Dark Vision Read Online Free PDF Page B

myself. Think fear, think anger, think escape … think anything but sex.
    ‘I’m not in your mind all the time, if that’s what you’re worried about. I just get little flashes every now and then. I have no control over it, so your secrets are safe … most of them, anyway. And other things I can figure out for myself. Like the fact that your heart’s beating faster than normal. That your pupils are dilated. That you’re feeling warmer than you should. That you’re imaging what it would feel like if I leaned over and kissed you right now …’
    I screeched my chair back, feeling my face flame.
    ‘Actually, that last one was a guess,’ he added slyly, clearly amused by my reaction. ‘And while this flirting is fun, we need to get serious. I’ll call you Lily if you want, but that’s not your name. Things are about to change for you, for all of us. That’s why I’m here.’
    ‘But why are you really here? Apart from, you know, to totally freak me out?’
    ‘I’m here to keep you safe,’ he said. ‘From the people who want to kill you.’

Chapter Four
    As I let those cheery words sink in, all hell let loose around us. Armed police thundered into the station lobby, wearing body armour and brandishing plastic shields. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared.
    ‘Get out!’ shouted someone from the entrance to the coffee shop. ‘I mean, leave calmly, by the emergency exits!’
    Predictably enough, the words ‘leave calmly’ resulted in a mass exodus of running feet, a chaos of bodies tripping over suitcases on wheels, and several high-pitched female screams. A man pushed to the front of the crowd, wearing a suit and brandishing a walkie-talkie. Gabriel stared at him intently, and I realised he was using that supersonic hearing of his to eavesdrop.
    ‘Bomb scare,’ he said, standing up and throwing his bag over his shoulder. ‘Come on – we have to leave – now!’
    He grabbed my arm, dragging me to my feet and along behind him so fast I felt like I was skating. But instead of heading towards the exit as I expected, along with the rest of the thoroughly spooked tide of humanity, he raced towards the ticket barriers. Stumbling, I followed, and we both burst through the turnstile and on to the platform.
    ‘Faster!’ he yelled, as we galloped along the platform, right to the edge, to the spot where trainspotters usually stand with their notebooks. ‘Down!’
    He jumped deftly on to the tracks, beckoning for me to follow him.
    I hesitated, not knowing what to do. Behind me, there was chaos. And potentially a bomb. In front of me, miles of train track, and a man who could read my mind. Over my shoulder I saw two figures in black approaching us. Not running, not panicking, just searching. They homed in on me, seemed to share some kind of communication, then speeded up. Nobody else was here, on the platform – the carnage outside had everyone’s full attention. It was just them and us, with the ‘them’ getting closer and closer every second.
    I made my decision – which went something along the lines of ‘better the lunatic you know’ – and jumped. Gabriel caught me under the arms and held me steady, but I still felt the impact of the ridged steel tracks ricochet up my ankles.
    ‘There’s no bomb,’ he said quickly, ‘it’s just a distraction. It’s you they want. Now run!’
    I ran. As fast as my boots would carry me, I ran. Down into the deep, dark tunnel that would ultimately lead to the next station; the tunnel hewn from rock and earth; the tunnel that Gabriel was disappearing off into way too quickly for me to keep up.
    I lost sight of him, and felt panic rising up in my throat. I could hear the dull, regular thud of footsteps behind me: whoever they were, they were following. Fast and hard. Gabriel was right – there was no bomb. Or if there was, it was Lily-shaped.
    Chest heaving with the effort, eyes half-blind in the subterranean lighting, I fled, all my instincts telling