Steven hunched over slightly as the wave of the o.r.g.a.s.m pa.s.sed through him. It seemed like it would go on forever. If Roy wasn't here, Steven thought, I'd really be enjoying this.

"You have to have some kind of moral base, and stick to it," Roy said, still walking round the room behind Steven, looking at objects. "An ethical foundation is important. I want those people to get their books back without feeling as through we've pawed through them. They should feel that their family secrets are safe."

Steven turned to leave the room. "Bathroom break I'll be back in a minute," he said as he walked to the door and down the hallway to the bathroom located by the kitchen.

When he returned, Roy was holding a planchette similar to the one Judith had used. "I think I've found it," Roy said. "It's not exactly the same, but it's close." He handed it to Steven.

Steven examined the planchette. This one was wider than Judith's, and heavier. The gla.s.s inside the center circle was darker. There were markings around the opening that were strange. Steven entered the River and held the gla.s.s over his hand. The double diamond marking reappeared, but this time it was more vivid. Steven felt a fear rising in his stomach, as though he was looking at something truly horrible. He wanted to keep examining himself with the gla.s.s, but the feeling overpowered him and he lowered it.

"What's wrong?" Roy asked.

"Take a look," Steven said. "Tell me what you see."

Roy took the planchette back from Steven and placed it over Steven's left hand. He entered the River and looked through the gla.s.s.

"Well I'll be," Roy said. "No wonder you wanted to know more about it." Roy pulled the gla.s.s back and examined more of Steven. "Seems to be just on the hands, but you should check yourself out and see if there's more under your clothes."

Roy turned the gla.s.s on himself, looking at the tops of his hands and the parts of his body that weren't clothed. "Nothing," he said. "Only you."

"How did you feel," Steven asked Roy, "when you saw the markings on my hands?"

"What do you mean?" Roy asked.

"Look at them again," Steven said, holding up his hand. Roy held the planchette over Steven's hand and looked through the gla.s.s again.

"What am I looking for?" Roy asked.

"Not what you're looking for, how you feel," Steven said.

"I don't feel anything," Roy said.

"No sense of dread?" Steven asked.

"No," Roy said. "Why? Is that what you felt?"

"Not when I looked through Judith's gla.s.s," Steven said. "Only with this one."

"Interesting," Roy said. "This gla.s.s might be different, able to convey a sense of the reaction evil creatures get when they see your mark."

"But you don't feel it," Steven said. "Only me. Why? I'm evil?"

"Don't be stupid," Roy said. "Of course you're not evil."

"They why can I feel it, and you can't?" Steven asked.

"I don't know," Roy said. "Maybe because you're marked, and the gla.s.s doesn't differentiate between evil and marked. We don't know for sure. But I know you're not evil."

"How do these markings occur, exactly?" Steven asked. "Were they inherited?"

"As far as I know, none of my ancestors had markings," Roy said.

"Mom's side of the family maybe?" Steven asked.

"It would have to be latent!" Roy said. "Your mother hated the gift, insisted I never use it around her."

"Maybe she hated it in the way James Unser hated it," Steven said. "Because she was familiar with it."

"Don't know," Roy said. "We never talked about it."

"Do you think she knew about these markings?" Steven asked.

"I doubt it," Roy said. "With her, it was always Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."

"Maybe that's why all the churching," Steven said. "She knew I was marked."

"Pure speculation," Roy said.

"I could try to contact her," Steven said.

Roy dropped his head and sighed. "Please, don't," he said.

"Why not?" Steven asked.

"Because I'm asking you not to," Roy said. "You want me to respect the relationship with your son by not talking to him about the gift, fine. But you respect my relationship with your mother by leaving her at peace."

"OK," Steven said, a little hesitantly. He'd strayed into uncomfortable territory with Roy and wasn't sure how to back out of it.

Roy wasn't done. "Your mother went to her grave believing that she'd spared you and Bernard from my abilities. I didn't agree with her on that, but her happiness was always important to me. So I'd like to keep things the way they are with her."

"But surely she must know by now," Steven said.

"I don't think so," Roy said, getting worked up. "Your mother believed what she wanted to believe. You digging her up to show her your markings would just crush her. Out of respect for her and me you are not to contact her. Do you understand?"

"Alright," Steven said.

"I...I forbid it!" Roy said.

"Touche," Steven said. "You win. I won't."

"Thank you," Roy said, calming down. He began browsing the objects again. One caught his eye. It was a small wooden box, about the size of two cigarette boxes side by side. It had intricate carvings on it.

s.h.i.t! Roy thought. That's the same box Daniel's bugs came in. Roy knew Steven didn't share his memory of the bugs, and how they killed Daniel. I need to warn him somehow, Roy thought.

"There's some dangerous things in here," Roy said. "Come see this one."

Steven walked over to where Roy was standing. Roy pointed to the box inside the case.

"You best be on high alert with these items," Roy said. "I wouldn't suggest opening or activating any of them before you know what they do. I've seen this one before. The last time I saw it, it contained bugs that would bore into you and kill you. And they moved fast."

"Jesus," Steven said, looking down at the box through the case. "I would have opened it without a second thought."

"You'd be comatose within seconds," Roy thought. "So be careful with this stuff. Don't even accidentally activate or open anything."

"I think I'm done anyway," Steven said. "I'm going to relax under the tree for a while."

"I'm going back to the library," Roy said. "I think I stand a better chance of finding something that will work on Evie from my book than these objects. Let's leave early tomorrow morning, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind," Steven said, turning to leave the room, Roy following him.

Steven wandered out of the object room and into the entryway, where he strolled slowly to the back archway, still examining himself with the planchette. He was able to look through the gla.s.s at anything else just fine, but when he landed on his markings, he felt fear begin to rise, and he removed the gla.s.s before it felt as bad as it had been in the object room. He walked outside and sat under the banyan tree. Even though it was night, the temperature inside and outside the house was always the same, seventy degrees. Lights from the house lit the backyard. He took quick glances at his markings, never letting the gla.s.s stay long over his hand.

If this is how they feel when they see me, Steven thought, then this is a huge natural defense. But is it an offense, too? If these markings tell them to be afraid of me, why? What about me is to be feared? Is it just that I taste bad to eat? Or can I do something dangerous to them? I need to find out what it is.

He examined himself with the planchette repeatedly, until he grew tired and decided to pack it in for the night.

On the way home the next morning, they stopped for coffee at a roadside stand in Elma. Piled in the back seat were three books from the library at Eximere that Roy wanted to study at home to determine their owner. Steven kept the planchette in his jacket pocket, almost as a talisman. It gave him comfort to know it was immediately available if he wanted to examine his hands again.

As Steven pa.s.sed the cup to Roy and waited for his own, Roy grumbled. He had been reading his book in the car since they left, and something was bothering him.

"What's wrong?" Steven asked.

"G.o.dd.a.m.n thing," Roy said, slapping the page he was reading. "I think this will work with Evie. It creates a sense of calm around people. It suggests here that it makes people more likely to trust you. But I can't figure out the description."

"Here, let me try," Steven said, holding his arms out for the book. Roy pa.s.sed the hand-bound book over to Steven, and he positioned it in his lap. The book was large and unwieldy, and Steven propped it against the steering wheel to read it. He read the section Roy pointed to.

"Seems plain enough," Steven said. "Rosemary, gla.s.s jar, binding intent."

"You can read that?" Roy asked.

"Yes," Steven said, handing the book back.

"Well," Roy said, "I'll be."

Steven's cup arrived, and they started back down Highway 8 towards Olympia and Seattle.

"I couldn't read the part about the 'binding intent,'" Roy said.

"Must be something I've learned that you haven't," Steven said, knowing this would get under Roy's skin.

"What would that be?" Roy asked. "We've worked together on everything. Maybe it's your magical markings," Roy said.

"You're jealous," Steven said. "Admit it."

"I wouldn't want those black widow spider marks all over me," Roy said.

That's what they remind me of, Steven thought. The red hourgla.s.s on the black widow. A warning to everyone that the spider can kill.

"Do you know what a binding intent is?" Steven asked Roy.

"No, I don't," he answered, "which is probably why I couldn't read it. The question is, how do you know what it is?"

"I don't know what it is exactly," Steven said. "See if you can find something about it in there."

Roy returned to searching through the book. "If we can figure this out on the drive back," Roy said, "we can deal with Evie this morning. It'll only be 9 or so when we get back to Seattle."

"Keep reading," Steven said, taking another sip of his coffee and pressing a little harder on the accelerator. He reached into his jacket pocket to make sure the planchette was still there.

Chapter Six.

Steven called June as they were on their way to her house to warn her to have the token ready, and to find out if Evie was still there. He pulled his car into the driveway at June's house, parking behind Evie's car to make it difficult for her to back out in case she decided to run away from them again.

Roy had, in his jacket pocket, a small jar that contained a single sprig of rosemary. Steven had sealed the jar with the binding intent Roy found in the book. They hadn't talked any more about how Steven had been able to read the instructions that Ray couldn't. Steven knew this was irritating Roy.

They walked to the kitchen door and knocked. Steven could see June and Evie sitting at chairs in the kitchen, both watching a small television. Evie looked up and scowled. June hurried to the door to let them in.

"h.e.l.lo!" she said. "Come in! Would you like some coffee?" Her palms were pressed together tightly.

"Love some," Steven said, walking inside.

"Back to hara.s.s me some more?" Evie said, still sitting at the kitchen table.

"We just want to talk," Roy said.

"Why don't you help yourself to the coffee," June said, nodding to the pot on the counter.

"Thanks," Steven said, turning to pour himself a mug.

"How about a warmer?" Evie said, holding up her mug. Steven brought the pot over to Evie and refilled her cup, and poured a mug for Roy. Then Steven and Roy sat at the table with Evie and June.

"What's my mother holding so strangely?" Evie asked.

"Something we gave her," Steven said, "to protect her."

"From something in the house?" Evie asked.

"Yes," Steven said. "Whatever it is, it doesn't like me very much, and it threatened your mother when we tried to help her."

"So it's to protect her from you," Evie said.