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best an indie could do in a situation like that was make a deal. Lyra had refused to bargain.
    Typical Dore, Cruz thought. His grandfather was right; they were too proud and too stubborn for their own good.
    He briefly contemplated the sizzling midnight fantasies that had haunted him since his house-of-cards relationship with Lyra had come tumbling down. The dreams had all begun the same way, with Lyra rushing into his arms the moment she saw him across a crowded room. Said fantasies had progressed from there to a variety of interesting and very hot scenarios.
    But when he had walked into the Swan Gallery tonight, he was the one who had wanted to run to her, sweep her up in his arms, and carry her off into the night.
    He could see that there was no point trying to explain any of that to her now. She wouldn’t believe him if he tried. He forced himself to stay focused. His responsibilities came first.
    “We’ve got a problem with the ruin,” he said, keeping his tone as businesslike and nonconfrontational as possible.
    “Would that be the royal we?” she asked politely.
    “That would be the research team from the lab.”
    “Oh,” she said. “You mean the cretins from Amber Inc. Research and Development.”
    “I’m told that the members of the research team prefer to describe themselves as scientists, archaeologists, and technicians.”
    She nodded. “Job titles like that probably pay more than cretin. Okay, so what went wrong at the ruin?”
    “The doorway to the chamber closed.”
    She blinked, obviously startled. An instant later a slow, wicked smile curved her mouth. Laughter gleamed in her eyes. For a heartbeat he allowed himself a few more memories from three months back. He saw Lyra smiling as she demonstrated the full potential of the incredible artifact of amethyst amber that she had tuned especially for him. He had kept the relic close all these months. He’d lost track of how many times he had taken it out of its leather case and held it, savoring the strange beauty of the alien artwork.
    “Define closed ,” Lyra said.
    “There’s a small energy storm filling the opening. No one can get in or out.”
    “Interesting,” she said.
    “Any idea how it was closed?” he asked.
    She raised one shoulder in a tiny shrug. “There are a couple of possibilities. There may have been some stray currents from a ghost river or even a storm in the vicinity.”
    “None were detected.”
    “Then it was probably triggered accidentally by someone who can work one of the exotic ambers like silver or diamond.”
    “Or amethyst?” he asked quietly.
    She stilled.
    “Or someone who can work amethyst,” she agreed without inflection.
    “The ruin was open when the AI lab team began work at the site,” he said.
    She raised a finger. “Point of semantics here. The ruin was open when it was stolen from me in the course of a hostile takeover, the legality of which is highly questionable.”
    “I think we’ll leave semantics out of this for now.”
    She looked at him with wide-eyed innocence. “Why would we want to do that?”
    “Because there’s too much at stake,” he said.
    “Not for me.” She smiled. “To quote Nancy, I don’t have a dust bunny in this fight.”
    He ignored that. “The ruin was closed when you discovered the amethyst chamber, wasn’t it?”
    She grinned. “Yep.”
    “You opened it.”
    “Sure did. I take it none of your cretins can get the job done now that it’s closed again?”
    “No,” he said. “The lab guys have tried everything. So have I, for that matter, and I’m pretty good when it comes to tuned amber. The energy in that amethyst is unlike anything anyone in the lab has ever dealt with before. We haven’t even been able to rez or activate any of the artifacts that have been recovered so far. All the pieces are just sitting in the lab vault like so much purple rock.”
    “I did get that impression,” she said lightly. “I’ve had a number of phone calls from your