworn never to feed from someone unwillingly again, but a part of him
knew that what he was doing wasn't any better than abducting Aly in
the dead of night and tearing the side of her throat open. She was so
obsessed with Keith that she wasn't fully capable of making the
decision Geoffrey was offering her. Despite all of his efforts,
Geoffrey wasn't sure that he was all that much better than Imastious.
    "Are
you sure? Anything?"
    Another
nod and this time Geoffrey couldn't have missed the certainty washing
through her mind. She was imagining the worst possible things she
could think of and yet she was still willing to pay that price if it
was what Geoffrey demanded.
    "I
can't promise to fix him, it all depends on whether or not he really
wants help. Are you still willing to pay anything for just the chance that he'll come back to you?"
    "Not
death, and I don't want to be a cripple. If there is a chance that
this won't work then I'll need to be around to take care of him.
Beyond that whatever you want is yours."
    Geoffrey
had been planning on asking her if she was the kind of person who
took her promises seriously, but there wasn't any need. He could feel
her commitment surging through the tendrils connecting their minds.
She'd already risked everything she was or could become on a promise
to Keith, this was just an extension of that original promise.
    "We'll
need privacy; do the two of you have a room?"
    Aly
nodded and went as though to pick Keith up. Geoffrey slung Keith's
other arm over his shoulder and a couple of minutes later the pair
had safely deposited Keith on the bed in a small white-walled bedroom
one floor down from where Geoffrey would be sleeping.
    "I'm
going to close my eyes for a few minutes, it's important that you
don't disturb me while I'm working."
    Aly
nodded. "I understand."
    Geoffrey
took a deep breath and then closed his eyes and inserted a mental
probe into the front of Keith's head. Hours of practice paid off as
Geoffrey strengthened the probe, forcing it to a thickness that made
it seem as though his mind broke free of his body and traveled down
the probe and into Keith's mind.
    Geoffrey
hadn't been sure what to expect from deep contact with the mind of
this particular kind of addict. He'd expected to find a torrent of
destructive energy, all directed inward, he hadn't expected to find
that the torrent had been frozen into motionless suspension by the
drugs coursing through Keith's system.
    Swimming
downward through the surface levels of Keith's mind was a new
experience as well. His thoughts didn't actively resist Geoffrey's
efforts to go deeper, but there was a stickiness to them that left
Geoffrey feeling like he was being coated with an unpleasant residue.
    Geoffrey's
reserves of strength weren't what they should have been. He'd known
that before setting out, but he hadn't realized just how depleted he
was from the combination of being on the run and the blood
starvation. The realization triggered a wave of almost panic, but
Geoffrey was disciplined enough to keep the emotion from leaking into
Keith's psyche and he was experienced enough to know that once he was
this deep there was no course open to him but continuing to dive
deeper.
    He
would either have the strength to make it to the seat of Keith's
reason, the