Destiny

A

It lay with the wolf and mountain side up. Bending down, the switched on the desk light and peered at the image.

"What do you know about the charm, Roux?" she asked.

The old man shrugged. "Nothing. I only knew when I saw it that it was part of this sword."

"Joan of Arc's sword?"

Roux turned on Garin. "You told her?"

The younger man looked impassive. "Does it matter?"

"You're a fool," Roux snapped. "You've always been a fool."

"And it's taken you over five hundred years to find the pieces of this sword," Garin returned. " Ifyou've found them. I'd say that's pretty ineffectual. Perhaps recruiting people to help would have moved things along more quickly."

A

Roux, Garin and Henshaw all drew closer.

"Is this really her sword?" A

"Yes," Roux said hoarsely.

"How do you know?"

"Because I saw her carry it."

A

"Yes," Roux agreed seriously. "It was. I saw the soldiers break Joan's sword. I watched her burn at the stake." Sadness filled his face. "There was nothing I could do."

Numb with disbelief, but hearing the echo of truth in the old man's words, A

The old man shook his head. "No. There are things you don't know yet. Impossible things happen." He paused, studying the pieces. "I'm gazing at my latest reminder of that."

A

Her fingers curled around the leather-wrapped hilt.

An explosion of rainbow-colored light filled the case and overflowed into Roux's den. The shadow of something flew overhead on wings of driven snow. A single musical note thrummed.

For one brief second, A

Images of other lights were caught in the blade's surface. A hundred pinpoints of flaming arrows sailed into the sky. Small houses burned to the ground. Ru

At that moment, more than anything, A

The sword vanished. The weight dissipated from her hands. She was left holding air.

"Where did it go?" Roux roared in her ear. "What did you do with the sword?" He grabbed A

At first, A

Roux spilled onto the Persian rug under the ornate desk where the empty case now sat.

The sword was gone.

Chapter 17

GARIN AND HENSHAW froze. A

Getting to his feet with as much aplomb and dignity as he could muster under the circumstances, Roux cursed and worked his jaw experimentally, a bad combination as it turned out.

A

"The pieces disappeared as soon as you touched the hilt," Roux snarled. "I saw that happen."

"Pieces?" A

Roux searched her face with his harsh, angry gaze. "Poppycock. The sword was still in pieces."

He's insane,A

She told herself that, but didn't completely believe it. She'd been under the influence of hallucinogens strong enough to give her waking dreams and walking nightmares before.

Once, in Italy, she'd come in contact with a leftover psychotropic drug used by one of Venice's Medici family members that had still been strong enough to send her to the hospital for two days.

In England, she'd been around Rastafarians who had helped with packing the supplies on a dig site who had smoked joints so strong she had a contact high that lasted for hours. She'd never used recreational drugs. But she knew what kinds of effects to look for.

There were none of those now.

"Think about it, Roux," Garin insisted. "If she took the sword pieces, where are they? She has no pockets large enough to store them. We were all watching her."

Roux cursed more as he searched the case and came up empty again.

"The sword wasn't in pieces when it disappeared," A

"It was in pieces," Roux growled. "I saw them."

"I took the sword from the case – "

"Those pieces disappeared while they were still inside the case," Roux snapped. "I watched them."

"Then you didn't see what happened." A

Roux turned to Henshaw. "What did you see?"

"The sword was fragmented when it disappeared, Mr. Roux," Henshaw said. "Just as it was when you first showed it to me. Never in one piece."

"There you have it," Roux declared angrily. "All of us saw the sword in pieces."

"No," A

"You're imagining things." Roux sank into the huge chair behind the big desk. He regarded her intently. "Tell us what happened."

"I reached into the case for the sword – "

"Why?" Garin asked.

"Because I wanted to feel the weight of the haft," A

"By themselves?" Roux asked dubiously.

"I didn't move them."

"She didn't have time to fit the pieces together," Garin said. "You, on the other hand, have had time. And I'll bet nothing like this happened while you were trying to put those pieces together."

After a moment, Roux growled irritably, "No."

" Somethinghappened to the sword fragments," Garin said.

"It was whole," A

But neither of the men was listening to her.