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Authors: Jayne Ann Krentz
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said.
The officer looked amused. "Come to the big city to visit the lady and see the bright lights, huh?"
"That was the idea," Cooper said.
The officer switched off the flashlight. "All right, you two, go on, get out of here." He gave Elly one last glance. "Is that a dust bunny on your shoulder?"
"Yes," she said. "Her name is Rose."
Cooper noticed that Rose had gone back to doing a good imitation of something that had rolled out from under a bed. Only her innocent blue eyes were showing.
"Heard they can be dangerous," the officer said, playing the light on Rose, who appeared not to notice.
"That's a silly urban legend," Elly said. "The most she might do is nip a finger, and she would only do that if she was seriously provoked."
"If you say so. Go on, you two. You don't want to hang around this neighborhood." He gave Elly a stern look. "Next time you want to show a visitor a good time, I suggest you take 'em to a better part of town. Don't want to give tourists a bad impression of Cadence."
"Thank you for the advice," she said.
The officer drove off down the street.
"You heard the man," Cooper said, opening the Spectrum's passenger door. "We don't want to hang around here. This is a bad neighborhood. Surprised you'd bring an innocent tourist like me to a place like this."
"Thought it might give you something to talk about when you went back to Aurora Springs. Not like there's much else of interest going on back there."
"Not since you left town," he said.
----
Chapter 4
SHE GAVE HIM A QUICK, STARTLED LOOK AND THEN, evidently choosing to let the remark go, she slipped into the front seat. She moved quickly and gracefully, but he nevertheless got a tantalizing glimpse of the inside of one softly rounded thigh. He felt his blood heat.
Definitely a dangerous neighborhood.
He went to the other side of the car, got in beside her, and rezzed the ignition. Flash rock melted, and the powerful engine purred. He pulled slowly, sedately away from the curb. . "What's the address of your friend's place?" he asked.
"Number Twenty-six Ruin Lane. Not far from my shop. Turn right at the next corner."
Rose hopped from Elly's shoulder onto the back of the seat and sat up to take in the view of the night-shrouded streets.
Cooper drove to the corner and turned down another narrow street lined with the dark, gloomy, old-fashioned buildings the First Generation colonists had erected two hundred years earlier.
The newer sections of Cadence were optimistic and energetic in style. But here in the Old Quarter, the structures fashioned by the settlers reflected a grim determination to survive. The buildings hunkered down like gargoyles, creating a maze of narrow streets, crooked lanes, and dark alleys.
Atmospheric
was about the only positive word that could be used to describe this part of town.
The dark, brooding structures of the Old Quarter stood in stark contrast to the elegant, airy, alien towers and spires that rose inside the massive green quartz walls. Cadence, like the other three major city-states on Harmony, had been established around the ruins of one of the four major ancient dead cities that had been discovered shortly after colonization. Although the mysterious aliens who had originally settled the planet had vanished thousands of years ago, their strangely ethereal urban landscape and the dangerous labyrinth of underground tunnels they had built defied time and the elements. Cooper sometimes wondered if the human cities would last as long.
On the other side of the car Elly cleared her throat.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Just wondering," she said a little too lightly. "That was a very tightly wound ghost you used against that mugger."
It hit him that this was the first time she had actually seen him work ghost energy. He tightened his grip on the wheel.
"What's the matter? Are you afraid I'm going to turn into a raging sex fiend?" he asked politely. "Don't worry. I usually save that
The officer looked amused. "Come to the big city to visit the lady and see the bright lights, huh?"
"That was the idea," Cooper said.
The officer switched off the flashlight. "All right, you two, go on, get out of here." He gave Elly one last glance. "Is that a dust bunny on your shoulder?"
"Yes," she said. "Her name is Rose."
Cooper noticed that Rose had gone back to doing a good imitation of something that had rolled out from under a bed. Only her innocent blue eyes were showing.
"Heard they can be dangerous," the officer said, playing the light on Rose, who appeared not to notice.
"That's a silly urban legend," Elly said. "The most she might do is nip a finger, and she would only do that if she was seriously provoked."
"If you say so. Go on, you two. You don't want to hang around this neighborhood." He gave Elly a stern look. "Next time you want to show a visitor a good time, I suggest you take 'em to a better part of town. Don't want to give tourists a bad impression of Cadence."
"Thank you for the advice," she said.
The officer drove off down the street.
"You heard the man," Cooper said, opening the Spectrum's passenger door. "We don't want to hang around here. This is a bad neighborhood. Surprised you'd bring an innocent tourist like me to a place like this."
"Thought it might give you something to talk about when you went back to Aurora Springs. Not like there's much else of interest going on back there."
"Not since you left town," he said.
----
Chapter 4
SHE GAVE HIM A QUICK, STARTLED LOOK AND THEN, evidently choosing to let the remark go, she slipped into the front seat. She moved quickly and gracefully, but he nevertheless got a tantalizing glimpse of the inside of one softly rounded thigh. He felt his blood heat.
Definitely a dangerous neighborhood.
He went to the other side of the car, got in beside her, and rezzed the ignition. Flash rock melted, and the powerful engine purred. He pulled slowly, sedately away from the curb. . "What's the address of your friend's place?" he asked.
"Number Twenty-six Ruin Lane. Not far from my shop. Turn right at the next corner."
Rose hopped from Elly's shoulder onto the back of the seat and sat up to take in the view of the night-shrouded streets.
Cooper drove to the corner and turned down another narrow street lined with the dark, gloomy, old-fashioned buildings the First Generation colonists had erected two hundred years earlier.
The newer sections of Cadence were optimistic and energetic in style. But here in the Old Quarter, the structures fashioned by the settlers reflected a grim determination to survive. The buildings hunkered down like gargoyles, creating a maze of narrow streets, crooked lanes, and dark alleys.
Atmospheric
was about the only positive word that could be used to describe this part of town.
The dark, brooding structures of the Old Quarter stood in stark contrast to the elegant, airy, alien towers and spires that rose inside the massive green quartz walls. Cadence, like the other three major city-states on Harmony, had been established around the ruins of one of the four major ancient dead cities that had been discovered shortly after colonization. Although the mysterious aliens who had originally settled the planet had vanished thousands of years ago, their strangely ethereal urban landscape and the dangerous labyrinth of underground tunnels they had built defied time and the elements. Cooper sometimes wondered if the human cities would last as long.
On the other side of the car Elly cleared her throat.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Just wondering," she said a little too lightly. "That was a very tightly wound ghost you used against that mugger."
It hit him that this was the first time she had actually seen him work ghost energy. He tightened his grip on the wheel.
"What's the matter? Are you afraid I'm going to turn into a raging sex fiend?" he asked politely. "Don't worry. I usually save that
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