Cyrus was waiting for her in the hallway outside the study when she emerged from the meeting with Robert. At the sight of him she heard the chimes clash, clear and resonant. A bone-deep sense of certainty swept through her. She touched the blue amber pendant. It was the wrong time, the wrong place, and quite possibly the wrong man, but in that moment she knew what it was to love with all of her heart.
The shock of the realization filled her with an unfamiliar lightness. It was as if she had just been given a perfect gift. Like an armful of flowers or a summer dawn, it might not last but in that moment she experienced a quiet joy. She would never forget this sensation, she thought. The future would take care of itself. For now she had Cyrus.
He straightened when he saw her and came forward to take her arm in a protective manner.
“Are we staying or leaving?” he asked. But his eyes were on Robert who loomed in the doorway of the study.
“We’re staying,” she said. She smiled through the last of her tears. “For a while, at least.”
“All right,” he said.
“But I can’t go back downstairs just yet.” Sedona pulled free, grabbed a tissue from her little evening purse, and dabbed at her eyes. “I’m a mess. I need to repair my makeup. You’ll have to excuse me. I’m going to find a powder room.”
Robert angled his chin toward a shadowed hallway. “You’ll find one there,” he said.
Sedona nodded. She looked at Cyrus. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“Take your time.” Cyrus switched his attention back to Robert.
She managed another watery smile and rushed off down the hall. Behind her, Robert spoke to Cyrus.
“I think you and I should have a talk, Jones,” Robert said.
It was, Sedona reflected, more of a command than a suggestion.
“Yes, sir.” Cyrus sounded amused but sincere.
Alarmed, Sedona paused and glanced over her shoulder in time to see Cyrus follow her grandfather into the study. The door closed firmly behind them.
“Damn,” she said under her breath.
There was nothing she could do, she decided. She had the uneasy feeling that Robert had decided to go all patriarchal and conduct the “what are your intentions toward my granddaughter” chat. But Cyrus could take care of himself.
She hurried along the hallway and found an elegant guest suite. One glance in the mirror was enough to make her groan aloud. Dark circles of smudged makeup ringed her eyes.
The door opened just as she was using a tissue to wipe away some of the damage. Gwen peeked around the edge of the door. Her amber eyes were alight with curiosity.
“How did it go?” Gwen asked.
“The chat with your grandfather?” Sedona smiled at Gwen in the mirror. “I survived. So did he.”
“So does that mean you’re back in the family?”
“Sort of.”
“Cool. You’ll be able to teach me stuff about my talent.”
“I’ll do my best. But keep in mind that no two talents are identical.”
“I know but still, you can show me things, can’t you?”
Sedona gave her a misty smile. “Watch and learn, Gwen. Watch and learn.”
“Can I come and stay with you on Rainshadow while I’m doing all the watching and learning?”
“That will be up to your parents, but you’re welcome to visit me as far as I’m concerned.”
Gwen giggled.
Sedona raised her brows. “What?”
“Did you see the look on Aunt Ellen’s face when you walked in with Mr. Jones tonight? I thought she might explode.”
“Well, she didn’t.”
“She’s the one who calls you the crazy aunt, you know. Everyone else just tried to pretend you didn’t exist. But Granddad says you can’t ignore family. Are you going back downstairs now?”
“In a minute.”
“I’ll wait and go with you.”
“Okay.”
It actually took several minutes to clean up her tear-streaked makeup. Gwen used the time to ask an endless string of questions about the gatekeeper’s art.
When they emerged from the powder room the door of the study was still closed. Sedona hesitated but feminine intuition warned her not to interfere. Men had their own ways of handling certain issues.
She and Gwen went downstairs together, Gwen still chatting animatedly.
Aunt Ellen was waiting in the first-floor corridor. She was alone. Tension tightened the lines of her face.
“I must speak with you, Sedona,” Ellen said. “Run along, Gwen. This is a matter for adults.”
Gwen did the kind of eye-roll that only a teenager could pull off successfully.
“Yes, Aunt Ellen,” she said.
Reluctantly she went down the hallway toward the ballroom.
Ellen’s expression sharpened. She turned and started walking briskly in the opposite direction.
“Please come with me, Sedona.”
Sedona did not move. “What is it you want to say to me?”
Ellen stopped and looked at her. “What I have to say should be said in private.”
Sedona reminded herself that she had known it was going to be a night for family drama. She stifled a sigh, mentally girded herself for another emotional conversation, and followed Ellen through a doorway into what proved to be an elegantly appointed library. Volumes bound in hand-tooled leather lined the walls.
Sedona inhaled the scent of old books and history. It mingled with the delicate fragrance of the exotic flowers arranged on an end table next to a chair. “This is Grandfather’s library, isn’t it? My father told me that he collected First and Second Generation manuscripts and books.”
“Yes.” Ellen moved to a small table where a teapot and two cups sat. “It has taken him decades to acquire this collection. I understand that he intends to leave it to the university library.”
“I’m glad,” Sedona said, meaning it. “That way the materials will be available for scholars and historians in the future.”
“I did not ask you to come in here to discuss your grandfather’s collection. I want to talk to you about the past. You have a right to the truth and there is so much that you don’t know. Please sit down. Do you take milk or sugar in your tea?”
“I don’t care for any tea, thank you.” Sedona glanced at the door and then, reluctantly, sat down in one of the curved-back chairs. The scent of the flowers from the nearby vase was oddly soothing. “I don’t wish to be rude but could you please say whatever it is you feel you must? Mr. Jones will be waiting for me.”
“Mr. Jones.” Ellen’s jaw tightened. “Yes. Don’t you find it somewhat odd that he has taken such an interest in you of late?”
“A lot of people have taken an interest in me lately.”
Ellen carried her cup and saucer to the desk and sat down. She sipped at the tea. When she lowered the cup it rattled a little in the saucer.
“I’m sure you’re aware that Cyrus Jones is no ordinary Guild boss,” she said.
“A lot of people have mentioned that fact but as far as I can tell, he seems determined to do his job on Rainshadow.”
Anger shadowed Ellen’s eyes. “You have no idea who you are dealing with. I realize you must be thrilled that such a wealthy, powerful man has taken an interest in you. But believe me, he has his reasons and rest assured none of them are of a romantic nature.”
“You’re sure of that?”
“Of course. The Jones family has always been very secretive. It is said that there were strong paranormal traits in the bloodline long before the family boarded the colonial ships to settle on Harmony. Rumor has it that there is a great deal of psychic instability in that clan. The last thing a woman with your genetic heritage should consider is marriage into that family tree.”
“I would prefer not to discuss Cyrus’s family.”
“Forgive me, my dear. You no doubt feel that it is none of my business.” Ellen fortified herself with another long swallow of the tea. “But you are not accustomed to moving in the circles in which the Joneses and, for that matter, the Snow family moves. You have not had the advantage of learning the ropes, as it were. In our world, everyone has an agenda and in the end, that agenda must always be in service to the family.”
“Gee. Who knew?”
Ellen stiffened. “I am very sorry to see that you are not going to take this seriously. I am trying to explain—”
“The facts of life in your world, yes, I get that.” Sedona glanced at her watch. “But you can save your breath. Trust me, I am very well aware that everyone, including you, has an agenda. I’m sure that you asked me to come in here so that you could tell me yours. Why don’t we get to that?”
“Very well.” Ellen drained her cup and put it down with great care. “The Jones family is not the only clan that arrived on Harmony with a history of psychic talent in the blood.”
“No offense, but that doesn’t exactly come as a shock. My parents informed me that the Snows had a few talents on the family tree back on Earth.”
“Yes. And more are developing in the bloodline here on Harmony. The problem is that some of those Snow talents were quite unstable.”
Sedona gripped the arms of the chair very tightly. “This is about my connection to a woman named Arizona Snow, isn’t it?”
Ellen rose to her feet and moved across the room to stand in front of one of the bookcases. She pulled one of the volumes off the shelf.
“This is a First Generation journal kept by one of your ancestors, the wife of Jared Justin Snow. Her name was Elizabeth. As you know, after the Curtain closed, cutting Harmony off from the home world, the computers began to fail. Elizabeth, along with many other colonists, considered it vitally important to transcribe as many family records as possible so that future generations—assuming the colonists survived—would have some sense of their own history.”
“I told you, I am aware of my link to Arizona Snow,” Sedona said. “I am also aware that any eccentricities she exhibited can most likely be explained by the simple fact that science at the time refused to acknowledge the existence of the paranormal. People born with talent back in those days were considered to be suffering from delusions or some form of mental illness.”
“True but that is not the whole story of Arizona Snow.” Ellen closed the book. “Elizabeth Snow discovered that Arizona Snow worked for a secret government agency that recruited people of talent. You see, not everyone back in those days refused to accept the possibility of the paranormal.”
Chimes clashed somewhere in the distance and not in a good way this time.
“I know the story, thank you,” Sedona said.
“Evidently Arizona Snow was one of their best operatives,” Ellen continued. “However, at some point she began to deteriorate mentally and psychically. She became quite dangerous.”
“That’s not the way it was, damn it.”
“Orders were given to terminate her but the head of the agency elected to allow his lab people to try an experimental therapy on her instead,” Ellen continued. “The treatment was successful in that it saved her life. However, she was never again fit for clandestine work. She retired and went to live in a small town. Unfortunately, there were some drawbacks to the drugs that were used on her in the course of the therapy.”
“Crap. This is about that damned formula, isn’t it? Good grief, Ellen, please don’t tell me that you are involved with Blankenship’s project.”
Ellen stiffened. “Dr. Blankenship contacted me, yes. He explained that after you were badly psi-burned on your last contract job they thought you would die of your injuries. Blankenship convinced his superiors to allow him to try to save you.”
“That’s a lie.” Sedona found herself on her feet. “There was no therapy. I was forced into those damn experiments.”
“Dr. Blankenship explained that, due to your peculiar psychic genetics you were given a modern version of the drug that was used on Arizona Snow. Unfortunately, there was a bad outcome.”
“You bet there was—I escaped. Couldn’t get any worse for Blankenship.”
“He explained that you have developed a full-blown para-psychosis, which has manifested itself in the form of delusions, hallucinations, and an unstable profile,” Ellen said.
“No kidding.”
Ellen’s mouth tightened. “Dr. Blankenship says he was able to save your life but that you are now extremely fragile and a danger to yourself and others. You need regular doses of the drug to survive.”
“I’ve had enough,” Sedona whispered.
The scent of the flowers had become overpowering. The chimes clashed wildly. She started toward the door. Halfway across the room, she stopped and looked back over her shoulder.
“One question, Aunt Ellen. Does the rest of the family know about this?”
“Not the entire story, no. I warned Robert that because of your para-psych profile and the trauma you suffered when you were psi-burned, you may be somewhat fragile, but I didn’t tell him about Dr. Blankenship or the experimental therapy that was used on you. Dr. Blankenship did not think that would be wise. Your grandfather, after all, has been obsessed with bringing you back into the family. He would not want to hear the truth about your condition.”
“You mean you knew he wouldn’t believe a word of it. Blankenship lied to you, Ellen. He and his people drugged me and held me prisoner in a secret Underworld para-psych lab for damn near a month.”
Ellen sighed. “Dr. Blankenship told me that you were now prone to paranoid conspiracy theories due to the fact that you have missed several doses of the drug.”
“That is pure ghost shit and you know it. You never wanted to do me any favors in my life. I think you would have been absolutely delighted if I had not survived Dr. Blankenship’s so-called therapy.”
A cold light burned in Ellen’s eyes. “Unfortunately, you did survive, and so you leave me no option.”
“Go to hell, Aunt Ellen. Do me a favor, take Dr. Blankenship and his crew with you.”
Sedona reached out for the doorknob. She could not wait to tell Cyrus that she had a new lead on Blankenship.
But the doorknob was suddenly miles away and rapidly disappearing into infinity. The scent of the flowers was as thick as honey in the atmosphere. The library began to whirl around her. She lost her balance and flailed wildly, trying to stay on her feet. She went down hard on her knees.
“The flowers,” she whispered. “Ellen, you poisoned me.”
“It’s for your own good,” Ellen said. For the first time there was a hint of anxiety in her voice. “And for the good of the family.”
Sedona wanted to scream her rage. She wanted to call to Cyrus. But she discovered that she could no longer speak.
She was vaguely aware of a door opening on the library balcony. Two figures wearing the uniforms of the catering staff came swiftly down the spiral staircase and crossed the room. One of them, a man, knelt beside Sedona and hoisted her over his shoulder.
“Got her,” he said.
His voice came from a long way off but Sedona recognized it. Buzzkill.
“Take her outside to the van,” Hannah Holbrook ordered.
Well, that certainly explained a few things, Sedona thought.
Hulk started toward a side door.
Sedona heard Hannah pause to speak to Ellen.
“Thank you,” Hannah said. “We’ll take care of everything now.”
“What will happen to her?” Ellen asked. She sounded even more uneasy.
“Don’t worry,” Hannah said. “We’ll take good care of her. She will get the medical treatment she requires to stabilize her, but I’m afraid her condition has deteriorated to such an extent that she will never be normal again. She will spend the rest of her life in a para-psych ward.”
“The family will pay for the best care,” Ellen said quickly.
“That won’t be necessary. She is the Guild’s responsibility. Miss Snow’s family will be free to visit her, of course, but please don’t expect a full recovery. That is no longer possible, according to Dr. Blankenship.”
“I understand,” Ellen said. “Please go. I must consider what to say when Robert and that . . . that Guild boss boyfriend of Sedona’s start asking questions.”
“There will be no need for explanations,” Hannah assured her. “I am going to give you an injection of a hypnotic drug, one that will induce amnesia. You will not be able to recall anything that happened in this room tonight. You won’t remember me or my associate. You may remember your meeting with Dr. Blankenship yesterday but that won’t be a problem.”
“No,” Ellen gasped. “Stop. You can’t do this to me. I’m a Snow.”
Sedona caught a murky, dreamlike glimpse of what proved to be a very brief struggle. Hannah clamped a hand over Ellen’s mouth and used a syringe to inject some substance into the back of Ellen’s shoulder near the neck.
Ellen fluttered and then went limp.
Buzzkill paused. “Everything under control?”
“Yes. Hang on, I want to check her for live amber.”
Hannah yanked the earrings out of Sedona’s ears, stripped off the amber-studded heels, and tossed them onto the floor alongside the clutch purse.
She reached for the pendant around Sedona’s neck. “This doesn’t look like regular amber but better to be safe than sorry.”
Hannah ripped off the necklace and dropped it on the library floor.
The door of the library opened. Sedona tried to cry out again for help. Then she caught a glimpse of the new arrival.
“What’s going on?” Gwen asked. “Where are you taking Aunt Sedona?”
“I’ll handle this,” Hannah said.
She grabbed Gwen and clamped a hand over her mouth.
“No,” Sedona managed to croak. “Don’t hurt her.”
Hannah paid no attention.
“Go,” she ordered. “I’ll bring the girl. She may prove useful.”
Buzzkill went up the spiral steps with Sedona.
She tried to hold off the darkness but it was no use. The old dreams closed in on her like sharks scenting blood in the water.