In Irina's Cards (The Variant Conspiracy #1) by Christine Hart Page A
Authors: Christine Hart
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cardboard floor, the sewer dissolved around me and I was transported to the ocean beach from my earlier vision. Suddenly I stood behind my mystery man. He walked on the sand ahead of me next to a giant wave. The sea curled down, crashing into calm bubbling fingers on the sand. As I watched the back of his head, he turned and looked directly at me with a glass-eyed expression that chilled me. My reflex to step backward yanked me off the beach and brought me right back into the sewer with my feet on bare concrete again. Ivan looked at me intently. “What did you see?”
“That man. I saw him before I came to Victoria. I had a vision of him and I can’t tell you exactly why, but it was extremely compelling. Before I got on the Greyhound and came down here, I had seen other parts of the city. But, with this guy, it was like we had a connection, even though I had never met or even seen him in my life.” I lowered my voice as I caught my tone and volume amplifying.
“Would you recognize the setting around him, if you saw it again in real life?”
“I think so.”
“Good,” Ivan replied firmly. “Very good. I hoped that bringing you down here would force a stronger connection. This,” he gestured at the cardboard shelter, “is where Ilya slept. He’s my son and he’s missing.”
I think I gasped. It made total sense now, why I’d seen the young man with Ivan. If I found Ilya, I might finally figure out what my visions meant. Most of them, anyway. Ivan said that it was easier to leave by passing through the sewer to come up in an alley down the road from the Market Square and Innoviro’s office. He sounded so far away. I followed him robotically.
His face had been fading from my mind, but now I had a clearer picture than ever. And I had a name. Ilya. I connected to him for some reason and I’d come here with wild notions of finding him, along with whatever insight came with him. My priorities had completely changed, which made sense on the surface. Regardless, guilt gnawed at me. Everything had become about building my new life and Ilya was obviously in trouble, maybe even in pain.
Ivan and I emerged in another hidden corridor, much like Fan Tan Alley, only quieter. The steel door to the sewer stairwell thudded shut behind us and I looked up to see a faded yellow sign in Chinese characters hanging over a tiny herbal remedy shop. The alley smelled of spicy incense. To our right, office windows sported closed blinds. To the left, a metal fire escape zigzagged up the side of a brick building. Around the corner, a dark tunnel led to muffled traffic and the voices of pedestrians.
“Irina, I want you to take the rest of the day off. You’ve got a lot to process now and I don’t think you’ll be any good to us with so much on your mind.”
“I feel bad, but I think you’re right.” I laughed nervously.
“I want you to consider one more thing before you come back to work tomorrow morning. You remember what I said about the research we’ve been able to do on psychic brain activity?”
“Yes. It’s kind of hard to forget something like that.”
“Our research has produced an experimental drug. My motives are selfish, but I think any man would do the same to find his son. I’m hoping you’ll consent to receiving this drug. It’s a serum which I believe can enhance your abilities.”
“Enhance how? What would change?”
“We can accelerate your skills to a level that you’d take years to reach on your own, if ever. Ilya has been missing for two months now. If you feel a connection to him, there has to be a reason. His gift is extra-sensory, like yours, but somewhat different. He’s more like Rubin, but stronger and capable of creating illusions. He should be able to get out of trouble on his own. The fact that he hasn’t come home makes me certain something fairly serious has happened. Understandably, I don’t want to turn to the police and risk an investigation that exposes my work or any of
“That man. I saw him before I came to Victoria. I had a vision of him and I can’t tell you exactly why, but it was extremely compelling. Before I got on the Greyhound and came down here, I had seen other parts of the city. But, with this guy, it was like we had a connection, even though I had never met or even seen him in my life.” I lowered my voice as I caught my tone and volume amplifying.
“Would you recognize the setting around him, if you saw it again in real life?”
“I think so.”
“Good,” Ivan replied firmly. “Very good. I hoped that bringing you down here would force a stronger connection. This,” he gestured at the cardboard shelter, “is where Ilya slept. He’s my son and he’s missing.”
I think I gasped. It made total sense now, why I’d seen the young man with Ivan. If I found Ilya, I might finally figure out what my visions meant. Most of them, anyway. Ivan said that it was easier to leave by passing through the sewer to come up in an alley down the road from the Market Square and Innoviro’s office. He sounded so far away. I followed him robotically.
His face had been fading from my mind, but now I had a clearer picture than ever. And I had a name. Ilya. I connected to him for some reason and I’d come here with wild notions of finding him, along with whatever insight came with him. My priorities had completely changed, which made sense on the surface. Regardless, guilt gnawed at me. Everything had become about building my new life and Ilya was obviously in trouble, maybe even in pain.
Ivan and I emerged in another hidden corridor, much like Fan Tan Alley, only quieter. The steel door to the sewer stairwell thudded shut behind us and I looked up to see a faded yellow sign in Chinese characters hanging over a tiny herbal remedy shop. The alley smelled of spicy incense. To our right, office windows sported closed blinds. To the left, a metal fire escape zigzagged up the side of a brick building. Around the corner, a dark tunnel led to muffled traffic and the voices of pedestrians.
“Irina, I want you to take the rest of the day off. You’ve got a lot to process now and I don’t think you’ll be any good to us with so much on your mind.”
“I feel bad, but I think you’re right.” I laughed nervously.
“I want you to consider one more thing before you come back to work tomorrow morning. You remember what I said about the research we’ve been able to do on psychic brain activity?”
“Yes. It’s kind of hard to forget something like that.”
“Our research has produced an experimental drug. My motives are selfish, but I think any man would do the same to find his son. I’m hoping you’ll consent to receiving this drug. It’s a serum which I believe can enhance your abilities.”
“Enhance how? What would change?”
“We can accelerate your skills to a level that you’d take years to reach on your own, if ever. Ilya has been missing for two months now. If you feel a connection to him, there has to be a reason. His gift is extra-sensory, like yours, but somewhat different. He’s more like Rubin, but stronger and capable of creating illusions. He should be able to get out of trouble on his own. The fact that he hasn’t come home makes me certain something fairly serious has happened. Understandably, I don’t want to turn to the police and risk an investigation that exposes my work or any of
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