"I'm poisonous to the evil?" Steven asked.

"Not exactly poisonous," she said. "Dangerous. Many evil will fear you because there's something about you that's dangerous to them."

"What?" Steven asked.

"I don't know," Judith said. "You might have some ability that counters theirs, or have an ability to damage them. Or, you might just leave a bad taste in their mouth if they were to devour you. Really, I would have thought that a man your age with the gift would have figured out his abilities by now."

"He's just starting," Roy said. "Only been using the gift for a year."

"You should accelerate his tutelage," Judith said. "He has abilities that are going to waste because he doesn't know he has them or how to use them."

Steven remembered something Anita had said to him, at Unser Estate: You're more powerful than all of them. At the time he didn't know what she meant, but she must have been referring to this ability Judith was describing. Makes sense, Steven thought. Anita was evil. She would have been able to see his markings as a warning.

"Are we done here, Steven?" Roy asked, his patience with Judith at an end.

"I guess so," Steven said, his mind whirling.

"We'll show ourselves out," Roy said to Judith, not bothering to thank her.

"Clara has a bag of these delightful cuc.u.mbers from Silverdale for you," Judith said. "Please take them as you leave. I think you'll find them comparable!"

"How come I can't see it in the River?" Steven asked Roy. They were back at Roy's place, and Roy was flipping through the pages of his book, looking for a pa.s.sage he'd used in the past. "You can't see anything on me, right?"

"No, I can't," said Roy. "If it's a warning to evil, why would I see it? You'd either need to be evil, or have something like her crystal to look through."

"Michael and Jurgen must not have seen it," Steven said. "But Anita saw it. And Lukas must have seen it. So it isn't a warning to evil humans, only to evil non-humans. I need to find something I can view it through, like her gla.s.s. I want to study the markings. I only had a second to look at them. Do you have any markings?"

"I don't believe so," Roy said, turning the pages of his book. "At least, I've never been told I do. Judith seemed to think I didn't. To be honest with you, most of the work I've done for others involved ghosts. I tried to avoid the ones that dealt with more sinister and dark things, like this one. It makes me uncomfortable."

"Have I had these markings my whole life?" Steven asked. "Was I born with them?"

"Probably," Roy said. "She said it was a natural thing."

"Have you ever read anything about this? In your book?"

"No," Roy said, "I haven't. But then, it's new to me, so it might be in here and I just haven't understood it."

"There might be information on it at Eximere," Steven said. "There's hundreds of books left to go through. I might be able to pick up something about it there."

Roy closed his book and turned to Steven. "This is bothering you?"

"Not bothering," Steven said. "Well, OK, yes, it is bothering me. How would you feel if you just found out you were marked as a warning to evil? Wouldn't you be concerned? Want to know more about it?"

"I guess I would," Roy said. "Maybe we can find something at Eximere. I was thinking we needed to find a way to soften up Evelyn first, find out what she knows."

"Of course," Steven said. "You're right. That's the next step. Sorry to distract you. Please, keep reading."

Roy opened the book once again and resumed his scanning. "I used to have this little trick," he said, "that would distract people while you're talking to them. It made them slip up and be honest with you. d.a.m.ned if I can find it though."

"She's gifted," Steven said. "It'll have to be stronger than something you'd use on a normal person. She'll see through the trick."

"You may be right," Roy said. "Might be too subtle."

"We need her to trust us," Steven said. "To realize that we're on her side. If we just drug her to get some answers we'll still have to deal with her fighting us."

"Ah," Roy said, "that's a better approach! We need something that will make her like us." He began looking through the book again, with a different goal.

As Roy searched, Steven's mind returned to the markings. I wonder if Jason is marked, he thought. If he is, maybe I shouldn't wait to tell him about the gift. I need some way of seeing these markings, something like Judith's planchette gla.s.s.

Eximere. All those objects, just sitting. One of them might have the properties I need. Another reason to go.

"I'm driving to Eximere tonight," Steven said. "Want to come with me?"

"Tonight?" Roy said.

"I'll come back tomorrow, but I want the night to explore the library and the objects out there. You're welcome to come with me if you want or not, stay here with the book if you'd rather."

"No, I'll go with you," Roy said. "I can read in the car on the way. Are you looking for ways to deal with Evie? Or are you looking for ways to deal with your markings?"

"Both," Steven said.

Chapter Five.

"I got a call from Jason," Roy said, sitting in the pa.s.senger seat of Steven's car as they drove to the peninsula. "He wants to come see me tomorrow."

"Don't," Steven said instinctually.

Roy looked at him. "Don't what?"

"Don't meet with him."

"I figured something was up with you two," Roy said. "He's never been one to meet with me out of the blue."

"He wants to talk to you about a dream he's been having," Steven said. "He talked to me about it the other day."

"Why does he want to talk to me about it?" Roy asked.

"Because the dream is about the gift, and he knows there's something I'm not telling him. He thinks it's some deep, dark family secret, and he'll try to pry it out of you."

"He won't have to pry," Roy said. "I'll tell him all about it if he asks."

"No, you won't," Steven said. "I'm his father, it's my prerogative."

"Well then, you tell him," Roy said.

"I'm not ready to," Steven said. "I want to wait a year, let him graduate first. I know him. This thing will be a huge distraction to him. If he learns of it before he finishes college, he'll drop out. And I won't have that on my conscience. Sheryl would come unglued."

"Who cares what Sheryl thinks?" Roy said. "I'm not sure you can control it the way you want. If he's dreaming about it, then it's emerging in him, and he'll want to figure it out. You can't stop that."

"Not for long," Steven said. "I told him one year. He completes his education, and I get better at tutoring. h.e.l.l, I can't even trance yet! How am I going to teach him anything? One year gives us both a chance to get on better footing."

"If he's dreaming about it," Roy said, "you'd better address it."

"He's been dreaming about it for ten years," Steven said. "I don't think another year will really matter."

"Ten years?" Roy said. "Then why's he calling me now?"

"This time his dream was different. Something in the dream made him think he needed to talk to me about it," Steven said. "So that's why he wanted to meet... and that's why he's calling you, since I stalled him. In the dream, something or someone told him to tell me that 'he knew'."

"Knew what?" Roy asked.

"That there's something we're not telling him," Steven said. "And the book is in the dream, too."

"I say tell him," Roy said. "We could use the help."

"And I say, as his father, no. His education comes first. They'll be plenty of time for it after he has his degree."

"Fine. But I'm on record as thinking it's a mistake."

"Like I said, one more year won't hurt."

"It might," Roy said. "You can't bottle it up, you know."

"What about me? I wasn't interested until now, and I'm nearly fifty."

"You bottled it up yourself," Roy said, "with your rationality. It's different with Jason. He's open to it. He's seeking it."

"If he comes to see you," Steven said, "I forbid you to talk to him about it."

"Forbid?!" Roy scoffed. "Hilarious!"

"I mean it," Steven said. "He's my son, and you will respect my wishes on this, understand?"

"Jesus Christ, the drama!" Roy said.

"I want to hear you say you understand," Steven said.

"I understand!" Roy said. "Christ!"

"And promise me you won't discuss this with him?" Steven said.

"Fine, I promise," Roy said. "But it's a mistake."

Always with the last word, Steven thought. Let him have it. Not worth fighting over. Never is.

An hour later, they pulled onto the forest road off County Road 15 and drove up to a locked chain link fence. Roy hopped out of the car and opened the fence while Steven drove through, then he locked the fence behind them and joined Steven in the car. They drove a few more hundred feet on the old forest road that they recently had graded for easier access. After a few bends in the road, they came upon the large metal doors that covered the old prohibition tunnel. Once again Roy left the car to open the doors for Steven, then locked them behind him once the car was safely in the tunnel.

They'd driven this route many times in the past six months since they liberated Eximere from James Unser, its creator. The underground house contained hundreds of books and objects belonging to gifteds who had been murdered by Unser, and in the course of liberating the place they decided to take on the task of returning as many of the books and objects as they could. It would take years, since returning a book meant figuring out who it initially belonged to, finding their living heirs, and contacting them, as they'd done with June Williamson. The objects were even harder to return since there was no record of ownership, and they didn't know how most of the objects functioned. Eliza was convinced that many of the objects were very powerful, but without knowing what they did or how to use them, they were like inert museum pieces, quietly sitting in display cases.

Steven drove the car through the tunnel to the end and parked the car where another metal door awaited. Roy used his keys to open it, and they began their descent. Long stairways and two doors later, they emerged into the large open cave that contained the house and yard. In addition to having built the house, Unser had arranged for a permanent day/night cycle in the cave, and evening had set. Lights from the house streamed out, and small lights at ground level lit the path they followed from the stairwell to the house, pa.s.sing through the dark front yard.

As he stepped through the open archway that acted as the front door to the house, Steven stopped and took a long, deep breath, as he always did upon arrival at Eximere.

G.o.d, that feels good, he thought. It's nice to be back.

He felt a warm breeze pa.s.s through the house, and he walked through the entryway to the back archway, looking out into the back yard. He could see the shape of the large banyan tree, and the reflection of the house lights in the pond beyond. Roy joined him, enjoying the view.

"I never get tired of it," Roy said. "Sometimes I can't believe it's ours."

"On loan," Steven said.

"Percival will never come down here," Roy said. "And we own the property with the access to it. It's ours. And you'll need to figure out how to pa.s.s it to Jason someday." Roy turned and walked back into the house.

He might be right, Steven thought. I wonder if we'll live long enough to return all these books and objects. And even if we did, what then? The place would still be here, available. We've agreed to not tell others about it, but Jason is family. He will have to know. He'll be able to use this place for another fifty years at least. Not exactly the family cabin I imagined.

On the opposite side of the house from the library was the room Steven thought of as "the object room." It was filled with cases and tables, and each gla.s.s case contained dozens of objects. Some looked unusual; others looked ordinary. In the River, the objects took on their true form, though their purpose was still not revealed. An old, half-burnt wax candle looked innocuous, but within the River it appeared as a knife with no handle, sharp edges all around. Steven saw it glowing with a faint blue edge. The color must mean something, Steven thought. Someone must know the meaning of these colors, there must be people who are experts on these things. Steven, Roy, and Eliza had agreed they would not reveal the existence of Eximere to anyone without a group vote, so if an expert were to be brought in to examine the objects, they'd all need to agree. The problem with bringing someone in was not knowing their intentions. Steven had learned there were as many unethical gifteds as ethical ones. They might want to sell the items, or steal them. Eliza had said the value of the objects in this room was inestimable; bring in the wrong person, and the whole room might be plundered before they could return a single item. It was probably wiser to take the items out for a.s.sessment, rather than bring someone it.

"Any luck?" Roy asked as he entered the room.

"Not yet," Steven said. "Honestly, most of them are intimidating. Who would pick up this thing?" he said, pointing to the wax candle.

"Maybe it's just meant to be looked at," Roy said, smiling.

"And what does the blue haze mean?" Steven asked. "They all have different colors. The color must mean something just like the red of my markings."

"I'll bet it's in a book somewhere," Roy said, walking through the room, observing the items. "We just have to find it. Hundreds more to go through in that library."

"You said you don't like going through other family's books," Steven said.

"I don't," Roy said. "Feels like prying. I wouldn't like someone going through our book. Unless it was to find out who it belonged to, to return it."

"Exactly," Steven said, picking up an object that looked like an old wooden letter opener. "So while you're looking through them for the owner, keep your eyes open for info on these colors." There was a small indentation on the side of the letter opener, a worn area of the wood. It looked as though it had been made by thousands of thumb imprints over many years. He pressed his thumb into the imprint, and felt immediate intense pleasure and the unmistakable rise of an o.r.g.a.s.m. He set the opener back down, but the o.r.g.a.s.m continued. He turned away from Roy as inconspicuously as possible, trying to hide what was happening to him.

"Well I think that's a little unethical," Roy said. "Why don't we just locate a book about colors, or consult someone who would know. We don't have to pry through other people's stuff to figure it out."