In Too Deep

place. Couldn’t afford to maintain it so she sold it to the historical foundation that runs the tours.”
    The bedroom was a frilly fairyland of pink and white. The small bed was adorned with ruffles and flounces and covered with a herd of stuffed animals. Lacy curtains bracketed the windows. A child-sized dressing table and stool stood in one corner. Dolls, rocking horses and stuffed pandas littered the floor.
    “I don’t see anything that even remotely resembles a weapon,” Julian said.
    “No,” Fallon agreed. “But there’s something of a paranormal nature in here. I can feel the energy.”
    Isabella tapped the shoulders of both men. “Excuse me. Mind if I take a look?”
    Fallon stepped back. So did Julian.
    She ducked under the velvet rope and stepped into the bedroom, concentrating on the trail of fog.
    The mists led straight to the top of a pink-and-gilt chest of drawers. For the first time, Isabella took out her own flashlight and switched it on. She started opening and closing the drawers. Most were crammed with dainty petticoats, nightgowns and other items that had been made for a little girl.
    The bottom drawer was filled with small pink and white socks and a cauldron of boiling fog.
    “Got it,” Isabella said.
    “What is it?” Julian asked urgently.
    “Hang on.” Isabella dug beneath the neatly arranged socks and saw an elaborately wrought hand mirror. She aimed the beam of the flashlight at the object and caught her breath. The mirror was spectacular. The gold-and-silver frame was intricately worked in an elaborate Baroque design that subtly incorporated ancient alchemical symbols. Strange crystals glittered in the light. Although the object looked as if it had been crafted during the seventeenth century, the glass was not dark with age.
    Captivated, she reached down to grasp the curved handle.
    Electricity sparked through her. She flinched but she did not let go.
    “This thing is definitely hot,” she said softly.
    “Are you okay?” Fallon asked.
    “I think so.”
    She looked into the mirror, aware that Fallon and Julian had come up behind her and were doing the same thing. They were all fascinated, she realized.
    It was like looking into a pool of liquid mercury. She could almost see her image but not quite. The seemingly solid glass of the mirror appeared molten. Silver energy swirled just beneath the surface, compelling her to look deeper.
    “It’s incredible,” she whispered.
    “Lower your senses,” Fallon ordered.
    The razor-sharp words snapped her out of the mini-trance. Startled, she hastily cut her talent. The surface of the mirror took on a more normal appearance. She could still sense the power in the artifact, but it no longer exerted the strong pull that it had a few seconds earlier.
    Julian plucked the mirror from her hand. Energy whipped the air around him. His triumphant excitement was palpable.
    “Damn, you did it, Isabella,” he breathed. “This has to be the para-weapon that the broker left here.”
    “But what does it do?” Isabella asked.
    She half expected Fallon to respond. He was always the one with the answers. But for once he had nothing to offer.
    “I told you, I don’t know exactly how it works.” Julian examined the back of the mirror. “All I can tell you is that the black-ops folks who hired Lucan to make the buy are willing to pay a hell of a lot to get it off the market.”
    “Time to go,” Fallon said. “We got what we came for. Let’s move.”
    The chillingly neutral quality of his voice sent a shiver of awareness through Isabella. Something was wrong. In that moment she knew that he had recognized the mirror and had some knowledge of its power.
    She looked at him, but in the deep shadows it was impossible to read his face. She heightened her talent a little and saw the heat in Fallon’s eyes. It was not the kind she associated with their lovemaking. Fallon was jacked and dangerous.
    “Jones is right,” Julian said. “Let’s get the hell out of Dodge.”
    He went swiftly toward the doorway. Fallon grabbed Isabella’s arm, his grip uncharacteristically rough. She turned to look at him in surprise. But he was already shoving her across the room toward the bed.
    She landed with a jolt and a shocked gasp. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Julian had spun around in the doorway. The mirror in his hand flashed white-hot.
    The room was suddenly ablaze with a blinding paranormal fire. Isabella realized that although she could