Lori's heart was screaming. What had she done? These people were trying to help her, and she had lied to them. And as a result she'd let them walk blindfolded into the dragon's den.

  The lady—her name was Kyra—had even asked her straight-up. And maybe if she'd been asked again, maybe that was when the truth would have come out.

  And now it had come out in the worst possible way. The real reason she'd been given that loan.

  The way Tristis had looked at her when he found out.

  Did she even have a good reason to hide it? It was a little embarrassing. It was irrelevant to the problem at hand. It would have scared them off to learn of more complications.

  The truth was, it had been a stupid decision not to tell them. But those were the kinds of decisions she made.

  And now she was about to make another one.

  The deal was almost done. One word from Tristis and she'd be free from this devil. But there was so much agony behind his eyes. She didn't understand his circumstances, but she understood enough. She wasn't worth this.

  "Don't do it."

  They all stared at her.

  Tristis was confused. Rastane was seething.

  "We'll find another way," she said.

  Tristis was shaking his head. "I can't see any other way."

  "There is no other way," Rastane said firmly.

  She looked Tristis in the eye. She wanted him to know she was serious.

  "I'll tell your father the truth," she said.

  Whoever his father was, there was clearly some antipathy toward Rastane. The deal would come undone.

  There was laughter. A harsh, raucous laughter. They both turned to Rastane, who flourished his arms in her direction.

  "She's full of surprises, isn't she?" he sneered. "What did I tell you? An absolute treasure."

  He returned to his seat behind the desk and took out a cigar.

  "Does this mean, Miss Gascoigne," he said, emphatically enunciating every word, "that you are going to accept my other offer?"

  "Absolutely not."

  She didn't want anything to do with Rastane's brother, and in any case, it would tie her down from working with Kyra and Tristis.

  "You realize that your current circumstances are untenable?" he said.

  How could she not know that? It had been consuming her mind for months. The only thing getting her through another day was the hope that Mom might wake up. It had to happen eventually, she'd told herself. She just had endure until then.

  Rastane cut his cigar and held it up. "Hope you don't mind if I smoke."

  "I'd rather you didn't," Tristis said.

  Grinning broadly, Rastane placed the cigar between his lips and lit it up. The smoke immediately reached across the table and then crawled into every corner of the room.

  "Now, Mister Montgomery, why don't you try talking some sense into the young lady? Heavens know I've tried. But perhaps she'll listen to someone her own age."

  She briefly met Tristis's eyes. She was met with so much hurt and confusion that she shook her head and looked away.

  "There must be something else you want," Tristis said to Rastane. "Just give me a few ideas to work with and maybe I can make something happen for you."

  "Son, do I look like I'm someone struggling to get by? Anything I want, I buy. Apartments, businesses, cars. Sports teams. Cigars. I even have this nice block of land by the riverfront. There's only one thing my money can't seem to buy. And that's a damn casino to put on it."

  "The casino is off the table."

  "Nothing is off the table until I say it is."

  The two of them glared at each other across the desk. The smoke was thickening and Tristis was looking uncomfortable.

  But Rastane wasn't completely relaxed either. He was scratching at his chest. At some kind of itch that wouldn't go away.

  "Let's go outside for a moment," she whispered to Tristis. "There's something you should know."

  He nodded and rose to his feet. "Can we take a five-minute breather?"

  Rastane's congenial demeanor had completely evaporated, and he was no longer hiding his disdain.

  "Whatever the young lady wants to say, she can say in front of all of us."

  "Don't you want us to work toward a deal?" Tristis replied.

  "You walk out that door, there won't be any more deals," Rastane warned.

  Tristis looked helplessly down at Lori.

  She glanced fearfully at Rastane, the cold, hard pinpricks of his eyes burning through her like a slug he'd found under his new loafers.

  Ironically this was what gave her the courage to say her next words, as she realized she may already be at a point she couldn't come back from.

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  "Last year there was an attempt on his life," she told Tristis. "It has left him with a permanent injury."

  A clatter drew both their attention back to Rastane, who'd leaped to his feet.

  "How did you know that?" he demanded, loud and menacing. The attack was known among his workers, but the lingering effects were supposed to be a closely guarded secret.

  "You were kind enough to join me on the flight to Salomanta," she replied. Turning to Tristis, she explained, "In fact he chartered a jet just for us, saving me on the plane ticket, while my mom came in on a separate medical flight. But when my mom's treatment was over, I had to return and start working off my debt. He decided to stay behind. Didn't even see me off."

  To Rastane she added, "That was most unlike you.

  "Back here I started asking around. It wasn't hard to get bits and pieces out of people. Everyone thought I was your special pet, so they shared more than they should have. I just had to put the pieces together.

  "You tried to get your heart fixed once before. The best doctors in Charais Gamor. They cut you open to find what the other doctors missed—the ones who'd saved your life.

  "But it didn't work, did it? So you tried again. This time with the best doctors in the world, all the way over in Salomanta.

  "When you returned, I was paying attention. Because whether I like it or not, you're the most important person in my life right now. And I could see the signs. Overhear just enough snippets to confirm my suspicions. Just as they couldn't wake my mom, the best doctors in the world couldn't fix your ticker."

  Her explanation had given Rastane time to regain his composure.

  "My, aren't you a clever girl," he said sardonically, "putting all that together. But why is my medical history so important that you feel Mister Montgomery must know?"

  She looked over at Tristis, who met her gaze. Did he understand her intentions?

  "Don't look at him, look at me," Rastane snapped. "I'm the one who asked you a question."

  She understood that Kyra and Tristis wanted to keep their magic a secret. Otherwise there were a thousand better ways they could have freed her from Rastane. But there was no other way now.

  Except she couldn't just blurt it out because it wasn't her secret to share. Only they could decide if she was worth it.

  Tristis smiled at her and rose to his feet.

  "She wanted me to know that there's something more valuable than the casino," he replied in her stead. "I can fix your heart."

  "You expect me to believe that you can do something even the best doctors in the world can't?" Rastane scoffed.

  "You know that my brother has been making a miraculous recovery," Tristis replied smoothly. "The doctors had all but given up on him."

  "And you want to claim credit for that miracle?"

  "I can demonstrate it. Right here, right now. Bring in anyone with a visible recent injury."

  "And tools?" Rastane asked skeptically.

  "My bare hands."

  Rastane regarded the two of them with narrowed eyes. It seemed this was too much to be believed.

  "It's true!" she asserted. "He has magic hands. You'll see."

  The truth was that she wanted to see too.

  "All right," Rastane said. "Let's see if there's any substance to your claims."

  He called in one of his men, who then left and returned with a pit bull. Its tail whipped back and forth excitedly while it watched its handler secure its chain to the wall.

  Lori observed it closely, trying to figure out where the dog was injured. She couldn't find anything. Even appraisal told her it was healthy.

  The handler produced a hammer.

  Tristis met her eyes as the realization dawned on both of them at the same time.

  There was no time to react. No time to cry "Stop!" or even get out of her seat. There was just the sickening crack, the squeal of pain and betrayal, and finally the long, anguished whine of pain from a broken leg.

  Lori turned away and covered her mouth.

  Tristis was yelling. "What the hell did you do that for!"

  Rastane's reply could freeze the sun. "Show me your ability. Fail and the dog will be added to the girl's debt."

  Tristis's steps approached the animal. She looked up in time to see him crouch beside it.

  The dog snarled at him, redirecting its pain to this stranger. The handler had stepped away and was watching with no great concern, as if this was just another day at the office.

  Tristis didn't shrink back like she would have. He moved swiftly and pinned the animal down in a way it couldn't bite. The struggles of its muscled body were no more effective than a mouse's. He must have had experience with aggressive dogs.

  Wasting no time, his hand pressed on the broken leg.

  The changes were so fast and smooth, she found herself doubting if the hammer had all been a trick. Maybe the unnatural angle of the bone had just been her imagination. Maybe she'd been affected by the dog's reaction to being struck.

  But then why was there blood on the floorboards?

  Tristis returned to his spot beside her.

  Lori had never seen Rastane so lost and confused. She couldn't help cracking a smile, and though he surely noticed, he had too much else on his mind.

  "What kind of devilry is?" Rastane demanded.

  "Are you ready for me to take a look at your chest?" Tristis replied.

  "It's only an itch," Rastane said. "Not worth one and half million."

  "Right. Just an itch."

  Tristis slowly walked up to the man and removed the cigar from his mouth. Lori noticed Rastane making a stand-down gesture with his hand, and she looked back to see that it was directed at the guard by the door, who had been reaching for his gun.

  "What is the one thing every rich man cares about more than money?" Tristis said calmly. "Without which he can't enjoy the wealth he has amassed."

  He snubbed the cigar out in the ashtray before continuing. "You went under the knife twice to fix the problem. Sought out the best doctors in the world. Surgeries always carry a measure of risk. You don't let someone cut you open for only an itch. So you're right about one thing. It isn't worth one and a half million. In addition to canceling the debt, you'll arrange the medical flight to bring Lori's mom home to Lacris-Cheree. And you'll cover any additional medical expenses until she wakes up."

  "I'll need time to think about it," Rastane replied.

  "Do you see that door?" Tristis pointed toward the exit. "The moment we walk through that door, there won't be any more deals."

  Lori had never seen Rastane look so defeated. The man was so used to holding the upper hand, he seemed at a loss on how to admit defeat.

  At last he said, "I'll have to get some scans done to confirm the results. Then I'll make all the arrangements."

  "And your brother?" Tristis asked. "Is he going to be a problem?"

  "Are you suggesting I don't have my house in order?" Rastane replied.

  "Shall we get started then?"

  They did it right there. Rastane stripped down to his bare chest, revealing the surgical scars. Tristis placed his hand right over the heart and closed his eyes.

  This time Lori paid extra careful attention so as not to miss anything. The fact that Tristis needed physical contact meant that proximity mattered. But if he could mend a heart through skin and bone, then it must be possible for his magic to be transmitted through another medium.

  While she thought about all the ways the ability could work, the scars began retreating on Rastane's chest. Interestingly they were retreating toward Tristis's hands, like a fungus returning to the source.

  By the time Tristis was done, the only sign the scars were ever there was the unusual cross-shaped patch of skin in a thick wilderness of hair.

  "Just a little something extra," Tristis said.

  Rastane spent a moment running a finger over his own chest before slipping back into his shirt.

  "How'd you like to come work for me?" he said. "I can pay you better than anyone."

  Tristis shook his head. "Let me know if there's a problem that requires a separate round of treatment. Otherwise let's both stay in our own separate worlds."

  He returned to Lori's side and took her hand with a smile.

  "Is it really all right like this?" she asked.

  After a moment of contemplation, he turned back to Rastane. "Can I trust your discretion on this?"

  The businessman looked up from buttoning his shirt. She was surprised to see him smiling, and this time it reached his eyes.

  "What has happened once can happen again," he said, "and who will I call on once I've alienated the best doctor in the world?"

  "And your men?" Tristis nodded toward the dog handler and bodyguard.

  "They wouldn't be let in this room if they can't be trusted."

  "Then for both our sakes," Tristis said, "let's hope our paths never cross again."