Canyons of Night Read Free Page B

wanted to see the Preserve. My aunt talks about it sometimes but she won’t take me inside.”
    “For good reason. It’s beautiful in places but it’s dangerous in some parts. Easy to get lost inside. The Foundation that controls the Preserve put up those notrespassing signs and the fence for a reason.”
    “You were inside just a few minutes ago. I saw you come out through the trees.”
    “I’m a hunter, remember? I can see where I’m going.”
    “Oh, yeah, the night-vision thing.”
    “Are you sure you’re okay? Your breathing sounds funny.”
    “Actually, I’m getting over a panic attack. I’m doing a breathing exercise. This is so embarrassing.”
    “Panic attack, huh? Well, you had good reason to have one tonight. Getting assaulted by three jerks on a lonely road would be enough to scare the daylights out of anyone.”
    “The attacks are linked to my stupid talent. I started getting them when I came into my para-senses two years ago. At first everyone assumed that I was just reacting to the stress of high school. But finally my mom sent me to a para-shrink who said it appeared to be a side effect of my new senses.”
    Great. Now she was babbling about her personal problems.
    “That’s gotta be tough,” Slade said.
    “Tell me about it. If I run hot for any length of time, I start shaking and it gets hard to breathe. I was really jacked a few minutes ago so I’m paying for it now. I’ll be okay in a couple of minutes, honest.”
    “You should go home now,” Slade said. “I’ll walk with you and make sure those guys don’t come back.”
    “They won’t return,” she said, very certain. She finally managed to take a deep breath. Her jangled senses and her nerves were finally calming. “I don’t want to go home yet. I came all the way out here to see the Preserve.”
    “Does your aunt know where you are?”
    “No. Aunt Beatrix took the ferry to Frequency City today to check out some antiques at an estate sale. She won’t return until tomorrow.”
    Slade looked toward the dark woods. He seemed to hesitate and then he shrugged. “I’ll take you inside but just for a few minutes.”
    Delight snapped through her.
    “Will you? That would be wonderful. Thanks.”
    He started walking back along the road toward the woods. She switched on the flashlight and hurried to catch up with him.
    “I heard someone at the grocery store say that you’re going to leave Rainshadow for good tomorrow,” she said tentatively. “Is it true?”
    “That’s the plan. I’ve been accepted at the academy of the FBPI.”
    “You’re joining the Federal Bureau of Psi Investigation? Wow. That is so high-rez. Congratulations.”
    “Thanks. I’m packed. I’ll catch the morning ferry.”
    She tried to think of what to say next. Nothing brilliant came to mind.
    “Do you think those three guys will try to have you arrested?” she asked.
    “No.”
    “How can you be sure? They might remember you from the marina.”
    “Even if they do, those three aren’t going to go to the local cops. If they did they’d have to explain why they stopped you on the road.”
    “Oh, right.” Her spirits lightened at that realization. “And I’d tell everyone how they attacked me. Chief Halstead knows me and he’s known Aunt Beatrix forever. He would believe me long before he took the word of a bunch of off-islanders.”
    “Yes,” Slade said. “He would.”
    She was surprised to hear the respect in Slade’s voice. She glanced at his profile.
    “I saw the two of you talking together a lot this summer,” she ventured.
    “Halstead is the one who suggested I apply to the academy. He even wrote a recommendation.”
     
     
    THAT EVENING SLADE GAVE HER A BRIEF GLIMPSE OF THE paranormal wonderland that was the Preserve by night. And then he walked her home, saw her inside the cottage on the bluff, and waited until she locked the door. She listened to his footsteps going down the front porch steps; listened until he was gone and