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you’d say that. I’m not sure leaving Crystal would keep you safe anyway. You’ve gone too far. I’m the only one who can offer you some protection.”
    â€œIs that right?” she asked coolly.
    â€œBelieve it or not, people usually think twice about murdering a Guild boss’s wife.”
    â€œBecause it would attract the attention of the other bosses?”
    â€œThe Chamber tends to frown on that sort of thing,” he said gently.
    â€œOh, jeez.” She gripped the arms of her chair again. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
    â€œVery. In addition to the implied threat, there’s another reason why marrying me will buy you some protection.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œMost people, including everyone in the Crystal Guild, will assume that I married you to shut you up.”
    She bristled. “You mean they’ll assume you’re doing what you have to do to keep Guild secrets, is that it?”
    â€œSomething like that.”
    â€œIf you think for one minute that you can keep me quiet once I’m your wife—”
    â€œThat’s not the objective.”
    â€œReally? Then what is the goal?”
    â€œThe idea is to join forces, Miss McIntyre. I’ve got my sources inside the Guild. You’ve obviously got a few of your own outside the organization. We need each other’s help to conduct this investigation, and we need to work together covertly.”
    She slumped back into her chair, bewildered now, rather than angry.
    â€œI don’t understand. Jenner mocked my reports. None of the other mainstream media picked up my stories, so I never got any traction with them. No one’s afraid of me.”
    â€œJenner paid more attention than you knew. Now that he’s gone, I think we should assume that the others involved in the cover-up may also consider you to be a problem.”
    Excitement and determination lit her expressive face. “So, there really is something big going on.”
    â€œYes.”
    She leaned forward a little and lowered her voice, although there was no one around to overhear.
    â€œIs it a conspiracy to conceal the discovery of an alien lab?” she asked.
    â€œTo tell you the truth, Miss McIntyre, I don’t know what the hell is being covered up beyond the drug running. What I know for sure is that there have been at least a couple of suspicious deaths, including the PI hired by the Council, and Jenner himself. At this point, there are very, very few people I can trust within the higher ranks of the organization.”
    â€œWhat makes you think you can trust me?”
    He smiled slowly. “Once you know what someone wants, you know whether you can trust that person. You also know how far you can trust him or her.”
    She searched his face, intrigued. “You think you know what I want?”
    â€œYou want answers. So do I. That means we can work together.”
    She drew a long, steadying breath. “Okay, in spite of some opinions to the contrary, I’m not an idiot. If you think I’m in danger, I want all the protection I can get. And you’re right. I want to find out what happened to those missing men.”
    He could feel the currents of energy that shimmered invisibly around her. She was definitely a woman of power. The question was, what kind?
    She didn’t wear amber, so she probably was not a standard para-rez talent. But there had always been stories of other kinds of talents, the sort that had nothing to do with alien psi and did not require amber, talents that occurred naturally in some people. Such psychic abilities were said to have existed since time immemorial, long before humans had gone through the Curtain.
    â€œI made an appointment for us to pick up a Marriage of Convenience license at the registrar’s office this afternoon at five o’clock,” he said.
    She looked as if she might fall off her chair. “You were that sure