The Third Circle (Arcane Society Book 04) by Amanda Quick Page A

unequivocal. “This is the first time it has surfaced in over forty years. Gabe wants it back in the hands of the Society as soon as possible. If it disappears again, the way it did last time, it could be decades before we hear of it again.”
    “I know,” Thaddeus said patiently. “I’m merely saying that the new owner will probably not want to give it up.”
    The aurora stone had a long and intriguing history within the Arcane Society. According to the legend, it had been stolen from Sylvester’s laboratory by a woman he had named Sybil the Virgin Sorceress. The question of her virginity aside, the truth of the matter was that Sybil was a rival alchemist. The founder had not tolerated competition well; a female rival had enraged him. In his journal he had refused to dignify Sybil with the title of alchemist and had labeled her a sorceress instead in order to demean and deride her talents and skills in the laboratory.
    The old bastard might have been brilliant, Thaddeus thought, but he was not what anyone would call a modern-thinking man.
    “If money won’t work, you’ll have to find another way to take the stone from the woman,” Caleb said. “Given your particular talent, I should not think that would be too difficult. Damn it, you could mesmerize her into handing over the crystal and then cause her to forget that she ever possessed it. I do not see why you are stalling here.”
    “She’s immune to my talent.”
    That stopped Caleb cold. His eyes gleamed with the detached curiosity of the scientist.
    “Huh,” he said. “Interesting.”
    Why was he stalling? Thaddeus wondered. He was going to have to take the crystal away from Leona. He already knew that. Nevertheless, he found himself wanting to defend her right to it.
    He wandered over to a nearby bench to examine a prism. “Do you really think that the crystal is another dark, dangerous Arcane Society secret like the founder’s formula? I saw no evidence of that last night. Its powers appeared to be of a healing nature, not destructive.”
    Caleb folded his arms and gave the question some serious thought. “I will allow that the crystal is not as potentially harmful as the formula could be in the wrong hands. But I believe that is primarily because the talent for working it is extremely rare.”
    Thaddeus watched the light passing through the prism shatter and reform into a dazzling rainbow. “Leona worked the crystal quite easily last night. I assume that means she possesses this extremely rare ability?”
    Caleb frowned. “Are you certain she worked it? You said yourself you were hallucinating. Perhaps, while you were under the influence of the drug, you imagined her to be channeling power through the stone.”
    Thaddeus looked up from the prism. “The power she employed was real. I have never seen any crystal worker do what she did last night.”
    Caleb grunted. “Most likely because the vast majority of crystal workers are frauds. London does not lack for charlatans who claim to be able to tap the energy of crystals. They are almost as common on the ground as mediums who promise to contact the spirit world. And some of those frauds, I regret to say, are capable of deceiving even members of the Arcane Society. Remember the infamous Dr. Pipewell and his niece, whom he claimed could work crystal?”
    “I am unlikely to ever forget,” Thaddeus said dryly. “It has been two years since Pipewell disappeared with the investors’ money. My uncle still fumes about how much he lost in that fraudulent scheme.”
    “I doubt that any of the other wealthy members of the Society who were taken in by Pipewell’s promise of untold riches have forgotten, either.”
    “What of the niece?”
    Caleb shrugged. “She disappeared at about the same time. I suspect they are both living well in Paris or New York or San Francisco by now. My point is that most who claim to work crystal are frauds.”
    “True. But Leona is no charlatan.”
    Caleb frowned. “Can you