Free The Granite Key (Arkana Mysteries) by N. S. Wikarski

absolutely! This is quite exciting, isn’t it? We had no idea what object Sybil was recovering and here we sit with photographs of it.” He scowled for a moment. “By the bye, how do you come to have these?”
    “Cassie brought them with her when she visited me.” Faye sounded troubled.
    The young man took note. “Didn’t your talk go well?”
    “It went very well. During the course of the afternoon, I discovered that she is our new Pythia.”
    “What!”
    Griffin ’s exclamation was so loud that Faye winced. “Please, dear, keep your voice down. We do belong to a secret society, after all.”
    The young man overcompensated by lowering his voice to a whisper. “But this is incredible, Faye! This is beyond coincidence! If I believed in such things, I would call it a miracle.”
    Faye sighed. “It is certainly a stroke of good fortune for us but Cassie is having some trouble coming to terms with it.”
    Griffin ’s face took on a look of owlish concern. “You mean she doesn’t want to be the Pythia?” He sounded as if he could barely comprehend such a possibility.
    “I think she needs time to accept her new role. I do believe that she’ll come around in the end.”
    “But what if she doesn’t?” Griffin ’s tone was anxious. “What are we to do then?”
    Faye remained serene. “I am quite confident she will reconsider. After all, we are the only people who can give her the answers she seeks about her sister’s death. I expect her to realize that soon enough.”   She picked up the page with random numbers scribbled across it and pushed it toward him. “Cassie thinks these are the dimensions of the object in the photographs.”
    The young man took the page and puzzled over it for a few moments. “Dimensions, but why—”
    Faye cut in. “I think Sybil wanted us to build a replica in case we no longer had the original.”
    “But why should we want a replica?” Griffin was mystified.
    The old woman picked up one of the photos and contemplated it. “Cassie gave me a hint when she talked about our elusive cowboy. She had a dream in which she saw the encounter in the antique shop. She said he wanted Sybil to tell him where the key was. When he ransacked her apartment, he took only this stone ruler. I would assume it is some kind of key. In order to know what it unlocks, we would need an exact copy. Do you think you could make one using the measurements I’ve given you?”
    The young man became pensive. “I can’t do it myself, of course, but I think there are a few chaps at the vault who may have the necessary skills. I’ll get in touch with them first thing tomorrow.”
    Faye took another sip of coffee. She chose her next words carefully. “I believe building this replica should be your top priority.”
    “Well, of course,” Griffin readily agreed. “It’s quite a fascinating puzzle, isn’t it?”
    “It’s more than that,” Faye countered in a low voice. “It may have something to do with the Sage Stone.”
    “What!” Griffin half rose out of his chair at the mention of those words.
    This time a few curious people on the lower level glanced upward toward the loft.
    Faye raised her eyebrows but said nothing.
    “Very sorry.” Griffin cleared his throat uncomfortably and resettled himself. He leaned in closer across the table. “How can you be sure this object is connected to…” he trailed off as if afraid to utter the words.
    “I can’t be sure. Simply an offhanded comment Sybil made several months ago. She said she was on the trail of ‘the find of the century.’ Since I hear that phrase from field operatives almost every week, I didn’t pay much attention. Until now. I believe she may have been right. We need to be certain before I alarm anyone else so you’ll have to proceed with the utmost secrecy.”
    “You haven’t even told Maddie?”
    “No and I won’t until we know what we’re dealing with.” Faye sighed. “For the time being, I want a semblance of normality