Free Silver Master by Jayne Castle Page B

suddenly, overwhelmingly pissed. “What the hell did you think you were doing? That son of a bitch nearly flattened you. I told you to stay in the doorway.”
    She blinked, startled at his tone, and then angled her chin, clearly annoyed. “From where I was standing, it looked like you needed some help. I thought maybe I could distract the hunter. I’ve always heard that the ghosts break up if the person generating them loses focus.”
    “Next time you do what I tell you, understood?”
    There was a beat of silence.
    She cleared her throat very delicately. “Does this sort of thing happen a lot when you go out on a date?”
    “You know, a question like that is a real conversation stopper. Come on, I’ll take you home.”
    “You’re angry.”
    He started walking back toward the car. “You scared the hell out of me back there when you came flying out of the doorway and nearly got clobbered by that guy’s getaway driver.”
    “Do you think that man in the cap wanted to mug us or steal your car?”
    “Doubt if there are many garden-variety muggers or car thieves around who can pull that kind of heat. Any thug that strong should be running a whole damn criminal empire.”
    “Davis? What’s wrong? You’re not just mad at me because I didn’t stay put. There’s something else going on here. Are you sure you aren’t hurt? And what happened to those two ghosts, anyway? I didn’t see you generate any counter-ghosts. Did the guy just get scared and run off?”
    “No.” He reached the car and gripped the door handle on the passenger side very tightly. He debated how much to tell her and then decided to go with a sanitized version of the truth. “I told you I’m from a family of hunters.”
    “Yes, I know.” She searched his face. “But you said you turned out different.”
    “I did. But I’m still a hunter. Sort of.”
    She stared at him. “Are you telling me that those ghosts disappeared because you de-rezzed them?”
    “Yes.”
    “With what? I didn’t see any ghost light.”
    “I work ghost energy from a different end of the spectrum. It’s almost invisible to the naked eye. They call it silver light.”
    “I didn’t know that ghost energy could be generated from more than one point on the spectrum.”
    “It’s a rare talent, and the Guilds tend to keep it quiet.”
    “Why?”
    “Tradition, mostly,” he said, deliberately vague. He was not up to any more explanations. He studied the interior of the Phantom. “Looks like Max and Araminta are gone.”
    “What?” Distracted, Celinda whirled around and peered into the shadowy front seat of the vehicle. “Oh my gosh, they are gone. What happened to them?”
    “Must have squeezed out through the window I cracked for them.”
    “Maybe they got scared when they saw the twin ghosts and ran off.” She straightened and looked anxiously toward the nearest dark alley.
    “Araminta?” she called.
    There was no response.
    “Have you got a flashlight?” she said to Davis.
    He glanced at the midnight-dark mouth of the alley. The faint acid-green glow of the Dead City wall did not even begin to penetrate its ominous depths.
    “Sure, but we’re not going to use it to go into that alley. I’ve had enough excitement for one night. Get in the car, Celinda.”
    “But if Max and Araminta were badly frightened, they might not come out on their own.”
    “Don’t know about Araminta, but I can tell you that Max wouldn’t have run away just because of a couple of ghosts. Not if he knew I was in the vicinity. My guess is they took off for reasons of their own while we were at dinner, long before cap guy showed up.”
    He took her arm and gently but firmly stuffed her into the passenger seat. She slid reluctantly into the car. He got a fine, fleeting glimpse of a nicely rounded thigh. As an added bonus, the tear in the violet dress revealed a sliver of lacy black panties. Everything inside him tightened another notch. It wasn’t like he hadn’t already been