by Rebecca York
She’d thought again about hooking up with the hunky gym instructor, Tex Somerville, who’d been hired for his sex appeal as well as his knowledge of weight machines, aerobics, and fat-burning routines.
But she couldn’t work up any enthusiasm for him, not when she compared him to Jason.
Speaking of which . . .
She looked out the window and saw his blue truck shining in the morning sunlight.
She should be making surprise visits to the stables to see how he was getting on with the horses. In fact, Ophelia was doing that from time to time.
If anyone noticed that Sophia was staying away, they didn’t comment. When she got questions about how the new vet was doing, she always answered, “Fine,” knowing that sooner or later she was going to have to make a decision about the man.
Like, was she endangering her sisters by not admitting her suspicions? She hated to think that was true.
She had never felt more unsure of herself. Never felt more like she was simply going through the motions of her duties. But even when her heart wasn’t in her work, there was no escape from the details of daily life. She had a quick breakfast in the lounge, then went to check on the stock in the gift shop.
Some of the sisters rotated working there, especially the younger ones who had recently been assigned jobs at the spa. Some of them liked selling beautiful jewelry and crafts and reading material to spa guests. Others felt it was a waste of their talents.
This morning, Tessa was behind the counter, and she looked up, catching Sophia’s eye, sending her a silent message that she wanted to discuss something.
Was she finally going to talk about the night they’d tried to see the future together? With equal parts anticipation and dread, Sophia walked into the shop.
Two women were there, one in her fifties, the other closer to seventy and leaning on an ebony cane with a silver dragon head.
The older one purchased a couple of books on meditation and gentle yoga and left. The second one, a well-off matron, lingered longer. Some guests were curious about the Ionians and asked a lot of questions. Maybe she hoped to see Tessa and Sophia exchanging a secret handshake, because she kept glancing at them as she fingered the expensive silver and turquoise jewelry that the spa took on consignment from local artists.
Sophia also examined the stock, seeing that they were getting low on books about the Sedona area and on natural healing. Moving to another section of shelves, she rearranged some of the herbal products that the sisters made at the spa, lining up jars that patrons had moved around.
The customer had walked over to a display of crystal pendants.
“Which do you think looks best on me?” she asked Tessa, holding two up.
“I think the white quartz. But you might think about what effect you want from the crystal.”
“Such as?”
They went into a discussion of the properties of the various specimens, after which the woman bought the white one that had first caught her eye.
When the guest had left, Tessa shook her head. “Do you think working in a gift shop fulfils my destiny as an Ionian?”
“It’s not the only thing you do here. You give a lot of the treatments, and some of our guests specifically ask for you.”
“But clerking in the shop always feels so superficial. I should have gone to college the way you did. Then I could help with the accounting or something.”
“You could start taking classes at the university, if that’s what you want to do. Or tell Eugenia you’d like to be more involved in . . . management,” she said.
“I don’t like to ask for changes in assignments.”
Sophia understood that, too. She wasn’t going to try to get out of overseeing the work of the vet. But maybe her reasons were different. Maybe she wanted an excuse to go down there.
But not yet.
Tessa glanced toward the door, then spoke again. “It makes me question . . .”
“Question what?”
“What we’re doing here. I mean, have the Ionians outlived their purpose? And they’re just going through the motions.”
“I hope not,” Sophia murmured, remembering she’d had similar thoughts herself.
“You really believe we have some vital function in the world?” Tessa whispered. “Like keeping the balance between powers or something? Maybe we did when rulers came to consult us. Running a spa doesn’t feel quite so important.”
Sophia shrugged. Again, she’d had the same thoughts.
Tessa looked toward the door, then back again.
“When we were trying to see the future, you asked me about Linda.”
“Who was she?”
“She’s like Julia and Chandra. You don’t remember any Ionians with those names, do you?”
Sophia shook her head.
“We need to talk about them.”
“Why?”
“They could be important.”
Sophia opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, Tex Somerville came in.
“I’m looking for a piece of jewelry,” he said. “I want it to be special.”
Tessa nodded. “I’m sure I can help you.”
“We can talk more later,” Sophia said to her sister, wondering if it was some kind of omen that Tessa had wanted to discuss some of the same topics that had occupied Sophia’s mind for the past few days. Or did this happen to all Ionians when they got into their late twenties?
For years, she’d never questioned her way of life. It was just the path of her existence. Then the encounter on the road had shaken the foundation of her world.
As she left the gift shop, she saw Bobby Ames, the handyman, come in through an outside door, carrying his toolbox. He paused and looked toward the gift shop entrance and stopped for a moment. It seemed like he was looking at Tessa.
When he saw Sophia, he nodded. “I got a call on a stopped-up sink.”
Before she could reply, he continued down the hall. She hadn’t seen him since the night she’d come back from the desert. Was it a bad omen that she had met him again now? Or was she looking for signs and portents in everything that happened?
Maybe it would be more constructive to go down to the stable and confront Jason Tyron.
And say what?
Perhaps it was better to see what he had to say.
She left the main building and walked down the hill to the stable. Jason had his medical bag with him, and he was examining the hoof of one of the horses as she approached.
With his back to her, she had a chance to study him, taking in his broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs. He was a perfect physical specimen. The kind of man she’d choose to father a daughter.
The idea took her by surprise. She wasn’t thinking about a daughter. Not yet, and maybe not at all. If she couldn’t be sure of the Ionian values, how could she teach them to her child with any kind of integrity? She was glad she wasn’t involved with teaching any of the young girls in the order. What would she say to them if they asked her any questions?
As those thoughts flashed through her head, she saw Jason’s shoulders stiffen, telling her he knew someone was behind him. Probably he was hoping it was her. Or maybe not.
She snorted softly, annoyed that she was making up thoughts for him.
Folding her arms, she let him finish what he was doing before he set down his tools and turned, regarding her with a mixture of caution and anticipation.
Determined to let him make the first move, she remained silent.
“It’s good to see you,” he finally said.
She nodded, wondering if she should ask if he was the man who had rescued her in the desert.
And why would he tell the truth, if he was?
“You’ve been avoiding me.”
Somehow, unexpected words came tumbling out. “I didn’t know what to say to you.”
A look she couldn’t read crossed his features. “Why?”
She turned one hand palm up. “Things . . . happened too f
ast between us . . .”
“You could be right. I was thinking the same thing when you left so abruptly. We should have talked, but you made that impossible.”
Of course she had. Deliberately. Today she was confronting him in a less threatening situation. “What do you want from me?”
He hesitated.
“Whatever it is, you won’t get it unless you’re honest.”
He kept his gaze even. “Okay. You know there’s something between us.”
“Sex.”
“More than that.”
“And your point is?”
“I want a relationship. Not just a roll in the hayloft.”
Other men had hinted at the same thing, although none had been so blatant about it. It had been easy to brush them off. Not this time. Still, she wasn’t going to explain the Ionian philosophy of man–woman relations to him. That wasn’t something they shared with their sexual partners. Or anyone else besides their sisters, come to that.
Instead, she said, “Maybe I’m not comfortable with . . . a relationship.”
He lifted one shoulder. “You asked for honesty.”
“I’m being honest, too.”
“Where does that leave us?”
“I don’t know.”
If she expected an argument, she didn’t get it. “Okay. I won’t push you on the personal stuff, but we do have business to conduct. You’re my liaison at the spa. How do you know I’m doing a good job?”
“I researched your background. I don’t think you’d give us less than your best. Besides, Ophelia is in charge of the riding program. She’s got a lot of responsibility for evaluating your performance.”
“Okay.”
“I could ask someone else to work with you on the business end,” she added.
He kept his gaze steady. “You think hiding from me is the solution?”
“I’m not hiding!”
“What reason would you give your boss for trying to get out of the job?”
“What do you mean, my boss?”
“You don’t run the spa, do you?”
“Of course not,” she answered, ducking the other part of the question. She wasn’t going to tell him that any Ionian would understand if she said she wanted to avoid spending too much time with a particular man.
“Have you ever thought about what’s best for you?” he asked.
The question took her by surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Do you consider your own happiness when you make big decisions?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
He kept staring at her. “You tell me.”
They were getting close to subjects she shouldn’t be discussing with him. More than that, it seemed like he was hinting that he knew more about the Sisterhood than he should. What if she asked point-blank if he was a Minot? Not just any Minot, but the one who had saved her from the first guy. Would he even tell the truth?
She settled for, “That’s none of your business.”
“Maybe it is.”
Before he could say something else shocking, an alarm bell began an insistent ring.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THEY BOTH TURNED toward the spa in time to see a window shatter, followed by smoke pouring into the afternoon sunlight.
“Fire!” Jason shouted, already charging up the hill toward the burning building.
Sophia followed, but he was running faster than she, faster than any normal man could run. Like the night in the desert.
He reached the area around the building and stopped, surveying the scene.
Denada was outside, her arm protectively around one of the guests, a red-haired woman wearing only a large towel. She must have been having a massage when the bell started ringing.
As Sophia joined them, she heard him ask, “How many people are in there?
“Fifteen . . . of my sisters and twenty-two guests,” Denada answered. “I . . . I hope that’s correct. I didn’t look to see who was checking in this morning.”
“We have to make sure they’re all safe.” Jason headed for the source of the smoke.
Sophia watched Ionians and guests pouring out of the building. She tried to make sure that everyone was safe, but they were moving around, making it difficult for her to keep an accurate count. To her relief, she saw Tex Somerville and some of her sisters helping guests leave, then leading them into the shady parts of the gardens where they sat on benches or stood around in small groups, staring back at the building.
Cynthia came out, looking like she couldn’t believe what had happened.
“How did it start?” Jason asked.
Nobody answered, and Sophia wondered if they’d find out.
Cynthia tipped her head to the side as she regarded Jason. “Who are you?”
“The new vet Sophia hired last week. Is everybody out?”
Denada answered. “I think Mrs. McFadden was in the meditation room by herself. She wanted privacy.”
“And she’s not here?”
Denada craned her neck, looking over the crowd in the garden. “No.”
“Where is the meditation room?”
The high priestess gestured toward the entrance. “Down the hall. The third door on the left.”
When Jason started for the entrance, Sophia gasped. “You can’t go inside.”
“I think there’s more smoke than fire.”
“Smoke can kill you as quickly as fire.”
“I’ll keep low.” He turned and gave her a direct look. “Stay outside, take care of the guests, and find out if anyone else is missing.”
When he bent at the waist and charged inside, Sophia’s heart leaped into her throat.
He didn’t know the woman in there, but he was risking his life because he was at the spa, and there was someone in danger.
She ached to go after him, but she knew that he was right. There was work to do out here. And she suspected he had a much better chance in there than anyone else.
JASON kept his breath shallow as he looked around, making sure he knew where he was. He’d never been inside the spa before, and this was a hell of an introduction.
The woman who had told him where to find the meditation room was probably Cynthia, the high priestess.
He’d seen her picture in some of their advertisements. Of course, they had called her the spa director, but he’d known what that meant.
He’d also seen a layout of the spa and studied it. Just as he’d studied everything else he could about the Ionians.
When he’d gotten his bearings, he started down the smoke-filled corridor, the sound of the alarm bell ringing in his ears, adding to the disorientation of the smoke. His eyes stung, and when he took a breath, he started to cough, but he kept going because he had never given up easily.
If there was a woman trapped in here, he was going to get her out.
As he moved down the corridor, he braced for a wall of fire somewhere ahead, but he saw no flames. It was almost like someone had set off a smoke bomb in order to get everyone out of the building. But who would do that? And why?
The hairs on the backs of his arms prickled. Could the man who had captured Sophia in the desert have gotten in here? And now he was trying again?
He cursed under his breath. He’d left Sophia out in the garden with the guests and the other Ionians. Suppose she was in danger?
He stopped for a moment. Should he go back? But what about the woman who was still in here? He’d said he’d get her out, and he couldn’t abandon her.
And if he was thinking rationally, he’d have to believe that Sophia was okay. The guy from the desert wasn’t at the spa. He would give off “bad vibes.” And the wards the women had set around the compound would pick them up.
Or could he have sent someone into the compound? Someone who was acting for him.
Those thoughts raced through his mind as he plunged down the hall, trying to finish his mission and get out as soon as possible. Yet he couldn’t move too fast because he might miss the door.
The smoke thickened as he went, and he almost missed the meditation room. It was closed, and when he slipped inside, he saw a woman who looked to be in her seventies cowering in the corner farthest from the exit.
When she saw him, she gasped, then wheezed, “Thank God. I closed the door when I smelled the smoke.”
“That was the right thing to do. Are you Mrs. McFadden?”
“Yes.” Fear and relief warred on her face. “I didn’t know if anyone would come.”
“I’ll get you out of here.” He looked around. They were in an interior room with no windows, which meant he’d have to go back the way he’d come.
“What happened? Is the building on fire?” she asked in a trembling voice.
“There’s smoke. I didn’t see any fire.” He crossed the room, slung his arm round her, and guided her back to the door.
“I have a bad hip. I can’t run very fast.”
“You don’t have to. I’m going to carry you. When I say ‘now,’ take a couple of deep breaths, then hold the last one.” He picked her up, cradling her in his arms, and she reached up to sling her arms around his neck. To a man with his strength, her weight was nothing.
“Now.”
They both breathed deeply several times. Then he held his breath and started back the way he’d come, moving at superhuman speed but still relieved that the smoke wasn’t as thick as it had been.
SOPHIA stared at the people milling outside in a chaotic mass.
She saw Matthew Layden with his arms protectively around Cynthia, comforting her. But he made no move to go back into the building.
Switching her focus from the high priestess and her lover, she began naming each of the Ionians. Most of them seemed to be here. And the young girls were all off to the side with two sisters.
Sophia was starting to relax a little until she realized she didn’t see Tessa and gasped.
Ophelia, who was standing beside her asked, “What?”
“Tessa. She’s not here.”
When she started for the nearest door, her cousin grabbed her shoulder. “You can’t go in there.”
“I have to. I know where she was. I saw her in the gift shop a little while ago.”
