Free Edge of Twilight by MAGGIE SHAYNE Page B

stupid.”
    â€œI never said you were stupid, Amber, just…inexperienced.”
    â€œWith men, she means,” Sarafina put in.
    â€œNot so inexperienced I can’t spot a con a mile away. God, do you think I believe any of this? He appears out of nowhere on a dark road and I don’t sense him there? He had to be shielding.” She shook her head slowly. “I’ve been mulling this over all the way out here. The onlyanswer I can come up with is that he didn’t want me to see him before I hit him.”
    Rhiannon blinked, glanced at Sarafina, then looked back at Amber.
    â€œAnd that he just happened to be going to Salem? Come on, I’d have to be a dimwit to fall for that.”
    â€œBut you brought him here all the same,” Sarafina whispered.
    Amber nodded, moving behind her to squeeze her shoulders. “Yes. And I’m sorry if it added any more tension to a situation that’s already unbearable, Sarafina. I didn’t want to make things worse for you.”
    â€œThen why did you do it?” Rhiannon asked.
    Amber met her eyes. “I think…I was supposed to.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    Sighing, Amber shook her head. “No. Look, this is my deal, okay? I’m not ready to talk about it, not yet. And certainly not when there’s so much else going on.” She leaned closer to Sarafina. “Don’t burden yourself worrying about this. I can handle Edge. And don’t give up hope on Willem.”
    Sarafina jerked her head around to stare into Amber’s eyes, then she turned her gaze on Rhiannon. “You’re planning something, aren’t you?” Amber nodded.
    â€œAmber, don’t—” Rhiannon began.
    â€œShe has a right to know.” Amber moved to the chair nearest Sarafina’s, took her hands, held her eyes. “You remember when Will saved you from Stiles and threw him from that peak into the sea?”
    She nodded. “We never found his body.”
    â€œI don’t think his body was there. Rhiannon and I—we think he survived.”
    â€œBut how…?” Then she blinked, and her eyes widened. “The experiments? You think he was successful?”
    â€œWe can’t know that for sure,” Rhiannon said.
    â€œBut we’re going to find out.” The teakettle started whistling, long and slow. Amber got up to shut it off. “The importance of our new friend Edge and his motives for coming here pale in comparison to this.”
    Rhiannon sighed. “On that, I suppose I have to agree.”
    Amber put a tea bag into her mug, poured the steaming water over it. “Rhiannon is taking a sample of my blood to Eric at Wind Ridge. My parents are going to meet her there. You know Eric and his science. If there’s anything to be found, he’ll find it. It’s just a matter of time.”
    â€œTime.” Sarafina sighed, lowered her head. “That’s something we don’t have in abundance.”
    â€œDante and Morgan are on their way, Sarafina,” Rhiannon said. “They’re going to work from this end on tracing Frank Stiles. If he is still alive, they’ll track him down. And once we know where he is…” Rhiannon didn’t finish. She didn’t have to.
    â€œIt might not matter,” Sarafina said softly. “Even if we found some way to—to do this thing—”
    God, Amber thought. She couldn’t even say it.
    â€œI’m not sure Willem would surrender his mortality.”
    Amber frowned. “Is this something you’ve discussed, then?”
    She shook her head. “We try not to. He’s so determined that we live in the moment—so determined to keep me from torturing myself by thinking about the inevitable.” Lifting her eyes, she said, “Or what we thought was inevitable.”
    â€œThen you don’t know,” Amber said. “And you won’t, not until you ask