Free ZenithRising by Marilyn Campbell Page A

unexpectedly, the hair on Maggie’s
arms stood straight up then the hair on her head lifted as well and she stopped
in her tracks. “Noah?”
    He turned and gaped at the sight of her electrified hair.
“What is it?” he asked as he retraced his steps to her.
    “I’m not sure. Something…weird.”
    “More words please.”
    Maggie took several steps back and the hair relaxed. She
came forward again, stopping exactly where she had before and the hair raised
again. “It feels as though there’s a wall in front of me.” She put up her palms
and found where it seemed to start. With conscious effort she had no difficulty
passing through but her whole body felt as though it were tingling.
    Noah narrated what he was watching for the sake of the
recording. “I am now walking back beyond the point where Maggie is standing and
testing the field myself.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before
stretching out his arms and walking forward again. This time he stopped right
beside her. “It’s an energy field. Like the one you felt coming off the
amethyst in the bar. Only this one is a whole lot more powerful. Even still, I
didn’t notice it until I focused on it.” He scanned the area. “I don’t see any
rocks or boulders, just plants and trees. Are you willing to see how far it
goes?”
    She smiled. “If I didn’t run screaming from that spider, I
think I can handle a little force field.” Still, she accepted his hand when he
offered it and let him lead her for about twenty feet before she abruptly
halted again. Like she saw him do, she closed her eyes and took a breath. She
wanted to give him a good description of what she was feeling. “Whatever it is
just got even stronger right here. It’s almost like an electrical current is
running from the arches of my feet up my body…ooh, my fingers are really
tingling…”
    “I feel it now too,” Noah said. “Only it came from your hand
to mine and, oh my god, this is one of the coolest creepy things ever.”
    She laughed as she saw how his hair was sticking out. “It
reminds me of static electricity only it’s continuous. There’s no specific spark
or discomfort.”
    “Quite the opposite. It sort of tickles.” He chuckled then
laughed out loud as though the current had just reached an especially sensitive
spot.
    Maggie realized the feeling was not so different from how
she felt when he touched her sensitive spots. If she stood there much longer,
she wasn’t sure what the weird energy might make her do. She tugged his hand.
“Let’s see how far it goes.” They walked about another twenty feet and the
effect lessened as they went until it was gone completely.
    Noah looked back at the perfectly straight line they had
just walked. “Did you notice how the path was winding before the field then
curves again from here? And it looks like that spot we were standing in was
halfway, like an epicenter.”
    “I think I need to make a confession,” she said abruptly. He
arched a brow. “I skimmed the little background piece in the hotel’s notebook
last night. Something bothered me but I didn’t know what until just now. It
said the island was named after the crystals in the Amethyst Cave but Robert
Davenport would have named the island when he bought it, before he started
construction. It also said he never revealed where he got the big rock
formations.”
    He narrowed his eyes. “And you don’t think it’s just a
mistake.”
    She shook her head. “I’m thinking the crystals were here.
And we just walked over a large deposit.”
    “An undiscovered underground cave?”
    “Maybe Robert discovered it and decided to keep it a secret.
There’s definitely something powerful coming through. But wouldn’t someone else
have noticed it?”
    “Maybe no one has ever walked across it with your ability to
sense the energy.”
    She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you just saying that
because—”
    “No. You saw me walk through and I’m more aware of