Read Morning Light for Free Online

dog. “We’ll take care of each other. Huh, Nana?”
    Loni felt the ache of cold in Trevor’s feet, the icy stiffness of his soaked clothing. The smell of wet dog filled her nostrils. All around her, it was dark—oh, so very dark. Only the sliver of a waning quarter moon lit the landscape.
    â€œI need Boo,” Trevor whimpered.
    Boo was the child’s stuffed bear with tattered ears and a snub tail that he’d teethed on as a toddler. At home Trevor always needed his night-light on, with Boo and Nana cuddled close before he could go to sleep. Loni wasn’t sure how she knew that. Her gift had always been strong, but never before had she seen and felt things quite this intensely.
    Small body shuddering, the child whispered, “I’m cold, Nana. I’m so cold.”
    Still damp from the river, the Saint Bernard whined and licked the child’s face.
    â€œI want my mom and dad,” Trevor cried as he hugged the huge dog’s neck. “I had on my life jacket. How come you didn’t save them instead of me?”
    Loni’s heart caught at the sound of the child’s sobs. She wanted to catch him up in her arms and hold him tight, only she couldn’t. Then the scene changed, and other images of the boy and dog flashed and swirled through her mind like the changing patterns of a kaleidoscope, all glazed with red. Loni knew what that meant. Blood. Soon it would come, lots and lots of blood.
    The shrill whistle of the teapot jerked Loni back to the present. Running her hand along the wall to stay steady on her feet, she hurried to the stove to lift the pot from the burner. The unexpected lightness of the vessel startled her. The water had boiled nearly dry. How long had she been lost in another reality? Several minutes, at least, possibly as much as a quarter hour.
    She became filled with alarm. In the past she’d zoned out long enough for people around her to notice, but never for several minutes on end. More important, she’d touched nothing to bring on the episode.
    This wasn’t right; it wasn’t right at all.
    Hannah whined up at her. Loni was shaking almost as violently as little Trevor had been. “I’m okay,” she assured the dog. “It’s okay.”
    Only it wasn’t okay. She might have had a skillet of food on a burner and started a fire. Always before, her waking visions had come to her only when she’d made physical contact with a person or a possession imbued with an individual’s essence.
    Frightened by the implications, Loni called her mother. The moment Annabel heard Loni’s story, she asked, “Is this the only time it’s happened?”
    â€œYes. I, um…” Shoving a hand into her hair and making a hard fist, Loni tried to think. “No,” she amended. “The day I rented the house I had a waking vision of Clint Harrigan in the living room. At the time I wasn’t worried about not touching anything to bring it on. I was more concerned that the vision might mean I was about to meet him, and I didn’t want that.”
    â€œThis isn’t right,” her mom said, echoing Loni’s thoughts. “I’ve never in my life had a vision without something to cue me. What if you’d been driving?”
    That possibility had already occurred to Loni. “What am I going to do, Mom?”
    Annabel fell quiet. Then she said, “Let me call Gram. She’s much more knowledgeable about all this stuff than I am.”
    A few minutes after Loni ended the conversation, the phone rang. She picked up on the first ring, knowing it was her grandmother.
    Aislinn MacDuff said, “Well, this is a fine kettle of fish. How many times have you had visions without touching anything to bring them on?”
    â€œOnce this evening, and once a couple of months ago. I’m worried, Gram. It’s never happened like this before. Suddenly my gift is more out of control than usual.