“Does your grandmother know you snuck out of the house last night?” he said.
“No.” Devin looked uneasy now. “She’d think I was doing drugs or something.”
“I know why you went into the shop, Dev.”
“I told you, I just—”
“You can sense the energy in there, can’t you? I feel it, too. It hits you like a shower of small sparks of lightning, doesn’t it? Jacks you up a little.”
“Huh?” Devin went very still.
“What you pick up on in there are traces of paranormal energy.”
“You mean like in the Old Quarters and in the Underworld? Alien psi?”
“Sort of, but what you sense in Looking Glass isn’t alien energy. It’s human psi.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Miss Enright says there’s a fair amount of it infused into most of the antiques in the shop. Evidently there are collectors who will pay big bucks for stuff like that. Go figure.”
Devin looked first shocked and then hurt. “Come off it, you think I’m dumb enough to believe that? Why don’t you try telling me that Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy are real?”
“I think you’re developing some serious psychic talent, Dev, not just the low-level kind that everyone uses to resonate with amber to start a car or switch on a washing machine. Something a lot stronger.”
Dev brightened. “You think I might be a ghost hunter? That maybe I can join the Guild someday?”
“Ever rez any ghosts?”
Devin sank back into himself. “No. Tried a few times back in Frequency. Went down into the tunnels with some other kids. They pulled some small ghosts but I couldn’t do it.”
“Probably because your talent is different.”
“Yeah?” Devin did not try to conceal his skepticism. “How?”
“It doesn’t depend on amber, for one thing, although you’ll probably be able to use amber to focus it more efficiently.”
“Huh?”
“Look, it’s common knowledge that something here on Harmony has speeded up the evolution of the latent psychic senses we all possess. That’s why we can use amber in the first place, right?”
“Right. We learned that in science class. So what?”
“Here’s what they didn’t teach you in science class. Some of the First Generation colonists already possessed a lot of natural psychic talent when they arrived two hundred years ago. They kept a low profile because back on the Old World the paranormal wasn’t accepted as normal. People who claimed to have psychic talent were considered weird or even dangerous.”
“Yeah?”
“Things are better here on Harmony but a lot of folks still have a bone-deep fear of those who possess powerful talent of any kind, whether or not they use amber. And sometimes there’s a good reason for them to be afraid of strong talents.”
“Come on, nobody takes those movies and comic books about rogue psychics and paranormal killers seriously.”
Slade thought about his last encounter with a rogue psychic. “You’d be surprised.”
“Yeah?” Dev was starting to sound intrigued now.
“Natural talent, which I think you’ve got, takes a while to develop. It will be a few years before you find out how strong you are. That’s good because you need the time to learn how to control and focus your new abilities.”
“Huh.”
“My advice is to keep quiet about what’s happening to you unless you’re sure you’re talking to someone who understands and believes you.”
Dev gave him a wary, uncertain look. “You think people would laugh at me?”
“Probably. Strong talent usually has a genetic component. Has your grandmother ever talked to you about the possibility that you might have some above-average psychic ability?”
“Are you kidding? No way. If I asked her about something like that she’d pack me off to a shrink. I’d wind up in the loony bin. She’s already worried about me as it is. The last thing I want to do is make her think I’m going crazy, like my mom did.”
It was no secret around the station or in town that Devin was the offspring of an illicit affair. His mother had taken her own life a year earlier. The kid’s father, a married man who lived in Crystal City, met his financial obligations but took no interest in the boy. What Devin had going for him was his grandmother, Myrna Reed. Myrna cared deeply about his well-being. But sometimes a boy needed a man’s firm hand.
“Coming into a talent can be a little scary sometimes,” Slade said. “You don’t always understand what’s happening to you. And other people will think you’re strange. That’s why I’m advising you not to talk to anyone else about it, at least not for a while.”
“Can I talk to you?” Devin asked softly.
“Yeah, sure.”
Having this conversation was probably a mistake, Slade thought, just like inviting Charlotte to dinner tonight. He had established a strict rule for himself when he took the job. The rule was simple. Don’t get personally involved with the locals. He wanted no strings attached when he finally got his act together and boarded the ferry six months from now to leave for good. But today he had broken the rule twice. Not a good sign. He never broke his own rules.
“There’s someone else you need to talk to, and soon,” he said.
“Who?” Devin asked.
“Miss Enright.”
Devin looked uneasy. “Why?”
“Why do you think?”
Devin’s mouth tightened. “You want me to tell her that I was the one who went into her shop last night?”
“What I want doesn’t matter here. What matters is that you need to do what’s right.”
“I told you, I didn’t take anything,” Devin insisted.
“She knows that. But how would you like it if someone you and your grandmother didn’t know walked through your house sometime when neither of you was home.”
Devin looked alarmed. “That would be illegal.”
“Yes, it would. Even if all the guy did was look around.”
Devin processed that for a moment. His mutinous expression morphed into tight-lipped resignation.
“Okay, okay, I’ll tell her it was me,” he grumbled.
“Good plan.” Slade reached into the pocket of his shirt and took out the small, wire-bound notebook and a pen. He opened the notebook, clicked the pen, and wrote down a website and a password. “Next time you’re on your computer, check out this address.” He tore the page out of the notebook and handed it to Devin.
“Arcane?” Devin’s brow furrowed. “Is it some kind of game site?”
“It’s not a game. But if anyone asks you about the Society, it’s okay to pretend that it’s just some whack-job website. Lot of those online.”
“How do you know all this stuff?”
“Because I’ve got a little talent, too.”
“Yeah? Prove it. Tell me what I’m thinking. Or better yet, let’s see you fly up into the air.”
Slade smiled. “There’s no such thing as mind-reading or levitation, although I know an illusion-talent who could make you believe that both are possible. We’re not talking superhero abilities. We’re talking psychic sensitivities and, sometimes, the ability to manipulate some of the energy in the ultralight regions of the spectrum.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Go do some research at that website. We’ll talk about what you learn there some other time. I’ve got to get this fish into the refrigerator at the station.”
He took his boot down off the bench and started toward the entrance of the station. Devin came up off the bench and fell into step beside him. Rex popped up out of the fountain. He hopped up onto the rim and fluffed the water out of his fur. Then he scampered across the lawn to follow Slade and Devin.
“Is the fish for Rex?” Devin asked.
“Not at this price. Rex can have the leftovers or go catch his own fish.”
“Looks like a big salmon for one person.”
“I’ve got a guest coming over for dinner.”
“Yeah? Who?”
“Miss Enright.”
“Holy crap.” Devin slammed to a halt. “You’ve got a date with her?”