by Jayne Castle
He already knew that Hannah was powerful. What he was learning now was that she could handle wild Alien energy with the elegant finesse of a brilliantly skilled musician.
At first the roiling currents of the gate responded to the delicate interference with sporadic power surges. As Hannah’s intrusion grew more focused, the wall of nightmare energy responded like a great beast of prey trying to fend off an attacker. It lashed and coiled and fought the assault.
But gradually the core of the monster began to weaken. The sparking, flashing currents shimmered and thinned first at the center. The thinning radiated slowly outward. The gate became translucent and then transparent.
Now it was possible to see figures on the other side. Elias counted quickly. Relief shot through him when he realized that all nine of the crew members were alive.
Hannah made an attempt to free her hand but he tightened his grip. She abandoned the effort, clasped his fingers more firmly than ever, and started moving toward the gate.
He realized she needed to be closer to the epicenter of the violent storm of nightmares.
They were so close to the weakened barrier now that the raw energy was lifting the hair on his arms and the back of his neck. It was like being caught in an invisible wind. He could sense the primal horrors waiting to spring at his conscious mind and drown it in the ultimate nightmare—one that would not end.
The gate crackled with one last furious burst of energy.
And then it winked out of existence.
There was a moment of stunned silence from the small crowd of onlookers.
And then the riptide struck.
There was a great surge of energy. Elias could feel it trying to drag him under into unconsciousness. He knew Hannah was not immune in spite of her talent.
They held hands and faced the storm together, fighting the wave of night. Somewhere in the darkness Virgil growled in fury. Elias sensed that somehow the dust bunny was adding his own energy to the battle via the psychic bond he shared with Hannah. The Arizona Snow figure glowed with raw crystal power for a few tense seconds.
A moment later it was over.
The crowd inside the cave rushed toward the newly opened gate. But the leader put up a hand, signaling them to stop. Reluctantly, they halted. Elias recognized Derek Hanford.
“Mr. Coppersmith?” Derek called. “Is that you?”
“It’s me, Derek. Bring your team out.”
Derek grinned and waved the rest of the crew out of the gate. They did not need a second invitation. Eight of them hurried out into the clearing. Derek followed. He was a Coppersmith leader to the core, Elias thought. In an emergency, the first priority was the welfare of the team. The guy in charge doesn’t leave until everyone else is safe.
Elias released Hannah’s hand and clapped Derek on the shoulder. “Good job, Hanford. You kept everyone together. I’ll make sure Dad knows how well you handled this situation.”
“Thanks,” Derek said. “Had to be sure it was you. Couldn’t trust our eyes inside that damn cave. People started hallucinating. Every time we got near the gate it tried to suck us into a nightmare. Almost lost Parker. He got burned but we pulled him back in time. He’ll be okay.”
The rescued team members and their colleagues clustered around Elias, thanking him. He shook his head.
“It wasn’t me,” he said. He turned to introduce them to Hannah. “Meet the lady who opened the gate.”
Hannah was standing off by herself. She feels like the outsider here, Elias thought.
“This is Hannah,” he said, aware of a rush of pride and certainty. “My wife.”
There was a chorus of whistles and shouts of congratulations. Elias was pretty sure he heard Hannah mumble something about the marriage being just an MC but no one was listening. Everyone was in the grip of euphoric relief. No one was paying attention to details.
Hank Richman grinned. “Got a lot to celebrate tonight, boss. Lucky for the two of you, there’s a spare tent. We’ll make sure to set it up a little ways from the main campsite so you’ll have some privacy. After all, you’re still on your honeymoon.”
Chapter 15
“Well, this is awkward,” Hannah said, careful to keep her voice very low.
They were alone in the small, two-person tent. An amber lamp burned on a stand between the twin cots.
Night had descended as it always did in the Rainforest, hard and fast. But the campsite was illuminated with softly glowing amber lanterns set up at the entrance to each tent and around the perimeter.
In addition to the amber lamps a silvery paranormal energy radiated from the interior of the portal cave. The combination ensured that the deep night of the jungle was kept at bay.
Virgil had spent the earlier part of the evening dining heartily on camp food and basking in the attention of a number of new fans. But when people headed for their tents, he had disappeared. Hannah suspected that he was showing off his Arizona Snow action figure to some wild dust bunny pals. The result was that he was not available to play chaperone.
Not that she and Elias needed a chaperone, she reminded herself. They were roommates tonight, not honeymooners.
But it was going to be a very long night because she was afraid to go to sleep.
Elias sat on his cot, removing his boots. At her comment, he paused to survey the intimate interior of the tent. Then he shrugged and went back to his task.
“It won’t be a problem,” he said.
He kept his voice low, too. The tent they were sharing had been pitched a discreet distance from the main encampment and the normal jungle noises had returned now that the dreamlight gate had been opened. Nevertheless, there was still a chance they might be overheard by one of the security guards making the rounds or someone who got up to use the facilities.
“I think I can promise you that it will be a problem if I fall asleep and start dream-walking,” she said. She huddled on the edge of her cot, gripping the edge on either side of her thighs. She eyed Elias’s cot less than two feet away. “There’s not much room in here. My vibes are bound to interfere with your dreamlight once you fall asleep.”
Elias yanked off his other boot. “We don’t know that. We’ve never run the experiment.”
“You and I have never run the experiment, but I am not without some real-world experience,” she said evenly. “I’m telling you, it’s going to be really awkward if you start screaming at three in the morning.”
Elias flashed her an unnervingly wicked grin. “Depends on the reason I’m screaming.”
She groaned. “You’re not going to take this seriously, are you?”
His amusement vanished in a heartbeat. “Here’s the thing, Hannah. Neither of us has any choice about where we sleep tonight. I’m sure as hell not going to let you spend the night alone.”
“Because you want everyone to believe we’re really married?”
“We are really married.”
He looked irritated. She reminded herself that he’d had a long, hard day, too.
“You know what I mean,” she said.
She took off her own boots and went to work unrolling her sleeping bag on her cot.
Elias watched her. “Yes, I know what you mean. But we’re going to spend the night together as a precaution.”
“A precaution against what? We’re safe with your people now. A Coppersmith Security team is patrolling the perimeter as we speak. You said this jobsite has round-the-clock security.”
“Right.”
“What is the problem?”
For a few seconds Elias sat quietly on the edge of the cot, forearms resting on his knees, hands loosely clasped. She got the impression that he was trying to decide how much he wanted to say to her. Comprehension slammed through her.
“I get it,” she said softly. “You’re wondering if what happened here—the gate closing—
was an accident, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “You’re the expert. What do you think?”
She considered the question for a moment. “Only a dreamlight talent as strong as I am could have deliberately rezzed it. Got anyone like that here on your team?”
“No. At least I don’t think so. But it’s possible that someone faked their resume to conceal a heavy talent. That wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world. Really powerful talents do it all the time.”
“Because a lot of employers are afraid to hire very powerful talents,” Hannah said. “Look, for what it’s worth, I think the triggered-by-accident scenario is more likely. You said yourself there’s a lot of unknown radiation inside that cavern. But if it gives you any peace of mind, I can promise you that the gate won’t be closing again. I obliterated the frequencies. That’s why the riptide was so powerful.”
He smiled a little. “Thanks. That does give me some peace of mind. But that still leaves us with the problem of those bikers. Until I figure out what’s going on, I don’t want you to be alone. I’m responsible for your safety.”
His stern, stubborn expression warned her that there was no point trying to persuade him that he did not have to play bodyguard tonight. He felt responsible for her safety and he was the kind of man who took his responsibilities seriously.
“Okay,” she said. “I understand.” She climbed into her sleeping bag without taking off any more clothes. “I’ll try to stay awake.”
He looked grimly amused. “I wondered why you were drinking coffee after dinner.”
“The thing is, I’m not sure the caffeine will be enough to keep me awake. I burned a lot of energy taking down that gate. My senses are exhausted. But maybe, if I do fall asleep, I won’t dream. It’s not like I do it every night.”
“What does cause you to dream-walk?”
“I can do it on command. It’s a form of lucid dreaming. I use it to find things when I go looking for an artifact or something that has been lost. But it also happens when my intuition is trying to tell me something.” She waved a hand. “On those occasions I don’t have much control over the process. But the problem here at the jobsite has been resolved and, like I said, I’m pretty wrecked. So maybe I won’t dream tonight.”
His mouth kicked up a little at the corner. “Does that mean there’s not much chance that I’ll end up screaming at three in the morning?”
She glared at him. “Not funny.”
“Sorry. Just a little honeymoon humor.”
“This is not a honeymoon.” She groaned. “And no fair setting me up with a bad joke. Go to sleep.”
“Okay. You do the same. We both need the rest.”
Elias removed his flamer from his utility belt and put it on the floor beside his cot, within easy reach. He turned down the amber lamp, plunging the interior of the tent into dense shadows. The Rainforest was a bioengineered wonder but it was underground. There was no moon and no stars. The Aliens had created an artificial source of sunlight during the daylight hours but evidently they hadn’t deemed it necessary to provide nighttime illumination. Nevertheless, the proximity of the softly glowing cave and the amber lanterns ensured that some light filtered through the thin walls of the tent, enveloping the interior in deep shadows.
Hannah listened to Elias climb into the Coppersmith-issue sleeping bag that one of the staff had given him. There was some rustling and then things became very quiet.
After a while she stirred and folded her hands behind her head.
“Are you awake?” she whispered.
“I am now.”
“How will you go about figuring out who sent those bikers to grab me?” she asked. “Assuming it was me they were after and not you.”
“The first question you ask in a situation like this is, why? When I know the answer, I’ll know where to go from there.”
She smiled a little. “That’s my first question, too.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I go dream-walking, the first question I have to remember to ask is, why am I searching for the object? Knowing why a client wants it helps guide me.”
“What happens if you don’t like the answer?”
“I turn down the job and make some polite excuse.”
“Are you always looking for something when you dream-walk?” Elias asked.
“Always. I go in asking questions but I rarely get straightforward answers.”
“That’s the nature of intuition. You’ll get a flash of insight but you don’t always know where it’s going to take you.” Elias paused. “And you don’t always like the answers you get.”
“True,” she said. “Do you like being director of research for the Coppersmith R-and-D labs?”
“Yes. But I think that gig will be coming to an end, soon.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s become obvious that the Ghost City project is too big and too important to be managed as part of the regular R-and-D system. Dad has decided to spin off the venture. It will be set up as a separate division with its own corporate hierarchy and its own dedicated labs.”
“Your father is going to put you in charge of the special labs for this project, isn’t he?”
“It’s not like he’s got a lot of choice. My brother, Rafe, doesn’t want the job. He opened up his own private investigation business a few months ago right after he got married. Consults for the FBPI and Jones and Jones.”
“What about your sister?”
“Leanna is the real scion in the clan, assuming we’ve actually got one. She received all the executive talents in the Coppersmith gene pool. Everyone assumes she’ll be taking Dad’s place as the CEO of the company one of these days.”
“What about you?”
“Me? I’m the family geek. I was born for R and D.”
“That makes you a geek?” Hannah asked.
“I have it on good authority that I make a really boring cocktail-party guest.”
“Whose authority?”
“Various and assorted dates.”
“If you don’t do cocktail party chatter very well, you should probably consider other venues for your dates,” Hannah said.
“Hey, thanks for the suggestion. Why didn’t I think of that? I could try taking a date out for an evening of fun and games—running from a horde of would-be kidnappers on motorcycles, for example. Then we could visit a creepy carnival featuring a lot of weird Arcane artifacts. Wrap things up with a romantic Marriage of Convenience at a tacky MC wedding mill and spend our wedding night at a low-rent motel in the Shadow Zone. The next morning we would wake up with no memory of what happened.”
She smiled into the shadows. “All in all, it sounds more interesting than a cocktail party.”
“Think so?”
She turned on her side. “Good night, Elias.”
“Good night, Hannah.”
She thought about the flamer he had put on the floor of the tent next to his cot.
To date, as far as the experts had been able to determine, the only creatures in the Rainforest that occasionally proved dangerous to humans were other humans.
Chapter 16
The dream-walking started the way it always did. Her doppelgänger got up from the cot and paused to look down at herself. The dreamer was curled on her side, snuggled into her special silk-lined sleeping bag. She appeared to be sound asleep. But she knew she was dream-walking.
She’d been lucid dreaming since her teens but she still got a little jolting thrill of panic and wonder each time she found herself going into the out-of-body experience. After all these years the one thing she knew for certain about her dream-walking was that it always had a purpose. It was her intuition speaking to her. It was up to her to figure out what her doppelgänger was trying to tell her.
Her doppelgänger loo
ked down at Elias. He was sleeping on his side, still clad in a T-shirt and his field trousers. As she watched, he stirred.
Her dreaming self knew that he was starting to sense the vibes of her strong dreamlight currents.
“I need to wake up before I disturb his aura,” the dreamer said in the language of dreams.
“There’s something important happening,” the doppelgänger said. “Something that could change everything.”
As her doppelgänger watched, Elias opened his eyes. He seemed a little bemused at first, but not alarmed. After a few beats he opened the sleeping bag, sat up slowly, and swung his legs over the edge of the cot. He looked at the dreamer. He was curious now; intrigued. He did not look like a man who thought he was trapped in a nightmare.
“He’s not afraid,” the doppelgänger said.
“Is that all you have to say to me?” the dreamer asked.
“What other man has been able to sleep so close to you and not wake up in a panic when you went dream-walking?”
“Okay, so he’s strong. But let’s not push the envelope here. I’m going to wake up now.”
Hannah awoke on a hot rush of adrenaline. A shudder went through her as she crossed the never-never land between the dreamscape and the waking state. In the next breath she had her bearings again. She was no longer dream-walking.
She opened her eyes and saw Elias sitting quietly on the side of his cot. He watched her with a little heat in his eyes.
“Was that it?” he asked matter-of-factly. “Were you dream-walking?”
“Yes,” she said. She unzipped her sleeping bag and sat up slowly. “Are you . . . all right?”
“I’m fine. Your vibes woke me up, but no big deal.”
She wasn’t sure where to go with that. No other man had ever described the experience as no big deal.
“What was it like for you?” she finally asked.
He was silent for a moment. She held her breath, afraid of the answer.
“Different,” he said at last.