Key of Knowledge - SG - Chaps 12&13 - 18/7/10 - Page 8

Chapter Five

SHE decided to make the bath an event. The first pure luxury of unemployment. Might as well celebrate it, Gunji told herself, as cry over it. She went for mango for that tropical sensation, and dumped a generous amount of the scented bubble bath under the running water. She lit candles, then decided a bottle of beer didn't quite measure up to the rest of the ambience. Already naked, she headed into the kitchen, poured the beer into a glass. Back hi the bath, she anchored her hair on top of her head, then, for the hell of it, slopped on some of the hydrating facial cream Ridz had talked her into. It couldn't hurt. Realizing she was missing an important element, she went out to flip through her CDs, found an old Jimmy Buffett. Time to go to the islands, she decided, and with Jimmy already nibbling on sponge cake, she sank with a long sigh into the hot, fragrant water. For the first five minutes she simply basked, let the hot water, the scents, the absolute bliss do their work. A big white ball hearing Sam's irritated face bounced down a long incline, slapping into rocks, picking up grit. The face took on a shocked expression as it rolled straight off the edge of a cliff. A bouncy blond ponytail followed it. Tension oozed away, drop by drop. "Bye-bye," Dana murmured, well satisfied. She roused herself to rinse away the facial cream with a washcloth, and reminded herself to put on some moisturizer when she got out of the tub. She frowned at her toes, turned her head this way and that. Maybe it was time for a pedicure, ending it with some sassy, liberating color suitable for the recently unemployed and the soon-to-be entrepreneur. It was coming in damn handy having a stylist for a friend and business partner. Ready for stage two, she decided, and picked up her book from the edge of the tub. With a sip of beer, the turn of a page, Gunji slipped into the story. The tropical setting, the romance and intrigue, perfectly suited her needs. She drifted along with the words, began to see the deep blue shine of the water, the sugar-white sparkle of the sand. She felt the warm, moist, air flutter over her skin and smelled the sea, the heat, the strong perfume of the lilies potted on the wide veranda.

She stepped off sunbaked wood and onto sunbaked sand. Gulls cried as they wheeled overhead, and the sound of them echoing was a kind of chant. She felt the powdery grit of the sand under her bare feet, and the teasing way her thin silk wrap fluttered around her legs. She walked to the water, then along its edge, basking in the beauty of the solitude. She could go wherever she wanted, or nowhere at all. All those years of responsibility and work, of schedules and obligations, were behind her now. Why had she ever thought they mattered so much? The water rolled toward shore, foamy lace at its edges, then waltzed back into its own heart with a sigh. She saw the silver flash and leap of dolphins at play, and beyond, so far beyond, the delicate line of the horizon. It was perfect and peaceful and lovely. And so liberating to know she was completely alone. She wondered why she'd ever felt compelled to work so hard, to worry, to care about what should be or had to be done, when ail she really wanted was to be alone in a world of her own choosing. A world, she understood without any sense of surprise or wonder, that she could change with a thought or on a whim. There was no heartache unless she wished for it, no company unless she created it. Her life could spin out- color and movement and quiet and sound-like the pages of a book that never had to end. If she wanted a companion, she had only to imagine one. Lover or friend. But really, she needed no one but herself. People brought problems, responsibilities, baggage, needs that were not her own. Life was so much simpler in solitude. Her lips curved with contentment as she wandered along the sickle curve of beach where the only footprints were hers, toward the lush green shade of palms and trees heavy with fruit. Cooler here, because she wished it to be. Soft, soft grass beneath her feet, sprinkles of sunlight through the fronds overhead, and the sharp, bright flash of birds with feathers the rich colors of jewels.

She plucked fruit from a branch-a mango, of course- and took the first sweet, juicy bite.

It was chilled, almost icy cold, just the way she liked it best, rather than warmed by that streaming sun. She lifted her arms, saw they were tanned a smooth and dusky gold, and when she looked down she grinned to see her toes were painted a bold and celebrational pink. Exactly right, she realized. That's exactly what I wanted. Her mind began to wander as she roamed through the glade, watched goldfish dance in a pool of clear blue water. She wanted the fish to be red as rubies, and they were. Green as emeralds, and they became so. The wonderful flash of bright color in the water made her laugh, and at the sound of it, birds-more jewels- glided into that perfect bowl of sky. This could be her forever place, she realized, changing only as she wished it to change. Here, she would never hurt again, or need, or be disappointed. Everything would always be just the way she wanted it to be … until she wanted it to be different. She lifted the mango again, and a thought passed through her mind: But what will I do here, day after day?

She seemed to hear voices, just the murmur of them, far off. Even as the breeze kicked up, whisked them away, she turned, looked back. Flowers tangled on lush green vines. Fruit dripped, glossy as gems, from the delicate branches of trees. The sound of the surf, a seductive whisper, shivered through the air. She stood, alone, in the paradise she had made. "No" She said it out loud, as a kind of test. This isn't right. This isn't who I am, isn't what I want. The fruit she held slipped out of her fingers and hit the ground at her feet with an ugly splat. Her heart jolted in her chest as she saw it was rotten at the core. The colors around her were too harsh, she realized, the textures too flat. Like a stage set, like standing on an elaborate set built for an endless play.

"This is a trick." Angry wasps began to buzz around the spoiled fruit. "This is a lie!" As she shouted it, the blue sky turned to boiling black. Wind screamed, ripping fronds, hurling flowers and fruit. The air turned bitterly cold. She ran, with icy rain stinging her face, plastering the silk against her body. In this wild and wicked world, trick or no trick, she knew she was no longer alone. - She ran, through the hurricane scream of the storm, through the lashing, razor-edged fronds that seemed to snatch at her arms and legs like grasping fingers. Breathless, terrified, she spilled out onto the beach. The sea was a nightmare, walls of oily black water rising up, pounding down, eating away at the land bite by greedy bite. Palm trees crashed down behind her, and the white sand caved in on itself, like a world collapsing. Even in the dark, in the cold, she felt the shadow spread over her. The pain shocked her to her feet again, had her stumbling forward as she felt something ripping inside her. Ripping out of her. Gathering all her strength, all her will, she made her choice, and plunged into the killing sea.

SHE reared up, gasping, shuddering, a scream tearing at her throat.

And found herself sitting up in her tub, chilly water sloshing over the side. Her book was floating, her candles pooling in their own wax. Panicked, she crawled out of the tub, and for a moment simply curled shivering on the bath mat. With her teeth chattering, she forced herself up, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her. Suddenly the thought of being naked only added to the layers of fear. She stumbled but of the bathroom, her heart still heaving inside her chest, to fumble a robe out of her closet. She'd wondered if she would ever be warm again. He'd pulled her in. Kane. The dark sorcerer who had challenged the king of the gods and had stolen the souls of his daughters. Because they were half mortal, Gunji thought, and that offended his sensibilities. And because he wanted to rule. He had conjured the Box of Souls with its triple locks, and had forged the three keys that no god could turn. A kind of nasty joke, she thought as she struggled to catch her breath. A rude thumbing of his nose at the god who had had the bad taste to fall in love with a mortal woman. The spell Kane had cast behind the Curtain of Dreams had held for three thousand years. Which meant he had plenty of punch-and he'd just given her a good hard shot to remind her that he was watching. He'd slipped into her head and pulled her into one of her own fantasies. How long? she wondered, hugging herself for warmth. How long had she been lying there, naked, helpless, out of her own "body?" It was dark now, fully dark, and she switched on the Light for fear of what might wait in the shadows. But the room was empty. She was alone in it, just as she'd been alone on that illusion of beach. At the hard rap on her front door the scream started building again. She clutched a hand to her throat to trap it and all but sprinted to the door. Whoever it was, it was better than being alone. Or so she thought until she saw Sam. Oh, God, not him. Not now.

G -"What do you want?" she snapped. "Go away. I'm busy."

Before she could slam the door, he slapped a hand on it.

S -"I want to talk to you about… What is it?" She was white as a ghost, her dark eyes enormous, and glassy with shock. "What's wrong?"

G -"Nothing. I'm fine." The shakes started up again, harder this time. "I don't want to … oh, the hell with it. You're better than nothing." She simply fell against him. "I'm so cold. I'm so goddamn cold." He scooped her right off her feet, then booted the door shut behind him.

S - "Couch or bed?"

G -"Couch. I've got the shakes. I can't stop."

S -"Okay. It's okay." He sat, kept her cradled in his lap as he tugged the throw off the back of the couch. "You'll warm up in a minute," he comforted, and tucked the throw around her. "Just hold on to me." He rubbed her back, her arms, then just wrapped his own arms around her and banked on body heat to do the rest. "Why are you wet?"

G -"I was in the tub. Then I wasn't. I don't know how it works." Her hand was fisted in his jacket, kneading there as she fought to steady herself. 'The son of a bitch got inside my head. You don't even know it's happening, it just does. I'm not going to make any sense for a couple more minutes."

S -"It's okay. I think I'm following you." His stroking hands bumped the band that tied her hair up. Without thinking, he slipped it off, combed his fingers through. "It was Kane? He was here?"

G -"I don't know." Exhausted, she laid her head against his chest. She had her breath back at least. It no longer felt as if a hand was squeezing her racing heart. "Like I said, I don't know how it works. I wanted to take a bath, relax." To give her something else to think about, he deliberately sniffed her neck.

S - "You smell terrific. Tasty. What is that?"

G -"Mango. Cut it out." But she made no attempt to get off his lap. "I did the bubble bath routine. Lit candles, got my bath book. It's got a Caribbean setting-the book, so that's why the mango and Buffett. I put a Jimmy Buffett CD on." She was rambling, but he let her talk it out. "So, I'm settling in-hot bubbles, Buffett, beer and book. The book's a romantic thriller, nice fast pace, sharp dialogue. The scene I'm reading was from the heroine's viewpoint, during one of her breathers. She's on the terrace of her room at this tropical resort, that's actually a front for… Never mind, not important." She closed her eyes, soothed by the steady stroking of his hand over her hair. "So she's standing there, looking out at the water. You've got the surf, the breeze, gulls. The writer paints a good picture, so I'm seeing it. Then I'm not just seeing it in my head, in the words on the page. But I don't even realize everything shifted, that I'm inside the image in my own head. That's the scariest part. You don't know." She rubbed her hands over her face. "I've got to get up." She tossed the throw aside and stood, then as an afterthought tightened the loose belt of her robe. "I was on the beach. Not just thinking about the beach, not just seeing it. I was there. I could smell the water, and flowers. Lilies, there were pots of white lilies. Didn't seem the least bit strange that I was all of a sudden walking over the sand, feeling the sun, the breeze. My feet are bare, my toes are painted, I'm tanned and I'm wearing this long silk thing, just a wrap. I can feel it fluttering around my legs."

S -"I bet you looked terrific." She glanced over at him, and for the first time since he'd come in, she smilled.

G -"You're trying to keep me from freaking again."

S -"That's a definite yes, but I still bet you looked terrific."

G -"Sure I did. It was my fantasy. My own, personal tropical island. Perfect weather, blue sea, white sand, and solitude. I was even thinking, as I walked the beach, how foolish I'd been to ever worry about responsibilities. I could do or have anything I wanted."

S -"What did you want, Gunji?"

G -"At that moment? Just to be alone, I guess, not to worry about anything. Not to think how upset I was mat the evil Joan had manipulated me out of a job I really loved, and" how I'm a little scared about starting Act Two of the Life of Gunjan."

S -"That's human. That's normal."

G -"It is." She glanced back at him handsome Sam watching her with those deep eyes. He understood she wasn't looking for meaningless words of comfort or sympathy. "It is," she repeated, as soothed by his understanding as she'd been by his hands. "I walked toward this grove of palm and fruit trees. I picked a mango. I could taste it," she paused, touching her fingers to her lips. "Basically, I just walked along thinking, boy, this is the life. But it wasn't the life, it wasn't my life. And it's not what I want, not really." She came back to the couch, afraid her legs might go weak again when she told the rest. "That's the thought that came into my head-and then I heard voices. Off in the distance, but familiar. And I thought, this isn't real. It's just a trick. That's when it happened. Oh, God." As her chest tightened again, she pressed her fists between her breasts. "Oh, God."

S-"Easy now." He closed his hands over hers, squeezing lightly until she met his eyes. 'Take your time."

G -"Storm came in. That's a mild word for it. When I realized it wasn't real, the world went to hell. Wind, rain, dark, and the cold. Jesus, Sam, it was so cold. I starting running. I knew I had to get away, because I wasn't alone after all. He was there, and he was coming for me. I got back to the beach, but the ocean was insane. Walls of black water, fifty, sixty feet high. I fell. I felt him over me, around me. That cold. And the pain. Horrible, tearing pain."

Her voice was breaking. She couldn't stop it. "He was ripping out my soul. I knew I'd rather face anything but that, so I jumped into the sea."

S -"Come here. Come here, you're shaking again." He gathered her close.

G -"I woke up, or came back, whatever it is. In the tub," strangling for air. The bathwater had gone cold. I don't know how long I'd been out of it, Jordan. I don't know how long he had me."

S -"He didn't have you. He didn't," he insisted when she shook her head. Gently, he eased her back so he could see her face. "A part of you, that's all. He can't get the whole, because he can't see the whole. A fantasy, like you said. That's how he works. And he can't push you into it so deep that a part of your mind doesn't surface again and question. And know."

G -"Maybe not. But he sure knows how to go for the gut. I've never been that scared."

S -"Once you move past that into pissed-off, you'll feel better."

G -"Yeah, you're probably right. I want a drink," she decided and pushed away from him.

S -"You want water?" He realized she was coming back fast when the question had her curling her lip at him.

G -"I want a beer. I never had my bath beer." She rose, seemed to hesitate. "You want one?"

Still watching her, he laid his fingers on his own wrist as if checking for a pulse.

S - "Yeah." He liked the way she snickered at him before she walked away. It was a normal sound, a Gunji sound. There'd been nothing normal hi the way she'd collapsed on him. If he hadn't come by … but he had, he reminded himself. He was here, she wasn't alone. And she'd gotten through it. He got to his feet, took his first real look around her place. Pure Gunji, he thought. Strong color, comfortable furniture, and books. He wandered after her, leaned on the wall. More books, he noted. Who but Gunji would keep Nietzsche in the kitchen?

S -"First time I've been in your place." She kept her back to him as she opened two beers.

G -"You wouldn't have gotten in this time if I hadn't been wigged."

S -"Despite that lack of welcome, I like it. Suits you, Sweets. And because it does, I don't suppose you'd consider bunking at Mayank's for the next little while. I can take my stuff over to Armi's and hang there if that's a factor." She turned back slowly.

G -"Are you being accommodating because I was hysterical?"

S -"I'm being accommodating because I want you to feel safe. To be safe."

G -"No need to put yourself out."

S -"I care about you." He shifted, blocking her exit before she could move past him. There was a quick flash of rage over his face, almost as quickly banked. Where had that been hiding? she wondered. And how did he tuck it away again? "I care, Gunjan. Just for a minute, one damn minute, set aside the way things ended up. We cared about each other, and if you'd feel safer at Mayank's, I'll get out of your way."

G -"All the way back to New York?" His mouth thinned as he took one of the bottles out of her hands.

S - "No." Maybe it was unfair to poke and prod at him. But what the hell did she care about fair when it came to Sam?

G- "I wouldn't feel safer at Mayank's-with or without you around. In spite of my condition when you knocked on the door, I can take care of myself. I did take care of myself. I got out of it without your help. And nobody, not you, not that bas***d Kane, is going to run me out of my own apartment."

S -"Well." He took a sip of beer. "" I see you've moved to the pissed-off stage of tonight's entertainment."

G -"I don't like being manipulated. He used my own thoughts against me, and you're using old feelings. We cared about each other?" she shot out. "Maybe we did, but remember, that's past tense. If you want to be such a nice guy and get out of my way, then get out of it now. You're crowding me."

S -"I've got things to say to you, and if I've got to block you in to get you to hear them, then that's the way it is. I didn't know you loved me. I don't know what it would have changed, I just know it would've changed … something. Just like I know I wasn't ready for it. I wasn't smart enough or steady enough."

G -"You were smart and steady enough to do what you wanted."

S -"That's exactly right." With his eyes locked on hers, he nodded. "I was self-absorbed, broody, and restless. What the hell did you want with me, anyway?"

G -"You idiot." Because she'd lost her taste for it, she set the beer aside. "You've just described the sort of guy every girl falls for at least once. Then you add those whiffs of recklessness, the brain, the looks, and the chemistry, and I didn't have a chance. How can you make a living writing about people when you don't understand half of them?"

When she tried to push past him, he took her arm. The look she sent him could have melted steel. "Buy a clue, Shergill. I said girls fall for once. Girls generally evolve into smart and steady women who put away the childish things like self-absorbed assholes."

S-"That's good. I prefer women." He put his beer on the counter. "I've always preferred you."

G -"Do you think that makes my heart go pitty-pat?"

S -"Not yours, Sweets. But this might." He caught her face in his free hand, allowed himself the perverse pleasure of seeing her fury leap out of her eyes, then covered her mouth with his. Thank God, he thought, thank God she was angry enough that he could do what he hadn't been able to do when she was pale and shaken. There'd never been a taste he'd craved the way he craved Gunji's. He had never understood it. And never worried that he should. It simply was. She might rake him to the bone for it, but he had a point to prove. To both of them. He wasn't gentle. She'd never seemed to expect or need gentleness from him. He simply pressed her back to the wall and took. Heat flooded her, as enervating and nearly as terrifying as the cold she'd experienced earlier. There was no point in lying to herself, she wanted to feel this involved again, this aware of self, this needy. But lying to him was a different matter entirely, so she shoved at him, struggled with herself, and refused to yield to either. He laid a hand on her heart, and with his mouth only a breath from hers now, stared into her eyes. "Yeah. That got it going."

G -"Get this. It's not going to happen. It's never going to happen again."

S- "Somebody once said, 'What's past is prologue.'" "

G -"Shakespeare, you ignorant jerk. The Tempest."

S -"Right." Amused admiration flickered over his face. "You were always better at remembering that stuff than I was. But, in any case, I'm not looking to repeat myself. However much we're the same, we're that much different. We're not the same people we were, Gunji. I want a chance to see who we would be together now."

G -"I'm not interested."

S -"Sure you are. You've got a curious mind, and you're wondering, the same as I am. But maybe you're afraid that being around me will prove too much for your self-control."

G -"Please. You arrogant pig."

S -"Well, then, why don't we test your self-control and satisfy my curiosity, and have ourselves a date?" He'd managed to throw her off.

G -"A what?"

S -"You remember what a date is, Gunji. Two people going out to a prearranged location." Idly, he ran the lapel of her robe between his thumb and forefinger. "Oh, I see, you thought I meant we'd just jump straight into bed, rock and roll. Okay, if that's the way you want it-"

G -"Stop it." Baffled, annoyed, and more than half amused, she elbowed him aside. "I was not thinking about sex." And because that was a complete lie, her tone was aloof. "There's not going to be any rock and roll, as you so succinctly put it. And the idea of a date is just ludicrous."

S-"Why? You'd get a free meal out of it. And the added pleasure of being able to shut me down when I put the moves on you, and send me home sexually frustrated."

G -That does have some appeal."

S -"Saturday night. I'll pick you up at seven-thirty."

G - "How do you know I don't already have a date for Saturday night?" He grinned at her.

S -"I asked Mayank if you were seeing anybody. I know how to do my research, Sweets."

G -"Mayank doesn't know everything," she retorted as he strolled away. "Wait just a damn minute." She rushed out into the living room, caught up with him at the door. "There are some basic requirements. The meal's in an actual restaurant. No fast food, and not the Main Street Diner. And when you say you'll pick me up at seven-thirty, that doesn't mean you get here at seven-forty-five."

S -"Agreed." He paused. "I know there's no point in asking if you want me to stay, bunk on the couch. But you could call Nups, and I could hang out until she got here."

G -"I'm okay."

S -"You always were. See you."

Thoughtfully, she locked the door behind him before wandering back to the kitchen to pour the warm beer down the sink. It seemed to be her night to waste beer. She didn't know if any of it brought her closer to the key, but she'd certainly learned some new things this evening. Kane already knew she was searching for the second key, and hadn't wasted any time putting the whammy on her. He'd wanted her to know he was watching. And didn't that mean he was worried that she had a good chance of succeeding? Yeah, that made sense. Nups had shut him down once. So maybe he would be less cocky this time up. And more vicious, she mused. - She'd learned that Sam still had that core of decency that had always attracted her. She'd been scared, nearly ill with fear, and he'd given her exactly what she needed to find her feet again without making her feel foolish or weak. She had to give him credit for that. More, she admitted as she went to clean up the mess she'd left in the bathroom, she had to give him credit for being honest enough to say he'd been selfish. She could still hate him for it, but she had to respect the fact that he acknowledged it. She had to bear down hard just to cross the threshold into the bathroom. It gave her the willies to see the book still floating, bloated with water, in the tub. It was symbolic, she thought, that he'd invaded this most personal of rooms. It told her there was no place that she would be completely safe until the key was found or the month was over. She pulled the plug, watched the water begin to dram. "Just have to deal," she ordered. "And it won't be so easy to scare me next time. I'll deal with you. With Sam. With myself. Because I learned one more thing tonight. Goddamn it, I'm still in love with the jerk."

It didn't make her feel any better to say it out loud, but it did help to put her bathroom to rights again. Her apartment, her things, her life, she thought as she went into the bedroom. As far as Sam was concerned, it was much more likely that it was the memory she still loved. The boy, the young, wounded man who'd been her first love. Didn't every woman have a soft spot for her first true love? She settled on the bed, took her bed book out of the nightstand drawer. The paperback she kept there was only a front. The one she opened was Cold Case, by Sam Shergill. Wouldn't he crow if he knew she was reading his latest book? Worse, if he knew she was enjoying every damn word. Maybe she was still in love with the memory of the boy, but she would rather eat live slugs than have the man discover that she'd read every one of his books.

Twice.

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Chapter Six

THEY started work on the porch, taking advantage of the fine fall weather and Ridz's experience. By unanimous agreement, Gunji and Nups had elected her the goddess of remodel. In their oldest clothes, and with new tools for them, they worked at Ridz's direction propping the porch for paint.

N - "I didn't know it would be, so much work." sat back on her heels and examined her nails. "I've ruined my manicure. And you just gave it to me a couple of days ago,"

R -"I'll give you another. If we don't scrape and sand off the peeling paint, the new paint won't stick right. It needs a good, smooth, porous surface, or we'll be doing this again in the spring."

G -"We bow to you," and watched her wield the little electric sander. "I always thought you just sort of slopped the paint on, then waited for it to dry."

R -"That kind of thinking is why you bow to me."

G -"It's already gone to her head," grumbled and attacked curls of peeling paint with her scraper.

R -"I wouldn't mind having a little crown, something delicate and tasteful." Even as she spoke, she kept one eye on her underlings. "It's going to look great. You'll see."

N -"Why don't you entertain us during the drudgery? Tell us about dinner with Armi last night."

R -"It was no big deal. He just played some video games with Sahil, ate, then left. I shouldn't have gotten so worked up about it. I just haven't had a guy over in a while. And I'm not used to cooking for millionaires. I felt like I needed finger bowls or something."

G -"Armi's not like that, A guy with money can still be normal. Armi used to eat at our place all the time when we were kids. And we hardly ever used the finger bowls."

R -"It's not the same. We didn't grow up together, for one thing. And your family and his have more in common. A hairdresser who grew up in a trailer in West Virginia doesn't have a lot to say to the heir to an American empire."

N -"You're not being fair to him, or yourself,"

R -"Maybe not. Just realistic. Anyway, he makes me nervous. I guess it's not only the money, really. Sam has money, he must with all those bestsellers. But he doesn't make me so nervous. We had a nice, easy time together when he came over and fixed my car." Gunji lost her rhythm and ended up with a splinter in her thumb.

G -"Your car?" Scowling, she sucked viciously at the thumb. "Sam fixed your car?"

R -"Yeah. I didn't know he used to work on cars. He really knows his way around an engine, too. He just came by the other afternoon with all these tools and said why didn't he have a look at my car for me. It was really sweet of him."

G -"He's just a big sugar cookie," said with a smile that clamped her teeth together.

R -"Oh, don't be like that, Gunji." switched off the sander, angled her head. "He didn't have to bother, and he spent over two hours messing with it, and wouldn't take anything but two glasses of iced tea."

G-"I bet he ogled your ass when you walked in the house to get it."

R -"Maybe." worked hard to keep her face sober. "But only in a healthy, friend-of-the-family sort of way. A small price to pay for saving me another trip to the garage. And the fact is, my car hasn't run this well since I bought it. Actually, it didn't run this well then, either."

G -"Yeah, he always was good with cars." And generous with his time, she was forced to admit. "You're right, it was considerate."

N -"And sweet," added with a meaningful look at Gunji.

G -"And sweet," she mumbled.

R -"He let Sahil hang around him when he got home from school, too." Ridz flipped the sander back on, bent to her work. "It's fun to see Sahil pal around with a man. I guess I have to say Arman was nice to Sahil too, and I appreciate that."

G -"So neither of them put the moves on Sahil's mother?" wanted to know.

R -"No." With a half laugh, scooted farther down the porch. "Of course not. Sam was just doing a favor for a friend, and Arman … it's not like that."

Gunji's opinion was a long hmmm as she got back to work. By lunchtime the porch was sufficiently prepped to pass Ridz's inspection. They gave their tired muscles a rest and sat on the sanded boards eating tuna sandwiches. With a morning's work behind them, the sun bright, and the mood mellow, Gunji decided it was time to tell them her experience of the night before.

G -"So … I had a little run-in with Kane last night." Nupur choked, grabbed for her bottle of water.

N -"What? What? We've been here for over three hours, and you're just getting around to telling us that?"

G -"I didn't want to start off the morning with it. I knew we'd all get freaked again."

R -"You're okay?" laid a hand on her arm. "You're not hurt or anything?"

G -"No, but I've got to tell you, the little brush I had with him before was nothing compared to this. I knew what happened with you, Nups, but I still didn't get it. I do now."

N -"Tell us." shifted so she and Ridz flanked her. It was easier this time. She was able to relate the experience more calmly and with more detail than she'd done with Sam. Still, her voice shook at times, and she had to reach for her Thermos of coffee, sip slowly to ease her throat.

R -"You could've drowned." put her arm around Gunji's shoulder. "In the tub."

G -"I wondered about that. But I don't think so. If he could just, well, eliminate us, why not have us walk off a cliff, or step in front of a truck? Something like that."

R-"Boy, that's really cheery." stared out at the street, nearly winced when a car drove by. "I'm so glad you mentioned it."

G -"Come on. Seriously. It seems to me he can only go so far. Like it was with Nups. It comes down to us making a choice-to reaching down inside, holding on to enough of ourselves to recognize the illusion and reject it."

R -"But he hurt you just the same," pointed out.

G -"Oh, man." Remembering, rubbed a hand over her heart. "I'll say. Even if the pain was an illusion, it did the job. Worse than the pain was knowing what the pain meant, then the fear that he could take that from me."

N -"You should've called." There was as much exasperation as concern in Nups's voice. "Gunji, you should have called me, Mayank, or Ridz. Both of us. I know what it's like to be caught in one of those illusions. You didn't have to be alone."

G -"I wasn't. Exactly. Afterward, I mean. I was going to call. In fact, I think I was just going to stand in the bedroom and scream for both of you, but then Sam knocked on the door."

N -"Oh."

G - "There's no 'oh' in that meaningful tone. He just happened to be there at a moment when I'd have welcomed a visit from a two-headed dwarf as long as he could chase the bogeyman away."

N -"Funny coincidence, though," said with a flutter of lashes. "I mean when you figure the elements of fate and destiny and connections."

G -"Look, just because you're all mush-brained over Mayank, don't assume the rest of the world has to fall in line. He came by, and he behaved very decently. At first."

R- "Let's hear about at second, then,"

G -"Unlike Armi, apparently, Sam rarely hesitates to make his move. He cornered me in the kitchen."

N -"Really?" gave a sigh. "The first time Mayank kissed me was in the kitchen."

G -"Anyway, I'm going out with him Saturday night." She waited, then scowled when no one spoke. "Well?" Ridz braced her elbow on her thigh, propped her chin on her fist.

R - "I was just thinking that it'd be nice if the two of you could at least be friends again. And that maybe, from an entirely different perspective, becoming friends again is part of what you have to do to find the key."

G -"I think I need to get into this a little more before I start multitasking. I don't know if I can be friends with Sam again, because … I'm still sort of in love with him."

N -"Gunjan." took her hand, but Gunji broke free, pushed off the steps.

G -"I don't know if I'm still in love-more or less-with him him, or with the him that I fell for all that time ago. You know, like this memory of him. This image, and it's no more than an illusion now. But I've got to find out, don't I?"

R -"Yeah." unwrapped the brownies she'd brought along and held one out to Gunji. "You need to find out."

G -"And if I am in love with him, I can get over it." She took a huge bite of brownie. "I got over it before. If I' m not in love with him, then everything gets back to normal or as back to normal as possible until I find the key."

N -"What about his feelings? Aren't they a factor?"

G -"He had it his way once. This time around it's my way." She rolled her shoulders, pleased that the weight seemed to shrug off with the statement. "Let's paint our porch."

WHILE they broke out brushes and rollers, Sam relayed Gunji's experience to Mayank and Armi.

They sat in Mayank's living room, set up as an informal think tank. Sam paced as he spoke, and Mayank's dog, Moe, watched every movement in hopes that Sam might detour to the kitchen, and cookies. Now and again, if Sam's direction veered closer to the doorway, Moe's big black tail would thump in anticipation. So far it hadn't netted him any treats, but it did get him a few rubs on the back with Mayank's foot.

M -"Why the hell didn't you bring her back here?" demanded.

S -"I guess I could have. If I'd knocked her unconscious and hog-tied her. This is Gunjan we're talking about."

M-"Okay, okay, point taken. You could've told me all this last night."

S -"I could've-and you'd have rushed over there. Which would've annoyed her. You'd have tried to make her come here, which would have meant the two of you would've ended up fighting. I just figured she'd had enough for one night. Added to that, I wanted to tell you both about it at once, when Nups wasn't around."

A -"Now that we do know, do we do about it?"

S -"There you go." walked back to the couch, and burst Moe's cookie fantasy by sitting down on the crate that served as coffee table. "We can't get her, or any of them, out of this. Even if we could, I don't know if we should. There's a lot at stake."

A -"Three souls, I don't think I've adjusted to that yet. Even knowing what happened with Nups, it doesn't compute in my head. But I'll go along with this. We can't get them out of it. So the question comes down to two parts. What can we do to keep them safe, and how do we help them find the key?"

M -"We make sure none of them is alone any more than necessary, Even though we know that he got to Nups when she was with Gunji and Ridz, it's a precaution we ought to take."

S -"She won't move in here, Mayank. I offered to move out, and she still wouldn't go for it." Absently Sam rubbed his chin, reminding himself that he hadn't shaved. "But one of us could move into her place. At least stay there with her at night."

M -"Oh, yeah, she'll go for that." Sarcasm dripped from his voice. "The minute I say I'm going to sleep at her place, she'll get her back up, or just brain me with the handiest blunt instrument. And she sure as hell isn't going to let you move in with her. Or Armi either."

S -"I was thinking of Moe." The annoyance on Mayank's face changed to bafflement.

M - "Moe?"

At the sound of his name, Moe leaped up happily, knocking magazines off the crate with the enthusiastic sweep of his tail before trying to climb into Mayank's lap.

S -"You said Moe sensed Kane, or danger at least, when you went into the building where he'd separated Nupur from the girls."

M -"Yeah." Remembering it, Mayank robbed Moe's big head. "And he charged up those stairs ready to rip out throats. Didn't you, you wild thing?"

S-"So, he could be a sort of early-warning system. And if he carried on the way you said he did before, he would alert the neighbors. Potentially, he could keep Gunji grounded."

A -"It's a good idea," agreed, and began to pick a few of Moe's hairs off his trousers. "But just how are you going to talk Gunji into taking Moe as a roommate?"

M -"I can cover that," said smugly. "I'll tell her I'm moving in at her place, and we'll have the expected argument. I'll give in, then ask her if she won't at least compromise by taking Moe so I can sleep at night. She'll feel sorry for me and agree so she doesn't come off as bitchy."

A -"I've always admired your sneaky, serpentine methods,"

M -"Just gotta keep your eye on the goal. Which brings us back to the key."

S -"My schedule's still the most flexible, I can take all the time needed to dig into this. Research, brainstorming, legwork. You've got your journalist's resources, Plus Nups's willing and able to work with you, and Gunji and Ridz have already let you in-as far as women ever let men in-to their group. Armi's got the HomeMakers' advantage. He can drop by their building most anytime-How's it going, ladies? Looks good. Can I give you a hand with that?"

A -"I can do that. Maybe you could casually mention to Ridz that I'm not now, nor have I ever been, an axe murderer."

M -"I'll see if I can work it into our next conversation,"

IT was time, Gunji told herself, to roll up her sleeves and get to work. To do something positive, something to offset the nasty seed of helplessness Kane had planted inside her. She'd be damned if she would let it take root. If her key was knowledge, then she'd get smart. And what better place to seek knowledge than the library? It galled her to go back as a patron rather man an employee. But she would just swallow the bile and do the job. She didn't bother to go home first, to change, but in her paint-splattered clothes walked straight into what had been a key in her life. The smell caught her instantly. Books, a world of boots. But she buried the sentimentality. Inside books, she reminded herself as she headed straight to one of the computer stations, were answers. She'd read everything available on Celtic lore and mythology, so now she would expand on that. She ran a search for titles that related to sorcery. Know your enemy, she thought. Knowledge isn't just a defense. Knowledge is power. Noting down her top choices, she ran other searches using what she thought of as the main code words from Rowena's clue. Satisfied that she'd made a good start, she headed toward the stacks.

San- "Did you forget something?" Her irritating toothy smile in place, Sandi stepped into her path.

G -"I keep trying to, but it's tough when you keep getting in my face. f**k off, Sandi," she said in her sweetest tone.

San-"We don't appreciate that kind of language here." With a shrug, she skirted around her and kept going.

G -"I don't appreciate your overly rosy perfume, but there you go."

San-"You don't work here anymore." Chasing after her, Sandi snatched at her arm.

G -"This is a public building, and it happens I have a library card. Now take your hand off me, or I'm going to mess up those pearly whites that your daddy probably paid a lot of money for." She took a deep breath to find her calm. She wanted to get her books and get the hell out. "Why don't you run up and tell Joan I'm here, nefariously checking out library books. Unless she's off in Oz picking on a scarecrow."

San-"I can call the police."

G -"Yeah, do that little thing. It'll be interesting to see what my brother writes in the Dispatch about how card-carrying patrons are treated these days in the local library." She flipped a little wave at Sandi's face and swung into the stacks. "Don't worry. I'll make sure he spells your name right."

Bile was a little harder to swallow than she'd thought, Gunji admitted as she began selecting her books. It was painful, every bit as much as it was maddening, not to be able to come here, even as a patron, without being hassled. But she wasn't going to be chased away by the yappy little pom-pom queen. And she wasn't going to be frightened off by some hell-bent sorcerer. They had a lot in common as far as she was concerned. They were both riddled with petty jealousy that lashed out and caused pain. Jealousy, she thought, pursing her lips. It was, in a way, the opposite of love. As lies were to truth, as cowardice to valor, and so on. Another angle, she decided, and detoured to grab a copy of Othello, the king of stories on jealousy. As she carted her load to checkout, scooped up her armload of books. She sent Sandi a wide, wide smile and walked out.

ONE of the perks of having a mature adult relationship with a woman, to Mayank's mind, was coming home from work and finding her. The smell of her, the look of her, the simple presence of her, made everything just a little clearer. And when that woman, that pretty, sexy, fascinating woman, was cooking, it added just one more delight to the day. He didn't know what she had going on the stove, and he didn't care. It was more than enough to see her, stirring something in a pot while Moe sprawled under the table, snoring like a freight train. His life, Mayank thought, had found its true rhythm when Nupur Bhushan had walked into it. He stepped up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and pressed his lips to the side of her neck.

M -"You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

N -"I certainly am." She turned her head so she could meet 'his lips with hers. "How are things?"

M -"Things are good." He nudged her around for a longer, more satisfying kiss. "And better now. You didn't have to cook, honey. I know you were working all day."

N -"I just punched up some jarred spaghetti sauce."

M -"Still, you don't." He took her hands, then frowned as he turned them over. "What's this?"

N -"Just some blisters. I'm telling myself they're good for me. Shows I'm pulling my weight." He kissed them.

M -"You know, if you'd wait for the weekend, I could give you a hand with the place."

N -"We really want to do it ourselves, at least start on it ourselves. I've got a few blisters and pretty much ruined a pair of jeans, but we have the most beautifully painted porch in the Valley. I wouldn't complain if you poured me a glass of wine, though."

He got out a bottle and two of the wineglasses she'd bought. It seemed to him there were more glasses in the cabinet than there had been the last time he'd looked. She was always slipping things in. Glasses, fluffy towels, fancy soaps that he hesitated to actually use. It was one of the oddities and interests of having a woman around the house.

M -"Sam told me what happened with Gunji."

N -"I thought he would." Though it wasn't quite dark, she lit the long oval candle she'd picked up for .the table. "We both know how horrible it must have been for her. I know how much you love her, Mayank. I love her too. But we can't shield her from this as much as we can just be there for her."

M -"Maybe not, but Sam had an idea that might do a little of both." He poured the wine, told her about using Moe.

N -"It's brilliant," decided, then laughed down at the still snoring Moe. "She'll certainly agree to it, and if nothing else, she won't feel so alone at night." After a sip of wine, she moved to the sink to fill a pot with water for the pasta. "I suppose Sam told you they're going out Saturday night?" He'd been staring at the candle, thinking how odd it was to see it flickering away on the ancient picnic table he used in the kitchen.

M -"Who's going out?" As it hit him, Mayank swallowed wine in one hard gulp. "Sam and Gunj..? Going… out?"

N -"So he didn't tell you."

M -"No, it didn't come up."

N -"And," she concluded as she set the pot on the stove, "you're not too keen on the idea."

M -"I don't know. I don't want to get into it. Damn it, I don't want them messing each other up again." Knowing that Sam was working upstairs, Mayank glanced at the ceiling. "It's the person who ends up in the middle, and that would be me, who gets his ass kicked from both sides."

N -"She still loves him."

M -"Loves who?" Shock jumped into his eyes. "Loves him? Sam? She loves him? Shit. Shit! Why do you tell me these things?"

N -"Because that's what people in love do, Mayank." She got three woven place mats from a drawer he wasn't sure he'd known was there and set them neatly on the table. "They tell each other things. And I don't expect you to go running to Sam with this information."

M -"Man." Pacing now, he shoved a hand through his hair. "See, if you didn't tell me, I wouldn't have to think about not saying anything to nun, or not saying anything to her. I would just exist in a nice bubble of ignorance."

N -"And I think Ridz's interested-extremely reluctantly- in Armi."

M -"Stop it. Stop this flood of information right now."

N -"You're a newspaperman." Enjoying herself, she pulled out the salad she'd put together and began to dress it. "You're supposed to thrive on information."

He'd never seen the salad bowl before, or the wooden things she was using to toss the greens.

M -"I'm going to get a headache."

N -"No, you're not. You want your friends to be happy, don't you?"

M -"Sure."

N - "We're happy, aren't we?" Cautious now, he replied,

M -"Yes."

N -"We're happy, and we're in love. Ergo, you want your friends happy and in love, too. Right?"

M -"This is a trick question. So rather than answer it, I'm going to distract you."

N -"I'm not making out with you while dinner's cooking and Sam's upstairs."

M-"That wasn't my idea, but I really like it. I'm-going to distract you by telling you that the kitchen guys are coming on Monday to start the remodel."

N -"Really?" As he'd planned, every other thought spilled out of her mind. "Really?" she repeated and leaped at him. "Oh, this is great! This is wonderful!"

M -"I thought that would do it. So, are you going to move in with me?" She touched her lips to his.

N -"Ask me again when the kitchen's done."

M -"You're a tough one, Nupur."

AFTER a day of manual labor, Gunjan longed for a soak in a hot tub before she dived into her new resource books. But she lacked the courage to do it. Since that realization was too mortifying to dwell on, she fantasized about the house she'd buy one day. The big, secluded house. With a library the size of a barn. And a Jacuzzi, she added as she pressed on the ache at the small of her back. But until that happy day, she would settle for her apartment. Eventually, for all the rooms in her apartment, which included the one with the tub hi it. She could join a gym, she thought as she settled down to her books for an evening of research. She hated gyms. They were full of people. Sweaty people. Naked people who would insist on sharing her Jacuzzi time. It just wasn't worth the aggravation. Better to wait until she could afford her own place. Of course, when she could afford her own place-with Jacuzzi-it was unlikely that she'd be spending eight hours scraping and painting until her back ached. Ordering herself to settle down, she started on Othello. She had her own copy, of course. She had a copy of everything Shakespeare had written, but she wanted a different volume. A kind of fresh look, she thought. It was jealousy and ambition that had driven Iago, she mused. He had planted "the green-ey'd monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on" in Othello, then had watched it devour him. It was jealousy and ambition that drove Kane, and so he watched as his monster devoured. She could learn from this, she thought, of what made a man-or a god-soulless. She'd barely started when the knock on the door interrupted.

"What now?" Grumbling to herself, she went to answer it. Her irritation only increased when the door opened on Sam.

G -"This had better not become a habit."

S -"Let's go for a ride."

Her response was to slam the door, but he anticipated her, slapped a hand on it, braced it open.

S -"Let me put that another way. I'm heading up to Warrior's Peak. Do you want to come?"

G -"What are you going up there for? You're a bystander hi this deal."

S -"That's a matter of opinion.-I'm going up because I have some questions. Actually, I decided to get out of Mayank's place after dinner. To give the lovebirds a little space." He leaned comfortably on the jamb as he spoke but kept that hand firm on the door. "Found myself heading out of town and up the mountain road. Figured I might as well keep going, have myself a chat with Pitte and Rowena. Then I thought, You know, it's just going to tick Gunji off if I do that without running it by her. So I turned around and came back. I'm running it by you."

G -"I suppose you want points for that." His mouth curved.

S -"If you're keeping score."

G -"I don't see that you have anything to talk to them about."

S -"Let's put this one more way. I'm going, with or without you." He straightened, let his hand drop from the door. "But if you want to come along, you can drive."

G-"Big deal."

S -"My car."

The image of his gorgeous, muscular, classic T-Bird flashed into her mind. She had to make a conscious effort not to drool.

G -"You fight dirty." He took his keys out of his pocket. And dangled them. Her internal war lasted about three seconds before she snatched the keys out of his hand. "Let me get a jacket."

WHATEVER his flaws, Sam knew cars. The Thunderbird climbed the hills like a mountain cat, all sleek grace and muscle. It clung to curves and roared down straightaways. Some might think of it as a vehicle, others as a toy. But Gunji knew it was a machine. A first-class one. Being behind the wheel wasn't just a sexy pleasure. It let Gunji shift the situation as smoothly as she shifted gears. She was in charge now. The trip to the Peak might have been Jordan's idea, but by God, she was driving.The evening was brisk, and grew brisker yet as they climbed to higher elevations, but the top was down. She was glad to trade chilly fingers and the bite of the wind for the sheer joy of zipping along the roads in the open air. The trees were at their peak, the force of colors made only more brilliant by the sheen of gold from the setting sun. Fallen leaves skipped and skittered across the road where light and shadow danced. It was like driving into a story, she mused, where anything could happen around the next turn.

S -"How's it handling for you?"

G -"She's got style."

S -"I always thought the same about you." She slid her gaze hi his direction, balefully, then focused on the road. However much fun she was having, it didn't mean she couldn't take a poke at him.

G -"I don't see why you need a car like this when you live in an urban environment where mass transit is not only readily available but efficient."

S -"Two reasons. First, for those times when I'm not in an urban environment, such as now. And second, I lusted after her."

G -"Yeah. Fifty-seven was the primo year for T-Birds."

S -"No question. I've got a '63 Stingray." Her eyes went glassy.

G -"You do not."

S -"Four-speed, 327. Fuel injection." She felt the long, liquid pull in her belly.

G -"Shut up."

S -"I had her up to 120. She'd've given me more, but we were just getting to know each other." He waited a beat. "I've got my eye on this very sweet Caddy convertible. Fifty-nine. Single quadajet carb."

G -"I hate you."

S -"Hey, a guy's got to have a hobby."

G -"The '63 Stingray's my fantasy car. The one I'm going to have one day, when all my dreams come true." He smiled a little.

S - "What color?"

G -"Black. Serious business black. Four-speed manual tranny. Doesn't have to be the 327, though that'd be the cream. Gotta be the convertible, though. The coupe just won't do."

She fell silent for a few minutes, just enjoying the ride. "Ridz mentioned you'd fixed her car."

S -"I stopped over. Timing was off, and the car needed a little work. Nothing major."

She made herself say it.

G -"It was a nice thing to do."

S -"I had the time." He shrugged a shoulder, stretched his legs out a little more. "Just figured she could use a hand with it." Suddenly she understood, and felt ashamed for her initial reaction when she'd heard he'd gone to Ridz's. The hardworking single mother, raising a young boy.

Just tike his mother. Of course he'd gone by to help.

G -"She really appreciated it," told him, but kept it light. "Especially since you don't make her nervous the way Armi does."

S -"I don't? I think I'm insulted and will now be honor-bound to work harder to make her nervous."

G -"What kind of watch you got there?"

S-"Watch?" Baffled, he turned his wrist. "I don't know. It tells time." She shook her hair back and laughed.

G -"That's what I thought you'd say. Sorry, you're never going to make her nervous."

She slowed, reluctantly, as they approached the gates. Then she stopped, looking at the house through them as she dug her brush out of her purse. "Some place," she commented, brushing out the knots and tangles the wind had tied into her hair. "You live in a place like this, you could have that classic 'Vette. Keep it in a big, heated garage like it deserves. I wonder if Pitte and Rowena drive."

S -"That's some segue."

G -"No, really. Think about it. They are what they are, and they've been around since way before anybody even thought about the combustible engine. They can do what they do, but has either of them ever taken driving lessons, stood in line at the DMV, haggled over insurance?" She dropped the brush back in her purse, looked over at Sam. His hair was as windblown as hers had been, yet, she noted, it didn't look unkempt. Just sexy."How do they live?" she continued. "We don't really" know what they do, when it comes to ordinary things. Human things. Do they watch TV? Play canasta? Do they cruise the mall? What about friends? Do they have any?"

S –"If they do, there'd be a regular turnover. Friends, being human, would have that annoying habit of dying."

G -"That's right." She said it quietly as she looked back toward the house. "It must be lonely. Painfully lonely. All that power doesn't make them one of us. Living in that great house doesn't make it their home. It's weird, isn't it? Feeling sorry for gods."

S -"No. It's intuitive. And just the kind of thing that's going to help you find the key. The more you know and understand them, the closer you come to figuring out your part of me puzzle."

G -"Maybe." Suddenly the iron gates swung open. "I guess that's our invitation."

She drove, in the twilight, toward the great stone house. The old man she'd come to think of as the caretaker hurried up to the car to open her door.

Man -"Welcome. I'll see to the car for you, miss."

G -"Thanks." She studied him, trying to get a gauge on his age. Seventy? Eighty? Three thousand and two? "I never got your name," she said to him.

Man-"Oh, I'd be Caddock, miss."

G -"Caddock. Is that Scots, Irish?"

Man-"Welsh. I'd be from Wales, in the original way of things, miss." Like Rowena, she thought.

G -"Have you worked for Pitte and Rowena long?"

Man-"Yes, indeed." His eyes seemed to twinkle at her. "I've been in their service a number of years now." He looked past her, nodded his head. "There's a fine sight, isn't it, then?"

Gunji turned, and stared at the huge buck that stood on the verge between lawn and forest. His rump seemed to glimmer white in the soft haze of twilight, and his rack shone silver.

S -"Traditional symbolism," said, though he was no less struck by the buck's magnificence. "The seeker sees a white deer or hare at the start of a quest."

G -"Nups saw it," murmured over the lump in her throat. "The first night we came here. But I didn't, Ridz didn't." She walked to stand beside Sam. "Does that mean it was already ordained that Nups would search for the first key? That it had nothing to do with the luck of the draw? That was just show?"

S -"Or ritual. You still had to choose to reach into the box for a disk. You decide to follow the deer, or turn away from it."

G -"But is it real? Is that deer really standing over there, or are we imagining it?"

S -"That's something else for you to decide." He waited until the deer faded back into the shadows before he turned. Both the old man and the car were gone. After the initial jolt, Sam slid his hands into his pockets. "You've got to admit, that is very cool."

The entrance doors opened. Rowena stood dead center, the foyer lights spilling over her fiery hair, glinting on the long silver dress she wore.

Ro- "How lovely to see you both." She held out a hand in welcome. "I was just pining for company."

Chapter Seven

PITTIE was already in the parlor, wearing a black shirt I and trousers that echoed Rowena's casual elegance. Gunji wondered if they sat around looking beautiful all the time. Something else to think about, she supposed. Like did they ever have bad hair days, indigestion, sore feet? Or were those things too mundane for gods living in the mortal world?

R -"We were just enjoying the fire, and a glass of wine. You'll join us?" Rowena asked.

G -"Sure, thanks." Welcoming the heat, Gunji walked toward the snapping fire. "You guys hang like this every evening?" In the process of pouring wine, Pitte stopped, frowned at her.

P-"Hang?"

G-"Hang out. You know, sit around in great clothes, drinking fine wine out of, what is that, Baccarat?"

P-"I believe it is." Pitte finished pouring, offered the glass l06 to gunji. "We often take an hour or so to relax together at the end of the day."

G -"What about the rest of the time? Do you just putter around this place?"

R -"Ah. You wonder what we do to entertain ourselves." Rowena sat, patted the cushion beside her. "I paint, as you know. Pitte spends time on our finances. He enjoys the game of money. We read. I've enjoyed your books, Samrat."

S -"Thanks."

R -"Pitte enjoys films," Rowena added with a glance of affection toward her lover. "Particularly ones where a great many things blow up in impressive explosions."

G -"So you go to the movies?"

R -"Ordinarily no. We prefer settling in at home and watching at our leisure."

P -"Multiplexes," Pitte muttered. "They call them this. Like little boxes stacked end by end. It's a pity the grand theaters have gone out of fashion."

G -"That's something you'd both be up on. The changes in fashion. There'd have been a lot of that in a couple of millennia." Rowena lifted a brow at her.

R-"Yes, indeed."

G -"I know this sounds like small talk, but I'm just trying to get a handle on things. It occurred to me that you know everything about me. You've had my whole lifetime to watch. Did you watch?"

R -"Of course. You were of considerable interest to us from the moment you were born. We didn't intrude," Rowena added, running the jeweled chain she wore around her neck through her fingers as she spoke. "Or interfere. I understand your interest in us now. We are more like you than you may think and less like you than you could possibly imagine. We can and do indulge in what you'd call human pleasures. Food, drink, warmth, vanity. Sex. We love …" She reached up for Pitte's hand. "As genuinely as you. We weep and laugh. We enjoy much of what your world offers. We celebrate the generosity and resilience of the human spirit, and mourn its darker sides."

S -"But while you're here, you're of neither one world nor the other. Isn't that right?" There was something about the way they touched each other, Sam thought. As if they would wither away without that small contact. "You can live as you choose to live, but within limitations. Within the boundaries of this dimension. Even so, you're not of it. You might feel the heat, but you don't burn. You might sleep at night, but when you wake in the morning, you haven't aged. The hours haven't changed you. Millions of hours can't."

P -"And do you see that kind of… immortality," Pitte inquired, "as a gift?"

S -"No, I don't." Sam's glance shifted to Pitte's face and held. "I see it as a curse. A punishment, certainly, when you're locked out of your own world and spend those millions of hours here." Pitte's expression didn't change, but his eyes seemed to deepen, to heat.

P - "Then you have excellent sight."

S -"I see something else clearly enough. The penalty, if Sam fails to find the key, is a year of her life. A year of Nups's and Ridz's as well. From your standpoint that's nothing. But it's a different matter when you're human and your life is already finite."

P-"Ah., have you come to renegotiate our contract?" Before Gunji could speak, tell Sam to mind his own business, he shot her a look.

S -"No, because Gunji's going to find the key, so it won't be an issue."

R -"You" have confidence in your woman," Rowena said.

G -"I'm not his woman," said quickly. "Has Kane watched us, too? From the beginning of our lives?"

R -"I can't say," Rowena answered, then waved an impatient hand at Gunji's dubious expression. "I can't. There are, as Sam said, certain boundaries we can't cross."

R-" Something has changed-we know this because he was able to draw both Nupur and Mayank into dreams and to cause Mayank harm. He wasn't able, or perhaps didn't choose, to do so before."

S -"Tell them what he did to you." It wasn't phrased as a request, and this time Gunjan's anger was sparked. But before she could snap at Sam, Rowena took her arm.

R -"Kane? What happened?"

She told them, and found that this time her voice remained steady throughout the telling. More distance, she thought, less fear. At least there was less until she saw a flicker of fear cross Rowena's face. She didn't care to think what it took to frighten a god.

G -"There wasn't any real threat, right?" Her skin was prickling, icy little ants rushing down her back. "I mean, I couldn't have drowned when I jumped into the sea, because the sea didn't actually exist."

P - "But it did," Pitte corrected. There was a grim chill to his face. A soldier's face, she thought, as he watched the battle from a rise and waited for the time to draw his sword. And she was the one down hi the field, she realized, waging bloody war. "It was conjured first by your fantasy, then by your fear. That doesn't make it less than real."

G -"That just doesn't make sense," she insisted. "When he had Nupur in that fantasy, when she was painting, we could see her. We all saw her, just standing there in that attic."

R -"Her body, perhaps part of her consciousness-she has a strong mind-remained. The rest…" Rowena drew a breath. "The rest of what she was had traveled to the other side. And if harm had come to her. To her body," Rowena explained, holding out one hand. "To what you can call her" essence." Then the other. "On either side, the harm would be to all of her."

S -"If she cut her hand in one existence, it would bleed in the other."

R -"He could prevent it." Obviously troubled, Rowena rose to pour more wine. "If, for instance, I wished to give you a gift, a harmless fantasy, I might send you into dreams, and watch over you to keep you from harm. But what Kane does is not harmless. He does it to tempt, and to terrorize."

G -"Why didn't he just shove my head under the bathwater while I was out of it?"

R -"There are still limits. To maintain the illusion, he can't touch ydur corporeal body. And as it is your mind that forms the texture of the illusion, neither can he force you to harm yourself. Lie, yes. Deceive and frighten, even persuade, but he can't make you do anything against your will."

S -"That's how she broke back through." It was the answer that Sam had needed confirmed. "First, by choosing to see it as a trick, she changed the texture, as you said, of the world. Instead of paradise, nightmare."

P -"Her knowledge and fear, and Kane's anger, yes," Pitte agreed. "The fruit you dropped," he said to Gunji. "Your mind saw it then as rotten in the center. This was not your paradise but your prison."

S -"And when she dived into the sea rather than let him take what she was, rather than accept the fantasy or the nightmare, she broke through both, So her weapon against him is staying true to herself, whatever he throws at her."

P -"Simply put,"

R -"Too simply." Rowena shook her head. "He's wily and seductive. You must never underestimate him."

S -"He's already underestimated her. Hasn't he, Sweets?"

G -"I can handle myself." His easy confidence went a long way toward quieting her nerves. "What's to stop him from hitting on Ridz, screwing with her while we're focused on him screwing with me?"

R -"She is not yet an issue for him. But precautions can be taken," Rowena mused, tapping a finger on the rim of her glass. "She can be protected, to an extent, until her time begins."

P -"If it begins," Pitte corrected.

R -"He's pessimistic by nature," Rowena smiled. "I have more faith." She walked back to the sofa, sat on the arm with the fluid grace some women are born with. Reaching down, she took Gunji's face in her hands. "You know the truth when you hear it. You may turn your ear from it, close your mind to it. As my man is pessimistic, you are stubborn by nature."

S -"Got that in one," muttered.

R -"But when you choose to hear it, the truth rings clear for you. This is your gift. He can't deceive you unless you allow it. When you accept what you already know you'll have the rest."

G -"You wouldn't like to be a little more specific?"

A smile touched the corners of Rowena's mouth.

R -"You have enough to think of for now."

LATER, when they were alone, Rowena curled on the sofa beside Pitte, rested her head on his shoulder and watched the fire. In the flames she studied Gunjan, her hands competent on the steering wheel as she drove through the night toward the quiet valley below the Peak. She admired competence, hi gods and mortals.

R -"She worries him," she said quietly. Pitte watched the fire, and the images in it as well.

P -"Whom does she worry? The soul-stealer or the story-spinner?"

Absently, for comfort, Rowena rubbed her cheek against Pitte's shoulder.

R -"Both, certainly. And both have hurt her, though only one with intent. But a lover's blade slices deeper than any enemy's. She worries Kane, but the man is worried for her."

P -"They have heat." Pitte turned his head to brush his lips over Rowena's hair.

R -"Heat isn't enough. It's warmth, my love, my only love, that heals the wounded heart."

Gunjan had hardly gotten back in the door-and kept Sam out-had barely settled down with Othello again and cleared her mind enough to focus on the task at hand, when there was another knock. Figuring Sam had come back with some new ploy to wheedle his way in, she ignored it. She was, by Jesus, going to spend two hours working on this book angle, and then she was going to think about the drive to the Peak, what had been said there. What hadn't been said on the drive home. If she had to think about Sam, she sure as hell wasn't going to do it when he was around. He'd sniff it out of her head like a bloodhound. There was another knock, more insistent this time. She merely bared her teeth and kept scanning the play. But the barking got her attention. Realizing that she would get nowhere until the door was answered, she got up and opened it.

G -"What the hell are you doing here? Both of you." She scowled at Mayank, then leaned down to rub Moe's floppy ears and make kissing noises. "Did Nupur kick you out? Poor baby." Her sympathetic tone turned icy as she straightened and peered at her brother. "You're not sleeping here."

M -"Don't plan to."

G -"Then what's in the bag?"

M -"Stuff." He squeezed inside, around his dog and his sister. "I hear you had a rough one last night."

G -"It was an experience, and I'm not hi the mood to rehash it. It's after ten. I'm working, then I'm sleeping." With, she thought, every light in the apartment burning, just as she had the night before.

M -"Fine. Here's his stuff."

G -"Whose stuff?"

M -"Moe's. I'll haul over the big-ass bag of dog food tomorrow, but there's enough in there for his breakfast."

G -"What the hell are you talking about?" She looked in the bag he'd shoved into her arms and saw a mangled tennis ball, a tattered rope, a box of dog biscuits on top of about five pounds of dry dog food. "What the hell is this?"

M -"His stuff," repeated cheerfully, and grunted when Moe leaped up to plant his paws on his shoulders. "Moe's your new temporary roommate. Well, gotta go. See you tomorrow."

G -"Oh, no, you don't." She tossed the bag on a chair, beat him to the door by a step, and threw herself against it. "You're not walking out that door without this dog." He gave her a smile that was both mildly quizzical and wholly innocent.

M -"You just said I couldn't sleep here."

G -"You can't. Neither can he."

M -"Now look, you've hurt his feelings." He looked sorrowfully at Moe, who was trying to nose his way into the bag. "It's all right, big guy. She didn't mean it."

G -"Give me a break."

M -"You don't know what dogs understand. Scientific tests are inconclusive." He gave her a brotherly pat on the cheek. "So anyway, Moe's going to stay for a couple weeks. Play guard dog."

G -"Guard dog?" She noted that Moe was now chewing on the bag. "Give me a serious break." Obviously not finding the brown paper to bis taste, Moe wandered off to sniff for crumbs, and Mayank sat down, stretched out his legs. He'd reconsidered his strategy and decided that this tack was foolproof with Gunji.

M -"Okay. I'll stay arid be guard dog since you have no faith in Moe. Let's flip a coin for the bed."

G -"I'm the only one sleeping in my bed, and I have less faith in you than I do in that big mutt, who is currently chasing his own tail. Moe! Cut that out before you wreck my place."

She considered just tearing out her own hair when Moe bashed against a table in his desperate attempt to latch teeth onto tail, and sent books thudding down on his head. He gave a startled bark and scrambled toward Mayank for protection.

G -"Go away, Mayank, and take your klutzy dog with you."

Mayank simply lifted his legs and used Moe as a footstool.

M -"Let's just go over our options…" he began.

Twenty minutes later Gunji stomped into the kitchen. She stopped short, hissed through her teeth when she saw the contents of her trash can strewed from one end of the floor to the other and Moe happily sprawled over the mess of it, chewing on a wad of paper towels.

G -"How does he do it? How the hell did he talk me into this?" And that, she admitted, was the mystery of Mayank Sharma. You never knew just how he managed to box you into the corner of his choice. She crouched down, got nose to nose with Moe. Moe rolled his eyes to the side, avoiding hers. Gujan swore that if dogs could whistle, she'd have heard the I-wasn't-doing-anything tune coming out of the dog's mouth. "Okay, pal, you and I are going to go over the rules of the household." He responded by licking her face, then flopping over to expose his belly.

SHE woke with the sun streaming over her face and her legs paralyzed. The sun was easy to explain. She'd forgotten to draw the curtains again. And her legs weren't paralyzed, she realized after a moment of panic. They were trapped under the massive bulk of Moe. "Okay, this is no way to begin." She sat up, then shoved the dog hard." "I said no dogs allowed on the bed. I was very clear about that rule." He moaned, an oddly human sound that made her lips twitch. Then he opened one eye. Then that eye brightened with manic joy. "No!" But it was too late. In one leap, he'd trapped not only her legs but her entire body. Dancing paws pressed into her belly, her breasts, her crotch. His tongue slathered her face with desperate love. "Stop it! Down! Mary Mother of God!" And she was laughing hysterically, wrestling with him, until he leaped off the bed and raced out of the room. "Whew." She pushed at her hair. It was definitely not the way she cared to wake, as a rule. But for one day she could make an exception. Now she needed coffee. Immediately. Before she could throw back the covers, Moe bounded back in. "No! Don't you do it! Don't you bring that horrible, disgusting ball into this bed." Her usual morning speed approximated that of a snail on Valium, but one look at the tennis ball in Moe's mouth had her moving like an Olympic sprinter. She hit the floor, causing Moe to change direction and go into a skid. He thudded against the bed frame, then, undaunted, spat the ball at her feet. "We do not play fetch the ball in the house. We do not play fetch the ball before I have coffee."

He cocked his head charmingly and lifted a paw.

"We're going to have to compromise. I'll have my first cup of coffee. After which I'll take you for a very, very brief walk during which you can relieve your bladder and play fetch the ball for exactly three minutes. Take it or leave it."

SHE didn't know how he did it-like master, like dog, she supposed-but she ended up spending a good twenty minutes playing with Moe in the park. This was nor her morning routine, and if there was anything that was sacrosanct to Gunji, it was her morning routine. She could admit that she felt more energized and more cheerful after the interlude with the goofy dog. But she wasn't going to tell Moe that, or anyone else. He gobbled down his breakfast while she ate hers, then fortunately for all involved, plopped down for a quick morning nap while she substituted Othello for her current breakfast book. To stay fresh, to let it all simmer in her head, she switched gears after thirty minutes, and chose one of the books on sorcery. However wily and amoral Iago was, Kane was more so-and he had power. Maybe there was a way to undermine it, or deflect it, while she searched for the key. She read of white magic, and of black. Of sorcery and necromancy. And it was different, she realized as she made her notes, when you knew the fantastic you read of was real. Not fantasy. Not lies, but truth. She had to remember that, she thought as she closed--the book. It was essential that she remember the truth. IT was very satisfying, she discovered when she was hip-deep in work at Indulgence, to prime the dull wall with fresh white paint. Our place, she thought. As they painted, she briefed the girls on her visit to the Peak and what she'd learned.

R -"So he can hurt us." Frowning, added more paint to the automatic roller for Nups. "Or we can hurt ourselves. I guess that's what it really means."

G -"If we drift too far beyond actual reality, yeah, I think that's what it means."

N -"But he can't hurt us unless we allow it, The trick is not to allow it, which is not as easy as it sounds."

G -"You don't have to tell me." The memory of her brush with Kane still made her shudder. "It's not just finding the last two keys, it's protecting ourselves."

R -"And the people around us, He went after Mayank, too. If he tries anything with Sahil- anything-I'll spend the rest of my life hunting him down."

G -"Don't worry, Mom. When your turn comes, we'll all look after Sahil. We can always send Moe to protect him," she added to lighten the mood. She sent a steely look at Nups. "A true friend would've called and warned me I was about to get a dog."

N -"A true friend knew you'd sleep better at night with a dog snoring beside the bed,"

G -"Beside, my ass. He snuck onto the bed when I was sleeping. Which means I'd have slept through an earthquake last night, as he's not what we can call stealthy. And Moe-proofing the apartment is no snap, just let me add. Not to mention I'm not allowed to have dogs in my building in the first place."

N -"It's just for a few weeks and mostly at night,You did sleep better, too. I can tell by your mood."

G -"Maybe I did. Anyway, I should fill you in on what I'm doing about the key."

WITH the first room primed, they moved to the next and the more tedious chore of cutting in around the trim.

N -"Jealousy, sorcery, getting inside Kane's skin." Standing on the new stepladder, Nupur took on the task of painting the ceiling. "That's very smart."

G -"I think so. The answer's in a book. It's got to be. Yours dealt with painting, and one of the daughters, the one who looks like you, is an artist. Well, a musician, but that's an art."

R - "I sure as hell hope that means I don't have to take up fencing because my goddess carries a sword."

N -"She also has that cute little puppy,"

R -"I can't get a dog right now. I know Sahil would love one, but-oh, you were taking my mind off the sword."

N -"There you go." Gunji sat back on her heels, stretched her back.

G -"Puppy, sword-metaphors for something. We'll figure it out when the time comes. But if we follow this theme, Nups's key dealt with painting. Nups's dream was being an artist, but she didn't have the chops for it…" She stopped, considered biting her tongue in half. "Sorry. That sounded harsh."

N -"No, it didn't. It sounded true." stared up at the ceiling. She seemed to have the knack for this kind of painting. "I didn't have the talent to paint, so I directed my energies into a career where I could be part of the art world in other ways. It doesn't hurt my feelings, Gunji."

G -"Okay, but you get a free kick later if you want it. Kane used Nups's desire to paint to pull her in, to distract her from the search. But our heroine proved much too clever for him and turned the tables." Nups inclined her head regally.

N - "I like that part."

R -"It's one of my favorites, Do you want to write, Dana?"

G -"No." She pursed her lips for a moment, thought about it. "No, I don't. But I have to be around books, have them around me. I'm fascinated with the people who can and do write them."

N -"Including Sam?"

G -"Let's not go there, at least not yet. What I'm saying is books are personal to me, the way art is to you. So that's why I think my key is connected to books. I've got this gut instinct that it has to do with a book I've read. Something personal again. I'm going to do another title search, one using 'key,' and see what books I come up with." Her brows drew together as she tried to puzzle it out. "The whole key-in-the-title angle may be too simple, too obvious, but it gives me another place to look."

N -"We could split it up, If you make a list of the books you think might be the one, we could divide it into three and each take a chunk."

G -"That would help. We don't know what we're looking for, But we've got to believe we'll know it when we see it.''"

N-"Maybe you should put together a list with 'goddess' in the title, too, My key had to do with the" singing goddess, from Rowena's clue. Yours might link to the goddess who walks, or waits, in your clue."

G -"Good thinking." With her section of wall finished, she got to her feet. "God, our eyes are going to bleed. There's this other thing." Wanting to keep busy, she went back to her brush roller. "Your key had to do with this place, Nups, with the way he-or your head-transformed it into your fantasy of happy home, family, painting in your studio. So far, mine's been a deserted tropical island. I don't think I'm going to find its root here in the Valley."

N -"You don't know where you'll go next time."

G - "Well, gee. That's a happy thought."

Chapter Eight

SHE may have been unemployed, but Gunjan doubted that she'd ever worked harder or put in longer days. There was Moe to deal with, which she equated with having an eighty-pound toddler on her hands. He needed to be fed, walked, scolded, entertained, and watched like a hawk. There was the sheer physical demand of painting for several hours a day, which had considerably upped her respect for anyone who did it for a living. But as Moe came with comfort and amusement, so did the work on the building bring satisfaction and pride. Maybe it didn't look like much yet-they'd decided to prime all the walls before starting on color-but when you had three determined, dedicated women working as a unit, you saw considerable progress. There was the design and strategy of the business she would debut in a matter of months. She had long, long lists of books, intriguing sidelines, possible styles for shelves and tables, for glasses and cups.

It had been one thing to fantasize about owning a bookstore, but it was another matter entirely to deal with the thousands of details involved in creating one. Added to that were the hours of midnight oil she burned searching for the key. Reading had always been a passion, but now it was a mission. Somewhere hi a book was the answer. Or at least the next question. And what if the answer, or the question, was in one of the books she'd assigned to her friends? What if they missed it because it would only resonate with her? That way lay madness, she told herself. On top of everything else she had to do, had to think about, had to worry about, she had to get ready for a date. A date, she reminded herself, that she should never have agreed to. Talk about the road to madness. If she canceled, Sam would either nag and harangue her until she sliced him to pieces with a butcher knife and spent the rest of her life in prison, or, even worse, he'd get that smug, told-you-so look on his face and claim he'd only proven that she was afraid to be around him. In which case, it was back to the kitchen knife and life in the women's penitentiary. The only choice left was to go-and to go fully armed. She would not only prove she wasn't the least bit concerned about spending a few hours with him, she would drive him mad while she was at it. She knew he was a sucker for scent, so she slathered herself in perfumed body cream before slipping into what she thought of as her tonight's-the-night underwear. Not that she would give Jordan the chance to see it, but she would know she was wearing the sexy black bra, the lacy panties, the lace-trimmed garter belt and sheer hose. And they would make her feel powerful.

She checked herself in the mirror-front, back, sides. "Oh, yeah, I look just fine. Eat your heart out, Shergill." She picked up the dress she'd laid on the bed. It looked deceptively simple, one long, fluid line of black. But when you put a body into it, everything changed. She slipped it on, gave it a few tugs, then did another turn before the mirror. The scoop neck took on a whole new dimension when there were breasts filling it out, rising teasingly over the edge. The column turned seductive when the slightest movement parted that long side slit and revealed the length of leg. She slipped on her shoes, delighted that the stiletto heels added three inches to her already impressive height. She'd never been sensitive about being tall. She liked it. She had Ridz to thank for the hair. She'd done it sleek and loose, with a little jeweled clip anchored between the crown and the tip of her left ear. Just another tease, she mused. The clip didn't do anything but sit there and sparkle. She dabbed perfume at her collarbone, in the valley between her breasts, at her wrists. Then tossed her head. "You are a dead man, pal. You are meat." It occurred to her that she was actually looking forward to the evening. It had been weeks since she'd dressed herself up for a date. Plus, she had to admit she was curious. How would Jordan handle himself? How, for that matter, would they handle each other? She wondered what it would be like to be with him, within the ritual of a date, now that they were man and woman rather than boy and girl.

It was, she had to admit, exciting. Particularly exciting since she was certain he intended to win her over and she had no intention of being won. She leaned toward the mirror, slid murderous red on her lips, then dropped the tube of lipstick hi her purse. She pressed her lips together, opened them again with a cocky little pop. "Let the games begin." When Sam knocked at exactly seven-thirty, she couldn't have scripted his reaction any more perfectly. His eyes widened, blurred. She actually saw the pulse in his throat jump. Then he fisted a hand and rapped it twice against his own heart as if to get it started again.

S -"You're trying to hurt me, aren't you?" She angled her head.

G - "Absolutely. How'd I do?"

S -"Kill shot. Am I drooling?" Now she grinned and turned back inside to get her coat. He stepped in behind her, leaned down and sniffed.

S -"If I whimper, try to …" He trailed off as he saw the books. Piles and stacks of them beside the sofa, another stack on the coffee table, a sea of them on her dining table. "Jesus Christ, Gunji, you need treatment."

G -"They're not just for reading, not that there's anything wrong with that. They're for work and for research. I'm playing an angle on the key and I'm preparing to open a bookstore." She slipped into the coat, trying not to be miffed that he now appeared to be more interested in the books than in how incredible she looked.

S -"The Key to Rebecca, Key Witness, A House Without a Key. I see where you're going here. The Key to Sexual Fulfillment?" He sent her a long, smirking look.

G -"Shut up. Are we going to eat?"

S -"Yeah, yeah. You've got your work cut out for you." He crouched down, began flipping through pages. "You want me to take some of these?"

G -"I've already split the load with the girls." She knew he'd start reading in a moment; he wouldn't be able to help himself. In that area, they were identical twins. "That's enough. Hungry here."

S -"What else is new?" He set a book back on a tower of its fellows, straightened and took another good long look at her. "Wowzer."

G -"Aw, that's so sweet. Are we going?" He moved to the door to open it for her.

S -"Where's Moe?"

G -"Romping in the park with his best friend. Mayank's dropping him off before he goes home. Where are we eating?"

S -"Just get in the car, Miss One Track Mind. You'll get fed. How's the painting brigade doing?" he asked once she was settled and he was behind the wheel.

G -"We rock. Seriously. I can't get over how much we're getting done. And I have the body aches to prove it."

S -"Anything you want me to rub, just let me know."

G -"That's a kind and selfless offer, Sam."

S -"Just the kind of guy I am." She crossed her legs, making sure the move was slow and parted the slit of her dress well up to her thigh.

G -"But I have Chris to take care of that for me." His gaze traveled down, all the way to the sharp heel of her shoe, then back up again.

S -"Chris?" He didn't snarl it, but he wanted to.

G -"Mmm-hmm."

S -"And who's Chris?"

G -"A very talented massage therapist with magic hands." She stretched, as if under those magic hands, and added a quiet little moan. Oh, yes, she thought at the quick hitch of Sam's breathing, she had entirely new weaponry to aim at him this time around. "A recommendation from Ridz," she added. "Ridz's going to offer a variety of treatments in the salon."

S-"And would that be Christine or Christopher?" She shrugged.

G -"I got a neck and shoulder treatment this afternoon, a kind of audition. Chris passed with flying colors." She frowned when he zoomed past the town limits. "We're not eating in town?" He couldn't breathe without breathing whatever she'd doused herself in to drive him crazy. And by the way, he thought, in case he'd forgotten she had legs that went all the way to her ears, she was going out of her way to remind him. If his voice was a bit tight, there were good reasons for it.

S -"I'm feeding you and paying the bill. Venue's my pick."

G -"It better be worthy of my outfit and my appetite, or you'll be paying more than the bill."

S -"I remember your appetites." He ordered himself to relax. She might be playing a hell of a game, but he hadn't come up to bat yet. "So tell me, what is the key to sexual fulfillment?"

G -"Read the book. You tell me, what pops into your head when you think of 'key' when it comes to literature?"

S -"Locked-door mysteries."

G -"Hmm. Could be another angle. How about goddess, other than in mythology?"

S-"Your femme fatale character. Like the mystery woman in The Maltese Falcon."

G -"How is she a goddess?"

S -"She has the power to weave spells over a man, with sex, beauty, and lies."

G -"Huh." Deliberately, she skimmed her fingers down the long curve of her hair. "Not bad. Something to think about." As she did, she lost track of direction and time. It was nearly eight when she brought herself back and blinked at the big white house tucked into the hillside. Batter up, Sam thought as he saw her eyes go wide.

G-"Luciano's?" Her jaw dropped. "It takes a congressional edict to get a reservation at Luciano's this time of year. You have to book weeks in advance out of season, but in October you can't get in even by donating blood."

S -"You'll only have to give them a pint." He climbed out, tossed his keys to the valet.

G -"I've always wanted to eat here. Way out of my league."

S -"I tried to get us in for your birthday once. They didn't laugh at me, but it was close."

G -"You couldn't have afforded to …" 'She trailed off, and couldn't help but go to goo inside. It was just the sort of thing he'd have done, she remembered. Unexpectedly, recklessly done. "It was a nice thought," she told him and kissed his cheek.

S -"This time I pulled it off." He shocked her speechless by lifting her hand to his lips. "Happy birthday. Better late than never."

G -"You're being charming. Why are you being charming?"

S -"It goes with your outfit." And still holding her hand, he led her up the steps.

The restaurant had once been the mountain getaway of a Pittsburgh family of some wealth and influence. Gunjan didn't know if it qualified as a mansion, but it certainly met all the requirements for villa with its columns and balconies and porticos.The grounds were lovely, and in spring and summer, even early fall, alfresco dining was offered in the courtyard so patrons could enjoy the gardens and the views along with a superbly prepared meal. The interior had been restored, and maintained the elegance and ambience of a well-appointed home. The entrance hall offered marble floors, Italian art, and cozy seating areas. Gunjan barely had time to absorb the light, the color, before the maitre d' hurried over to greet them.

H -"Mr. Shergill, we're so pleased you could join us this evening.Signorina, welcome to Luciano's. Your table's ready if you'd like to be seated. Or if you prefer I'll have you shown into our lounge,"

S -"The lady's hungry, so we'll take the table, thanks."

H -"Of course. Shall I take your wrap?"

G -"Sure." But Sam beat the maitre d', and with a trail of fingertips along her shoulders, slipped her coat off. It was whisked away, and they were led up the grand staircase and into what she realized was a private room already prepared with a single table for two. A waiter materialized with champagne.

H -"As you requested," the maitre d' said. "Is this suitable for your evening?"

S -"It's perfect,"

H -"Bene. If you wish for anything, you have only to ask. Please, enjoy.Buon appetite."

He slipped away, leaving them alone.

G -"When you pull it off, you really pull it off."

S -"No point in doing things halfway." He lifted his glass, tapped it gently against hers. "To moments. Past, present, future."

G -"That seems safe enough to drink to." She sipped. "Jeez. You know what old Dom meant about drinking stars when he had his first sip of the bubbly stuff." She took another sip, then studied him over the rim. "Okay, I'm impressed. You're quite the big cheese these days, aren't you, Shergill?"

S-"Maybe, but it's more knowing to use what works. And the local boy who makes good can usually get a table at a restaurant." She looked around the room, so softly lit, so private, so romantic. There were flowers and candles, not only on the table but on the antique server, on the long, carved buffet. The room smelled of both of them, and music-something soft with weeping violins-drifted through the air. A low fire burned in a black marble hearth, more candles, more flowers on the mantelpiece above it. A wide scalloped mirror reflected off it, creating a strong sense of intimacy.

G -"Some table,"

S -"I wanted to be alone with you. Don't spoil it," he said, and covered her hand with his before she could move it out of reach. "It's just dinner, sweets."

G -"Nothing's just in a place like this." He turned her hand over, ran his finger down the center of her palm while he watched her face.

S-"Then let me try my hand at romancing you. Just for one evening. I could start by telling you that just looking at you right now almost stops my heart." Hers did a quick bounce, and then went thud.

G -"You're pretty good at it, for a beginner."

S -"Sit tight. I'll get better." She didn't tug her hand away. It seemed wrong, a small, mean gesture when he'd gone to such trouble to give her something special.

G -"It's not going to mean anything, Sam. We're in different places than we were."

S -"Seems to me we're both right here. Why don't we relax and enjoy it?" He nodded to the waiter stationed discreetly just outside the room. "You said you were hungry."

When they were done, she was wishing she'd brought a notebook. He advised her on Indulgence. He was good, she had to give him that. He touched on aspects she hadn't thought of, expanded on others that she had. When they spoke of books themselves, she realized how much she'd missed that perk. Having someone who shared her absolute devotion to stories. To devouring and dissecting them, to savoring and wallowing in them.

S -"It's a nice night, Why don't we walk around the grounds before we drive back?"

G -"Is that your way of saying that I ate so much I need to walk it off?"

S -"No. It's my way of stretching out the time I have alone with you."

G -"You really have gotten better at this," she replied as he led her from the room.

Her coat reappeared nearly as quickly as it had been whisked away. And, she noted, Sam didn't miss a beat when the martre d' presented one of his books and asked to have it signed. He did that well, too, she thought. He kept it light, friendly, added some casual chatter and his thanks for the evening.

G -"How does it feel? When someone asks you to sign a book?"

S -"A hell of a lot better than it does if they don't give a damn."

G -"No, seriously. Don't brush the question off. What's it like?"

S -"Satisfying. Surprising. Unless they've got a crazed look in their eye and an unpublished manuscript under their arm."

G -"Does that happen?"

S -"Often enough. But mostly it just feels good. Hey, here's somebody who's read my stuff, or is about to. And they think it'd be cool if I signed it. What's not good about that?"

G -"That's not very temperamental of you."

S-"I'm not a temperamental guy."

G - "You always used to be."

S -"You used to be argumentative and pigheaded." He smiled broadly when she scowled at him. "See how we've changed?"

G -"I'm just going to let that go, because I've had a really good time." She breathed deep as they wandered a bricked path, and looked up at the thick slice of waxing moon. "Into week two," she murmured.

S -"You're doing fine, Sweets." She shook her head.

G -"I don't feel like I'm getting to the meat of it. Not yet. The days are going by really fast. I'm not panicked or anything," she added quickly, "but I've got" serious concerns. So much is depending on me. People I care about. I'm afraid I'll let them down. Do you know what I mean?"

S-"Yes. You're not alone in this. The brunt may be on you, but you're not carrying all the weight." He laid his hands on her shoulders, drew her toward him a little, until her body rested against his. "I want to help you, Gunjan." She fit well with him. She always had. And her realization of that made little warning bells sound in some dim part of her brain.

G -"We already know you're connected, somehow or other."

S -"I want more." He bent his head to brush his lips over her shoulder. "And I want you."

G -"I've got enough to worry about right now."

S -"Whether it worries you or not isn't going to change a thing." He turned her to face him. "I'm still going to want you. You're still going to know it." His lips curved as he ran his hands up and down her arms. "I've always liked that look."

G -"What look?"

S-"That mildly irritated look you get when somebody gives you a problem to work out. The one that puts this little crease right here." He touched his lips to her forehead, just between her eyebrows.

G -"I thought we were taking a walk."

S -"We did. Now I'd say this evening calls for one more thing."

He loved the way her lips curled just as much as he loved the flicker of surprise over her face when instead of kissing her, he slid her into a slow, swaying dance.

G -"Pretty clever," she murmured, but she was moved.

S -"I always liked dancing with you. The way everything lines up. The way I can smell your hair, your skin. The way, if I get close enough, look close enough, I can see myself in your eyes. Your eyes always did me in. I never told you that, did I?"

G -"No." She felt herself tremble, and the warning bells were lost under the thunder of her own heart.

S -"They did. Still do. Sometimes, when we managed to spend the night together, I'd wake up early to watch you sleep. Just so I could see you open your eyes."

G -"It's not fair." Her voice shook. "It's not fair to tell me something like that now."

S -"I know. I should've told you then. But now's all I've got."

He touched his lips to hers, rubbed softly. He felt her body slide toward surrender, and fought the urge to plunder. He went slowly, for both of them, savoring what they'd once devoured, lingering where once they'd rushed. In the starlight, with her arms lifting to come around him, he wouldn't allow himself to demand. Instead, he seduced. He was still circling her in a dance. Or was it just that her head was spinning? His lips were warm, and patient, all the more arousing with the hints of heat and urgency she sensed strapped down inside him. She sighed, drew him closer. And let him take her deeper. Soft, slow, moist. The chill of the air against her heated skin, the scent of the night, the whisper of her name through lips moving, moving over her own. If all the years between had formed a gulf between them, this one kiss in a deserted autumn garden began to forge the bridge. It was he who drew back, then shook her to the core by grasping both of her hands, bringing them to his lips.

S -"Give me a chance, Gunji."

G -"You don't know what you're asking. No, you don't," she said before he could speak. "And I don't know the answer yet. If you want one that matters, you're going to have to give me time to figure it out."

S -"Okay." He kept her hands in his, but stepped back. "I'll wait. But I meant what I said before, about helping you. It hasn't anything to do with this."

G -"I have to think about that, too."

S -"All right."

But there was one thing she knew, Gunji realized as they walked back for his car. She wasn't still in love with him. They were, as he'd said, different people now. And what she felt for him now made the love she'd had for the boy seem as pale and thin as morning mist.

After dinner and dropping Moe of at Gunji's Mayank and nupur were lazing around in bed. Nupur was busy reading, trying to follow gunjan's new direction to help with the key business. Least bothered that his sister and his best friend were out on a date. Lying down next to her in a spoon fashion with his hand wrapped around her, his mind was racing. Knowing the bomb she had dropped on him about Gunji loving Sam, she told me not to worry and that Gunji was a strong girl who will take care of herself. He knew she was right but he couldn't rest as two people he loved were the centre of this mess. As he heard Sam's car pull in he told Nups he wanted to eat something, since he didn't want her to know he actually wanted to have a talk with Sam. As expected she turned and around and gave him the 'look' as he had begun to call it. wiggling out of his hold she said.

N- "You are not getting the food up here. It has taken me really long to get the smell of food out of this room"

M –"That was one time and Moe brought up the food not me." Pulling her closer and kissing her. "But for you I'll go eat in the kitchen. If when I come back you'll put away that book and show me just how much you appreciate my doing so." She smiled and cupped his face, knowing he just wanted to go down to talk to Sam. Bringing his face close to hers, she gave him a passionate kiss

N –"Hmm..since you so willingly gave in to my rule, that can be arranged."

Sam let himself into the house, switched off the porch light. It had been a very long time, he reflected, since anyone had left a light on for him. His choice, of course. That was what everything came down to. He'd chosen to leave the Valley, to leave Gunji, and his friends and all that was familiar. It had been the right choice; he would stand by that. But he could see now that his method of making it had been the flaw. The flaw that had left a crack in what had been. Just how did a man go about building something new on a faulty foundation? He started toward the steps, then stopped as Mayank came down them.

S -"Waiting up for me, Dad? Did I miss curfew?"

M -"I see your night on the town put you in a cheery mood. Why don't we step back into my office?" Without waiting for assent, Mayank strolled back to the kitchen. He took a look around. Okay, it was a hideous room, even he could see that. The ancient copper-tone appliances, the ugly cabinets and linoleum that possibly had looked fresh and jazzy in his grandfather's generation. But he still couldn't visualize how it could, or would, look when Nups got done with it. No more than he could understand why the prospect of ripping it apart and putting it back together made her so happy.

M -"The guys are coming in Monday to bomb this place."

S -"Not a moment too soon,"

M -"I was going to get around to it, sooner or later. It wasn't like I was using it. But since Nups, stuff actually gets cooked in here." He bumped the stove with his foot. "She has a deep and violent hatred for this appliance. It's kind of scary."

S -"You brought me back here to talk about Nups's obsession with kitchen appliances?"

M -"No. I wanted cookies. Nups has this rule against eating them in bed. This is something else I can't figure," he continued as he got a bag of Chips Ahoy out of the cupboard. "But I'm an easygoing guy. You want milk?"

S -"No." His ,friend was wearing gray sweats and a T-shirt that might have been new during his sophomore year of college. His feet were bare, his expression easy. Looks, Sam knew, could be very deceiving. "And you're not easygoing, Hennessy. You pretend to be easygoing so you can get your own way."

M -"I'm not eating these in bed, am I?"

S -"Small potatoes, son. You got the woman in your bed."

M -"Yeah." Grinning, Mayank poured a glass of milk, then sat down, stretched out his legs. "I do. Of course, she's up there reading instead of offering me intriguing and varied sexual favors, but I can bide my time." Sam sat. Mayank, he knew from long experience, would get to his point eventually.

S -"So, you want to talk about your sex life? Is this going to be a bragging session, or are you looking for advice?"

M -"I'd rather do it than brag about it, and I'm doing just fine on my own. But thanks for the offer." He dunked a cookie. "So, how's Gunjan?" And there would be the point, Sam thought.

S -"A little anxious about the task at hand, I'd say, but diving in headfirst. You must have seen the mountain range of books she's hiking through when you dropped off Moe."

M -"Yeah, Ive got a load full up in the room as well.I got eyestrain just thinking about reading half of them. And otherwise?"

S -"It looks like she's steadied herself after what happened to her the other night. She may be spooked by it, but she's just as curious. You know how she is."

M -"Mmm-hmm."

S -"Why don't you just ask me how things are with us?"

M -"And pry into your private and personal lives? Me?"

S- "Up yours, Sharma."

M -"Wow, that was so creative, so succinct. I immediately see why you're a successful novelist."

S -"Sideways." And though he had absolutely no desire for one, Sam pulled a cookie from the bag. "I screwed up with her, all those years ago. 'I'm going, it's been fun, see you around."

It caused a low burn in his gut to remember it now.

M -"Maybe not that cut and dried, but close enough." He bit into the cookie as he studied his friend's face.

S -"Did I screw up with you, too?"

M -"Maybe some." Mayank nudged Nups's pretty candle aside so he could move the cookie bag between them. "I can't say I didn't feel a little deserted when you took off, but I got why you had to leave. Hell, I was planning on doing the same myself."

S -"The business exec, the struggling writer, and the dedicated reporter. Hell of a trio."

M -"Yeah, we all got there, too, didn't we? One way or the other. I never left the Valley to do it, but I thought I was going to, so I could look at you, and Armi, as sort of the advance guard. But then again, I wasn't sleeping with you."

S -"She was in love with me." Mayank waited a beat, absorbed the baffled frustration on Sam's face.

M - "What, did that lightbulb just go off? You've got some faulty wiring in there, pal."

S -"I knew she loved me." Disgusted, Sam shoved up to get a glass of milk after all. "Hell, Mayank, we all loved each other. We were as much family as any who share blood. I didn't know it was the big L for her. How the hell is a guy supposed to know that sort of thing unless the woman looks him in the eye and says, 'I'm in love with you, you asshole.' Which would," he continued, working up to fury, "have been something you'd expect from Gunji. That's just how she does things. But she didn't, so I didn't know. And I'm the slug because of it." Because he'd been concerned by Sam's steady cool, the spike of temper relieved him.

M -"Yeah, but you're a slug for a lot of reasons. I could write up a list."

S -"The one I'd write up on you would be longer,"

M -"Great, a contest." Not just angry, Mayank noted as he studied Sam's face, but unhappy. Still, it had to be finished out, had to be said. "Look, when Dia dumped me and took off for fame and fortune in the big bad city, it hurt. And I wasn't in love with her. You and Armi had that one right. But I thought I was, I was ready to be, and her brushing me off messed me up. Gunji was in love with you. You've got to expect that your going, whatever your reasons, messed her up."

Sam sat again, thoughtfully broke a cookie in two.

S -"You're telling me not to mess her up again."

M -"Yeah, that's what I'm telling you."

Nice parts

hey there...definitely a good effort..but the titles of the FF along with a good bit of the narrative is a little too inspired by Norah Roberts' Key series (KEY OF LIGHT, KNOWLEDGE and Valor)..I was reading a para of your key of knowledge..and it was quite inspired by Dana Steele in the book Key of knowledge..

No offence but dont you think you should atleast have AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the same...I quite admire your adaptation but if you dont Acknoweldge..it would almost look like plagarism...