She gripped the camera, closed her eyes and stepped forward. She heard and felt the crackle of energy around her, but there was no resistance. It was like walking through a sparkling waterfall without getting wet.

She opened her eyes and found herself inside the pyramid.

Lightning flashed and burned in the mirrors that lined the interior walls of the pyramid. The sense of violently oscillating energy was everywhere. She was intensely aware of it but unaffected by it. The energy field of the camera continued to protect her.

The heart of Vortex, a crystal ablaze with lightning, sat on the mirrored floor. Dazzling bolts of energy leaped from it, striking the mirrors and rebounding.

To stop the monsters you must quench the lightning in the mirrors.

How did you go about quenching lightning in a crystal that you didn’t dare touch? If only there was a sledgehammer or some other object heavy enough to shatter the crystal.

You could use fire to fight fire. Maybe the theory worked with paranormal lightning, too. A small, strategically aimed bolt might fracture the crystal.

She gripped the camera in both hands and focused energy through the lens and straight into the Vortex stone. At first she thought nothing was happening. If anything, the crystal seemed to grow hotter. She pulled harder on her talent and sent another blast through the lens.

This time she heard a startling crack. The Vortex crystal fractured and exploded into countless shards. The lightning ceased abruptly.

So much for giving Spode the heart of Vortex.

The fire in the mirrors vanished. The once-dazzling surfaces faded into sheets of dull gray glass. Twilight fell inside the pyramid.

Gasping for breath, heart racing, Olivia turned toward the entrance. The blue energy gate was weakening. A moment later it vanished. The storm in the glass-walled chamber disintegrated rapidly.

She moved out of the pyramid, crossed the chamber and opened the glass door. She discovered she was light-headed. A strange exhaustion was tugging at her, but a giddy, adrenaline-enhanced euphoria was warding it off, at least for now.

She started down the tiled hallway. Each step seemed to require an enormous amount of effort and concentration. Gwendolyn and Eloisa met her halfway down the corridor.

“You did it,” Gwendolyn said. “I didn’t think it was possible. I thought we were all going to die in here.”

“You used the camera, didn’t you?” Eloisa said. “It was the secret. I knew it.”

“What are you two doing here?” Olivia said. “How are you involved in this mess?”

“We started looking for Vortex a couple of years ago, right after we found our grandmother’s journal,” Gwendolyn said.

“Who was your grandmother?” Olivia asked.

“Aurora Winston,” Eloisa said. “She was the genius behind the machine and the serum that makes the enhancement effects stable.”

“Stable?” Olivia said. “Have you met Jake Spode and company?”