Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz

glide of a big cat on the hunt.
    Part of her was aware that a subtle shift of awareness had come over Luther. She knew that he, too, had noticed the figure coming toward them.
    She jacked her parasenses to the max. One look at the powerful aura that enveloped the approaching man and she knew him instantly for what he was. Para-hunter.
    Every instinct screamed at her to turn and run even though the logical side of her brain knew it would be useless. If the pacing man was hunting her, he could easily run her down. Those endowed with his brand of talent were not supermen by any means, but their natural human hunting abilities were psychically enhanced. They could see very well in the dark. Their reflexes were on a par with those of any other wild predator. They could detect the psychic spoor of their quarry, and their favorite prey was human.
    A lot of hunters wound up in the military or in security work. But she knew all too well that, given their natural aptitude, it was inevitable that some became dangerous predators.
    Luther’s aura was running hot, too, but he gave no outward indication of his tension. His halting stride did not alter but somehow he was a little closer to her now, making certain that the hunter would pass on the opposite side, as far from her as possible.
    Take it easy, she thought. Whoever that guy is, he isn’t after you. If they had found you, they would have sent someone to Eclipse Bay to get you. They wouldn’t have waited until you took a Hawaiian vacation.
    Then again . . .
    The hunter was less than two yards away, closing the distance fast. Somehow she managed to keep moving alongside Luther, matching his slow, careful stride. There was no change in the tap-tap-tap of the cane.
    She was calmer now. Logic and common sense were kicking in, overriding the more primitive side of her brain.
    No, not logic and common sense, something else was neutralizing her fear. By rights she should still be scared out of her wits. What’s wrong with this picture? That thought was almost as frightening as the approaching hunter.
    Instinctively she tried to beat back the calming influence. She should be scared. It was the appropriate response under the circumstances. Damn it, she would be scared.
    The unnatural calm wavered and dissolved. The terror of the hunted rushed back but so did a sense of rightness. This was the way she ought to feel.
    Before she could adjust to the transition back to a state of fear, she became aware of Luther’s aura. It was pulsing at unusual points along the spectrum. Power resonated in the night.
    The two men were close now, within touching distance. Suddenly, as if a psychic switch had been turned off, the pacing man’s aura dimmed, becoming markedly less intense. It was still the aura of a para-hunter but not one who is on the prowl. Instead, his energy field took on the colors and wavelengths of a person who is calm to the point of being sleepy. Whoever he was, the hunter was not interested in her or in Luther.
    He went past, showing no signs of curiosity about the couple to his left. She had to fight the urge to look over her shoulder.
    “It’s okay,” Luther said quietly. “He’s gone.”
    “Hunter,” she whispered.
    “Yes.”
    She glanced at him, half afraid of what she might see. But his aura was normal again. Maybe she’d been mistaken a moment ago. Perhaps the proximity of the hunter’s fierce aura had confused her senses.
    “You could tell he was a hunter?” she asked.
    “I don’t have your brand of aura-reading talent but it isn’t hard to identify that kind of energy, especially when the guy’s running hot. Didn’t you notice how everyone else on the path unconsciously got out of his way? Even nonsensitives can detect a high-level predator in the vicinity. What did you pick up?”
    “I have to admit I wasn’t taking notes. He was powerful, though, and, as you said, he was running wide open.”
    “Hunting?”
    She thought about it. “No. I didn’t get