"Katherine Kurtz - Adept 01 - The Adept" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kurtz Katherine)

more startling than the Templar Knight had been, for it depicted the most vivid of Adam's far memories. He
wondered, briefly, what other faces Peregrine might have sketched, had Adam not stopped him.
The boy had the gift, though. There was no doubting that. The question was, who was Peregrine Lovat, that
he should possess the ability to penetrate beyond the mask of matter and see another's soul, especially that
of one trained as Adam had been trained? The answer to that question might well have far-reaching
consequences, not only for Peregrine, but for Adam and his associates as well.
He turned to regard the young artist for a long moment, reaching deep inside himself for guidance on how to
proceed. Peregrine was sitting quietly, hands lying gently cupped in his lap, the eyes closed behind the
wire-rimmed spectacles, but Adam had some doubt that the level of trance was deep enough for what he had
in mind to do next.
Setting the pad on the mantel, he decided to find out how good a hypnotic subject Peregrine was.
"Peregrine," he said quietly, "I'd like to take this a step further, if I may. Will you trust that what I ask is only
for your well being?"
At the younger man's drowsy affirmative, Adam reached down and gently removed the glasses, so he could
monitor better by watching the eyelids.
"Just keep your eyes closed now," Adam directed. "I've taken off your glasses so you can be more
comfortable. You don't need to see for a while anyway. I want you to take a deep breath and concentrate on
your heartbeat. I'm going to count your pulse, and I want you to count with me." He pressed his fingertips
against Peregrine's wrist and felt the pulse, strong and steady.
"Take a deep breath and concentrate on your heartbeat," he continued. "Feel the pulse and rhythm of your
life gently taking you even deeper and more relaxed as we count down from ten - nine - eight - seven - "
He could see Peregrine's lips moving, continuing the counting, and he could feel him slipping deeper, hardly
even whispering the final, "One."
"Good," Adam replied, half-breathing the word himself. "Very relaxedтАж very deeply relaxed. And now, as my
hand touches your forehead, I want you to sink into an even deeper - sleep."
At the word "sleep," he shifted upward to touch his subject lightly between the eyes. A quiver of eye
movement registered briefly beneath the lowered lids, but then Peregrine drew a long, even breath and
exhaled on a shallow sigh, his head lolling forward slightly, nodding.
The response was precisely what Adam was looking for. Leaning down to take one of the slack hands, he
lifted his subject's arm to shoulder level and stretched it out straight, running his free hand down it several
times from shoulder to wrist.
"Now imagine that your arm is becoming as stiff and rigid as an iron bar," Adam said, testing at the lock of
the elbow for emphasis. "It's becoming so rigid that neither you nor I can bend it, and you cannot lower it. Try
if you wish, but you cannot bend your arm."
Peregrine did seem to try. Adam could see the consternation on the younger man's face, but the arm did not
budge. Quickly, before Peregrine alarmed himself or did move the arm, Adam stroked along its length again.
"That's fine, Peregrine. Your arm is going back to normal now. It's no longer stiff. You can stop trying to move
it, and relax. Let your arm return to your side. It's perfectly normal now, and you will have no aftereffects.
Sleep now. Deep sleep."
Silently Adam considered what to do next. He could simply try to regress Peregrine to a past life, hoping to
find some clue to his problems in the present; but there was a quicker way, and one far more certain. It was
hardly a usual psychiatric procedure - most of his medical colleagues would be scandalized - but then, there
did not seem to be much that was usual about Peregrine Lovat.
"Now, Peregrine," he finally said, "you're doing very well indeed. You've achieved a very useful level of deep
trance, and in a moment I'm going to ask you to go deeper still.
"For now, however, I have further instructions for you. For reasons I'll eventually explain, you're to remember
nothing of what is about to happen, when you wake up later on. But if and when I ask you to recall it at some
later date, it will come back to you in full detail. I have my reasons for asking this, but it isn't appropriate for
you to know them just now. So you will retain no conscious memory of anything you might hear or
experience in the next little while, for your own well being. Nod if you understand and accept this."