Olivia swallowed more tea and set the mug on the table. “Harlan claims he can interpret my weird statements.”

“Is that so? He’s a chaos talent?”

“Among other things. How did you know?”

“As I said, there hasn’t been much research done on the oracle talent, mostly because it is so rare. One thing we know for sure—it’s not magic. It’s a true paranormal talent. There is a theory that strong chaos talents can pick up the clues in a prophecy and put them together so that they make sense. But even the most powerful talent requires sufficient data to make the connections possible, let alone probable. Otherwise it’s just guesswork.”

“In other words, a chaos talent can’t pull the interpretation out of thin air?” Olivia asked.

“Or out of his ass,” Harlan said from the top of the stairs. He stopped in the doorway. “Sadly. That ability would certainly be useful right now.”

“On the other hand, it’s nice to know there are some limitations on your skills,” Olivia said. “Harmony, meet Harlan Rancourt. Harlan, this is Harmony—a real oracle.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Harlan said. “I appreciate—”

Harmony stiffened. She shot to her feet. Her eyes glittered with energy. The atmosphere around her was suddenly charged. She spoke. The words rolled through the kitchen, thunder in advance of a great storm.

“Past and present must unite to stop the storm that creates monsters.”

Olivia shuddered. Harlan watched Harmony with acute attention.

“Anything else?” he asked when she fell silent.

“Nope, that’s all I’ve got for now.” Harmony fell back into her normal voice and smiled. “Tea?”

“Tea sounds like a great idea,” Harlan said. “Thank you.”

Olivia looked at him. “Well? Aren’t you going to interpret Harmony’s pronouncement?”

“Sounds pretty straightforward to me. You represent the present. I’m the past. We need to work together. Nothing new. The prophecy just confirms the theories and data I’ve compiled so far.”

Olivia sighed. “In other words, I’m just a data point?”

Harlan looked bewildered by the question. Before he could figure out a response, Harmony put a mug down in front of him.

“What makes you so sure that locating Vortex will help you identify the man you believe murdered Olivia’s mother?” she asked.

Harlan looked at Olivia. “You tell her.”

“Harlan doesn’t think the person who killed my mother was a random murderous collector,” Olivia said. “I’m inclined to agree. The fact that the killer targeted a direct descendant of the woman who was probably the legendary Vortex oracle feels like more than a coincidence. He knew about the camera. He thought it was the key to Vortex and he was willing to kill to get it.”

“Is that your intuition talking?” Harmony asked gently.

“Maybe,” Olivia admitted. “But I think Harlan is right. There are too many connections in this thing.”