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Canyons of Night lgt-3

Page 18

by Jayne Castle


  “I can sense the storm,” he said quietly. “Not that far off.”

  “You’re in full control,” Charlotte said. “How do you feel?”

  He thought about the question, assessing his senses. “Good. But I’m picking up the currents of the heavy energy out there. This is about as far as I’ve tried to go since I got burned by the gas.”

  “The reflected bands of primary ultralight in your rainbow are still steady and strong. There are no indications of rogue waves or instability.”

  “I hear you but from my perspective it’s like looking into a thunderstorm or a hurricane. I know that there has to be some natural pattern but I can’t detect it from the outside.”

  “You always talk about it in terms of a storm front,” she said.

  “That the nearest analogy I can find.”

  “Maybe it’s not an analogy. Maybe what you perceive is a true psychic thunderstorm or a paranormal hurricane.”

  He focused on the roiling, seething darkness. “Maybe. So?”

  “Energy is energy. That’s one of the oldest laws of para-physics. More to the point here, para-energy works on some of the same principles as normal energy.”

  “What are you getting at?”

  “It occurs to me that if your talent is capable of generating a storm of ultralight it seems logical that the forces involved will be organized in the same way that a normal storm is, around a core. Think eye of the storm.”

  “You’re saying that I can control this damn hurricane if I find the calm place at the center?”

  “I don’t know,” Charlotte said. “We’re both winging it here.”

  He saw that the mirrored pendant was glowing with a silvery light in her hand.

  “You said everything looks stable,” he said.

  “Yes.”

  “Looks like the only way to find out what’s going on is to go into the storm.”

  “I think you’re right,” Charlotte said quietly.

  There was no point hanging around out here in limbo, Slade thought. He would treat this like any other job. Go in, do what needed to be done, and get out. If he was lucky.

  “One thing before I do this,” he said.

  “Yes?”

  “If the center of the storm turns out to be chaos I might not survive it.”

  “You’ll survive,” she said fiercely.

  “Physically, maybe, but we both know that’s not what I’m talking about. I might not be the same. If that’s how this ends up I want you to know that you are not responsible in any way. I made this decision.”

  “For heaven’s sake, Slade, this is no time to go melodramatic on me.”

  “You’re going to feel guilty if this doesn’t work.”

  “No, really, I won’t,” she said urgently.

  “Yes, you will. I don’t want that. And I sure as hell do not want you thinking that you have to continue to sleep with me just because you encouraged me to take the risk of a bad burn.”

  “Stop talking like that. Stop it right now.”

  “I was going to do this, remember?” he said. “If I get burned, I get burned. If the parapsychs and the medics were right, it was going to happen sooner or later, anyway.”

  “What part of think positive don’t you understand?” she said tightly. “Forget about me and concentrate on that storm you’re going to control.”

  “Right,” he said.

  He went hot, all the way into the zone, just like the old days. Adrenaline and the other potent bio-chemicals associated with raising his senses to the max spilled into his bloodstream in a fierce, thrilling wave.

  But a heartbeat later he knew that it wasn’t like the old days. He was suddenly flying into the dark winds of the storm and it was like nothing he had ever experienced.

  The hurricane of psi buffeted all of his senses, including his excellent vision and hearing. Lightning flashed and sparked. The currents roared around him, cutting off all other sensation.

  An instant later, the world went black and he was drifting through a great emptiness. It was as if he had stepped into the farthest reaches of a starless universe.

  This was it, the center of the storm, and there was nothing here. He had survived the howling tornado but he was now officially psiblind. Not only had his para-senses gone dark but so had all of his normal senses. He could not see, hear, touch, smell, or taste. Charlotte had vanished, leaving him alone in the endless storm.

  But he could still sense the churning energy around him. That made no sense.

  Charlotte’s words came back to him, blazing like lightning in the void. You’re not alone tonight.

  He had to find a way to control the stormlight energy. He concentrated with all of his focusing ability, pulling energy he had never before been able to channel.

  His senses reemerged with dazzling speed. He could see again, not only on the normal plane but far out on the paranormal spectrum as well. Exhilaration ripped through him. The only sensation that had equaled this was making love to Charlotte. He knew that for the rest of his life the two experiences would be forever linked in his mind.

  You’re not alone tonight.

  “Oh, yeah,” he said. “This works.”

  Charlotte smiled. “I am getting that impression, yes.”

  The mirrored pendant in her hand flashed with silvery light.

  He opened all of his senses to the wild energy that was now his to control. He called down bolts of lightning and channeled currents of ultralight that he had never known existed. The living room was ablaze with paranormal fire.

  “Better tone it down a little,” Charlotte said.

  “Don’t worry, I’m in control.”

  “Yes, but you’re playing with psi-fire.” Charlotte’s voice was edged with wariness now. “Got a hunch my insurance won’t cover that sort of damage.”

  “It’s incredible.” He could hardly concentrate enough to respond. A man could get drunk on power like this. Maybe he was already drunk.

  “Slade, pay attention.” Charlotte’s voice sharpened. “I think it’s time to shut down.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re going to crash soon. It’s one thing to push yourself to the limit. The worst that can happen is that you exhaust your senses for a while. But this is about controlling your talent.”

  Control. That was the critical thing, he thought. Above all he had to stay in control.

  Reluctantly, he lowered his talent. The thunderstorm of energy dissipated quickly. He shut down his psychic senses altogether and sank back into his normal senses. But the intoxicating mix of soaring exhilaration, relief, and euphoria was still sweeping through him. He was in the grip of the biggest post-burn buzz he had ever experienced in his life. He was also more physically aroused than he had been since last night. He would crash soon but not yet.

  He looked at Charlotte.

  “Down, Big Boy,” she said firmly.

  “What?” He could not take his eyes off her. It was all he could do not to sweep her up in his arms and race down the short hall to the bedroom. No, forget the bedroom; he wanted to take her right here on the floor or up against the wall.

  “There’s no reason to pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about,” she said. “Just so you know, your eyes are still hot. I’m not naïve. I get panic attacks if I run flat-out for a while but most folks, most men, get a different reaction.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’ve heard the jokes. I know about the paraphysiology involved. The bio-cocktail created by a heavy burn results in a big surge of testosterone and adrenaline and other related hormones related to physical arousal. Forget it. We’re trying to conduct a scientific experiment here.”

  A tide of urgent need swelled through him.

  “I said, forget it,” she added for good measure.

  “Okay,” he said.

  “Stop looking at me like that.”

  “Okay,” he said again. But he could not look away.

  “Let’s talk about
what just happened,” Charlotte said.

  She spoke in a calm, matter-of-fact way that was no doubt meant to de-escalate the prowling tension in the atmosphere but it had no impact on his arousal. Control, he reminded himself.

  “What just happened,” he made himself say, “was that I found out that I’m not going psiblind. What just happened is that I have a whole new level of talent.”

  “I understand. But what can you do with it that you couldn’t do before?”

  “I have no idea in hell what I have become,” he said quietly.

  “Don’t talk as if you’ve developed a new talent. You’re just stronger now.”

  “Maybe. Whatever it is, I know that I can handle it. That’s what I learned tonight.”

  “I see.” She drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair. Her brows crinkled together above the frames of her glasses. “I suppose it may take a while to understand intuitively how to focus all that energy in a useful way.”

  “I’ll figure it out some other time.” The deep hunger was eating him alive. He got to his feet and went to the window.

  “Are you okay?” Charlotte asked quietly.

  “Sure. I just need to work off this edge,” he said. “I’m going to take a run.”

  “All right but please be careful. It won’t be long before you need to sleep. Be sure you make it home to your own bed before you go down. People might get the wrong impression of the town’s new police chief if you’re found sleeping on the side of the road.”

  He ignored her attempt at humor. He was not in a humorous mood. “I’ve got time.”

  He had to get out of here, he thought. He pivoted and went to the door, careful not to look at her. He got the door open.

  “Slade,” Charlotte said softly.

  That was all she said but it was enough. He turned and looked at her. She was on her feet. He saw that she had replaced the pendant around her neck. The mirror no longer glowed. The yearning inside him became a howl of need. He gripped the doorknob so tightly it was a wonder that he did not crush the knob.

  “I have to go,” he said.

  “No. I want you to stay here with me tonight.”

  “You’re sure?”

  She smiled and walked toward him through the shadows. When she was directly in front of him she put her arms around his neck.

  “I’m sure,” she said.

  The door closed with a solid and very final-sounding chunk. Slade stopped trying to suppress the all-consuming fire inside him. He locked his hands around Charlotte and lifted her into the air. She clung to his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist.

  “Oh, my,” she whispered.

  He did not try to speak because he knew that he was incapable of being coherent. He kissed her instead, letting her feel all of the lightning-hot passion that was flooding his veins.

  And then he carried her down the hall to the bedroom.

  Chapter 23

  SHE OPENED HER EYES A LONG TIME LATER, VAGUELY aware that it was still dark outside and that some faint sound had awakened her. Her pulse beat a little faster.

  It took a few seconds for her to orient herself. The unfamiliar weight beside her was Slade. He had fallen asleep almost immediately after the fast, hot sex. It could take a strong talent a few hours to recover from a heavy burn, she thought. If there was something wrong, she would have to deal with it.

  The sound came again, a faint, muffled chortle. Rex.

  Reluctantly she shoved aside the covers and got out of bed. Slade stirred but he did not awaken. She pulled on a robe and went down the cold hall. When she reached the living room she paused to twitch the curtain aside and peer out the window.

  Rex was sitting on the porch staring intently at the door as if trying to will it open. She dropped the curtain and unlocked the door.

  Rex sauntered across the threshold, chortling a greeting. He still had the clutch purse but it did not look as full as it had earlier.

  “You gave away the paperclips, didn’t you?” she asked softly. “Trying to impress some new friends in the Preserve?”

  Rex chattered happily and headed for the kitchen.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” she said.

  She followed him into the kitchen and flipped on the light. Rex was sitting on the floor, his gaze fixed on another door, the one that opened the refrigerator.

  “What? You expect me to feed you again? You just came back from a hunting expedition, didn’t you?”

  Rex did not take his attention off the refrigerator door. She gave up and opened it. Together they both studied the glowing interior.

  “Oh, look,” she said. “You’re in luck. There’s some leftover zucchini bread.”

  Rex bounced a little and chortled.

  She took the foil-wrapped bread out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter. She found a knife in a drawer and cut off a hefty slice of the bread. She put the slice on a plate and set the plate on top of the refrigerator. Rex bounded up to the top of the appliance and fell to his late-night snack with his usual enthusiasm.

  Charlotte rewrapped the remaining loaf of zucchini bread and put it back in the refrigerator. She was about to close the door when she realized that she was hungry, too. She took out a wedge of cheddar cheese and cut off a hunk for herself.

  She leaned back against the counter and studied Rex while she ate her cheese.

  “What’s going on with you and the guy in my bed?” she asked softly. “You’ve bonded with him somehow, we know that much. Is it because you’re both hunters at heart?”

  Rex concentrated on his bread.

  “Now that he has his talent back, Slade will probably return to his old job at the Bureau. Or maybe he’ll decide to go ahead with his new security business. Either way, he’ll be leaving in a few months.”

  Rex finished his snack and bounded down to the floor. He fluttered out of the kitchen and disappeared.

  “I’m going to miss you both,” she said softly to the empty kitchen. “I’m really not much good at this rez-with-the-frequency thing.”

  She finished her cheese and went back out into the shadowed living room. She moved cautiously through the dark space, afraid of tripping over Rex but there was no sign of him.

  She made her way down the hall to the doorway of the bedroom. A pair of glowing blue eyes watched her from the vicinity of her pillow. Rex was not asleep in the living room. He was curled up on her side of the bed.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” she hissed softly. She made shooing motions with her hand. “Off you go. There isn’t room for three of us.”

  Rex did not stir. His second pair of eyes opened, revealing amber coals. She hesitated, not sure how to proceed. This was no ordinary animal. Regardless of his strange attachment to Slade, Rex was a feral creature. She had read somewhere that truly wild animals could never be successfully tamed. She could try moving him forcefully off the bed but she was not sure how he would react. He might decide to defend his position. She knew enough about dust bunnies to know that they could be dangerous if cornered. And even if she was successful there would probably be dust bunny fur all over her pillow.

  The only other option was to try to wake Slade and ask him to get Rex off the bed. But that was probably not doable, not unless she managed to trigger his survival instincts. In a heavy post-burn sleep that was the only thing strong enough to bring a person back to a wakeful state. The problem was that Slade was a hunter-talent of some kind, a very powerful one. If his core instincts kicked in he would no doubt slam to the surface prepared to do battle. He might accidentally hurt her before he realized who she was.

  She was doomed to spend the night on the couch.

  “You win,” she said to Rex. “But the three of us will have a long talk in the morning. This sleeping arrangement is not going to become a regular habit.”

  She could have sworn that Slade stirred a little at the sound of her voice but he did not awaken. Rex closed all four eyes.

  She left the two hunters sle
eping in her bed and stalked back down the hall to the closet. She found a spare sheet, blanket, and pillow and hauled the lot into the front room. The couch was not going to be comfortable but she wouldn’t have to endure it for long. Dawn was not that far off.

  A short time later she settled down on the cushions. When she pulled the blanket up over her shoulders moonlight glinted on her pendant. She touched the silvery metal and thought about what she had seen earlier when Slade had pushed into the higher regions of his talent.

  During that time the room had been awash in waves of energy, Slade’s energy. The hot, dangerous currents had stirred her senses and heated her blood. She’d had to concentrate hard to read the ultralight rainbow cast by her pendant. Her objective had been to make certain that the reflecting bands of energy created by his aura were strong and steady.

  The colors and the clarity had been right, she thought. The dark rainbow had been fierce and brilliant. It had also been extremely powerful and quite unlike any rainbow she had ever viewed before.

  Slade said he did not yet know what he could do with the new aspect of his talent, but one thing was certain. Whatever the nature of his ability, it would be based on his core talent. He was a hunter.

  He had been dangerous before he had been hit with the mysterious vapors from the exploding gas canisters during his last assignment. He was even more lethal now.

  Chapter 24

  SLADE AWOKE TO THE FIRST LIGHT OF DAWN AND THE realization that he was not alone in the bed. That was the good news, he decided. The bad news was that there was something very wrong about the size and shape of the other occupant. He put out a hand and touched a warm body covered in fur.

  “Rex,” he said into the pillow. “What did you do with Charlotte?”

  Rex nuzzled his arm, rumbled a greeting, and then jumped briskly down to the floor. Slade opened his eyes in time to watch him flutter through the bedroom doorway. A moment later the front door opened.

  Charlotte’s voice floated down the hall. “Take your time. No need to hurry back. I’m about out of zucchini bread, anyway.”

 

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