There was no point dragging it out, North thought. His father had suffered enough. Either the gun would work or it wouldn’t. The waiting wasn’t helping anyone.

He eased energy into the crystal weapon. It responded just as it had when he had retuned it an hour ago, as if it had been made for him. He could control it the same way he did the crystal tech gadgets in his grandfather’s mansion—intuitively.

The colors of midnight began to glow, illuminating the hospital room in the strange light of dreams. The auras of everyone gathered around the bed flared, bright and strong, a distraction he did not want.

“Step back,” he ordered quietly. “I need to focus on Dad’s energy field.”

Sierra and her parents retreated a few more steps. Victor and Lucas also moved away. Lily hesitated.

“Please, Mom,” North said. “I have to isolate Dad’s aura.”

Lily squeezed Chandler’s hand one last time and stepped back.

In the light of the night gun, Chandler’s aura was revealed in brilliant detail. North wielded the gun gently, raising the energy level bit by bit.

And suddenly he could see the power lines that affected every part of Chandler’s body. It was like looking at a human version of the grid of the legendary ley lines said to connect the sacred places on Earth; like viewing a chart of the meridians and qi in the human body described in ancient medical treatises; like a detailed illustration of the delicately balanced humors medieval doctors had used to diagnose their patients.

In the light of the night gun it was clear which wavelengths in Chandler’s aura had been disrupted.

Relying on his intuition, North concentrated on resetting the distortions in his father’s energy grid. He worked carefully, delicately, aware that if he made a mistake he could easily stop Chandler’s heart.

Gradually the disrupted currents began to oscillate in a regular, healthy pattern.

Chandler blinked a couple of times, sucked in a deep breath and lurched upright to a sitting position. For a moment he just stared at the room, as if he had found himself in another dimension.

Then he looked at North.

“Thanks, son,” he said. He managed a shaky grin. “I needed that.”

North shut down the artifact. He realized he was shivering a little—adrenaline and relief.

Lily flew into Chandler’s arms. “I’ve been so scared.”

Chandler hugged her close. “You and me both.” He looked at North. “I take it you found the dowsing rod?”

“Gwendolyn Swan gave it to me when Sierra and I interviewed her,” North said. “Took me a while to figure out what it was good for, though.”

Chandler nodded. “I got a message from someone claiming to be a go-between informing me a crate of artifacts that had been picked up at auction by Swan contained some items that might be of interest to me. At first I figured it was just one of the freelancers trying to put together a deal. But I suspected I was being followed. When Swan showed me the items in the crate I recognized the vibe in the dowsing rod immediately.”