did not throw herself into his arms, either. When he raised his head and looked at her, he saw the deep shadows in her eyes. He could read the signs. She wanted him but she did not trust him, at least not in the way she needed to trust a man before she went to bed with him.
He lowered his hand. She was right to be cautious around him—more right than she could possibly know.
She stepped back, folded her arms, and slipped her hands into the sleeves of her robe.
“I’m going upstairs now,” she said, exquisitely polite. “Please de-rez the light when you go back to bed.”
She swept out of the kitchen, the hem of her robe whipping around her ankles. He listened to her light footsteps on the stairs. She was practically running from him.
He de-rezzed the kitchen light and went back to the sofa. He did not lie down. Instead he sat there for a time, watching the glowing embers in the fireplace and wondering why a woman who could access the latent energy of almost any kind of stone would flee the Preserve with a handful of crystals that had no obvious value.
When that line of thought didnot lead anywhere helpful, he abandoned the effort and concentrated on the mystery of Rachel Blake, instead. He didn’t make any progress in that direction but he discovered that he could sit there, gazing into the fire and thinking about Rachel for the rest of the night.
Which was pretty much what he did.
Chapter 4
They called him the Merchant on the streets of Frequency City. He specialized in the high-end black market. It was said that, for a price, he could get you anything you wanted.
At that moment, however, hecould not get what he wanted most for himself. Time was running out. Everything had gone wrong. The frustration and rage were building.
He picked up the sledgehammer and slammed it against the frozen waterfall. Aside from the jarring jolt to his shoulder, nothing happened. The blow did not take so much as a chip out of the door of the big crystal vault.
“Shit.”
Frustration and fury roared through him. He dropped the hammer and stared into the transparent chamber. He was so damn close.
The crystal vault extendedfrom one side of the cavern wall to the opposite side and from the floor to the ceiling. It blocked the entire passage. Cascades of solid rainstone sealed both ends.
He could see the treasures inside—the artifacts of ancient Alien technology were worth a fortune on the black market. But nothing he had tried could smash through the doors of the chamber. The crystal walls had proved equally impenetrable. The transparent stone was as hard as the green quartz that the Aliens had used to build their cities and the catacombs. Nothing made by humans could put a dent in it.
He made a fist and pounded it against the rainstone. He only did it once.
“
Shit.
”
Grimacing from the pain, he turned and went back through the psi-lit cavern and into the crystal tunnel through the artificial sea.
The sea monsters that swam and crawled through the depths watched him with their cold, unblinking eyes. Their tentacles writhed and their fins rippled in the currents. The Merchant ignored them.
There was only one person who had the talent to open the vault doors. Things had gone wrong the last time, but Rachel Blake was once again back within reach. Unfortunately, there was a new twist. Harry Sebastian, the man in charge of security inside the Preserve, was now on the island. It was no secret in town that he was conducting a full-scale investigation.
But that was not the worst of it. The real problem was that Sebastian had obviously sensed that Rachel was the key. He had closed in on her with a hunter’s intuition almost immediately after he had arrived.
The Merchant’s frustrationthreatened to swamp his logic. He forced himself to step back emotionally and think like the smart guy he was. One thing was clear: To get to Rachel, he would first have to get rid of Harry Sebastian.
Chapter 5
The bell over the door of
He lowered his hand. She was right to be cautious around him—more right than she could possibly know.
She stepped back, folded her arms, and slipped her hands into the sleeves of her robe.
“I’m going upstairs now,” she said, exquisitely polite. “Please de-rez the light when you go back to bed.”
She swept out of the kitchen, the hem of her robe whipping around her ankles. He listened to her light footsteps on the stairs. She was practically running from him.
He de-rezzed the kitchen light and went back to the sofa. He did not lie down. Instead he sat there for a time, watching the glowing embers in the fireplace and wondering why a woman who could access the latent energy of almost any kind of stone would flee the Preserve with a handful of crystals that had no obvious value.
When that line of thought didnot lead anywhere helpful, he abandoned the effort and concentrated on the mystery of Rachel Blake, instead. He didn’t make any progress in that direction but he discovered that he could sit there, gazing into the fire and thinking about Rachel for the rest of the night.
Which was pretty much what he did.
Chapter 4
They called him the Merchant on the streets of Frequency City. He specialized in the high-end black market. It was said that, for a price, he could get you anything you wanted.
At that moment, however, hecould not get what he wanted most for himself. Time was running out. Everything had gone wrong. The frustration and rage were building.
He picked up the sledgehammer and slammed it against the frozen waterfall. Aside from the jarring jolt to his shoulder, nothing happened. The blow did not take so much as a chip out of the door of the big crystal vault.
“Shit.”
Frustration and fury roared through him. He dropped the hammer and stared into the transparent chamber. He was so damn close.
The crystal vault extendedfrom one side of the cavern wall to the opposite side and from the floor to the ceiling. It blocked the entire passage. Cascades of solid rainstone sealed both ends.
He could see the treasures inside—the artifacts of ancient Alien technology were worth a fortune on the black market. But nothing he had tried could smash through the doors of the chamber. The crystal walls had proved equally impenetrable. The transparent stone was as hard as the green quartz that the Aliens had used to build their cities and the catacombs. Nothing made by humans could put a dent in it.
He made a fist and pounded it against the rainstone. He only did it once.
“
Shit.
”
Grimacing from the pain, he turned and went back through the psi-lit cavern and into the crystal tunnel through the artificial sea.
The sea monsters that swam and crawled through the depths watched him with their cold, unblinking eyes. Their tentacles writhed and their fins rippled in the currents. The Merchant ignored them.
There was only one person who had the talent to open the vault doors. Things had gone wrong the last time, but Rachel Blake was once again back within reach. Unfortunately, there was a new twist. Harry Sebastian, the man in charge of security inside the Preserve, was now on the island. It was no secret in town that he was conducting a full-scale investigation.
But that was not the worst of it. The real problem was that Sebastian had obviously sensed that Rachel was the key. He had closed in on her with a hunter’s intuition almost immediately after he had arrived.
The Merchant’s frustrationthreatened to swamp his logic. He forced himself to step back emotionally and think like the smart guy he was. One thing was clear: To get to Rachel, he would first have to get rid of Harry Sebastian.
Chapter 5
The bell over the door of
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