LITMIR.BIZ

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a lovely night, Miss Towers. Hugh.' Liam McCalden walked away.

      And that was why Max loathed talking to his father. He loosened his fists as the Laronte president strode towards a cluster of admirers.

      `Why does he call you Hugh?'

      `That's what he named me.'

      `You introduced yourself to me as Max.'

      `That's what my friends call me. It's my nickname from school, short for McCalden. I'm just not Hugh any more.'

      `Shhh!'

      `But—'

      `Silence!'

      Max blinked.

      She was tilting her head to one side, as if listening to the ground. `I heard something.'

      `We're at a party. You're going to hear a lot of something.'

      `This is different.' She remained quiet for a few minutes, concentrating on the floor, ignoring everything going on around them. Finally she said, `Where can we talk?'

      `We're heading home. How about the car?'

      `No. Is there a private room in this house, where others will not hear?'

      `The library, I suppose.'

      `Do you wish to find out more about the Taloners and perhaps why your bodyguard attacked you?'

      `Well, yeah! This way.' He guided her past idle groups of people and wandering guests until they left the party noise behind and passed through the pretentious arched entrance of the huge McCalden library.

      One of his schoolmates had joked this room was bigger than his whole house. Low lights revealed thousands of very expensive mostly-unread books lining the floor to very-high ceiling shelves, and five head-high aisles.

      To the right, French doors led out on to a huge balcony, and at the far end to the left, the door to his father's study was closed to the world as always, and monitored by a security camera with no microphone.

      `Okay.' Max downed the rest of his champagne. `We're alone. Spill.'

      `I heard two people shouting at each other in the room below your ballroom.'

      `You mean the front courtyard?'

      `No, in the room beneath the mansion.'

      `There's nothing under the ballroom except foundations.'

      `You are wrong, Max. I have very keen hearing. I heard but fragments of what they were saying and the word Taloner was mentioned more than once.' She glanced around. `I do not trust this room. Someone may be lurking.'

      `How about the balcony? We can see if anyone's nearby.'

      `Are you sure?'

      `You wanted private. And I promise not to fall off this one.' He set his second now-empty glass on an oak shelf and pulled her towards the open doors.

      `Good. I refuse to keep rescuing you.'

      `Famous last words.' His pulse thudded as he led her on to the balcony. Was it really only a few hours since he'd been drowning his spirits with spirits at Darryn's place? Such a short time in Shahkara's company. Blood pounded his head as the cool summer breeze played with her loosened hair. `Is it too cold for you?'

      `No, I am accustomed to a far colder climate.' Her fingers rubbed at the stiff muscles at the back of her neck and he wished he could ease away her tension. `What is that building over there?' She pointed to the large complex separated from the McCalden estate by a quarter hectare of bushland and razor wire fence.

      `Laronte Headquarters. Dad likes all his concerns close to home.' Just like his children. `Tell me what you heard.'

      `I only heard them because their voices were raised. They were arguing about a breeding program for Taloners. Do you think the coven is cultivating humans to feed themselves?'

      `Oh, that's disgusting. But I suppose it'd give them a source of hearts without the public knowing.' Horror swept through him. Something in his gut had made him think this social event would yield clues, but he'd thought it'd relate to Jack, not some creepy breeding program.

      `Do you wish to investigate this room?'

      Max shrugged. `This is my house, Shahkara. It's still sinking in that there's a room I don't know about. I'm not sure what we do about it without getting caught.'

      `Your father must know.'

      `Ah, yes. Which means he must also know what's going on there. So I can't just ask him.'

      `Why not?'

      `Again, because he might be in on it. Which means he might've known about Jack being a Taloner too.' Max wasn't at all shocked that his father might be helping an evil demon group. Not if there was a profit in it. But not being shocked didn't mean he wasn't still disappointed.

      `I'm sorry Dad was rude to you. He's almost always difficult.'

      `Your father may be collaborating with murderous Taloners and yet you apologise for how he spoke to me?'

      Max shrugged again. Perhaps he could only deal with the small things. Like how, right now, he'd love to kiss the girl in front of him.

      `Oh no, Max. The moon!'

      `Yes? There it is,' he said. Who cared about a giant rock in the sky? Except of course for how, as it emerged from a sea of clouds, it cast a sensual half-light across Shahkara's face. He yearned to sweep those errant tendrils of hair away from her velvet-soft cheek, tuck them behind her ear and kiss her lobe. If he'd had more champagne, he might've had the courage. Maybe. `The view is probably different from Earth.'

      `No, it should be a new moon tonight.'

      A waning crescent shone down upon them. `On your world, maybe.' He pulled his phone from his pocket. `Today's Sunday. Our new moon's not until Wednesday.'

      `That can't be!'

      `Sorry. But we can't change our lunar cycle to suit visitors.'

      Eyes wide and dark, Shhkara took a deep unsteady breath. `This ruins everything. I had a full month to find the Elnara. Now I have three days!'

      `Are you kidding me? What's the moon got to do with it?'

      `I can only travel between Earth and Gorias through the Twilight Mists of a new moon, when the fabric between our worlds is at its thinnest. The Keeper lent me ancient magic to open the mists, but it will not last more than a month. So I have three days to find the lantern.'

      `Can't you return to your kingdom on Wednesday and just get him to re-cast the spell and then send you back again?'

      `Sending me to your world has cost the Keeper enormous power. If I return without the Elnara, he may not have the strength to bring me back again.'

      `How hard is it to find this death lantern? I could help. Where is it?'

      `No, I must find it by myself.'

      `In three days? You have to be joking. You have no licence and you don't even know the city. Is the lantern even in Brisbane?'

      Her fingers tugged at the cord at her neck. `You are not a warrior, Max, you would slow me down if you accompanied me.'

      `You'll be slower trying to do it on your own.'

      The pendant. She was still fiddling with it. `That thing holds the key to the Elnara's location, doesn't it?'

      `Of course not!'

      `Uh-uh. You are not a good liar, Shahkara. Let me guess, the pendant is a magical relic with an ancient map or writings on the back.'

      `Shush!' Her lips compressed. `No one must know.'

      `I won't say a word.'

      Her gaze reflected disbelief.

      `I promise.'

      She sighed. `It is a compass key.' She lifted the

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