The Key Trilogy

by Nora Roberts

  “Guard dog?” She noted that Moe was now chewing on the bag. “Give me a serious break.”

  Obviously not finding the brown paper to his taste, Moe wandered off to sniff for crumbs, and Flynn sat down, stretched out his legs. He’d reconsidered his strategy and decided that this tack was foolproof with Dana. “Okay. I’ll stay and be guard dog since you have no faith in Moe. Let’s flip a coin for the bed.”

  “I’m the only one sleeping in my bed, and I have less faith in you than I do in that big mutt, who is currently chasing his own tail. Moe! Cut that out before you wreck my place.”

  She considered just tearing out her own hair when Moe bashed against a table in his desperate attempt to latch teeth onto tail, and sent books thudding down on his head.

  He gave a startled bark and scrambled toward Flynn for protection.

  “Go away, Flynn, and take your klutzy dog with you.”

  Flynn simply lifted his legs and used Moe as a footstool. “Let’s just go over our options,” he began.

  Twenty minutes later Dana stomped into the kitchen. She stopped short, hissed through her teeth when she saw the contents of her trash can strewed from one end of the floor to the other and Moe happily sprawled over the mess of it, chewing on a wad of paper towels.

  “How does he do it? How the hell did he talk me into this?” And that, she admitted, was the mystery of Flynn Hennessy. You never knew just how he managed to box you into the corner of his choice.

  She crouched down, got nose to nose with Moe.

  Moe rolled his eyes to the side, avoiding hers. Dana swore that if dogs could whistle, she’d have heard the I-wasn’t-doing-anything tune coming out of the dog’s mouth. “Okay, pal, you and I are going to go over the rules of the household.”

  He responded by licking her face, then flopping over to expose his belly.

  SHE woke with the sun streaming over her face and her legs paralyzed. The sun was easy to explain. She’d forgotten to draw the curtains again. And her legs weren’t paralyzed, she realized after a moment of panic. They were trapped under the massive bulk of Moe.

  “Okay, this is no way to begin.” She sat up, then shoved the dog hard. “I said no dogs allowed on the bed. I was very clear about that rule.”

  He moaned, an oddly human sound that made her lips twitch. Then he opened one eye. Then that eye brightened with manic joy.

  “No!”

  But it was too late. In one leap, he’d trapped not only her legs but her entire body. Dancing paws pressed into her belly, her breasts, her crotch. His tongue slathered her face with desperate love.

  “Stop it! Down! Mary Mother of God!” And she was laughing hysterically, wrestling with him, until he leaped off the bed and raced out of the room.

  “Whew.” She pushed at her hair. It was definitely not the way she cared to wake, as a rule. But for one day she could make an exception.

  Now she needed coffee. Immediately.

  Before she could throw back the covers, Moe bounded back in.

  “No! Don’t you do it! Don’t you bring that horrible, disgusting ball into this bed.”

  Her usual morning speed approximated that of a snail on Valium, but one look at the tennis ball in Moe’s mouth had her moving like an Olympic sprinter. She hit the floor, causing Moe to change direction and go into a skid. He thudded against the bed frame, then, undaunted, spat the ball at her feet.

  “We do not play fetch the ball in the house. We do not play fetch the ball when I’m naked, which, you may notice, I am. We do not play fetch the ball before I have coffee.”

  He cocked his head charmingly and lifted a paw.

  “We’re going to have to compromise. First I’ll get unnaked.” She went to the closet for her robe. “Then I’ll have my first cup of coffee. After which I’ll take you for a very, very brief walk during which you can relieve your bladder and play fetch the ball for exactly three minutes. Take it or leave it.”

  SHE didn’t know how he did it—like master, like dog, she supposed—but she ended up spending a good twenty minutes playing with Moe in the park.

  This was not her morning routine, and if there was anything that was sacrosanct to Dana, it was her morning routine. She could admit that she felt more energized and more cheerful after the interlude with the goofy dog. But she wasn’t going to tell Moe that, or anyone else.

  He gobbled down his breakfast while she ate hers, then fortunately for all involved, plopped down for a quick morning nap while she substituted Othello for her current breakfast book.

  To stay fresh, to let it all simmer in her head, she switched gears after thirty minutes, and chose one of the books on sorcery. However wily and amoral Iago was, Kane was more so—and he had power. Maybe there was a way to undermine it, or deflect it, while she searched for the key.

  She read of white magic, and of black. Of sorcery and necromancy. And it was different, she realized as she made her notes, when you knew the fantastic you read of was real.

  Not fantasy. Not lies, but truth.

  She had to remember that, she thought as she closed the book. It was essential that she remember the truth.

  IT was very satisfying, Dana discovered when she was hip-deep in work at Indulgence, to prime the dull wall with fresh white paint.

  Our place, she thought.

  As they painted, she briefed Zoe and Malory on her visit to the Peak and what she’d learned.

  “So he can hurt us.” Frowning, Zoe added more paint to the automatic roller for Malory. “Or we can hurt ourselves. I guess that’s what it really means.”

  “If we drift too far beyond actual reality, yeah,” Dana agreed. “I think that’s what it means.”

  “But he can’t hurt us unless we allow it,” Malory put in. “The trick is not to allow it, which is not as easy as it sounds.”

  “You don’t have to tell me.” The memory of her brush with Kane still made Dana shudder. “It’s not just finding the last two keys, it’s protecting ourselves.”

  “And the people around us,” Zoe reminded her. “He went after Flynn, too. If he tries anything with Simon—anything—I’ll spend the rest of my life hunting him down.”

  “Don’t worry, Mom.” Dana reached over to squeeze Zoe’s shoulder. “When your turn comes, we’ll all look after Simon. We can always send Moe to protect him,” she added to lighten the mood. She sent a steely look at Malory. “A true friend would’ve called and warned me I was about to get a dog.”

  “A true friend knew you’d sleep better at night with a dog snoring beside the bed.”

  “Beside, my ass. He snuck onto the bed when I was sleeping. Which means I’d have slept through an earthquake last night, as he’s not what we can call stealthy. And Moe-proofing the apartment is no snap, just let me add. Not to mention I’m not allowed to have dogs in my building in the first place.”

  “It’s just for a few weeks and mostly at night,” Malory reminded her. “You did sleep better, too. I can tell by your mood.”

  “Maybe I did. Anyway, I should fill you in on what I’m doing about the key.”

  WITH the first room primed, they moved to the next and the more tedious chore of cutting in around the trim.

  “Jealousy, sorcery, getting inside Kane’s skin.” Standing on the new stepladder, Malory took on the task of painting the ceiling. “That’s very smart.”

  “I think so. The answer’s in a book. It’s got to be. Yours dealt with painting, and one of the daughters, the one who looks like you, is an artist. Well, a musician, but that’s an art.”

  Zoe glanced over. “I sure as hell hope that means I don’t have to take up fencing because my goddess carries a sword.”

  “She also has that cute little puppy,” Malory put in.

  “I can’t get a dog right now. I know Simon would love one, but—oh, you were taking my mind off the sword.”

  “There you go.”

  Dana sat back on her heels, stretched her back. “Puppy, sword—metaphors for something. We’ll figure it
out when the time comes. But if we follow this theme, Malory’s key dealt with painting. Malory’s dream was being an artist, but she didn’t have the chops for it . . .”

  She stopped, considered biting her tongue in half. “Sorry. That sounded harsh.”

  “No, it didn’t. It sounded true.” Malory stared up at the ceiling. She seemed to have the knack for this kind of painting. “I didn’t have the talent to paint, so I directed my energies into a career where I could be part of the art world in other ways. It doesn’t hurt my feelings, Dana.”

  “Okay, but you get a free kick later if you want it. Kane used Malory’s desire to paint to pull her in, to distract her from the search. But our heroine proved much too clever for him and turned the tables.”

  Malory inclined her head regally. “I like that part.”

  “It’s one of my favorites,” Zoe agreed. “Do you want to write, Dana?”

  “No.” She pursed her lips for a moment, thought about it. “No, I don’t. But I have to be around books, have them around me. I’m fascinated with the people who can and do write them.”

  “Including Jordan?”

  “Let’s not go there, at least not yet. What I’m saying is books are personal to me, the way art is to Mal. So that’s why I think my key is connected to books. I’ve got this gut instinct that it has to do with a book I’ve read. Something personal again.”

  “I’m going to do another title search, one using ‘key,’ and see what books I come up with.” Her brows drew together as she tried to puzzle it out. “The whole key-in-the-title angle may be too simple, too obvious, but it gives me another place to look.”

  “We could split it up,” Malory suggested. “If you make a list of the books you think might be the one, we could divide it into three and each take a chunk.”

  “That would help. We don’t know what we’re looking for,” Dana continued. “But we’ve got to believe we’ll know it when we see it.”

  “Maybe you should put together a list with ‘goddess’ in the title, too,” Malory told her. “My key had to do with the singing goddess, from Rowena’s clue. Yours might link to the goddess who walks, or waits, in your clue.”

  “Good thinking.” With her section of wall finished, Dana got to her feet. “God, our eyes are going to bleed. There’s this other thing.” Wanting to keep busy, she went back to her brush roller. “Your key had to do with this place, Mal, with the way he—or your head—transformed it into your fantasy of happy home, family, painting in your studio. So far, mine’s been a deserted tropical island. I don’t think I’m going to find its root here in the Valley.”

  “You don’t know where you’ll go next time.”

  Dana set down the brush and stared. “Well, gee. That’s a happy thought.”

  Chapter Eight

  SHE may have been unemployed, but Dana doubted that she’d ever worked harder or put in longer days.

  There was Moe to deal with, which she equated with having an eighty-pound toddler on her hands. He needed to be fed, walked, scolded, entertained, and watched like a hawk.

  There was the sheer physical demand of painting for several hours a day, which had considerably upped her respect for anyone who did it for a living. But as Moe came with comfort and amusement, so did the work on the building bring satisfaction and pride.

  Maybe it didn’t look like much yet—they’d decided to prime all the walls before starting on color—but when you had three determined, dedicated women working as a unit, you saw considerable progress.

  There was the design and strategy of the business she would debut in a matter of months. She had long, long lists of books, intriguing sidelines, possible styles for shelves and tables, for glasses and cups.

  It had been one thing to fantasize about owning a bookstore, but it was another matter entirely to deal with the thousands of details involved in creating one.

  Added to that were the hours of midnight oil she burned searching for the key. Reading had always been a passion, but now it was a mission. Somewhere in a book was the answer. Or at least the next question.

  And what if the answer, or the question, was in one of the books she’d assigned to her friends? What if they missed it because it would only resonate with her?

  That way lay madness, she told herself.

  On top of everything else she had to do, had to think about, had to worry about, she had to get ready for a date. A date, she reminded herself, that she should never have agreed to.

  Talk about the road to madness.

  If she canceled, Jordan would either nag and harangue her until she sliced him to pieces with a butcher knife and spent the rest of her life in prison, or, even worse, he’d get that smug, told-you-so look on his face and claim he’d only proven that she was afraid to be around him.

  In which case, it was back to the kitchen knife and life in the women’s penitentiary.

  The only choice left was to go—and to go fully armed. She would not only prove she wasn’t the least bit concerned about spending a few hours with him, she would drive him mad while she was at it.

  She knew he was a sucker for scent, so she slathered herself in perfumed body cream before slipping into what she thought of as her tonight’s-the-night underwear. Not that she would give Jordan the chance to see it, but she would know she was wearing the sexy black bra, the lacy panties, the lace-trimmed garter belt and sheer hose.

  And they would make her feel powerful.

  She checked herself in the mirror—front, back, sides. “Oh, yeah, I look just fine. Eat your heart out, Hawke.”

  She picked up the dress she’d laid on the bed. It looked deceptively simple, one long, fluid line of black. But when you put a body into it, everything changed.

  She slipped it on, gave it a few tugs, then did another turn before the mirror.

  The scoop neck took on a whole new dimension when there were breasts filling it out, rising teasingly over the edge. The column turned seductive when the slightest movement parted that long side slit and revealed the length of leg.

  She slipped on her shoes, delighted that the stiletto heels added three inches to her already impressive height. She’d never been sensitive about being tall. She liked it.

  She had Zoe to thank for the hair. She’d done it sleek and loose, with a little jeweled clip anchored between the crown and the tip of her left ear. Just another tease, Dana mused. The clip didn’t do anything but sit there and sparkle.

  She dabbed perfume at her collarbone, in the valley between her breasts, at her wrists. Then tossed her head. “You are a dead man, pal. You are meat.”

  It occurred to her that she was actually looking forward to the evening. It had been weeks since she’d dressed herself up for a date. Plus, she had to admit she was curious. How would Jordan handle himself? How, for that matter, would they handle each other? She wondered what it would be like to be with him, within the ritual of a date, now that they were man and woman rather than boy and girl.

  It was, she had to admit, exciting. Particularly exciting since she was certain he intended to win her over and she had no intention of being won.

  She leaned toward the mirror, slid murderous red on her lips, then dropped the tube of lipstick in her purse. She pressed her lips together, opened them again with a cocky little pop. “Let the games begin.”

  When Jordan knocked at exactly seven-thirty, she couldn’t have scripted his reaction any more perfectly.

  His eyes widened, blurred. She actually saw the pulse in his throat jump. Then he fisted a hand and rapped it twice against his own heart as if to get it started again.

  “You’re trying to hurt me, aren’t you?”

  She angled her head. “Absolutely. How’d I do?”

  “Kill shot. Am I drooling?”

  Now she grinned and turned back inside to get her coat. He stepped in behind her, leaned down and sniffed. “If I whimper, try to . . .” He trailed off as he saw the books. Piles and stacks of them beside the sofa, another stack on the coff
ee table, a sea of them on her dining table.

  “Jesus Christ, Dane, you need treatment.”

  “They’re not just for reading, not that there’s anything wrong with that. They’re for work and for research. I’m playing an angle on the key and I’m preparing to open a bookstore.”

  She slipped into the coat, trying not to be miffed that he now appeared to be more interested in the books than in how incredible she looked.

  “The Key to Rebecca, Key Witness, A House Without a Key. I see where you’re going here. The Key to Sexual Fulfillment?” He sent her a long, smirking look.

  “Shut up. Are we going to eat?”

  “Yeah, yeah. You’ve got your work cut out for you.” He crouched down, began flipping through pages. “You want me to take some of these?”

  “I’ve already split the load with Malory and Zoe.” She knew he’d start reading in a moment; he wouldn’t be able to help himself. In that area, they were identical twins.

  “That’s enough. Hungry here.”

  “What else is new?” He set a book back on a tower of its fellows, straightened and took another good long look at her. “Wowzer.”

  “Aw, that’s so sweet. Are we going?”

  He moved to the door to open it for her. “Where’s Moe?”

  “Romping in the park with his best friend. Flynn’s dropping him off before he goes home. Where are we eating?”

  “Just get in the car, Miss One Track Mind. You’ll get fed. How’s the painting brigade doing?” he asked once she was settled and he was behind the wheel.

  “We rock. Seriously. I can’t get over how much we’re getting done. And I have the body aches to prove it.”

  “Anything you want me to rub, just let me know.”

  “That’s a kind and selfless offer, Jordan.”

  “Just the kind of guy I am.”

  She crossed her legs, making sure the move was slow and parted the slit of her dress well up to her thigh. “But I have Chris to take care of that for me.”

  His gaze traveled down, all the way to the sharp heel of her shoe, then back up again. “Chris?” He didn’t snarl it, but he wanted to.