Witchcraft

Maybe Ariel really did have some power. Kimberly tested her bonds carefully. Her captors had left her trussed up in the middle of her bed. Loving him as much as you do. There was no point in denying it, Kimberly told herself bleakly as she lay staring at the far wall. Self-honesty seemed appropriate when you found yourself in such dangerous circumstances. She loved Cavenaugh . Perhaps when she had run from the hotel tonight she had only been running from the truth. She knew she had made him understand that something was wrong but what would he do next, Kimberly wondered. He was probably still back in San Francisco. The only thing he could do was call the local authorities and ask them to check out the situation.
    Her fate was in his hands, Kimberly reflected. On the whole, she couldn't imagine trusting anyone other than Cavenaugh with her life.
    Several miles down the road Cavenaugh hung up the pay phone in the all-night convenience store and went outside to the waiting Jaguar. So the compelling sense of urgency, which had been governing his actions since the moment he knew he had to go to Kim's room, had been based on something more than the uneasiness left by a lovers' quarrel. He had left the hotel a little more than an hour behind her, but he'd made better time than she had. He was only a half hour from her home.
    Cavenaugh yanked open the car door, his mind spinning as he considered the possibilities that lay ahead. Kim had implied there were three people in the house with her. There wasn't much time, but then, there never was in situations like this. He would go into this as prepared as possible. Before starting the engine he leaned down and removed a couple of items from underneath the front seat. The knife he slipped inside his low boot, strapping it to his ankle. He shoved the small, flat, metal box inside the waistband of his jeans so that it lay snug against his spine. Then he turned the key in the ignition and pulled out onto the rain-slicked road. Given the driving conditions, it should have been a thirty minute trip to Kimberly's beach house. Cavenaugh decided that with a little effort he could make it in twenty. That was a good deal less time than it would take to try and rouse the local authorities into efficient action. * * * Kimberly was inching her way across the bed, trying to get close to the glass-based bedside lamp when the door to her room opened. The woman called Zorah stood in the doorway. She was holding a small brazier in her hands. "I didn't phone for room service," Kimberly managed. She was very scared now. "You are foolish to mock what you do not understand," Zorah informed her softly.
    She set the brazier down on the floor and knelt in front of it. "But soon you will pay the price. Your life will be forfeited to the Darkness, Kimberly Sawyer." Kimberly watched uneasily as the woman applied a match to the small pile of coals in the bottom of the pan.
    "Look, Zorah , don't you think this has gone far enough? Why don't you get out of it before you're trapped? You know it's only a matter of time before Ariel is discovered. She's not clever enough to cover her tracks or yours for much longer. And after I disappear you can bet Cavenaugh won't stop until he's uncovered the truth."
    "Darius Cavenaugh cannot deal with my lady's power," Zorah said serenely. "What power?
    Everything Ariel's arranged so far has been screwed up. The kidnapping went wrong. The attempt to kill me fizzled. What makes you think she'll pull off her next trick successfully?" Zorah glared at her, some of the assured serenity faltering. "She brought you here tonight with her power, didn't she?"
    "Not exactly. I think we can write tonight off as one very large coincidence. A coincidence she was shrewd enough to capitalize on. Did she really tell you that she would make me appear this evening?" "She said we had to come here to your house in order to discover the best method of dealing with you. The emanations of your essence are strongest here where you live, and the power can be wielded most effectively in such an environment."
    "But did she actually promise to produce me?" Kimberly prodded. "Or did she just say you'd do a bit of hocus pocus and decide on your next course of action?" Zorah sprinkled powder from a small leather packet onto the glowing coals and got to her feet. "You are wasting your time trying to put doubts in my head. I believe in my lady's power. Someday she has promised it will be mine!" Zorah turned and