“He has more than one.” Rowena spoke in a matter-of-fact tone that was utterly chilling.

“You painted this, and the two that we have.”

“Painting is one of my passions,” Rowena confirmed. “One of my constants. Pitte.” She turned to him. “They know this much.”

“I don’t know a damn thing,” Dana declared.

“Step over here, to the cynical side of the room,” Jordan invited.

“It’s what Malory knows that matters now.” Rowena held out a hand. “All that I have will be used to keep you safe.”

“Not good enough.” Flynn shook his head. “She’s out of it. They’re all out of it. You want your money back, we’ll—”

“Excuse me, I can speak for myself. This isn’t a matter of a refund, is it?” she asked Rowena. “There’s no turning back, no saying, uh-oh, the stakes are higher than I realized, game over.”

“The agreement was made.”

“Without full disclosure,” Brad put in. “Whatever sort of contract these women signed with you won’t hold up legally.”

“The issue isn’t legal,” Malory said impatiently. “It’s moral. And more than that, it’s destiny. As long as I am, as long as I know, I’m part of it. Until the four weeks are up. And if I find the first key, one of them is next.” She looked at Dana and Zoe. “One of them will be at risk for the next phase of the moon.”

“Yes.”

“You know where the keys are,” Flynn exploded. “Just hand them over. End this.”

“Do you think, if that were possible, we would remain in this prison?” In a gesture that mirrored both disgust and bitterness Pitte flung out his arms. “Year by century by millennium, trapped in a world not our own. Do you think we live with you out of choice? That we place our fates, the fates of those in our charge, in your hands because we wish it? We are bound here, bound by this single task. And now so are you.”

“You can’t go home.” After the boom of Pitte’s, Zoe’s quiet voice was like a hammer blow. “We are home. You had no right to trick us into being part of this without telling us the risks.”

“We didn’t know.” Rowena spread her hands.

“For a couple of gods, there’s a hell of a lot you don’t know and can’t do.”

Pitte’s eyes went to smoke as he rounded on Flynn. “Perhaps you’d like a demonstration of what we can do.”

Fists already clenched, Flynn stepped forward. “Bring it on.”

“Gentlemen.” Rowena’s heavy sigh was like a flood of cool water, designed to lower the rising temperature of the room. “The male, regardless of his origins, remains woefully predictable in some areas. Your pride and manhood aren’t at risk here, in either case. Flynn, whatever the world, there are laws woven through the fabric of it.”

“Rip the fabric. Break the law.”

“If it were within my power to hand out the keys at this moment, it would solve nothing.”

“They wouldn’t work,” Malory stated and earned a nod of approval from Rowena.

“You understand.”

“I think I do. If this spell . . . is it a spell?”

“That’s the simplest word for it,” Rowena agreed.

“If it’s to be broken, it has to be by us. Women. Mortal women. Using our brains, our wits and energies, our resources in our world. Otherwise, no key opens the box. Because . . . we’re the real keys. The answer’s in us.”

“You’re so close to where you need to be.” Emotions storming across her face, Rowena rose, laid her hands on Malory’s arms. “Closer than any have come before.”

“But not close enough, not yet. And half my time is gone. I need to ask you some questions. In private.”

“Hey, one for all here,” Dana reminded her. Malory sent her a silent plea. “Okay, okay. We’ll wait outside.”

“I’ll stay with you.” Flynn laid a hand on Malory’s shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

“I said this was private. I don’t want you here.”

His face went blank and cold. “Fine, then, I’ll get out of your way.”

With obvious regret, Rowena gave Moe a little nudge to send him along. She frowned at the sharp slam of the door behind Flynn. “Your man has a sensitive heart. More easily bruised than yours.”

“Is he my man?” Before Rowena could speak, Malory shook her head. “First things first. Why was I taken behind the Curtain?”

“He wanted to show you his power.”

“Who is he?”

Rowena hesitated, then when Pitte nodded, continued. “He is Kane, a sorcerer. The dark one.”

“The one in the shadows, the one I saw in my dream. The stealer of souls.”

“He showed himself to you so you would be frightened. There’s no need to frighten you unless you can succeed.”

“Why did he hurt Flynn?”

“Because you love him.”

“Do I?” Malory’s voice thickened with emotion. “Or have I been made to think I do? Is that just one more trick?”

“Ah.” Rowena let out a soft breath. “Perhaps you’re not as close as I thought. Don’t you know your own heart, Malory?”

“I’ve known him two weeks, and I feel as if my life will never be quite right if he’s not in it. But is it real? At the end of my four weeks, will I still feel that way?” She pressed a hand to her heart. “Or will it be taken away from me? Is it any worse to have your soul taken from you than your heart?”

“I think not, for one feeds the other. And I can’t give you the answer, because you already have it. If you choose to look.”

“Then tell me this. Will he be safe if I step away from him? If I close my heart to him, will he be safe?”

“You’d give him up to protect him?” Pitte asked.

“Yes.”

Thoughtful, he walked to the lacquered cabinet, opened it to take out a bottle of brandy. “And you’d tell him this?”

“No, he’d never—”

“Ah, so you would deceive him.” With a small smile, Pitte poured brandy into a snifter. “And justify the lie by saying that it was for his own good. Women, whatever their world, are predictable,” he said, with a mocking bow to Rowena.