Page 50 of Guardian

“Well,” Drake said with a tight smile, “it’s always good to know one’s history.” He turned to look at Winter. “Anyway, my understanding is that you need help in guiding your visions. In controlling them.”

“Yes. They hit me out of nowhere. And I feel powerless when they come.”

“Powerless? It doesn’t have to be that way.” He nodded as if nodding to himself, then continued, “Your visions are a powerful thing. Look at them like you look at emotions. Either you exert control over them, or they will control you. It’s always a matter of what you allow them to do. Take love and hate for example. Two very powerful emotions. Which one do you believe is more powerful?”

The doctor looked at Winter expectantly. When she didn’t say anything, he prompted, “Miss Collins?”

“Oh, you’re asking me.”

He nodded. “Yes. Which emotion is more powerful, love or hate?”

She hesitated. “Hate?”

Smiling, Drake shook his head. “Love. You know why?”

She shook her head, while Logan wondered where the shrink was going with this.

“It’s the strongest emotion, because it comes straight from the heart, from the very essence of your being. You see, you can move mountains with love. There is infinite energy in it. It’s up to you, how to use this energy.” He cleared his throat. “What I’m trying to explain to you is that you have to start to love your visions if you want to have any power over them. If you want to start to control them.”

Winter sighed. “It’s a little hard to love something that causes me so much pain.”

“Well, it will come, with time. In the meantime, there are several other things we can do: guided meditation, an in-depth psychoanalysis, and relaxation exercises.” He pulled a small notebook from his coat pocket. “The guided meditation we can start right away, then you’ll need to repeat it daily. I could fit your first psychoanalysis session in tomorrow night. But you’ll need to come alone. And the relaxation exercises, for that I actually have a Tuesday night group.”

Logan had heard enough. “Dr. Drake, I don’t think you understand the time constraint we’re under. We have twenty-four hours to get a handle on Winter’s visions.”

Drake gave him an undignified look. “And you don’t seem to grasp that the mind of a psychic is a fragile thing.”

“I disagree.” What he’d seen of Winter’s mind wasn’t fragile at all.

“There’s no way she’ll learn to control her visions in twenty-four hours, when it’s taken other psychics years to handle them. This takes practice and careful nurturing.”

Winter shot up from her chair. “Then what are we doing here?”

Logan heard the desperate tone in Winter’s voice and rose. “We’re leaving.” He nodded at the shrink. “Sorry to waste your time and ours.”

He ignored Drake’s protests, and took Winter’s arm to lead her outside.

In the darkness of the alley, he stopped. “I’m sorry. If we had more time, maybe some of the things he mentioned would work…”

“What are we gonna do now?” She looked at him then, fear and desperation colliding in her beautiful eyes.

He hated seeing her like this, without hope for a future. He wouldn’t let her cry, not under his watch.

“I’ll call Wesley, see what he’s got so far. I’m not giving up this quickly.”

He pulled the burner phone Wesley had given him from his jacket pocket and selected the only pre-programmed number. It rang once, twice, three times.

Suddenly, there was a click on the line.

“Logan?”

“Yes.”

“I was about to call you. I’m here with another witch. I think you and Winter need to join us.”

His heart began to beat excitedly. “Tell me where.”

Logan memorized the address Wesley recited, then said, “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”