Amaryllis

'Oh, yes. Very strong. Practically a full spectrum.'

'Not quite as strong as you, then?'

A trickle of unease went through Amaryllis. 'I am a full spectrum, after all.'

'How could I forget?'

She cleared her throat. 'At any rate, Gifford and I were involved, if you know what I mean.'

'I think I can figure it out.'

She frowned. 'It was serious. We talked about marriage.'

'A nonagency marriage?' Lucas gave her mockingly scandalized look. 'You? I don't believe it.'

'Don't be ridiculous.' Amaryllis set her teeth. This was what came of trying to be sympathetic and kind to Lucas Trent. He had no ability to appreciate her generosity of spirit. 'We would have registered with an agency when the time came, but we both expected that the counselors would have declared us a good match.'

'Do I hear a touch of prism arrogance here?'

'I suppose you could say we were a little arrogant,' Amaryllis admitted grudgingly. 'We are both very highly trained prisms, you know. We thought we knew what we were doing.'

'Yeah, I saw all your fancy degrees.'

'Gifford has even more than I do.'

'Hooray for him. So what happened with you and Osterley?'

'I discovered that Gifford had a relationship with an attractive talent who worked as his research assistant.'

'He was sleeping with her?'

Amaryllis looked down at her unfinished coff-tea. 'Yes.'

'How did you find out?'

'The hard way.' Amaryllis swallowed. If there had been a mirror in the kitchen, she knew she would have seen her face go from pink to red. 'I blundered into a focus session in one of the labs and discovered Gifford and his research assistant together.'

'Focusing on something other than academically important psychic matters, I take it?'

Anger, pain, and embarrassment fused within Amaryllis. The image still burned in her mind whenever she recalled that traumatic afternoon. 'They were having sex on Gifford's desk, if you must know.'

Lucas's eyes glinted. 'His desk, hub?'

'Yes.' Amaryllis raised her chin, the better to look down her nose at him. 'I would have thought it would have been extremely uncomfortable, but they appeared to enjoy it.'

'I take it you've never done it on a desk?'

The last remnants of Amaryllis's charitable inclinations dissolved. 'I'm glad you find it amusing. I certainly didn't.'

Lucas's expression relaxed. 'I'll give you the same advice you just gave me. Don't beat yourself up about it. It wasn't your fault that you fell for the wrong guy.'

'I felt like such a fool,' she whispered.

'Well, at least you weren't downright stupid about it.' Lucas paused. 'Unlike me, you didn't think you were so smart you could just skip a marriage agency altogether.'

Amaryllis stared at him. 'You mean you didn't use an agency when you got married the first time?'

'Hell, no.' His mouth curved faintly. 'I was an islander. I knew how to take care of myself. I'd been running a successful company since I was twenty-four. I could find jelly-ice in the heart of the jungle. I was rich and getting richer. I figured I could choose my own wife without any help from the experts.'

'What happened?'

Lucas looked away for a brief moment. When his eyes met hers again they were unreadable. 'The same thing the experts say usually happens when people choose their own spouses. I screwed up big time.'

'That is so sad. Were you very much in love?'

'Sure.' Lucas gave her a laconic look. 'People who run off to get married always think they're in love, don't they? Why else would they run off?'

'I don't know.' Amaryllis looked down at her hands. 'My parents ran off together shortly after I was born. But they didn't get married. They couldn't. My father already had a wife.'

Understanding lit Lucas's eyes. 'I see.'

'They were both killed in a storm on the way to the Western Islands. I was with my aunt at the time. Everyone thinks my parents intended to start over under a new name and send for me when they found work.'

'I'm sorry.' Lucas hesitated. 'So you were left... alone?'

She smiled wanly. 'You may as well use the right word. I was illegitimate. One of the things that attracted me to Gifford was that he didn't seem to care about the fact that I was a bastard. Some people do, you know.'

'Yeah. I know.'

'But to answer your question, no, I wasn't alone. My mother's people took me in.'

'Your aunt and uncle?'

'Yes. And the rest of the Larks, too. They were all kind and loving. I couldn't have asked for a better family.'

'What about your father's people?'

Amaryllis poured herself another cup of coff-tea. 'They prefer to pretend that I don't exist.'

'Figures.'

A short silence descended. It lasted just long enough for Amaryllis to again regret having invited Lucas in for coff-tea. What on St. Helens had gotten into her, she wondered. She had just told a virtual stranger some of her most deeply held secrets. Not all of them, but more than enough. She had turned into a blathering idiot. And all because she'd felt sorry for a client.

It was time she went back to behaving in a more professional manner.

She glanced pointedly at the clock. 'It's getting late.'

'So it is.' Lucas got to his feet with a surprising show of reluctance. 'I'll be on my way. Thanks for the coff- tea.'

'You're welcome.'

He smiled wryly. 'And the sympathy.'

Amaryllis softened. 'I know it must have been a difficult evening for you.'

'I've had worse.' He scooped his jacket off the stool and started for the door.

Amaryllis trailed after him. 'Lucas, there's something I wanted to ask you.'

He turned around with unexpected swiftness. 'Yeah?'

'That other talent you detected tonight,' she began slowly.

Something that could have been disappointment flashed in his eyes. The next instant it was gone. 'What about him?'

'When I sensed him through you, I realized that he was very powerful. But I couldn't identify the type of talent he was focusing. I've never come in contact with any psychic energy of that nature. It was very subtle but very strong.'

'He was good,' Lucas agreed without much interest.

'Well, you're the great detector,' she challenged. 'Could you tell what sort of psychic power the person was focusing?'

Lucas looked amused. 'You didn't realize who the talent was?'

'No.'

'I can't be absolutely certain, but given the situation, I'd stake next year's profits that it was Madison Sheffield.'

'Sheffield.' Amaryllis was astounded. 'Senator Sheffield?'

'The next governor of our fair city-state, or so everyone claims. I guess you could say he was working the room.'

'Are you serious?'

Lucas eyed her thoughtfully. 'You really didn't understand what was going on, did you?'

'No, I did not. When I work with a talent, I can sense what he or she senses. You have the ability to detect