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his ears and his equilibrium.
    “Why doesn’t one of your household staff stop it?” Rafe called out to Elvira as he went toward the door.
    “I gave them the night off when I heard you would be dropping by for a visit.” Elvira sounded weak. “There’s no one here but us.”
    The lights over the bookcases winked out with startling abruptness, plunging the steel-lined room into Stygian darkness.
    “Wonderful.” Rafe’s voice echoed eerily in the tomblike chamber. “Just what we needed to make the evening perfect.”
    “What is it about that siren?” Orchid shook her head, trying to clear it. “For some reason it makes me feel as if I’m about to pass out.”
    “It’s designed to make you do just that. The sound waves it generates interfere with the natural synergy of ear-brain patterns to create a disorienting sensation.” Elvira’s voice was whisper-thin now. “In fact, I believe I’m about to faint, myself.”
    “Elvira.” Rafe’s voice sharpened. “The door’s locked from the outside. We’re trapped in this damn gallery of yours.”
    “The crypto-talent who installed the system designed it so that any thief who found his way inside would be locked in here and rendered unconscious.”
    “Good grief, we’re caught in a fancy bug trap for burglars.” Orchid massaged her forehead. At that moment unconsciousness held a distinct appeal. Anything was better than the feeling that she was going to be violently ill. “I don’t do well in dark, enclosed spaces.”
    “Don’t freak out on me,” Rafe ordered. His voice sounded closer now. “I’ve got enough problems on my hands locating the other exit.”
    In spite of her growing nausea, Orchid was offended. “I never freak out.” A flicker of hope went through her as his words finally registered. “What other exit?”
    “There has to be one. Elvira?”
    “Yes, dear?” She sounded half asleep.
    “Pay attention. I know how crypto-talents think and I know how you think.”
    “Yes, of course you do, dear. You’re a strat-talent.”
    “You and whoever designed the system must have planned for this kind of disaster. Where’s the other exit?”
    “You’re right, there is one. Somewhere. Can’t seem to think. So sorry, dear. This is very awkward. Quite embarrassing, in fact.”
    With a soft sigh, she fell against Orchid, who staggered under the unexpected weight.
    “Oomph. Rafe, I’ve got her. I think she’s unconscious.”
    “I’ll take her.”
    She did not hear him move but a second later he brushed against her arm. He took the weight of Elvira from her.
    “I’ll leave her here on the floor for now,” Rafe said.
    Orchid’s head was spinning faster in the endless night. “You’d better not get too close to me. I’m feeling a little sick. My boss will never forgive me if I throw up on a client’s shoes.”
    “I won’t be real thrilled either.” He moved again in the fathomless dark. “Get a grip, Orchid.”
    “Easy for you to say. I can’t seem to grip anything. I think I’m going to faint.”
    “If you do, I’ll demand my money back from Clementine Malone. Come on, we’ve got to find that exit.”
    “You’re the big-time strat-talent. Got any ideas?”
    “Yeah. I just need to think clearly for a minute.” There was raw pain in his voice now. “Damn. That siren is really doing a number on my ears.”
    An idea occurred to her. “Link.”
    “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. No telling how that siren will affect a focus link.”
    “What have we got to lose?” she demanded. “I vote we try it.”
    “Okay, okay. You’re right. Not much to lose.”
    When the questing tendril of raw power unfurled out on the psychic plane, Orchid greeted it with a great deal more enthusiasm than usual. Rafe’s psychic energy burned, strong and steady, in the metaphysical realm where there was no day or night, no light or darkness.
    The instant she projected the glittering crystal prism that could focus his power, everything