“In that case, Egan will start killing people in Shadow Bay. One by one.” Zara glanced at Pete. “But we’ll let him start with Pete so that you can be certain that I mean business. Egan?”

There were more footsteps in the glowing hall, heavy boots this time. Egan Quinton appeared on the other side of the steel bars. He was no longer in costume and he had removed his makeup. Minus the scraggly, long-haired wig, heavy eyebrows, and the facial prosthetics that had altered the lines of his face, he looked remarkably ordinary; remarkably unremarkable.

“How’s that enlightenment thing working out for you, Egan?” Alice asked. “Any insights into Zara, here?”

Egan gave her a brief, irritated look and then fixed his ghost-gaze on Pete.

“Want me to do him now?” he asked. There was no trace of emotion in the question. He might as well have been asking Zara if she wanted him to take out the trash.

Zara removed her geeky glasses. “That depends on Alice. It’s her decision.”

Pete watched Egan the way a small creature watches a cobra. “Please, don’t.”

Egan reached into his jacket and pulled out the Alien weapon he had used on Alice and Houdini.

“At full power it causes the heart to stop,” he explained.

“Forget it,” Alice said. “I’ll try to get those crystals for you but only if you leave Pete alone.”

Zara gave her an approving smile. “Excellent. I assure you, I have no wish to kill Pete or anyone else. I would prefer not to waste the time or the energy in the weapon. No telling how long it will last. My only goal now is to get off Rainshadow and disappear.”

“Probably a good idea,” Alice said. “Because it won’t be long before the Sebastians come looking for you.”

“I vanished once, quite successfully. I can do it again.” Zara turned away from the cell gate. “Egan, bring them both to the Chamber. Time is running out.”

Chapter 34

DRAKE CAME TO A HALT AT THE GRAVESTONE. THE others caught up with him, breathing hard. The weeds and grass around the weathered grave marker had been trampled by a pair of heavily booted feet on more than one recent occasion.

Houdini jumped up and down on the stone, making urgent noises.

Fletcher frowned at the name on the stone. “William Bainbridge. Why does that sound familiar?”

“Because it’s engraved over the front door of the library and it’s the official name of the town park,” Myrna said. “Bainbridge was a smuggler who worked the Amber Sea area years ago. Technically speaking, he’s the guy credited with founding Shadow Bay.”

Fletcher grimaced. “Oh, yeah, right.”

Houdini continued to bounce up and down. He was becoming increasingly agitated.

Drake crouched beside the flat stone marker. Methodically he ran his hands around the edges. It didn’t take long to find what he was looking for. He pushed the concealed lever.

The gravestone opened ponderously with only the faintest of groans. Someone had been keeping the hinges well oiled, he thought.

Currents of Alien psi wafted out of the opening. He looked down at the flight of glowing quartz steps that descended into a tunnel illuminated with eerie green light.

“Son of a ghost,” Jasper said. “So there are some catacombs here on the island, after all. Always figured we’d find them someday.”

“Looks like old Bainbridge stumbled into a hole-in-the-wall,” Fletcher said.

“If Bainbridge isn’t buried here, what happened to him?” Rachel asked. “Not that it matters now.”

Houdini darted down the steps, pausing expectantly.

“I should have done a more thorough investigation after I saw that so-called ghost wandering around here in the middle of the night,” Drake said.

Jasper shook his head. “Not like you’ve had a lot of spare time to investigate anything. Doubt if you would have found this trapdoor, anyway. Hell, Fletcher and I have been living here for a couple of decades—spent our former careers in the tunnels—but we never stumbled onto this entrance.”

“Well, at least we now know how Egan managed to contact Tucker frequently without having to go through the Preserve,” Charlotte said.

“And how he kidnapped Alice without having to carry her through the fence and across a lot of psi-hot territory,” Drake said. “I’m betting that this tunnel is a shortcut to the Chamber ruin. He can’t be too far ahead. I’m going after him.”

“This island has never been under the control of the Guilds,” Fletcher said. “That means the catacombs down below have never been cleared of ghosts. Egan is a hunter. He can handle ghosts. But you don’t have that kind of talent. Looks like you are going to need some backup.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Drake said.

He started down the glowing staircase. Jasper and Fletcher followed him into the catacombs.

Chapter 35

ALICE SENSED THE SEETHING ENERGY EMANATING FROM the pyramid before they walked into the subterranean chamber. The instant she saw the glowing ruin she knew that it was only a matter of time before it exploded. The dark, heavy currents coming off the crystals that formed the pyramid felt inherently unstable. They flooded the atmosphere with an invisible sea of hot psi.

The only part of the structure that was man-made was the heavy mag-steel door at the entrance. Under most circumstances, mag-steel was strong enough to block paranormal radiation, but Alice had a feeling that in this case the door would not last much longer.

The fierce, wild energy swirling in the outer chamber lifted Alice’s hair as if she were floating in water. Goose bumps prickled her skin. The waves of psi were both unnerving and exhilarating. She did not know how it was possible to be terrified and at the same time thrilled, but she did know how to conceal her emotions. She kept her stage face in place.

“I gotta tell you, Zara, as a research scientist, you’re a real loser,” she said. “What did you think you were doing, fooling around with Alien technology this powerful? That pyramid feels like it’s going to blow at any moment.”

“You can save the sarcasm,” Zara said. “Because if it does blow, all of us, including you, are going with it.”

Alice glanced at Pete. His right hand was handcuffed to her left hand. A two-foot-long chain connected them. Egan gripped Pete’s upper arm.

Pete was probably even more frightened than she was, Alice thought, because he had been inside the pyramid and knew what they were about to encounter. But he was doing his best to appear calm and stoic. Maybe he actually had some faith in her promise that rescue was on the way.

Alice turned back to Zara. “That Chamber is big, and according to what I’ve been told, I’m not going to be able to see my hand in front of my face once I’m inside.”

“That’s correct,” Zara said. “You’ll be completely blind. One step past the entrance and you won’t even be able to look back and see the opening. The para-energy inside overwhelms light from the normal end of the spectrum. It’s like going into a cave.”

“How am I supposed to find the crystals?”

“Trust me, you’ll sense them. They’re so hot now that even someone without much talent can pick up the energy emanating from them.”

“So why don’t you send Egan in after them?”

Fury and frustration flashed across Zara’s face. “Because only someone with a strong light-oriented talent can get through the force field at the entrance without going unconscious within seconds. Back at the start, it was possible for any talent to come and go from the Chamber. It was similar to walking through the psi-fence that surrounds the Preserve. But now it’s a thousand times worse.”

“Because you heated things up with the crystals. You’re a real twit, aren’t you?”