VISIONS OF HEAT

She preferred not to remember the dream she’d had a few weeks ago in which she’d seen the face of a leopard staring back at her with feral hunger, preferred not to try to understand what her ability was attempting to tell her. Because sometimes, too much foreknowledge was a curse.

Leaving the compound was going to be difficult, but not impossible. The PsyClan guards were interested in keeping people out. No one had ever thought that Faith would attempt an escape. Taking a deep breath, she slung on the small backpack then calmly opened her back door and walked out into the night.

She knew precisely where she was going. There was a very small section of the outer fence that fell into a blind spot of the motion sensors and wasn’t quite covered by the sweeping cameras. It had probably not even seemed like a weakness to NightStar Security. No criminal would ever be able to work out the exact location, and the live guards ensured that that part was under near constant surveillance, especially since many of the guards also had the ability to telepathically scan the area.

Faith had figured out how to deflect the scanners years ago, boredom and isolation proving fertile ground for invention. More importantly, she was certain she could climb the fence in the short window of time after one guard went around the corner and before the other started to turn. She knew that because two months ago, she’d suddenly started coming out here at night and doing exactly that, going over the fence and then back into the compound without alerting anyone.

She’d thought she was doing it because she needed a challenge. Of course, with an F-Psy of her capabilities, nothing was ever that easy. Tonight, it took her ten minutes to walk the distance from the back door to the part of the outer fence she was aiming for—the inner fence had never presented her with any real problems. Her eyes picked up the form of a guard turning the corner on her right. A second guard would appear ten seconds later with Psy precision. She started climbing, silent and careful.





Vaughn crouched on a large branch overhanging the compound that continued to fascinate him. He’d intended to infiltrate it tonight and find out what lay behind the computronic and Psy security. But that was no longer necessary—his prey was coming to him.

Her hair was a red flame despite the darkness and part of him wanted to growl at her for being stupid enough not to cover or contain the waist-length mass, but another part of him was impressed by the quick, almost catlike way she scaled the fence. She didn’t hesitate, didn’t look around. It was as if she’d done it a hundred times.

Landing on the forest side, she walked in a straight line from the fence and into the surrounding trees until she was hidden from the sight of the guard now turning the corner. Vaughn padded along the treetops and came to rest almost on top of her as she paused to pull something from her pack.

A small light from her watch soon illuminated what appeared to be a computer printout of the surrounding area—a crude map that showed nothing of changeling routes or territorial markers. After a minute, she folded it up and put it back in her pack. Then she started walking. If he’d been in human form, he would’ve frowned. She was heading deeper into DarkRiver territory rather than toward Tahoe.

She wouldn’t get very far on foot, but there was something about her that made the fur on the back of his neck rise. As a sentinel, he was used to trusting his instincts and this time they said that this woman had to be watched. Carefully. Very, very carefully.





Faith felt as if she were being stalked. An irrational reaction—she was alone in the forest. But if all went well, it wouldn’t be for long. She didn’t know the location of Sascha Duncan’s home; however, she’d reasoned that if she ventured deep enough into leopard territory, one of them would find her and take her where she needed to go. A tenuous plan, but based on what she’d researched about the territorial nature of predatory changelings, it had a good chance of success. Heading to DarkRiver’s business headquarters in San Francisco would’ve been far easier but she couldn’t chance exposure.

After dropping out of the Net, Sascha Duncan had been labeled off-limits to all Psy. Going near her without Council authorization equaled automatic rehabilitation—a euphemistic label for the complete psychic brainwipe that destroyed the punished Psy’s personality and higher mental skills. Faith knew enough of her own worth to understand she’d escape that fate, but she didn’t want anyone becoming aware of her actions. The same part of her that knew this had to be kept a secret also knew she’d find an unlocked car on a nearby forest road.