A draft of fog-laced air whispered into the apartment. It carried the music of the recorder. Olivia suppressed the panic that threatened to choke her. She went out onto the landing and looked down the stairs, studying the library with her senses at full throttle. There was no sign of any human auras but the front door of the library stood ajar.

The clear, sharp, compelling notes drifted through the opening and up the staircase. Agnes whipped her tail against Olivia’s ankle, urging action. Now.

“I understand that something is wrong, Agnes,” Olivia whispered. “But this looks like another one of those don’t-go-down-the-stairs situations. The last one did not end well. We need backup. I’ll wake Harmony and call Foundation security. They’ll handle this.”

She rushed back into the apartment, shut the door and slammed the security bolt home. She hurried across the living room and pounded on the bedroom door.

“Harmony, wake up. The guy with the recorder is in town. Can you hear the music? We need to call Foundation security.”

There was no response from the bedroom. Olivia wrapped her hand around the antique glass knob and opened the door.

The glowing fog illuminating the room through the uncovered window revealed the empty bed.

“Harmony.” Olivia hit the light switch.

The light did not come on. It was common to lose power during storms and high winds in the mountains but the atmosphere outside was calm and still. The only sound that pierced the muffled silence was the music of the recorder.

Understanding struck with the force of lightning. The piper had summoned a real oracle. The wrong oracle.

CHAPTER 40

Olivia flew back into the other room and went to the window overlooking the town square. Kneeling on the cushioned window seat, she pulled the curtain aside. Down below a cloaked figure moved slowly through the glowing fog. Harmony.

Olivia opened the window and leaned out.

“Harmony,” she shouted. “Come back. It’s the piper. Don’t listen to the music.”

Harmony did not pause. Olivia tried again, screaming now.

“Security. The piper is in town.”

There was no response from the darkened trailer that housed Foundation security.

The only phone in the library was the landline on the librarian’s desk downstairs. She would have to unbolt the apartment door to get to it. She had no choice. Harmony was walking toward disaster, summoned by the hypnotic effects of the recorder.

Olivia tugged on her low boots, pulled her down jacket over her long nightgown and gripped the camera. Cautiously, senses heightened, she unbolted the door.

Agnes was waiting on the other side. The cat whined, as if to say, It’s about time, and started down the staircase. Olivia stood at the railing and surveyed the first floor of the library again. There were still no auras blazing in the shadows.