Dragon Moon by Unknown Page A

her—at least from his point of view. Could she keep him on her side?
     
    Even though she hated herself for lying to him, she wanted to stay here. Because she was attracted to him? Or because this was an ideal place to learn about this world?
     
    Both things were true. But one thing she knew: she didn’t understand him. They were alone in an isolated house where they had shared a passionate kiss, and in her world she was sure he would have taken advantage of that, taken advantage of her. She wouldn’t be lying in this bed alone, or maybe she would, after he’d finished with her.
     
    But it hadn’t turned out that way. And now she had time to think about what she should do.
     
    Using him made her stomach knot. The moral thing to do was leave, but she had connected with him. If she left, she’d have to start all over again and try to trick another man. Who might not be as chivalrous.
     
    Was she rationalizing? Or was Vandar reaching out and controlling her?
     
    She shuddered. Maybe he wasn’t reaching out, but he’d planted compulsions in her mind, compulsions she couldn’t ignore. Which meant that she didn’t even know if her decisions were her own—or his.
     
     
    IN his warm and comfortable office, Ramsay Gallagher disconnected from his online brokerage account and pushed his chair away from the desk. As he expected, his finances were in good shape, even with the recent economic downturn. He was a seasoned investor; he knew when to buy stocks and when to pull back and buy municipal bonds and CDs. Some of his money was in land that would only go up in value. And he had buried gold, if he needed it.
     
    But an unaccustomed sense of anxiety had overtaken him, prompting him to take a financial inventory. And earlier, he’d checked his name through a private online database. As far as he could tell, nobody in cyberspace was checking up on him.
     
    No surprise there, either. Over the years, he’d made himself difficult to find. None of his contacts had the address of this house. What mail he received was delivered to a post office box thirty miles away. And he was untraceable on the Internet.
     
    The financial and privacy checks he’d just run should have put his doubts at rest, but the feeling of anxiety remained.
     
    Standing up, he paced to the darkened window and looked out at the stars shining down on his mountaintop. In the cities, the ambient light dimmed the glory of the sky. Out here, the resplendency of the stars shone out as it had for thousands of years.
     
    The window was large, and he could see many familiar constellations. Their names and stories came from mankind’s superstitious past, but that didn’t detract from his enjoyment of the familiar patterns.
     
    He had studied the meaning of the star patterns and studied many ancient techniques for acquiring knowledge.
     
    If a computer couldn’t help him, there were other alternatives he could try.
     
    Leaving his office, he walked down the hall to a door that was hidden in the paneling. When he pressed first at the top and then halfway down the flat surface, the door slid to the side, and he reached through to turn on a light switch. The outside door was wood. Behind it was a blast door that would withstand anything but a direct nuclear strike, and maybe even that.
     
    After sealing the entrance, he descended a flight of steps, then another, into a set of secure rooms that he had carved out of the living rock below his chalet.
     
    If need be, he could take refuge in this hidden apartment, waiting out any danger that threatened him from the world above. He had installed a computer connection, as well as feeds from video cameras that gave him a view of the chalet’s exterior and the surrounding area.
     
    He wasn’t under siege, but this place was more than a stronghold in time of danger. It also isolated him from contact with the world.
     
    One area was outfitted as a lounge. To its left was a bedroom. He walked through to another