It seemed odd to go back to work at the front desk of Knox’s as if nothing extraordinary had occurred in the past twenty-four hours, but Sedona was grateful for the comforting sense of normalcy. Always assuming that you could call riding herd on an inn full of ghost hunters normal, she thought. She did have one big advantage now. As irritating as it was to know that Cyrus’s men called her the boss’s lady, it did result in instant obedience to any request she made.
Shortly after three that afternoon she went across the lobby and into the tavern to get a cup of coffee. The place was empty because Cyrus was keeping his men busy.
Knox was behind the bar polishing glassware.
“Coffee?” he asked, reaching for the pot.
“Yes, please.” She took a seat on one of the bar stools.
Knox eyed her over the rims of his glasses. “You’ve been through a lot, from the sound of it. How’re you doin’?”
“Surprisingly enough, I feel fine,” she said. “Good to be back on the surface, though.”
“I’ll bet. Where’s your little buddy?”
“Lyle took off to play with some of the kids,” Sedona said. “Rachel and Slade said their pals vanished at about the same time. We suspect a dust bunny–kid conspiracy.”
“Well, it is Halloween Week.”
“I’m sure Lyle will be back by dinnertime. He won’t want to miss any of the action in here when the hunters get off work and show up for their beer and pizza and hamburgers.”
Knox chuckled. “Looks like Lyle has become the Rainshadow Guild’s mascot.”
“Tell me about it. I can see the T-shirts now: By the Time You See the Teeth, It’s Too Late with a picture of Lyle. He’ll love that.” She brightened. “You know, maybe we should have some made up. Might be a hit with the tourists.”
“Good idea.” Knox set the mug on the counter in front of Sedona. “Assuming we ever get any more visitors to the island. Word going around town is that Foundation Security and the new Guild boss are trying to restrict visitors to residents and authorized personnel only.”
“Good luck to ’em, is all I can say. The more Danger, Keep Out signs they put up, the more the thrill seekers and treasure hunters will show up.”
“Can’t stop the locals from doing a little exploring down below, either.” Knox slipped the polished glass into a rack and folded his arms on the bar. “So, are the rumors true? Did you and Jones run into a couple of real dinosaurs down below?”
“They sure looked like dinosaurs, but who knows?” Sedona said.
Knox started to ask another question but he glanced toward the door of the tavern and paused.
“Looks like you’ve got visitors,” he said.
Sedona heard a familiar chortle and swung around on the bar stool. Three kids hovered in the doorway. Each of them had a dust bunny tucked under one arm. She recognized the girl holding Lyle as Annie Bell. Devin Reed, the grandson of Myrna Reed, a member of the tiny Shadow Bay police force, clutched Slade’s dust bunny, Rex. Rex, in turn, clutched a small, elegant evening bag. The tiny purse looked expensive. He had no doubt shoplifted it from Charlotte’s collection of exquisite antique clutches. Devin’s buddy Nate had Darwina under his arm. Darwina had her Amberella doll in one paw. She rarely went anywhere without the small doll dressed in its crystal-studded evening gown.
“I knew it,” Sedona said. “A conspiracy. What’s up?”
Devin frowned. “What’s a conspiracy?”
“Never mind.” Sedona smiled. “What’s the plan?”
Annie patted Lyle. “We want to ask you if we could use Lyle to go trick-or-treating on Halloween night.”
“Please, Miss Snow,” Devin pleaded. “The chief said we could take Rex.”
“And Miss Rachel over at the bookshop said Darwina can go with us, too,” Nate added quickly.
“Why?” Sedona asked.
“Because we figure that we’ll get a lot more candy if we have the dust bunnies with us,” Annie explained. “Everyone thinks they’re so cute.”
“Huh.” Knox looked impressed. “Not a bad plan.”
“I told you,” Sedona said. “It’s a conspiracy.” She studied the kids. “I agree with Knox. It is a cunning plan. Go for it and good luck to you all.”
“Yay,” Devin said. He exchanged high fives with Nate. “Told you, she’d say yes.”
Annie cheered gleefully. Caught up in the moment, Lyle, Rex, and Darwina chortled.
“We have to go make their costumes now,” Annie said.
The gang disappeared from the doorway before Sedona could change her mind.
“Should make for an interesting Halloween night,” Knox observed.
Sedona spun back around to face the bar and picked up her mug. “Can’t wait to see what costumes they come up with for the dust bunnies.”
Knox gave her a sharp glance and cleared his throat.
“So,” he said, “you and the new Guild boss.”
Sedona paused her mug in midair. “Me and the new Guild boss—what?”
“I know it’s none of my business, but you work for me and you don’t have any family on the island—”
Sedona shuddered. “Thank goodness.”
“Yeah, well, given that you don’t have anyone to look after you, I sort of feel like I need to make sure you’re okay with being, you know, real friendly with Jones.”
“Real friendly. That’s one way to put it.”
Knox winced. “You know what I mean.”
She reached across the bar and patted his arm. “It’s okay. I do know what you mean and I appreciate your concern. But I’m a big girl now, Knox. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time.”
“That’s what you keep saying but there’s times when everybody needs someone to watch out for ’em.” Knox stopped talking. He angled his jaw toward the doorway. “Speaking of which.”
Sedona twirled around on the bar stool a second time. Irritation crackled through her when she saw who loomed in the opening.
“Hello, Brock,” she said.
“I need to talk to you.” Brock looked at Knox and then turned back to Sedona. “In private, if you don’t mind. It’s important, Sedona. You owe me a conversation, at least.”
She reached behind herself, picked up the mug, and took a sip of coffee while she considered her options. She’d had her moment of petty revenge. She could afford to be civil. It was obvious Brock was not going to leave the island until he’d had his say. She might as well get the conversation over with.
She set the mug down on the bar and slipped off the stool. “We can talk in my office.”
Knox leaned over the bar and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Want me to call Jones?”
“No.” She said it clearly and with great emphasis. She could handle her own problems. “This won’t take long.”
She crossed the empty tavern.
“I’m on duty,” she said to Brock. “So we don’t have a lot of time.”
Brock did not look thrilled with that but after a second glance at Knox he evidently concluded he didn’t have much room to argue.
“Fine,” he said. His jaw tensed. “Thanks.”
Sedona slipped past him, rounded the front counter, and led the way into her tiny office. She propped one hip on the corner of her desk, crossed her arms, and looked at Brock.
“What is it that you feel you need to tell me?” she said.
Brock shoved his fingers through his hair. “I want to explain a few things, that’s all. You owe me that much.”
“You keep saying that but I don’t owe you anything, Brock. You’re the one who filed for divorce, remember?”
He fixed her with a haunted look. “I explained that. I was told you were missing and presumed dead. What the hell else was I supposed to think?”
“Gee, I don’t know. Maybe you could have used some of your money to finance a private search-and-rescue operation? We’ve already been over this.”
Brock flushed. “I was informed by the authorities that it would be a waste of time.”
“And you took that at face value. Well, there you have it. You made an executive decision.” She gave him her most vivacious smile. “We both know how good you are when it comes to executive decisions, right? You told me, you always go with your gut and you’re almost never wrong. But once in a while you screw up, just like everyone else.”
“Damn it, you’ve got to give me another chance. We had something good together.”
“Maybe. But we both knew that it wouldn’t last. Sooner or later you would have come under pressure from your family to marry someone from your own social class, and while I have several very admirable qualities, I definitely don’t have the sort of family connections you need in a wife. Your relatives would never approve of me.”
“You’re wrong,” Brock said, very earnest now. “That’s one of the things I’m trying to explain. My family will approve of your people. You’re a Snow.”
“An illegitimate Snow.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Brock said. He crossed the small space in two long strides and gripped her shoulders. “Not now.”
She went very still. “Not now?”
“Hear me out. After they told me that you had vanished into the tunnels I realized how much you meant to me. You may not believe it, but I was heartbroken. I started drinking too much in the evenings. Diana was worried about me. That’s why she was at my place that night. She was concerned that I would do myself some harm.”
“You? Drinking yourself into a stupor because of me? Give me a break. We had some fun together but I don’t believe for one minute that you were pining away just because I dropped out of your life.”
Brock tightened his hands on her shoulders. “This is about what you think you’ve got going with Jones, isn’t it? I know he’s a Guild boss, but do you really believe for one minute that he will offer you a Covenant Marriage? Don’t be naïve. Everyone knows the heads of the Guilds are notorious when it comes to women. Sure, he’ll probably agree to an MC for a while. Why not? You’re convenient and for now, at any rate, he’s stuck with a territory that is nothing more than a large chunk of rock in the middle of the Amber Sea.”
Sedona looked down at his left hand.
“Let go of me,” she said, her voice very even.
But Brock didn’t seem to get the message. There was a vibe of desperation about him that she did not understand.
“You have to listen to me,” Brock said.
“I can’t believe that you have suddenly concluded that I am the love of your life,” she said. “What is going on here? And before you even try to explain, take your hands off me.”
Brock ignored her.
“Please, Sedona—”
She reached into her pocket, took out the flicker, and snapped out a spark. At the same time she rezzed a little energy. Flames flashed in the atmosphere.
Brock released her and scrambled backward. He looked stunned.
“What the hell?” he said.
She lowered her talent. The sparks disappeared.
“What did you just do?” he demanded. “What kind of talent are you?”
“Never mind,” she said. “Tell me the real reason why you followed me all the way to Rainshadow.”
“I told you the reason,” he said. But he sounded less certain now.
A dark shadow filled the doorway of the office. Sedona turned and saw Cyrus. He looked at her.
“Is Prescott bothering you?” he asked.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” she assured him. “I’m just waiting for a believable answer to my question.”
Cyrus switched his attention to Brock. “Right. You want to know why he’s stalking you.”
Brock flushed a dark red. “I’m not stalking her.”
Cyrus turned back to Sedona. “I just got word from my cousin, who runs that private investigation firm I mentioned. I asked her to take a close look at Prescott. She did a little checking around and discovered that Prescott Industries is in trouble.”
“That’s bullshit,” Brock said.
“And with the company in trouble, it follows that the entire Prescott family is facing some serious financial problems,” Cyrus continued. “Problems that could conveniently be resolved if the head of Prescott Industries were to marry a woman who happened to be in line to inherit a portion of the Snow family fortune. A woman who also had access to a sizeable trust fund. A woman who could bring Prescott a direct connection to the head of another powerful business empire.”
“Well, there you go,” Sedona said. She unfolded her arms and straightened away from the desk. “That explains everything. So long, Brock.”
“Don’t believe a word Jones says,” Brock snarled. “He’s lying.”
Sedona looked at him. “I guess the only question left is, how did you find out that the Snows have invited me to join the family?”
Brock shook his head. “That’s not what this is about, I swear it.”
“Never mind,” Sedona said. She held up a hand, palm out, to silence him. “I can piece together what happened. At some point a Snow family lawyer contacted you, right? Perfectly logical. Our MC was a matter of public record. It must have come as a terrible shock to you to realize that I was related to those Snows and that the family is trying to bring me into the fold. No wonder you needed consoling that night I showed up on your doorstep. You had let a valuable asset slip away without even bothering to send out a search party.”
Brock looked sadly disappointed in her. “After all we meant to each other, I can’t believe that you would take the word of a Guild boss over mine.”
“Here’s the one thing I know to be true about this particular Guild boss,” Sedona said. “When stuff goes wrong down in the Underworld, he doesn’t leave any of his team behind. He came back for me yesterday. He saved my life.”
“And you think he did that because he loves you? You’re out of your mind. He’s not just any Guild boss, he’s a Jones—one of the Arcane Joneses. Ask him what that means. It’s a clan with a lot of secrets. Rumor has it that there are some real psi-freaks on the family tree. Trust me, you have no idea what you’re dealing with here.”
“Maybe not,” she said. “But I do know what I’m dealing with when it comes to you, Brock. And it’s not very attractive; not anymore. Please go away and leave me alone.”
Brock hesitated. For a moment she thought he was going to argue. But he took one look at Cyrus and evidently changed his mind.
He went toward the door, silently challenging Cyrus to get out of the way. Cyrus gave him a cold smile and did not move aside.
“Thought I told you not to go near Sedona again,” he said.
“You can’t threaten me, Jones.”
Something hard and dark glittered in Cyrus’s eyes. Sedona felt icy energy shift in the atmosphere. Belatedly, she realized that Cyrus was raising his talent. Her pulse kicked up in fresh alarm.
“Cyrus, no,” she said. She put out a hand as if she could stop him physically.
He looked at her, his eyes brilliant with cold fire.
“Please,” she whispered. For a couple of heartbeats she was afraid he would not stop. But the ice in the atmosphere evaporated.
For his part, Brock seemed unaware that he had ever been in any serious danger. He had already turned away and was walking off through the lobby. He slammed the front door on his way outside.
Cyrus lowered his talent and looked at Sedona. “You only know one thing about me?”
She relaxed, more relieved than she wanted to admit. “That was not entirely accurate. I do know a couple of other things about you.”
“Are any of those other things that you know about me matters of concern?”
“Nope. Should they cause me some concern?”
“No.” Cyrus propped one shoulder against the doorframe and folded his arms. “Prescott was right about some stuff, though. My family has kept a lot of secrets over the centuries and there are rumors of the occasional whackjob in the bloodline.”
She shrugged. “Wouldn’t be a family if it didn’t have some secrets.”