Нора Робертс - Key of Knowledge

Jordan reached over, yanked her hand to his lips, “You are the sweetest thing.”

“I could go get it. I might be able to bring it back before Flynn finds his.”

“Give him a little time.” Malory glanced at the ceiling, imagining Flynn upstairs rummaging through boxes. “Ive got a copy, too, and my place is closer if it comes to that.” Then she stopped, lifted the index fingers on both hands. “What do you want to bet we all have copies of Phantom Watch?”

“Well, I certainly do,” Jordan confirmed.

“And me,” Brad agreed.

“Yeah. Clink, clink, clink,” Dana said. “Thats the sound of links fusing on the chain. Come on, Flynn, how hard can it be to find a book?”

“Whens the last time youve been up in one of those spare rooms?” Malory asked.

“Good point.” She began to pace. “Its in there. Its in there. I know it. Ill go up and find it myself.”

She spun toward the doorway just as Flynn came jogging down the stairs.

“Got it. Hah. It was in a box labeled „Books. I didnt know I had a box labeled „Books.” He handed the book to Dana.

She ran her hand over it, hoping for some sort of sign, and studied the silhouette of Warriors Peak brooding under a full moon. She opened it, fanned the pages, and smelled paper and dust. “Wheres the line, Jordan?”

“Its the end of the prologue.”

She turned the first few pages, read the words in her head, spoke them out loud. Waited.

“I dont feel anything. I should feel something. Malory?”

“There was an awareness, a kind of knowing. Its hard to explain.”

“But Id know it if I felt it,” Dana finished. “And I dont. Maybe I have to read it, get the whole picture. The way you had to paint the whole portrait before you could reach the key.”

“I wonder…”Zoe hesitated. “Well, I just wonder if maybe its not in that book, because that books not yours. Jordan wrote it, so all the copies are his in a way. But only one is yours. And youre the key, so wouldnt it make more sense for it to have to be your own book?”

Dana stared at her, then grinned. “Zoe, thats absolutely brilliant. Okay, troops, saddle up. Lets move this to my place.”

“Ill be right behind you.”Zoe picked up her purse. “Ill just run Simon home and see if my neighbor will sit with him.”

“Let me just get rid of these boxes.Zoe , Im going to wrap up some of this leftover pizza for Simon.”

Life, Dana decided, didnt stop. Not even for magic keys and wicked sorcerers. And wasnt that why it was life?

“Meet us there after youre done the domestic stuff.” She grabbed Jordans hand, headed for the door. “And you could wrap up some slices for me while youre at it.“

“Did you read the book, or did you just say you read the book?” Jordan asked as they drove back to her apartment.

“Why would I just say I read it?”

“Beats me. But you said just the other day that youd never been in a book before. So I figured youd never read Phantom Watch”

“You lost me.”

“Did you read the book?” “Yes, damn it. I hated that book. It was so good, and I wanted it to suck. I wanted to be able to say, See, hes no big deal. But I couldnt. I was going to toss it out, even fantasized briefly about

burning it.”

“Jesus, you were pissed.”

“Oh, brother, let me tell you. Of course, I couldnt burn a book. My librarians soul would wither and die. I couldnt toss it out, either, for much the same reason. And I could never bring myself to turn it in at the used bookstore or just give it away.“

“I havent seen any of my books in your apartment.”

“You wouldnt. Theyre camouflaged.”

He took his eyes off the road to laugh at her. “Get out.”

“I didnt want people seeing I had your books. I didnt want to see I had your books. But I had to have them.”

“So you read Phantom Watch, but you didnt recognize Kate.”

“Kate?” She reached back in her memory. “The heroine? Ah… good brain, a little arrogant about it. Strong-willed, self-reliant, content in her own company—which is why she took all those long walks and ended up with that fascination for the Peak—or the Watch, I should say.”

She dug back a little deeper, let the image form. “Had a mouth on her. I admired that. A tendency toward crankiness, especially toward the hero, but you couldnt blame her. He asked for it. A small-town girl, and happy to stay that way. Worked in, what was it, this little antiquarian bookshop, which is what put her in the villains crosshairs.”

“Thats our girl.”

“She had a healthy outlook toward sex, which I appreciated. Too many women in fiction are painted as either virgin or slut. She used her head, which was a good one, but it was that and a stubborn streak that got her in a jam.”

“No bells ringing?” Jordan said after a moment.

“What bells? I dont…” A ripple of shock had her gaping at him. “Are you saying you based her on me?”

“Bits and pieces. A lot of bits and pieces. Jesus, Dana, she even had your eyes.”

“My eyes are brown. Hers were… something poetic.” “ „The color of chocolate, both rich and bitter. Or something like that.”

“Im not stubborn. Im… confident in my decisions.”

“Uh-huh.” He pulled up outside her building.

“Im not arrogant. I simply have little patience for narrow minds or supercilious behavior.”

“Yep.”

She shoved out of the car. “Its starting to come back to me now. This Kate could be a real pain in the ass.”

“At times. Its what made her interesting and real and human. Especially since she could also be generous and kind. She had a great sense of humor, the kind of woman who could laugh at herself.”

Scowling at him, she unlocked her door. “Maybe.”

As they walked in, Jordan gave her a friendly pat on the butt. “I fell pretty hard for her. Of course, if I were to write her today—” He backed Dana against the door, braced his hands on either side of her head.

“Yes?”

“I wouldnt change a thing.” He lowered his mouth to hers, slid into the kiss. “I was so sure youd read it, see yourself and get in touch with me. When you didnt get in touch, I figured youd never read it.”

“Maybe I wasnt ready to see myself. But you can be sure Im going to read it again. The fact is, its the only one of your books I never reread.”

With a half laugh, he eased back. “You reread my books?”

“I can actually see your head swelling, so Im going to get out of the way before somebody gets hurt.” She ducked under his arm, headed toward one of the bookshelves.

“To the woman I lost. To the woman I found. To the only woman Ive loved. How fortunate for me that all three are one.”

She looked back at him as she reached for a book. “What was that about?”

“Its the dedication I just wrote in my head for the book Im working on now.”

She dropped her hand. “God, Jordan, youre going to turn me into a puddle of mush. You never used to say things like that to me.”

“I used to think things like that. I just didnt know how to say them.”

“This is the one I read a piece of. The one about redemption. Ill look forward to reading the rest of it.”

“Ill look forward to writing it for you.”

He watched her remove a book from the shelf, slip off the outer dust jacket to reveal the one beneath.

“„Phantom Watch” he read, “„Jordan Hawke. Covered up by…” The laughter rolled out of him. “ „How to Exterminate Pests from Home and Garden! Good one, Stretch.”

“Worked for me. I have another of yours under the cover of a novel titled Dog-Eaters. A surprisingly dull and bloodless book, despite the title. Then theres… Well, doesnt matter. Just variations on the theme.”

“I get it.”

“Tell you what.” She covered his hand with hers. “After were done, you and I will have a ritual unveiling, after which I will, with some ceremony, place your books in their rightful place on the shelves.”

“Sounds good.” He looked down at the book, then back at her. “Going to wait for the others?”

“I cant.” She could see he hadnt expected her to wait. “Im too wound up. And I think, I feel, that this is something were supposed to do. You and me.”

“Then lets do it.”

As she had with Flynns copy, she ran her fingers over the cover, over the illustration of the Peak.

But this time, she felt… something. What had Malory called it? An awareness. Yes, Dana decided, exactly that. “This is it, Jordan,” she whispered. “The keys in the book.” Hands steady, she opened it.

Focus, she told herself. Concentrate. It was there. She only had to see it.

He watched her skim her fingers down the title page, the tips running lightly over his name. Her breath quickened.

“Dana.”

“I feel it. Its warm. Its waiting. Shes waiting.” She flipped pages gently, then let out a single shocked gasp as the book fell out of her hands. He called her name again and caught her as she collapsed.

Stunned, scared, he lowered her to the rug. She was breathing, he could feel her breathing, but shed gone pale and cold as ice.

“Come back. Dana, damn it, you come back.” On a spurt of panic, he shook her. Her head rolled limply to the side.

“Where did you take her, you son of a bitch?” He started to haul her up, and his gaze landed on the book that had fallen, open, on the floor. “Oh, my God.”

He picked her up, clamping her against him to warm her, to protect. He heard the voices out in the hall and fumbled the door open before Flynn could knock.

“Dana.” Flynn grabbed for her, ran his hands over her face. “No!”