Deception Cove

“Why not?”

“The town is located a few miles from the fence in a region of Rainshadow that has historically experienced a much lower level of paranormal activity.” Drake angled his head toward the nearby woods. “This sector around Deception Cove, on the other hand, has always been a real hot spot, even before the recent problems. It’s noted on all the old charts. That’s why the fence comes so close to the shoreline around here.”

“You’re assuming that the mutations would start first in a place like Deception Cove?” Alice thought about it. “Makes sense.”

“That’s my best guess.” Drake finished his meal and got to his feet. “Let’s move out.”

It did not take long to pack up the camp, mostly because Drake did all the work, Alice thought. She didn’t even know how to fold the tent.

“I feel more than a little useless,” she said. “Please don’t hesitate to give instructions.”

“I won’t.” Drake gave her a coolly approving smile. “And you sure as hell weren’t useless last night.”

She decided that comment made her feel a lot better.

Drake handed her the smaller of the two packs. “Here you go.”

She struggled into the pack and followed him down the beach. Houdini scampered along at their feet, pausing here and there to investigate an interesting rock or log.

“Everything’s a game to you, isn’t it?” Alice asked him, smiling.

Drake glanced at Houdini. “Life is simple for a dust bunny. Deciding whether to eat the pear crisp before the stew is probably about as difficult as decision-making gets.”

The beach ended in a tumble of rocks. Drake wove a path through them and started into the tree line. Alice followed, concentrating on her footing so intently that she blundered into Drake before she realized that he had stopped and was standing very still.

She opened her mouth to ask a question, but he silenced her with a small motion of his hand. Houdini, too, had gone silent. He was still fully fluffed and was looking at the woods up ahead as intently as Drake.

Alice watched Drake take out the fire-starter.

Oh, crap, she thought. More mutant insects.

Drake closed his hand around her arm and drew her into the shadows cast by a pile of boulders. They hunkered down and waited.

Alice heard the crackle of dead branches and pine needles. Small pebbles skittered. Next came the muffled thud of footsteps and the sound of heavy, labored breathing.

Not insects, she thought. She did not know if that was going to be good news or bad news.

A moment later a woman appeared, making her way awkwardly through the trees. She was young, probably not more than eighteen or nineteen, thin, and haggard looking, as if she hadn’t eaten or slept well in some time. Her long brown hair straggled around her shoulders. She was dressed in dark green trousers, a matching shirt with a logo on the breast pocket, and heavy boots. A uniform, Alice realized.

As she and Drake watched, the woman trudged forward, slipping and sliding on the leaves and pebbles.

Drake straightened and moved out from behind the boulder.

“Hello,” he said quietly.

The woman froze. Stark panic etched her features. She looked back over her shoulder and then, evidently deciding she could not retreat that way, took stock of the sheer granite drop into the sea. Seeing no escape via that route, she bolted for the thick woods.

“No, damn it,” Drake shouted. “Stop. We won’t hurt you.”

Alice emerged from behind the boulder. “It’s okay. Please, come back.”

But the fleeing woman did not stop. She disappeared into the heavy undergrowth. Her high-pitched screams echoed in the woods for a moment and then abruptly ceased.

“Son of a ghost,” Drake said. “She would have to go through the fence.”

“We can’t leave her there,” Alice said. “We have to find her. She’ll never survive the night inside this part of the Preserve.”

“I know.” Drake looked grimly resigned to the inevitable. “Okay, let’s go. Stick close.”

“Don’t worry, I will.”

The invisible energy of the paranormal fence line made its presence felt within a few steps. The force field was unpleasant and unnerving at first, lifting the hair on the nape of Alice’s neck. She gritted her teeth against the effects and followed Drake deeper into the psi-barrier.

The hallucinations—auditory and visual—struck hard. Strange figures materialized out of the shadows, beckoning her to her doom. Specters warned her to go back before it was too late. And always, always, there were the bloodcurdling chills that wracked all of her senses. She jacked up her talent to counter some of the effects. She knew that Drake had done the same thing.

He reached back and held out his hand. She grabbed it. The shock waves of the fence diminished somewhat. Just like last night, she thought. Physical contact helped to ward off the worst of the psychic disturbances.

Houdini dashed along at their heels, unaffected by the forces.

And then, between one step and the next, they were through the fence and inside the Preserve. The hallucinations ceased only to be replaced by the strange atmosphere of the Preserve.

Energy stirred all around Alice—some of it from the botanical world, some from the animal and insect kingdoms. All of it felt overheated. Here and there flashes of psi-light sparked in the shadows. Patches of vegetation glowed. Mushrooms fluoresced. The thick tree canopy overhead blocked out what little daylight there was. An ominous wind stirred the leaves of the trees, causing them to shiver and glitter with malevolent light. The whole place was infused with the dark energy of a building storm front.

Drake came to a halt. Alice stopped beside him. There was no sign of the woman, but Houdini made urgent little noises and fluttered through a small forest of giant iridescent ferns.

Alice and Drake followed.

The screams started again.

Chapter 13

THE HEAVY ENERGY OF THE PRESERVE DISTORTED SOUND. Alice could not be sure of the direction of the screams. But she could tell that Drake and Houdini were able to track the desperate cries.

“This way,” Drake said. “Whatever you do, don’t get lost on me.”

“I won’t,” Alice vowed. “I’ve been lost in here before, remember?”

They pushed their way through a maze of massive, phosphorescing palm fronds, Houdini in the lead. Brushing up against the hot greenery sent little sparks of energy across Alice’s senses. The sensation was not painful, but the strangeness of it all made her deeply wary.

The crying was louder now. The sobbing woman was not far away, but the energy inside the Preserve was so disorienting she might as well have been a hundred miles off.

Houdini, however, had no problem navigating the strange forest. He scampered through a veil of weird blue orchids and promptly vanished.

“Wait,” Alice called.

Houdini reappeared, bounced up and down a few times, and made more excited noises. When they caught up with him, he scampered forward again, heading toward a forest of giant glowing mushrooms.

It was not just the ferns and the mushrooms that seemed outsized, Alice realized. Much of the vegetation appeared unnaturally large. A waterfall of flowers—each bloom as large as a dinner plate—tumbled from a creeping vine.

It had been a year since she had last been inside the Preserve, and at that time she had been on a different part of the island. She had seen many strange and unnerving sights on that occasion, but she did not recall