Free Silver Master by Jayne Castle Page A

froze for an instant. Then he jerked upright and whirled around. Davis got a brief glimpse of haggard, death’s head features, and then the lane exploded in a raging inferno of green ghost light.
    Not one but two wild, acid-colored balls of alien psi energy flared and pulsed on other either side of him, trapping him.
    Doppelganger light, Davis thought. There weren’t many hunters who could generate a dopp, especially outside the tunnels. He had some immunity—he was descended from a long line of hunters, and almost all ghost hunters could sustain a brush with ghost light—but no one, hunter or not, could survive a close encounter with this much raw energy.

Chapter 7
    CELINDA WATCHED THE EVENTS IN THE LANE FROM THE doorway, horrified. Some of her brother’s friends were ghost hunters. She had seen them generate small UDEMs on occasion but nothing of this size and certainly not two at a time. In the blazing green energy given off by the twin ghosts she could see Davis pinned against the brick wall.
    She had always heard that the only thing that could stop a ghost was another ghost. Davis had told her that he came from a hunter family. Why wasn’t he fighting back with a ghost of his own? Then she remembered something else he had told her: “I turned out a little different.”
    Maybe he couldn’t generate a ghost. If that was the case, he was in mortal danger. She knew enough about ghost-hunting to be aware that the person who generated a UDEM had to concentrate hard to keep it going. The only thing she could think of to do was to try to distract the man in the cap.
    She rushed out of the vestibule, heading toward the fiery spectacle. But before she had gone more than a few steps, the twin ghosts suddenly began to spin chaotically. In the next second they winked out of sight.
    The man in the cap appeared to panic. He ran back toward her. Davis pounded after him.
    A car engine roared nearby. A split second later, a dark vehicle shot out of an alley, nearly running her down. She scrambled back barely in time. The very high heel of her evening sandal twisted out from under her. She went down, landing hard on her rear.
    The car slammed to a halt less than two feet away from where she sat on the ground. The window on the driver’s side was down. She could just make out a dark profile. Instinctively, she opened her senses. She was close enough to pick up the highly agitated psi energy patterns emitted by the man behind the wheel.
    She heard the door on the passenger side open. The man in the cap tumbled headfirst into the front seat. The driver floored the accelerator, aiming straight for Davis.
    As Celinda watched, Davis leaped out of the way with only inches to spare.
    The vehicle turned down another alley and disappeared, tires shrieking.

Chapter 8
    HIGH HEELS CLATTERED ON THE PAVEMENT.
    “ Davis. Davis, are you all right?”
    He turned to see Celinda hurrying toward him. How did women run in high heels? One of the great mysteries of nature.
    “I’m okay.”
    That was a flat-out lie. She had nearly been run down before his eyes, the bastards had gotten away, and he had generated enough silver light to melt amber, which meant that he was headed for the usual burn and crash. He was not okay with any of that. But given that the situation could have been a hell of a lot worse, he figured he was entitled to a little prevarication.
    “Thank heavens.” She halted in front of him, surveying him anxiously. “I was terrified that you’d been singed, at the very least. I’ve never seen so much ghost light. It looked like a scene out of a horror movie.”
    “They’re called doppelgangers. Twin ghosts. Not many hunters can generate them, especially such big ones and aboveground at that. The guy is good.”
    “Are you sure you’re all right?”
    “Yes,” he said through set teeth. “What about you?”
    “I’m fine.” She brushed at her shapely rear with one hand. “But this dress is ruined.”
    She was safe. He was