“The latest in fingerprint recognition,” Dee explained. “If anyone else pushed the button, the lift would fill with gas.”

“Very clever,” the woman said sarcastically.

Although there had been no sense of movement, the lift door suddenly opened. Virginia stepped out, followed by Dee. “Where are we?” she asked, looking around.

They had stepped out into a vast open-plan living room. All four walls were glass and featured panoramic views of the city. Various configurations of leather couches and chairs were scattered around the room, and four enormous flat-screen television sets arranged in a square hung from the ceiling. They were all tuned to the History Channel. At the far end of the space was a kitchen, and at the other end, behind a series of ornate painted screens, was a sleeping area centered around a Japanese futon.

“We’re on the thirteenth floor.”

“Your building does not have a thirteenth floor,” Dare snapped.

“Not on the floor plans,” Dee agreed, “but there is a thirteenth floor, accessible via this lift and a narrow maintenance stairway. Welcome to my home,” he said with a broad sweep of his arms. “It is built between the twelfth and fourteenth floors and steals square footage from both. The windows are one way and the entire floor is completely soundproofed.”

Virginia looked around. “It needs a woman’s touch,” she said, unimpressed. “You do know that couches come upholstered in material other than leather, and metal and glass tables haven’t been chic since the nineteen eighties.” She turned and stopped, suddenly speechless. “Artificial flowers? John, you can’t be serious.”

“The real ones kept dying,” Dee said. “And when did you become an interior decorator? The last time I met you, you lived in a tent.”

“Still do,” she said. “You’re never homeless in a tent.”

Dee crossed the floor to the area that served as a kitchen and pulled open the fridge door.

“If you ate, I’d wager you’d have paper plates,” Virginia said, following him. “I suppose it would be pointless asking you for milk?” she asked as he reached into the fridge.

“Pointless,” he agreed. “You can have water, flat or sparkling,” Dee pulled out two bottles and then, from the back of the fridge, a short narrow object wrapped in a rag. He laid it on the table before Dare, and then reached back into the fridge to pull out two more similarly shaped objects. One was wrapped in red silk, the other in green leather.

Virginia Dare felt the tickling crawl of ancient power across her skin and stepped back, automatically brushing her tingling hands along the length of her jacket. She felt as if ants were crawling across her skin.

Dee then pulled open the oven and extracted a rectangular wooden box, which he also laid on the table.