After the final needle of the ninefold soul-tethering strike had been placed, Quinn Thorne observed the astral projection hovering above the little girl's body through his heightened perception. The translucent silhouette had stopped drifting away from her physical form, which was an encouraging sign, but it had not yet sunk back inside her either. It lingered there like smoke caught in still air, neither rising nor settling.
He needed to push harder. Quinn extended his left hand with all five fingers pressed together and positioned his open palm just above the girl's forehead, hovering less than an inch from her skin without making contact.
To everyone watching, the gesture looked deeply strange. The traffic officers who had been documenting the scene turned their heads toward him, thei
