But he had not just come from the office.
Amaryllis poured a second glass of wine and carried it out of the kitchen. She stopped when she saw Lucas.
He closed the door of the hall closet and turned to look at her. The bleak expression in his eyes tore at her heart. Wordlessly, she held out the glass of wine.
He came toward her, took the glass from her hand, and downed half the contents in a single swallow.
"No need to look so forlorn." Amaryllis summoned a shaky smile. "As my boss said earlier today, it's just your whole future at stake."
"Yeah. Right. My whole future." Lucas put the glass down on a nearby shelf and reached for Amaryllis.
His arms closed around her with a fierce gentleness. She pressed her face against his shoulder and bugged him with all of her strength.
After a moment she opened her mind to a focus link and found him there, waiting for her on the psychic plane. She created a prism and Lucas poured energy through it in a glittering, chaotic pattern.
They stood there in the hall, holding each other for a very long time.
Monday afternoon Lucas had no sooner hung up the phone when his private line warbled again. He eyed the instrument with impatience. Perhaps it was time to get a new private number. Too many people seemed to have his present one.
"Trent here," he growled into the phone.
"Lucas?" Amaryllis sounded startled. "Is that you? Are you all right?"
"Sorry. I was just going to call you."
"With a report from Mr. Stonebraker, I hope?"
"I haven't heard from Stonebraker."
"Hah. I knew it. I thought he was supposed to be a real hotshot investigator. You said he could find just about anything."
"Amaryllis, we just asked Stonebraker to find that damn file. It's only Monday. Give him a chance."
"He could probably work a good deal more efficiently if he didn't keep weird hours."
"I'll pass along your advice." Lucas lounged back in his chair and gazed out the window. "That's not what I was going to talk to you about."
"So? What's up?"
"Dillon just called. He asked if he could have dinner with me tonight."
"Maybe his folks have decided to let him go to work for Lodestar, after all," Amaryllis suggested.
"I doubt it. Dillon probably wants some advice, and I don't know what the hell to tell him."
"Just let him talk. From what you've told me, he views you as a substitute for his older brother."
"You don't mind?"
"If you have dinner with Dillon? Of course not. I've got some things to catch up on at home, and I've been looking for an opportunity to start reading a new book I bought. Don't worry, I can entertain myself for one evening."
"I'll call you when Dillon and I are finished. If it's not too late, maybe I could drop by your place." Lucas rubbed the bridge of his nose. There were going to be so few nights together. He could not bear the thought of missing a single one.
"That will be fine," Amaryllis said gently.
Something was wrong. The link was intensely personal, incredibly intimate. The essence of his masculinity was inescapable. It excited all her senses. It enveloped her, a flowing cape made of midnight colors.
His desire for her blazed through the prism in a near-blinding pattern of light. It was disturbing, erotic, and, Samantha suspected, probably quite dangerous.
It was not supposed to be this way, she thought as his mouth came down on hers. She had focused many times for many people. It had always been an impersonal connection, no different than shaking hands.
"Do not be afraid," he whispered against her mouth. "You create the prism. Without you I can do nothing. You control the link between us."
But Samantha was no longer so certain that she was in command of the mind link. She felt his power coiling around her. He was so strong, she thought. She had never met any talent as strong as Justin.
What if the legends were right? She wondered as he deepened the kiss. They said a psychic vampire could chain a powerful prism with mental bonds and use her for his own dark purposes.
If she did not burn out beneath the fierce flames of his psychic energy-- and she showed no signs of doing so-- then she might be in very grave danger.
The power in him surged through the prism. She knew in that moment that Justin St. Clair could take control of her mind the way he took control of her senses.
"It is desire that links us," Justin said. "Surely you do not fear it?"
But she did fear it. Samantha knew that she had to act before it was too late.
The ringing of the telephone interrupted Amaryllis before she discovered just how the heroine of Orchid Adams's latest novel intended to deal with Justin, the psychic vampire.
She marked her place, closed the book, and reached for the phone.
"Hello?"
"Is this Amaryllis Lark?" The voice on the other end of the line was vaguely familiar, although it was barely above a whisper.
"Yes. Who is this?"
"It's me, Vivien Huggleston."
"Vivien Huggleston? I don't know anyone named--"
"Vivien of the Veils," Vivien muttered. "You came to see me after one of my shows. You asked me some questions about Jonny Landreth."
Amaryllis sat up swiftly on the sofa. "Yes, of course, Vivien. What is it? Did you remember something important?"
"It's a little more complicated than that. I never actually forgot anything. I just didn't see any reason to tell you everything I knew that first time. I had my reasons, y'know? But now I think I'd better explain about me and Jonny."
"I'm listening."
"Jonny gave me something to keep. He said he didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands."
Amaryllis gripped the phone more securely. "Was it a file?"
"How did you know?"
"Never mind. Have you still got it?"
"Yeah, that's what I want to talk to you about. It's in a safe place, but I think I better get rid of it. Things are getting a little out of hand. Look, can you come and pick it up? I don't feel right about just bumin' it. It was real important to Jonny."
Amaryllis glanced at her watch. "I can be there in fifteen minutes."
"Come alone. I didn't much like the looks of that guy you had with you the last time. He made me nervous."
"He sometimes has that effect on people. Don't worry, I'll come alone. Where are you?"
"In my dressing room. I'm between performances. I don't go on for another hour and a half. Take a cab. That way you won't have to park on the side streets. Gets a little dangerous around here after dark, y'know. But you'll be safe enough so long as you stay on the main strip."
"I'll be there as soon as I can get a taxi."
Amaryllis cut the connection and then dialed the number of a cab company.
She was on her way out the door a few minutes later when she remembered that Lucas would be calling to tell her that his dinner with Dillon was finished. He would worry if she failed to answer the phone.
She dashed back into the living room, grabbed the phone, and recorded a new message into her answering machine.
When she was done, she ran back to the door and opened it. The cab was waiting at the curb.
The strip that marked the heart of Founders Square was thronged, as usual. Although it was nearly ten o'clock, the gaudy jelly-ice lights of the clubs and casinos blazed brighter than the sun at high noon.
Amaryllis got out of the taxi in front of the SynCity Club. She glanced at the long line of cruising cabs that clogged the street. There would be no problem getting one to take her home when she had finished talking to Vivien.
"Thank you," she said as she handed the driver his fare and what she considered a reasonable tip. "No need to wait."