“You see just the reflections of auras?”

“Yeah. The only real talent I’ve got is the ability to pick up the psychic energy laid down in an object or an artifact. That’s why I thought I might be able to make it in the auction house world. I could tell the real antiques from the fakes and the reproductions. But that job didn’t go well.”

“I read something about it in your file.”

“I’ll bet you did. I’m amazed you came looking for me.”

“Ambrose Jones assured Victor Arganbright that you were the best when it came to tracking artifacts.”

“And that’s what you needed,” Sierra said. “A tracker.”

He glanced at her. “I need your skills and your knowledge of the artifacts market here in the Pacific Northwest.”

“That’s what you’re paying for, and that’s what you’re getting.”

She opened the door and got out of the SUV.

CHAPTER 14

North walked into the apartment and stopped cold at the sight of the Zen-like decor. In spite of the harrowing events of the evening and his uncertainty about the wisdom of letting Sierra experiment with his aura, he almost smiled.

“Let me take a wild guess,” he said. “You’re into the minimalist style.”

The small sofa, reading chair and coffee table were simple and utilitarian. The floors were some sort of high-tech gray laminate that looked like real wood. Everything else was white or gray. It all added up to a look that was about as opposite from the Abyss as it was possible to get. The only items that struck a familiar chord were the mirrors on the walls. There were a lot of them.

“Not really.” Sierra took off her jacket and hung it up in the small coat closet. “But it turns out minimalism happens naturally when you’re on a tight budget.”

“Not necessarily.” He set his pack on the floor and shrugged out of his jacket. “If I had to furnish a place, budget or no budget, I’d end up with a mishmash of stuff.”

“Did someone else decorate your apartment or condo?”

“It’s a house. A big one. My grandfather built it decades ago. Before he got recruited into the Bluestone Project, Griffin Chastain was a professional magician in Vegas. I sort of inherited his mansion because no one else wanted it and no real estate agent could sell it. My mother calls the decor mid-century-Vegas-over-the-top.”

“What’s the house like?”

“Hard to describe. Half of it is hidden behind secret doors and walls. Griffin called the place ‘the Abyss.’ It was named after his most impressive stage trick. But he had a serious hobby on the side. He was obsessed with trying to harness paranormal energy. The Abyss is part laboratory, part workshop and part ongoing crystal light experiment.”

“I assume it was his engineering hobby that brought him to the attention of the Bluestone recruiters?”

“Right. They needed people who had an intuitive grasp of paranormal light energy and the ability to work with it.”