“Nope, it sure isn’t,” Lydia agreed. “I’m with you one hundred percent on this. The relic should go to a reputable lab.”
Emmett looked at Davis. “Wyatt isn’t going to relinquish control of the relic. Not if it’s as powerful as you think it is.”
“We’ve been giving the problem some thought,” Davis said. “Got a proposal to make to Wyatt.”
“I’m listening.”
“As far as we can tell, the relic is useless unless it is activated by someone who possesses a psi talent similar to Celinda’s,” Davis said. “Probably a very strong version of that kind of talent.”
“There can’t be a lot of people running around with my particular ability,” Celinda added swiftly. “The lab where I was tested when I was a teen said that they had only seen one other case in a decade, and that person wasn’t nearly as strong.”
“Can I try the thing?” Emmett asked.
Celinda hesitated, and then she got to her feet and went into the kitchen. Araminta, back on top of the refrigerator with Max and Fuzz, watched her take the relic out of the cookie jar but did not try to stop her.
She returned to the living room and put the relic into Emmett’s hand. Araminta muttered ominously, but she did not jump down from the refrigerator.
Emmett gripped the relic firmly. Celinda felt his psi energy pulse strongly. She knew that he was trying to rez the device. Nothing happened.
He shrugged and handed the artifact to Lydia. Again Celinda sensed a powerful rush of psi energy.
“I’m an illusion trap tangler,” Lydia said, turning the relic over in her fingers. “I can sense that there’s some energy coming from this thing, but I can’t do anything with it.”
“The Guild may be able to find someone else who can rez the device,” Celinda said, retrieving the relic. “But I think the odds are good that it won’t be easy. In the meantime, whoever wants to experiment with this thing will need my cooperation.”
Emmett regarded Celinda with a speculative expression. “That situation does appear to give you some bargaining power.”
“Oh, wow,” Lydia said, bubbling with enthusiasm. “We’re going to strong-arm Mercer Wyatt into doing the right thing. This will be fun.”
“Yeah, can’t wait,” Davis said dourly. “Probably be the last business I get from the Guild. Meanwhile, there’s one more thing Wyatt needs to know.”
“What’s that?” Emmett asked.
“We think a second relic has turned up, and it’s in the hands of someone who knows how to use it.”
“Doesn’t sound good,” Emmett said.
“It’s not,” Davis agreed. “But I’ve got a strong lead. I should have some answers later this morning.”
“When you get them, call me,” Emmett said. “I’ll arrange a meeting with Wyatt.”
“One more thing,” Davis said. “What about Benson Landry?”
Emmett’s slow grin was icy cold. “I don’t think you need to worry about him. Wyatt told me this morning that he had been assured that Benson Landry will not interfere again in Cadence Guild business. Seems like Harold Taylor, the boss of the Frequency Guild, isn’t quite as weak and toothless as Landry thinks.”
Celinda frowned. “What, exactly, does that mean?”
Emmett shrugged. “It means that Landry won’t be a problem in the future.”
She turned to Davis, who had the same cold expression on his face. He drank some coffee and said nothing.
Mystified, she looked at Lydia for clarification.
“Don’t ask me.” Lydia waved one hand. “When Guild men go all stony and secretive like this, you can’t do a thing with them.”
Celinda heard the lid of the cookie jar being removed. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Araminta was helping herself to another cookie.
“She’s eating again,” she said to Lydia. “I haven’t had much experience with dust bunnies, but lately Araminta’s appetite has seemed unnaturally strong. Do you know anything about their eating habits?”
“I don’t think it’s her eating habits that you have to worry about,” Lydia said dryly. “More likely her mating habits.”
“Uh-oh,” Celinda said. “I was afraid of that.”
“Fuzz became a father a few months ago. His girlfriend started hanging around a while before that. She nearly ate us out of house and home.”
“Then, one morning, we were presented with a couple of baby dust bunnies,” Emmett said.
“I’ve got pictures.” Lydia reached into her purse, pulled out a wallet, and flipped it open. “Aren’t they the cutest little things?”
Celinda examined the photograph. It showed Fuzz, clearly identifiable by the yellow bow in his fur, and another adult dust bunny. Between them were two tiny balls of gray fluff.
“They’re adorable,” Celinda said. She looked up from the photo. “So, now you’ve got a whole family of dust bunnies?”
“Yes, but I don’t think we’re going to have them for long. The babies are maturing rapidly. Fuzz and his girlfriend take them down into the rain forest almost every day to teach them how to hunt. Got a hunch the kids will be sent off on their own one of these days.”
“They don’t show any sign of bonding with you?” Celinda asked.
Lydia shook her head. “No, and neither does their mother. They tolerate us, but they don’t seem keen on hanging around us. When the little ones are on their own, I think Mom is going to take off, too. Dust bunnies are quite sociable with each other, but I get the impression that they only pair up when a female is ready to mate.”
They all looked at Araminta, who was holding court with Max and Fuzz.
“Ah, the simple life,” Celinda said dryly. “No need for professional marriage consultants and Covenant Weddings.”
“We humans do tend to make things more complicated, that’s for sure,” Lydia agreed.
Chapter 31
DAVIS STUDIED THE ENTRANCE OF THE RUN-DOWN FLOP-house through the windshield of the Phantom.
“I don’t like this,” he said.
“We’ve been over it a dozen times.” Celinda unfastened her seat belt. “I’m involved in this thing. That means I’ve got a right to go in with you. Besides, after I read his psi waves, I might be able to give you some useful information.”
She had a point, he thought.
He got out of the car. Celinda opened her door and joined him on the cracked sidewalk. Trig had followed them in his own car. He eased his battered little Float into a vacant slot, climbed out, and walked across the narrow lane to meet them.
“His room is on the second floor at the back,” Trig said. “I’ll go around to the alley. That way if he slips out the window or down the fire escape, I’ll be able to grab him.”
“Right,” Davis said.
He took Celinda’s arm and steered her toward the apartment house entrance. The neighborhood was deep in the Old Quarter, only a block from the massive green wall. The Colonial-era buildings loomed darkly, blocking most of the sunlight. It was midmorning, so there was no visible glow coming from the Dead City, but you could feel the psi energy seeping up from underground.
By mutual agreement they had left Max and Araminta at the apartment along with the relic. Davis was fairly certain the artifact was safe with them. No human intruder could move as fast as the bunnies. If Araminta sensed a threat, she would most likely grab the device and run off with it.
Trig disappeared into the narrow passage that separated the apartment house from the building next to it.
The lock on the front door of the building looked as though it had been broken a long time ago. He opened the door and moved into the front hall, Celinda at his heels. The smell was a mix of rotten carpeting, garbage, and mildew.
“Whew.” Celinda wrinkled her nose. “Hard to believe anyone would actually pay rent to live here.”
“Probably better than sleeping in an alley.”
“Not by much.”
They climbed a sagging, creaking staircase and emerged in a narrow, unlit hallway. Number six was at the end of the corridor.