Flash

shrugged and fell into step beside him. Jasper glanced back once and saw Olivia watching them with a worried expression.
    "I don't really want another drink," Todd confided. "But thanks for giving me an excuse to avoid any more explanations."
    "No problem."
    "It isn't always easy having an older sister who thinks she's right most of the time."
    "I understand." Jasper reached the elegant staircase and started up the steps. "Let's take a look at Merlin's Cave. I want to see what Bolivar did with a couple of thousand dollars' worth of Glow equipment."
    Todd smiled briefly. "Cousin Bolivar missed his calling. He should be studying to go work for a firm that designs carnival attractions. Of course, some folks would say that working for Light Fantastic was not far off the mark."
    "I won't tell Olivia you said that."
    "Thanks. I appreciate that."
    At the second-floor landing, they went down a hazy blue hall. Flashing lights pulsed in quick, strobelike intervals. Miniature lightning bolts arced overhead.
    The entrance to Merlin's Cave was easy to find. The crowd waiting to get inside wound out the door of the upstairs ballroom and halfway down the corridor.
    Jasper came to a halt. "Guess it's a big hit."
    "Yeah." Todd grimaced. "Forget trying to get inside for another hour."
    "What do you say we go out onto the veranda for some fresh air, instead? I've had enough blue fog for a while."
    Todd shrugged again. He accompanied Jasper out onto the second-floor balcony.
    The cool evening and a measure of quiet greeted them.
    Jasper made no move to force a conversation. He gripped the railing and watched a handful of guests mill about below in the blue floodlit gardens.
    Todd leaned against the nearest pillar. "She was right, you know. Should have listened to her in the first place."
    "Olivia?"
    "Yeah. She warned me not to make the same mistake she made when she married Logan Dane."
    "What mistake was that?"
    "Olivia always refers to her marriage as a marriage of convenience. A business arrangement based on everything but love. She figured it was solid because they had so much in common, you see. But she was wrong. I got suckered by the same logic."
    "What made you decide that you and Eleanor Lancaster didn't have so much in common, after all?"
    "The problems have been building for a while." Todd grimaced. "But tonight they came to a head. Eleanor and I quarreled about some of her fund-raising techniques."
    "You didn't go along with her plans?"
    "She made some promises to some people in exchange for contributions. Promises I knew she wouldn't be able to keep if she stuck to our agenda after the election."
    "What did she say when you confronted her?" Jasper asked.
    "Can't you guess? She called me naïve. Reminded me that there won't be any agenda to fulfill unless she gets elected, and to do that, she needs money. She told me I'd better get used to politics as usual if I want the two of us to go all the way to the White House."
    Jasper glanced at him. "What did you say?"
    "I told her that I had decided that I don't want to be the First Husband, after all." Todd smiled ruefully. "I'm going back to my nice ivory tower. Olivia was right about that, too. I wasn't cut out for the real world of politics. I was born for the academic side of things."
    "You're leaving the campaign?"
    Todd nodded. "The news will be kept low-key, of course. I've stayed in the background all along so as not to distract the media's attention from Eleanor and her message. If we handle it right, I doubt that anyone will even notice that I've eased out of the picture."
    Jasper started to respond. He stopped, sensing a new presence on the scene. He turned his head and saw Dixon standing in the doorway.
    "Use 'em and lose 'em, is that the Chantry family motto?" Dixon asked thickly. "Hey, maybe someone should call up old Crawford Lee Wilder and tell him there's another story here in Seattle. He could call it Dark Muse II, the sequel."
    "Go to hell," Todd said wearily. "You've got what you want."
    "What's that supposed to mean?" Dixon demanded.
    "You've resented my relationship with Eleanor from the start. I should think you'd be glad that I'm out of the picture."
    "You've left her high-and-dry, you bastard." Dixon took two steps forward and flung the contents of his glass straight into Todd's face. "You're so fucking stupid, you don't even know how much damage you've caused."
    Before Todd could react, Jasper moved. He grasped Dixon's shoulder and spun him