“There are some places in the Underworld that rival this but none that I know of aboveground,” Slade said.
“You know what?” she said softly. “This reminds me of some of Jasper Gilbert’s paintings.”
“I had the same thought.”
“Think he’s been in here?”
“He and Kane are both retired ghost hunters, strong ones, I think. That means they have a talent for working amber and alien psi. It’s possible that is enough to get them through the fence.”
The moonlit meadow and the small pond looked as if they had been painted with a brush dipped in silver light. The soft radiance that illuminated the landscape was clearly paranormal in nature. The ultralight given off by the grass and other foliage was not the only discernible energy. Charlotte realized she felt warmer now. It was as if someone had switched on the heat.
“The bio-phosphorescent effect isn’t so obvious during the day,” Slade said. “The visible radiation from the sun tends to overwhelm it. But at night the paranormal energy really pops if you’ve got enough talent to see at least partway into the ultralight end of the spectrum.”
“I can’t believe the Arcane researchers haven’t set up a lab here,” she said.
“As far as I can tell, Arcane doesn’t even know this place exists,” Slade said. “Neither do any of the other big labs. The Rainshadow Foundation has done a very good job of keeping the Preserve secret. The question is, why?”
“I wonder what those who can’t see far into the paranormal spectrum perceive when they look at scenes like this inside the Preserve.”
“According to the few reports that exist from the old days, those with limited psychic senses who managed to get in and back out thought they were seeing ghosts. Phantoms and spirits. Flickering shadows at the edge of their vision.”
“What about those canyons of night that you mentioned?”
“I haven’t found any descriptions of them in the old records and, as I told you, I didn’t come across any fifteen years ago, either. I’m sure they’re new. Want to see one?”
“Yes.”
“There’s one not far from here.”
They set off across the meadow. Charlotte kept her senses heightened, entranced and fascinated by iridescent wildflowers and grass that flashed with eerie silver luminescence. Banks of radiant ferns surrounded a pond that gleamed obsidian dark.
It wasn’t just the plant life that radiated bio-psi. Charlotte heard a small lizard skittering away into the foliage and caught a glimpse of a jeweled tail. Winged insects flitted and danced on the night air like so many sparkling fairy-sized flashlights.
They circled around the pond. Charlotte saw that the surface was darkly, ominously luminous.
“What in the world?” she whispered.
“I have no idea,” Slade said. “What’s more, I don’t think it would be a good idea to put on a dive suit to find out why the pond seems to be glowing.”
She shuddered. “I agree.”
When they reached the trees Slade took Charlotte’s hand again.
“The entrance to the canyon is just inside the tree line,” he said. “You probably won’t be able to see a thing. Don’t worry, I can. I won’t let you get lost.”
They moved into the trees. The darkness closed in abruptly. Between one step and the next all of the enchanting fairy lights of the meadow winked out, plunging Charlotte into the deepest, densest night she had ever known. The first whispers of panic flickered through her. Instinctively she went into deep-breathing mode. Slade’s hand tightened on hers. She sensed his silent inquiry.
“I’m okay,” she said.
Cautiously she pushed her talent a little higher. Two apparitions moved in the absolute darkness. She realized she was looking at Slade and Rex. A fierce rainbow formed around one of the shadows. Slade, she thought. She would know him even in the darkest place in the universe.
“I understand what you mean by canyons of endless night,” she said.
“Can you see anything at all?” he asked.
“I can definitely sense the energy here. It’s dark and it’s scary. I can see your rainbow quite clearly. But you and Rex are just shadows within shadows.”
“I think that’s more than most people, even those with talent, could see. There’s a lot of energy in the vicinity but most of the currents are coming from the farthest end of the spectrum, the dark ultralight end.”
“What do you perceive?” she asked.
“Infinite night. Like something out of a nightmare.”
“What do you suppose is generating the heavy ultralight?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re worried?”
“Power in large quantities is always a concern, and whatever is going on here involves a lot of energy. The changes inside the Preserve raise questions.”
She smiled. “And you like answers.”
“Yes.”
“You said yourself that the Preserve has always been a dangerous place.”
“True.” He guided her back out of the dense night to the edge of the glowing meadow. “But I think it’s becoming more so. The Foundation was right to strengthen the fence but I don’t think it’s going to be enough.”
“Doesn’t seem to be working too well. We got in.”
“If we got in, other strong talents can make it, too. But I doubt if most of them will have the ability to navigate it. GPS and compasses don’t work.”
“What about the locator devices that ghost hunters use in the Underworld?”
“I tried one. It doesn’t work, either. They’re designed to handle environments that generate a lot of alien psi. This is different. It’s nexus energy. And something else. I think.”
“You aren’t sure?”
“I’m certain that the nexus forces are involved but they may simply be enhancing whatever is really going on here,” he said.
“You’re not having any problem staying oriented.”
“I told you, something about my version of hunter-talent allows me to navigate the Preserve.”
“Well, I’m thoroughly lost at the moment,” she said. “If you weren’t with me I could probably make it across the meadow, but once inside the trees I’d be completely disoriented again. I don’t even want to think about what it would be like to blunder into one of those night canyons. A person could wander in circles forever.”
He led her back out of the trees into the twinkling fairyland meadow. She looked around, searching for a small scruffy shadow carrying a clutch. She didn’t see one.
“Where’s Rex?” she asked.
“Probably got bored and decided to go hunting. I told you he disappears a lot at night. It was the same way back in Resonance City. There he used to go down into the Underworld to meet his buddies.”
“Perhaps there are other dust bunnies here in the Preserve. Maybe he’s hoping to meet a girlfriend.” She thought about the clutch purse. “Or a boyfriend.”
“There’s enough uncharted territory here in the Preserve to conceal a whole herd of dust bunnies.”
Charlotte stopped to drink in the luminous landscape. “This place really is extraordinary. Make my night, lie to me and tell me that you never brought any other girl here fifteen years ago.”
“No.”
She sighed. “I should have known better than to ask a former FBPI agent to lie.”
“No, I never brought anyone else here,” he said very steadily. “Just you.”
She turned quickly. “Really?”
“Only you.”
She looked into his heated eyes.
