Triplet

"Nope," he shook his head. "The early explorers to Karyx did some careful experiments along those lines and pulled a straight zero. The telefold treats spirits like local objects and won't pass them.

Period."

"Or at least it didn't back then," she argued. "Doesn't prove the spirits haven't come up with a new approach that does work. What about that sleepwalking syndrome you mentioned—God, was that only yesterday? You'll recall that Melentha's fractional-possession checks didn't turn up anything, but I was sure under some sort of influence."

Ravagin hissed thoughtfully between his teeth. "You sure were," he admitted. "I suppose it's possible. But it's hard to believe the telefold could be fooled like that."

"Why not? We know even less about the telefold than we do about Karyx's spirits. Besides, if there's no invasion under way, we're back to not knowing why Coven let us go in the first place."

"So how's that different from where we were this morning?" he said dryly. "Get off the bed, will you?"

"What are you doing?" she asked as she stood up and took a step back.

"Getting dressed, of course," he grunted. His dim figure swung its legs out of bed, and there was the sound of rustling cloth. "You are suggesting we head out to the Tu

She opened her mouth, closed it again as all the warnings she'd heard about nighttime travel on Karyx flashed through her mind. "Uh... no, not necessarily. I mean, it would be dangerous. Wouldn't it?"

"Sure it would. But if you're right about all this, the demons are likely going to wish they'd kept us in Coven after all... and the longer we stick around, the longer they've got to find out about it and correct their mistake."

A shiver went up Danae's back. "God. You're right. Come on, let's get moving."

"I'm glad you agree," Ravagin said. "... Oh, hell."

"What?"

"Damn. Well, it's just that I had Melentha double-secure the house tonight in case you decided to contest my decision by skating out on us. We'll have to get her to ungimmick it."

Danae felt her stomach knot up. "Can't you do it by yourself? I know there are spells to release spirits you didn't personally trap."

"Yeah; and most of them are tricky beyond belief, either in execution or in consequences if you don't do it exactly right. I'd rather just wake her up and tell her we're leaving early. We don't have to tell her why." He stood up, reached to the nighttable for his short sword. "Come on; let's go." Taking her arm, he started toward the door—

And abruptly the room blazed with green light.

Ravagin had the faster reflexes. "Man-sy-hae or1antis!" he shouted before Danae could do more than throw her arm up to shield her eyes against the sudden glare.

But to no avail. The green light remained steady... and as Danae's eyes adjusted she realized with a gut-wrenching feeling that it was coming from a ring of glowing green shapes spaced along the walls surrounding them.

Green demon shapes. "Ravagin—" she gasped in horror.

The slamming open of the room's door cut her off. "Fool," a deep, mocking voice came from the hallway. "Did you really think a simple spirit-protection spell would avail against me?"

Danae caught her breath as that voice clicked in her mind. "Ravagin—that's the demon-possessed man who talked to us in Coven—!"

And Melentha walked into the room.

Chapter 23

It was, a distant part of Ravagin's mind seemed to whisper, like a replay of Coven. Danae standing half behind him, hostile spirits all around them, a demon-possessed enemy in front of them.

Except that this time the enemy was Melentha. Who should have been a friend.

Melentha, how could you have let this happen?

"Ravagin," Danae breathed tightly in his ear. "How did it get here?—and through all her defenses, too?"

"It's a different demon, Danae," Ravagin told her in a low voice. "And unfortunately, it was probably invited. Stay calm and let me do the talking, okay?"

Melentha glided to a stop facing them, an amused smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "You were right, Ravagin; it was a good idea to double-safe the house. One never knows about these things, does one?"

"I guess one doesn't," Ravagin said, forcing his voice to remain steady. For the moment, at least, it was still a battle of wits, and the last thing he could afford was to panic. "So now what? The reasons behind your friends' decision back at Coven still hold, you know—you still risk a whole pack of trouble if you keep us here."

"True," Melentha nodded. "But now the risks of letting you leave are even stronger."

"What risks?" Ravagin scoffed. "Danae was just speculating through her hat on this—we know it, and you know it. The only thing we've got at all is that you're trying to make the human population of Karyx dependent on you; and if that's news to anyone at the Crosspoint Building they deserve to be surprised. The indications have been there for a long time; you can ask Melentha if you don't believe me."

Melentha's eyebrows raised slightly. "You are naive about these things, aren't you? You think one partner or the other has to be submerged in this type of symbiosis?" She shook her head. "You've been influenced by the old Earth scare-legends of spirit possession, I'm afraid."

"Sorry if I offended you—either of you," Ravagin amended. "So it's a symbiosis, is it? Interesting.

Clear enough what the demon gets out of the relationship—mobility on Karyx, a clearer view of the physical world, and access to human information. What exactly does Melentha get out of it?"

"Much the same sorts of things as the demon does," she said. "Immediate and continuous access to the spirit world, mainly."

"And that's worth giving up your freedom over?" Danae put in harshly.

Melentha turned glittering eyes onto her. "I would suggest," she bit out, "that you stay out of conversations you don't understand. You don't even have Ravagin's pitiful access to the spirit world

—how could you possibly imagine the depth of my knowledge and ability?"

"Oh, maybe she can imagine it a little," Ravagin shrugged. "After all, she's been in communication with a great power, and I'd wager that's something you haven't done."

For just an instant an inhuman fury filled Melentha's face. "Yes, the demogorgon," she bit out, her expression turning to stone. "We'll deal properly with it some other time. But thank you for reminding me. That contact of hers gives me that much more reason to prevent your return to Threshold."

Ravagin felt his mouth go dry. That hadn't been the reaction he'd been trying for... "Uh-huh. Again, I suggest that keeping us here will open more of a hornets' nest than you can really handle at this point."

"Why? Because an experienced Courier gets himself and his client killed on Karyx? Come, now, Ravagin—that happens often enough. No one's going to get into a major loop over it."

"But perhaps Cowan mal ce Taeger of Arcadia will," Danae said.

"Who?" Ravagin frowned.

"He's a billionaire politician/industrialist or something," Melentha said offhandedly. "All right, little girl, tell me: why would someone like that even notice, let alone care, if Ravagin turns up dead?"

"I'm his daughter."

Ravagin twisted his head around to stare at her. "You're what?"

"His daughter." Danae kept her gaze on Melentha. "Ravagin's right, Melentha—you can't just make us go away like a pair of unknown tourists."

Melentha's eyes flicked to Ravagin, back to Danae, and her tongue snaked out to flick at her upper lip. "You're bluffing," she said at last. "You aren't any relation to mal ce Taeger—you just read his name somewhere and made all this up."

"There's always one way to find out," Ravagin told her. "It's the hard way, of course."