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with a Null. She sighed and stroked the worn leather of the chair. She missed Kris. Once she gave Brian the stone back and had that “talk” with Dad about school, she could register for summer session online and drive back to Cornell. She and Kris could spend the summer sitting on her porch, cool iced teas in their hands, and textbooks spread out in front of them, pretending to study. That sounded about right. But who was she kidding? Her next “talk” with Dad would likely go as well as the last.
    A yell sounded from the pool as one of the kids dove into the deep end. Maybe a swim and some time relaxing with a book would be nice.
    Heading down the hallway, she passed the picture gallery then went up the staircase to her room. Her suitcase and her purse were sitting in the corner. Victor’s guys had made good on his promise.
    Kate grabbed her purse and flung herself down on her four-poster bed, stacked high with pillows covered in a blue-and-yellow iris print. Her room looked untouched—paperbacks piled on her old wrought-iron bookcase against the wall, the scarves she’d bought last summer in Italy still draped on the hook by the closet. The picture of her and her mother from their first stay at the Montana ranch was still on her antique dresser, her mother laughing as she boosted Kate up into the saddle.
    The view from the window gleamed bright and clear, from the crisp green lawn with the Sanctum looming over it, to the tall privet hedges separating the family’s estate from their neighbors, to the long stretch of sand spotted with beach grass leading down to the slate blue of the Atlantic Ocean.
    If she could talk to Kris, hear his deep, reassuring voice, she’d know everything was all right. She dug in her purse for her cell, found it, and dialed his number.
    It went to voice mail. Oh right. Hadn’t he mentioned this morning, before she’d left Cornell, that he’d be on a fishing trip with his family this weekend?
    “Uh, just wanted to tell you I miss you. Catch a big one for me. Call me if you get a minute.” She hung up, cringing. What a stupid thing to say. What kind of message was “catch a big one”? He was probably out of cell phone range, somewhere off the coast of Florida, anyway. He wouldn’t even get her message until tomorrow. And forget about texting.
    She tossed her phone in her purse. If she wanted to swim, she’d better get changed. Scooting to the edge of the bed, she tugged off her jeans. The stone scraped along her thigh through the fabric. The next thing she knew she had pulled it out and was holding it up to the light. She stroked it with her thumb.
    It lit up from within, iridescent green stripes rising up from the core and washing over its body like a soothing wave of cool energy. She turned it over and over in her hand, letting its calming feel seep into her. Something in the core of it spoke to the core of her, whispering secrets she couldn’t quite hear. She let herself fall down into its depths, content in its promise that, soon, something would change.
    Everything would change.
    “Kate,” the housekeeper called from down the stairs. “Are you up there?”
    She blinked. Her eyes were all blurry as she stared up at the white ceiling. She didn’t remember lying down.
    The stone still lay in her hand, her jeans on the floor. The stone’s green glow seemed a little brighter.
    Kate’s stomach rumbled. Weird . She’d had lunch only a half hour ago.
    “Yeah, I’m up here.”
    “It’s dinnertime, honey. Don’t be late or you know what that means. Good luck getting any roast.”
    Dinnertime? Kate bolted upright. Was she joking? It couldn’t possibly be that late.
    Kate glanced out the window. The sun hung low over the ocean, its rays gilding along the crests of the waves. Her furniture threw long shadows against her striped wallpaper. She looked at the stone in her hand, then at the clock on her nightstand.
    6:24 p.m.
    Shit. It had happened again.

Chapter Six
    The