Jake moved to Kimberly. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” She gave him a shaky smile and used a forefinger to push her glasses higher on her nose. “I’m okay. Thanks.”

Jake relaxed. “That’s good. Great.” He looked around at the shards of shattered mirrors. “What the hell just happened in here?”

“I’ve always had a little trouble controlling my talent without my mirror crystal,” Sierra said. She picked up her locket and put it around her neck. “Turns out Larissa is the true descendant of Crocker Rancourt. She was born to a woman who had a one-night hookup with Stenson Rancourt. He never acknowledged her, but after his death an heir hunter found her. She inherited the Riverview Trust and eventually found her grandfather’s vault. But the artifacts inside were useless to her.”

North looked down at Larissa. “So she joined the Foundation to look for what she considered the rest of her inheritance—the other tuning crystal.”

“That wasn’t all she wanted,” Sierra said. “She wanted revenge, too. She blamed the Chastain family for making her inheritance useless. And in the end she blamed me for ruining her grand plans. She’s the one who poisoned you, North.”

Jake took out his phone. “I’ll call Arganbright and tell him what’s going on.”

North surveyed the wreckage in the women’s room. “After you talk to Victor you’d better tell Hank that he’s going to need to get some cleaners in here.”

Jake grinned. “Oh, you mean the professional kind, the sort that actually know what they’re doing when it comes to cleaning.”

“Right.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

Jake took Kimberly’s arm and escorted her tenderly into the lounge. Sierra watched him seat her on a velvet stool. He hovered protectively over her as he made the phone call. Kimberly adjusted her glasses again and regarded him with a mix of admiration and fascination.

Sierra got a ping. It was accompanied by a deep sense of certainty. She smiled.

“What?” North asked.

“Who would have thought I’d hear the voice calling out to me in a Las Vegas nightclub restroom?” she said.

“You’re losing me here.”

She patted his arm. “I’ll explain later. Right now all you need to know is that I finally found my calling.”

CHAPTER 47

North touched the locket at Sierra’s throat. “You didn’t have a chance to use it when you confronted Larissa Whittier.”

They were back at the Abyss. It was four in the morning. North had poured a glass of brandy for Sierra and one for himself. They were relaxing on the crimson velvet sofa, their feet propped on a couple of gold-tasseled hassocks. Victor Arganbright and Lucas Pine had taken charge of Larissa Whittier, who had yet to awaken.

“She made me take it off,” Sierra said. “She threatened to shoot Kimberly if I didn’t. Larissa assumed I needed the crystal to access my talent. But the truth is I can work with any kind of reflective surface. There are always plenty of mirrors in a women’s room.”