Page 41 of Private Exhibit (Gentleman Hackers #4)

Crawford grunted and straightened up. “It's no use. Whoever put that barrier on his mind did it too well. I don't think even my wife could pull off something like this. And she's good .”

Andy hung his head. Damn it .

“So there's nothing you can do?” Oliver asked, his voice trembling with emotion.

Crawford adjusted his glasses as he slowly shook his head, looking thoughtful. “I could try to force the lock, but…I'll be honest: that alone could kill him. Or damage his brain.”

Oliver gasped and covered his mouth with both hands.

Andy held his breath as he stared at Devon. Was it worth the risk? Devon was dying anyway. If there was even the slightest chance that Crawford could break the lock and get in…

“Hold that thought,” Oliver blurted out, holding up a finger while he used his other hand to pull out his phone. “Don't do anything yet.” Oliver tapped something on the screen, then held up his phone to his ear. He turned away and said, “It's time.”

Andy blinked. Time? For what? Who the hells is he talking to?

“Uh.” Oliver whirled around and scanned the room.

“He's got a machine breathing for him, and he's hooked up to bypass…

Yeah. His heart's not beating. Like, at all.” Oliver fell silent, staring into space as he listened intently.

“Understood…Second floor. Right off the garden exit…

Got it. I'll text you right back.” He ended the call and lowered his arm.

“Who–” Andy started to ask.

But Oliver barreled over him, pointing at the bypass machine. “Do you have another one of those?”

Andy frowned. “Yeah. A few. Why?”

“How quickly can you switch him over to a new one if this one fails?”

“Fails?” Andy gasped. “Why–”

“A few seconds,” Crawford cut in. “Why?”

“Have one ready,” Oliver ordered. “Just in case. But keep it at least ten feet down the hallway until I say it's clear.”

Crawford gave him a nod and breezed out of the room, calling out orders as he went.

“What is going on?” Andy demanded. “Who was that on the phone?”

Oliver bent over his phone and quickly typed out a text. “Someone who might be able to help,” he answered cryptically.

Crawford came back, hovering in the doorway as he looked down the hall. Andy leaned past him to see what was going on. Two nurses stopped about twelve feet away, bracketing a bypass machine, looking ready to spring into action the moment they were called. “We're good,” Crawford announced.

Oliver took a step back. “Stay away from the doors.”

What the hells is going on? Andy almost yelled the question, but Crawford pulled him aside, clearing the doorway.

Oliver quickly scanned the room, then pressed a button on his phone and brought it up to his ear again. “Go.”

Just outside the room, the lights flickered and audibly buzzed. Andy barely had a chance to react when a man breezed into the room, heading straight for Devon.

A man with long, dark hair.

Andy stared dumbly at the hazy figure as he bent over Devon, his long, slender fingers touching the boy's head.

“Hey!” he finally managed to get out. “What the hells is–”

“Stay back, Doctor Gerard,” the man said without looking at him, his voice low, dark, and full of command. “This is delicate work. I don't want to damage his brain. I'll need it intact if this works.”

“If what works?” Andy demanded.

But the man didn't answer.

Andy turned to Oliver. “What is going on?”

“Just trust me,” Oliver hissed. “He can help.”

“Who the fuck is he?”

“I'd focus on your machines, if I were you,” the mage murmured. “I'm good, but even I might not be able to control the spread of my magic.”

Andy immediately looked at the monitors. Oh gods . What if something went wrong? What if the mage somehow fried the machines, and Andy wasn't able to get Devon transferred to new ones in time?

But the monitors kept clearly displaying all of Devon's vital data. The bypass machine kept circulating. The ventilator kept pumping air into Devon's lungs.

Andy felt something shift in the room. It wasn't tangible. It was something on the telepathic plane, but he couldn't pinpoint it.

The mage straightened up but kept his back to them. “I'd say you have about thirty seconds before all the sensory overwhelm floods in. Get to it.”

With that, the mage breezed out of the room, nothing but a blurry streak as he flew right past Andy and vanished from sight.

Andy stared dumbly at the empty space where the man had just been, then whirled around and ran to Devon, Crawford right at his side.

Crawford resumed his position at the head of the bed, and Andy stood beside it.

“What did he do?” Andy demanded.

“The barrier's gone,” Crawford said, his eyes wide. “Can't you feel it?”

Andy paused. He could feel it. Somehow, there was something distinctly Devon now present in the room. “What happens now?” he asked.

Crawford rested his hands beside Devon's head. “You're going to come in with me. I'll need you to keep him calm.”

“What? How?”

“Try to touch him. Telepathically, I mean.

Imagine yourself diving into his mind. It's the same principle as talking to a ghost, but we'll be actually inside his head instead of just projecting thoughts through the open air.

I have to warn you, it's going to feel foreign, and your own mind will probably revolt at first, but push past it.”

Andy panted, staring at Devon. “Will it hurt him?”

“No.” Crawford paused. “Well, maybe.” He held up a hand and rushed to add, “Not in the way you mean. Just being inside him won't cause any damage. But if this works—if we're able to do anything with his nervous system—the contact with that alone could trigger pain signals purely by accident.”

Andy slowly shook his head.

“Gerard? You can do this. And we have to go right now.”

Andy felt reality snap back in, the urgency rushing over him all at once. “Right. Yeah.” He perched on the edge of the bed, grabbed Devon's hand, and held on tight as he focused on his sweet boy, knowing he had to do whatever it took to save him.

He reached out with his mind, blindly feeling for Devon. There had never been anything to feel before, but now it crashed over him like a wave. A new presence. Almost a desperate pull.

Just as Crawford had warned, Andy's mind revolted. A part of him didn't want to invade another person's mind, but Andy forced the feeling aside. If there was a chance he could reach Devon, he'd take it.

Andy took a deep breath and let go. He felt himself falling, tumbling, swirling through what felt like boundless space and time.

And then he heard a sound he thought he'd never hear again.

Andy?