Read Online The Lost Night by Jayne Castle - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jayne Castle
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Harry walked into the shop with Slade Attridge. The energy of the men’s powerful auras charged the atmosphere of the small space.
A pair of hunters,
Rachel thought.
Rex chortled a greeting from the windowsill and flapped his clutch a few times.
Charlotte spun around on the stool to face Slade.
“Hey there, handsome,” she said in a mockingly sultry voice. “Come here often?”
“Mostly when I know you’re here,” Slade said. He crossed the bookshop into the café and kissed Charlotte. It was a quick, proprietary kiss that left no doubt as to the powerful bond and the sense of commitment between the two of them.
Rachel was intensely aware of theenergy in the atmosphere around the pair. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Harry was suddenly very absorbed in a painting of the tiny town of Shadow Bay that was hanging on the wall. She knew that he, too, sensed the currents that swirled in the room. The psychic bond between Slade and Charlotte was so strong that even those with a minimal amount of awareness could sense it. Certainly everyone on the island was convinced that the two were meant for each other.
According to the Principles, love was the most powerful of all energies. It ran the gamut of the spectrum from the normal zone all the way into the furthest reaches of the paranormal. Rachel could believe that when she watched Slade and Charlotte together.
True, the process of falling in love had been rocky for them. They had met as teens one summer here on Rain-shadow, but life had taken them in different directions for several years. When they had returned to the island as adults, however, they had rediscovered each other. There had been one or two other small glitches—someone had tried to kill them, and Slade had discovered that all was not going well somewhere deep in the heart of the Preserve.
Still, there was a wedding in theoffing, and Rachel was thrilled for both of them. They deserved their happiness. Charlotte and Slade had found something very precious and very rare—a love that would endure and grow ever stronger as the years passed.
A tingle of awareness flittered through Rachel. Intuition made her glance at Harry. He was no longer studying the painting. He was watching her with a thoughtful—one could even say
suspicious
—expression.
Darwina and Rex were watching her, too. They blinked their baby blues and did their best to look adorable. They didn’t have to try hard, she thought. Dust bunnies, in general, tended to look cute in a scruffy sort of way—at least until they went into hunting mode. As the old saying went, by the time you saw the teeth it was too late.
“You’re in luck,” she told them. She went to the end of the counter and removed the glass dome lid off the tray that she used to display cookies and treats. “I’ve got exactly two of yesterday’s batch of chocolate-coffee zingers left.”
Nearly delirious with excitement, Rex left his precious clutch on the windowsill and launched himself across the floor. He catapulted up onto the counter. Rachel handed him the cookies. He seized them in his front paws and rushed back to the windowsill. He gallantly offered one of the treats to Darwina.
“Great,” Slade said. “Just what a dust bunny needs, chocolate laced with caffeine. They’ll both be bouncing off the walls.”
Harry watched Rex and Darwinadevour the cookies. “Probably a good thing I’m from Rainshadow Foundation security and not from the Board of Health. I’m not sure the health inspectors would approve of dust bunnies dining in a public restaurant.”
“The public health authorities aren’t a big problem for us here on the island,” Slade said. “The nearest inspector is stationed over on the mainland in Frequency City. We don’t see much of him. In fact, we don’t see a lot of officials of any kind around here. When it comes to enforcing local laws and ordinances, the Rainshadow Police Department is all there is.”
Harry gave him
A pair of hunters,
Rachel thought.
Rex chortled a greeting from the windowsill and flapped his clutch a few times.
Charlotte spun around on the stool to face Slade.
“Hey there, handsome,” she said in a mockingly sultry voice. “Come here often?”
“Mostly when I know you’re here,” Slade said. He crossed the bookshop into the café and kissed Charlotte. It was a quick, proprietary kiss that left no doubt as to the powerful bond and the sense of commitment between the two of them.
Rachel was intensely aware of theenergy in the atmosphere around the pair. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Harry was suddenly very absorbed in a painting of the tiny town of Shadow Bay that was hanging on the wall. She knew that he, too, sensed the currents that swirled in the room. The psychic bond between Slade and Charlotte was so strong that even those with a minimal amount of awareness could sense it. Certainly everyone on the island was convinced that the two were meant for each other.
According to the Principles, love was the most powerful of all energies. It ran the gamut of the spectrum from the normal zone all the way into the furthest reaches of the paranormal. Rachel could believe that when she watched Slade and Charlotte together.
True, the process of falling in love had been rocky for them. They had met as teens one summer here on Rain-shadow, but life had taken them in different directions for several years. When they had returned to the island as adults, however, they had rediscovered each other. There had been one or two other small glitches—someone had tried to kill them, and Slade had discovered that all was not going well somewhere deep in the heart of the Preserve.
Still, there was a wedding in theoffing, and Rachel was thrilled for both of them. They deserved their happiness. Charlotte and Slade had found something very precious and very rare—a love that would endure and grow ever stronger as the years passed.
A tingle of awareness flittered through Rachel. Intuition made her glance at Harry. He was no longer studying the painting. He was watching her with a thoughtful—one could even say
suspicious
—expression.
Darwina and Rex were watching her, too. They blinked their baby blues and did their best to look adorable. They didn’t have to try hard, she thought. Dust bunnies, in general, tended to look cute in a scruffy sort of way—at least until they went into hunting mode. As the old saying went, by the time you saw the teeth it was too late.
“You’re in luck,” she told them. She went to the end of the counter and removed the glass dome lid off the tray that she used to display cookies and treats. “I’ve got exactly two of yesterday’s batch of chocolate-coffee zingers left.”
Nearly delirious with excitement, Rex left his precious clutch on the windowsill and launched himself across the floor. He catapulted up onto the counter. Rachel handed him the cookies. He seized them in his front paws and rushed back to the windowsill. He gallantly offered one of the treats to Darwina.
“Great,” Slade said. “Just what a dust bunny needs, chocolate laced with caffeine. They’ll both be bouncing off the walls.”
Harry watched Rex and Darwinadevour the cookies. “Probably a good thing I’m from Rainshadow Foundation security and not from the Board of Health. I’m not sure the health inspectors would approve of dust bunnies dining in a public restaurant.”
“The public health authorities aren’t a big problem for us here on the island,” Slade said. “The nearest inspector is stationed over on the mainland in Frequency City. We don’t see much of him. In fact, we don’t see a lot of officials of any kind around here. When it comes to enforcing local laws and ordinances, the Rainshadow Police Department is all there is.”
Harry gave him
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