Amaryllis

'A shot of you would have been fine. There was no need to let that photographer take a picture of us together. It'll probably be in the paper tomorrow.'

'Probably. And there will undoubtedly be several more photos taken before the evening is finished.' Lucas glanced down at her. 'What of it?'

Amaryllis sighed. 'My aunt may see one of them.'

'So?'

'You don't know my aunt.' Amaryllis's mouth tightened. 'Never mind. Let's get on with our business, shall we? Where are Miss Locking and Mr. Beech?'

Lucas surveyed the crowd and spotted Miranda on the other side of the room. She was not alone. Beech was next to her, his head bent attentively. They were obviously involved in an intense conversation.

'They're over there, near the large display case at the far end of the hall. They're alone together, and Beech looks serious. Something's going on right now. Ready?'

Amaryllis glanced at him in surprise. 'You're strong enough to detect a talent from here?'

'I can handle this room.' Lucas tightened his hold on her wrist.

'But where is Beech's prism?' Amaryllis tried to peer over the heads of the crowd. 'I don't see anyone close to him except Miss Locking.'

'Who knows? It could be any one of the people within a radius of ten feet of where Beech is standing.' Lucas was impatient to get into the link. 'That waiter with the champagne tray, for example. He's close enough to link.'

Amaryllis looked doubtful. 'Beech would have to be awfully strong to impose a hypnotic suggestion using a prism who's standing that far away. Something tells me this isn't going to be very useful, Lucas.'

'That's my problem, not yours.'

'Remember that when it comes time to pay the bill.'

'I will.' Lucas hesitated, feeling unexpectedly awkward now that the moment was at hand. 'Look, I haven't had a whole lot of experience with this kind of thing. There aren't a lot of trained prisms out in the islands. I'll probably be clumsy by your standards.'

'Don't worry about it,' she said softly. 'I've worked with a lot of amateurs.'

Lucas gritted his teeth. 'Thanks.'

'I didn't mean to offend you.'

'Forget it.' He could feel the heat in his face, but he forced himself to ignore his own embarrassment. There was no way to explain to Amaryllis just why he had so little finesse. It wasn't easy focusing a portion of his talent through a prism while he simultaneously exerted a tremendous effort to conceal the full extent of his abilities from the person who held the focus.

Slowly, carefully, Lucas eased into the link. He braced himself for the short moment of disorientation that always preceded the connection. He opened his mind cautiously, a little at a time, groping for the focus.

And suddenly it was there on the psychic plane, a glittering crystal prism. Strong and clear and ready for him. It bore almost no resemblance at all to the weak, cloudy prisms he had used in the past.

It was beautiful. Incredibly, indescribably beautiful. It was perfect.

Before he could fully admire the prism, he almost staggered beneath a wholly unexpected wave of deep sexual desire. He wanted Amaryllis. He needed her as he had never needed anything before in his life. He was shatteringly aware of her in a psychic sense. It seemed to Lucas that he was drowning in the very essence of Amaryllis's femininity.

Something was very, very wrong.

He was getting an erection. Shocked, Lucas released the link as though it were made of fire. Out on the psychic plane, the wonderful prism winked out of existence.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. True, he had only used prisms in a limited manner in the past, but he had read a lot about the phenomenon. He knew that his previous experiences were typical, even if he had been clumsy and even if he had only worked with weaker prisms.

The link between a talent and a prism was by nature an impersonal one. He had never heard of a case in which there were sexual overtones in the act of holding a focus. People said if you blindfolded a talent, it was impossible for the talent to tell if he or she was working with a man or a woman.

'Lucas?' Amaryllis sounded breathless. 'Is anything wrong?'

'No.' He wondered if she had felt anything. Maybe it was just him. Damned hormones.

Lucas fought for control. He was the Iceman. He exhaled halfway and fumbled again with the delicate link. Slowly, carefully he took hold of it.

It was as though he used his big, calloused hands to grapple with a strand of silk spun from fine crystal. He was terrified of ripping the fragile thread to shreds.

'It's okay,' Amaryllis murmured at his side. 'I won't break.'

Gingerly, Lucas tightened his grip on the link. He felt the power vibrating in it, a natural complement to his own strength. She could handle him, or at least as much of him as he intended to use. Lucas relaxed slightly.

An unwarranted exhilaration rushed through him. It felt so good. So right. The sensation of intense intimacy returned. In that moment he felt closer to Amaryllis than he had ever felt to any other human being in his life.

He longed to know if Amaryllis was feeling the same surge of sexual desire that was soaring through him. He did not dare look at her.

He ordered himself to concentrate. This was business.

Amaryllis probably didn't feel a thing. She was a pro. This weird stuff was probably only happening on his end of the link.

He eased raw energy through the unbelievably clear prism.

Out on the psychic plane, the normally chaotic, unpredictable talent flowed into the prism and emerged in the form of strong, sharply delineated bands of colored light. Almost a full spectrum. Lucas damped down the power level. He was supposed to be a nine, he reminded himself. He had to be careful.

But he allowed himself another few seconds to savor the experience. While it flowed through the prism, the rush of talent was steady and sure. He could use it just as he used his other senses. Pleasure and deep satisfaction welled up inside him.

This was how it was meant to feel, he thought. Natural. Powerful. It paid to work with a professional.

With gathering confidence, Lucas concentrated on the task at hand. His goal was to detect Merrick Beech in the act of using a hypno-talent.

The hum of music and conversation faded around him. Another kind of noise filled his head. He recognized it immediately. It was the echo of a strong talent at work somewhere nearby.

'I've got him,' Lucas muttered.

'You've got someone.' Amaryllis's voice held a new note of tension. 'But it doesn't feel like a hypno-talent. I've focused for hypnos in the past, and they didn't feel anything like this.'

'Damn.' She was right. Lucas realized that while she was holding the focus, she felt and experienced everything he did. He did not want to dwell on all the ramifications right now. 'What's going on?'

'I can't tell.' Amaryllis paused. 'But because you're a high-class detector, you're picking up the prism's energy, too. There's something familiar about the way he or she is working.'

'Familiar?'

'A prism's technique usually reflects his or her training. There are nuances of style that vary from prism to prism--' Amaryllis broke off, apparently concentrating.

'Can you tell if the prism is a man or a woman?' Lucas asked.

'No more than you can tell if the talent is male or female.'

He was in no doubt about the gender of the prism he was using, Lucas thought grimly. But she was right. He could not tell the sex of the other talent or prism in the hall.

'What sort of talent is it, Lucas?'

'I'm not sure. I'll try to get a handle on it.' Lucas retuned the bands of light, searching for one that would clarify the other's talent.

He caught it, held it, analyzed it. 'What the five hells is he doing?'

'Lucas?'