First Crossing Read Free Page B

wishing she could read his thoughts. He
seemed to have shields in place – just as she did. But hers were for a
different reason.  Did she want him to know the extent of her powers? If only
she could be certain that she could trust him.
    Someone else in her mind? No thank you. She set her jaw.
“That won’t be necessary. I won’t get tired.”
    The look he gave her made her feel like a stubborn
two-year-old. “A psi-link means that I will also be able to sense an imminent
attack on you. I need to be able to react immediately.”
    She cast a nervous glance around. Attacked. Right. “Is this going to feel the same as what you did back at the house? When I could
feel you coming into my mind?”
    “More or less. It will help if you don’t fight it this
time.”
    She gritted her teeth and reluctantly allowed him
superficial entry, while automatically shoring up the long-established barriers
to the deeper layers of her mind. She so did not like this. She didn’t
know this guy. Who knew what he might be able to do once he was in?
    ***
     Hunter eased into her mind as gently as he could, teasing
his way along unfamiliar pathways. It took less than ten seconds to go in deep
enough to find anchor points, but ten seconds was unheard of with most of the
people he encountered. It was usually instantaneous.
    Even though she was permitting him to enter the outer
layers, he could feel her resistance. None of them had realized she was this
strong; she was, after all, only one quarter fae. Their surveillance over the
years had shown her to be a highly skilled empath and healer, building a career
path on Mortal Earth with psychokinetic abilities handed down from her
EarthStar grandfather – of whom she knew nothing. He was aware that she thought
her powers all came from her grandmother, Alice.
    Then, masked by the strongest shields he had ever seen, he
spotted a tiny dark orb nested in the layers of her mind. It throbbed and
pulsed with power, and when he moved closer to examine it, a wave of heat
roared back at him, fierce and protective.
    Whoa. What was that? He backed away, intrigued, and
felt the protective wall draw back to surround the orb. Somehow, it still
managed to exude threat. Stay away.
    It seemed the prophesies had been right. Eve did have far
more potential than most people dreamt of.
    He withdrew from her mind, leaving in place a gossamer-fine
psychic connection, and nodded. She was still looking at him unhappily; a frown
creasing her brow and a warning in those silver-gray eyes. At that moment she
looked uncannily like her mother.
    Who was waiting to hear that he had accomplished his task
and kept her daughter out of the hands of Roth and his followers.
    “Come.” He turned and started running, flowing over the
rough ground and leaves in a way that he knew she couldn’t hope to emulate. Not
yet, anyway. At first he moved much slower than usual, but the psi-link showed
that she was handling it easily. He increased the pace, and she kept up with
that, too.
    Is that the best you can manage, O Great Hunter?
    The unexpected humor drew a grim smile out of him. She was
resilient: most humans would not be taking events this well. He responded
telepathically. I can move at ten times this speed – but can you?
    Want to try me?
    Not now. I can’t risk losing you. Almost there.
    He ran for another half a mile, then stopped and turned. Eve
was right behind him, a sheen of sweat on her brow, but breathing a lot more
easily than he had expected. Short strands of blond hair stuck to her forehead,
and he could see himself reflected in her sunglasses. She bent forward, resting
her hands on her knees, and sucked in several deep breaths to recover.
    “Now what?”
    “We just laid the trail,” he told her. “It’s time to
disappear.”
    ***
    Eve straightened up and looked at him, noting that his eyes
were constantly scanning the terrain; they didn’t rest on one spot for more
than a nanosecond. He was still on full alert, ready