anything quite like the huge ferns and the towering mushrooms. A year ago the forbidden territory had been an eerie wonderland, disturbing in some ways but also enthrallingly beautiful. Today she felt as though she was walking through a demon’s garden lit by garish paranormal energy.
The screams stopped. That was probably not a good sign, Alice thought. Drake was moving faster through the heavy foliage, and Alice hurried to keep up with him.
They broke out into a small clearing and saw the woman. She was no longer running. She had come to a halt between two large trees. She was still trying to scream but her cries were hoarse and breathless now. She flailed wildly but her movements were severely restricted and becoming more subdued by the second.
“Son of a ghost,” Drake muttered, raising the fire-starter.
Alice finally saw what had brought the fleeing woman to a halt. She was trapped in the glistening strands of a giant spiderweb.
Houdini stopped, hissing. Dread chilled the back of Alice’s neck. She looked up and saw a large, dark, bloated shape. Faceted eyes glittered like ice-cold jewels. There was something both terrifying and compelling about the unblinking gaze. Eight long limbs shifted in the shadows.
“Spider,” Alice whispered, horrified.
“Here we go again,” Drake said.
The spider started toward its prey. The woman was no longer shrieking. She was shivering violently and was so deeply entangled in the sticky strands of glistening silk she could not move her arms and legs.
Houdini growled. He was not treating this encounter like a game. But Alice knew there was nothing he could do. If he tried to attack the spider, he would become enmeshed in the web.
“Houdini, no,” Alice said quietly.
“Keep him out of the way,” Drake ordered.
Alice scooped up Houdini and tucked him under her arm.
The spider was closing in on the almost motionless woman.
Drake rezzed the ignition button on the fire-starter. The narrow flame flashed, striking the spider. It jerked spasmodically and then its eight legs collapsed like matchsticks. The thing plummeted to the ground and didn’t move.
“You’re okay now,” Drake told the woman. “I’ll have you free in a few minutes.”
He used the fire-starter like a small cutting torch and sliced through the web. Alice worried that the silk would burst into flames, but instead it shriveled and melted. The remnants flapped like the spectral cloak of a faded ghost.
The woman tumbled to the ground. She was covered with strands of spider silk but she was breathing.
Houdini was still growling, signaling that the danger was not over.
“We need to get her out of here,” Drake said. “The commotion and the smell of the dead spider will probably attract other things that I’d rather we did not have to deal with. I’ll keep watch while you get her free of the web.”
Alice went to her knees beside the woman and started scraping off the sticky strands.
“Can you move?” she said to the blonde.
“Yes, I-I think so,” the woman gasped.
She struggled to her knees, swiping at the strands of silk that clung to her face. She stared at Drake.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
“Drake Sebastian,” Drake said. “This is my wife, Alice. We can talk this out later. We need to get out of here.”
The woman flinched, frowned in confusion, and then pulled herself together with visible effort. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I,” Drake said. “We’ll deal with it later.”
Alice heard something stir in the shadows. Houdini growled again.
Drake grasped one of the woman’s arms. Alice took the other. They ran back toward the fence line. Houdini dashed after them.
They plunged through the psi-barrier. When they were on the far side, Alice allowed herself a small sigh of relief. Drake stopped and turned to look at the woman.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Karen,” the woman said. “Karen Rosser.” She swallowed hard. “Are you going to arrest me?”
“Why would I do that?” Drake asked.
“We were told that any member of the staff who violated the terms of the contract would be subject to arrest.”
Alice frowned. “What contract?”
“The one we signed with the company,” Karen whispered. She pointed to the logo on her green uniform shirt. “I know that the Dream Chamber Project here on the island is supposed to be top secret. But I just couldn’t take it anymore.”
Drake was looking at the logo on Karen’s shirt. Alice followed his gaze. Clearly embroidered was a familiar company name:
“Looks like we are going to have an interesting conversation on the hike to Shadow Bay,” Drake said.
Chapter 14
THEY SET OFF IN A SINGLE FILE, DRAKE AND HOUDINI in the lead. Karen fell in behind Drake. Alice brought up the rear. The walking was difficult in places but not impossible. The sky remained leaden. The dark fog crouched just offshore, waiting for the energy of the night to summon it. The ominous sensation in the atmosphere did not fade, even though they were putting distance between themselves and the cove.
“All right, Karen, let’s start at the beginning,” Drake said. “Tell me about the Dream Chamber Project.”
“I don’t know where to begin,” Karen said. “It’s all been such a nightmare.”
“You said you were working for the Rainshadow Foundation arm of Sebastian, Inc.”
“That’s right. I was hired as a research assistant a few months ago. I’ve got the paperwork to prove it.”
“And you were employed here on the island,” Drake said.
“Until I couldn’t take the stress any longer. We tried to quit.”
“Who is
“The other research assistant, Pete Banks. Like I said, we tried to quit but she wouldn’t let us. When we tried to leave she had the security people lock us up. I managed to escape this morning but—”
Drake stopped and looked back at Karen. “Who had the security people lock you up?”
“Dr. Tucker,” Karen said.
“Dr. Zara Tucker,” Drake said, repeating the name very precisely, making sure.
“Yes,” Karen said.
“Damn,” Drake said. “Well, that certainly answers a few questions.” He looked at Alice. “I knew she wasn’t dead.”
“But what has she been doing for the past three years?” Alice asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? Zara Tucker spent the last three years plotting her revenge against me and my family.”
Chapter 15
DRAKE LOOKED AT KAREN. “LET’S START WITH A BASIC fact. Neither Sebastian, Inc. nor the Rainshadow
