Second Sight
Amanda Quick
“Delightful Victorian romantic suspense with a touch of the paranormal…a quick-paced, fun thriller.”
—Midwest Book Review
The New York Times bestselling author of Lie by Moonlight and The Paid Companion takes you on a thrilling adventure filled with the simmering passions of the Victorian age—and the lure of ancient secrets…
Venetia Milton’s memories of a romantic night with Gabriel Jones—an alchemist’s descendant—are shattered soon thereafter by news of his death. Adopting the guise of his respectable widow, she embarks on a new career as a fashionable photographer in London, where her unique ability to “see” beyond her subjects makes her photographs highly prized.
But Venetia’s romantic whim causes unexpected trouble. For one thing, Mr. Jones is about to stride, living and breathing, back into her life. And someone he is tracking will go to any length, even murder, to possess an ancient, extraordinary secret that has been lost for centuries—someone who believes that, as the “wife” of Mr. Jones, Venetia is the key…
“Clever dialogue, well-handled paranormal elements, and an intriguing plot merge with Quick’s lively wit in this thoroughly entertaining romance. A new psychic thriller series.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“It doesn’t take ‘psychical abilities’ to see this one’s a winner…Second Sight is the opening book in the Arcane Society series, and if it’s any indication of what’s to come, the series may be one of Quick’s best.”
—The (Columbia, SC) State
“A clever and entertaining tale about secrets…With her witty dialogue, multidimensional characters complete with eccentricities and psychic abilities, clever plotting, and generous humor, the perennially popular Quick has penned another surefire winner.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“Another spirited Victorian romance.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Polished, proficient romantic suspense.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Murders, blackmailers, and assorted evildoers appear thick and fast…quite entertaining.”
—The Roanoke Times
PRAISE FOR
Lie by Moonlight
“Quick’s trademark wit and humor run gracefully throughout this suspenseful and satisfying novel, and fans and new readers alike will fall for the newest additions to Quick’s impressive collection of characters.”
—Booklist
“This rousing, steamy story is a captivating read.”
—Library Journal
“For fans of Quick, certainly another pleaser, as romance and murder and silk flounces abound.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“One of Ms. Quick’s most charming and entertaining historical romantic investigative novels.”
—The Best Reviews
“The story line brings the reader into the pages that flow from one to the next, never missing a beat. You can never go wrong with an Amanda Quick book. Every single one is a keeper!”
—A Romance Review
PRAISE FOR
Wait Until Midnight
“Terrific historical romantic suspense…Regardless of the time period, Ms. Quick provides a fabulous tale that seems to always land on the keeper shelf.”
—The Best Reviews
“[A] wonderful story of mystery and romance…Amanda Quick is the queen of romance. All of her books are keepers, and Wait Until Midnight is no exception.”
—A Romance Review
“With a quick wit, quick pace, and quick-thinking investigators, Quick delivers another engrossing suspense/romance with a dark and haunting side.”
—Romantic Times (4½ stars)
ACCLAIM FOR AMANDA QUICK AND HER NOVELS
“Quick has the Regency–murder mystery mix down to a fine science.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Tense and romantic…her pacing is impeccable…sexy and suspenseful.”
—People
“Quick is an expert at witty dialogue…and the depiction of early nineteenth-century England.”
—School Library Journal
“If you start an Amanda Quick book in the late afternoon, you’ll probably spend the night with it.”
—The Denver Post
“Amanda Quick has the gift of storytelling.”
—Under the Covers Book Reviews
“A plucky heroine, a hero with a dark side, snappy dialogue…lots of humor…one of the best and brightest voices in the romance genre.”
—Booklist
“[Quick’s] dialogue is always fun, fresh, and romantic.”
—The Romance Reader
“Great storytelling…[Quick] spins a great yarn.”
—All About Romance
“Sprightly, funny, and highly sensual.”
—Library Journal
By Jayne Ann Krentz
writing as Amanda Quick
Second Sight
Lie by Moonlight
Wait Until Midnight
The Paid Companion
Late for the Wedding
Don’t Look Back
Slightly Shady
Wicked Widow
I Thee Wed
With This Ring
Affair
Mischief
Mystique
Mistress
Deception
Desire
Dangerous
Reckless
Ravished
Rendezvous
Scandal
Surrender
Seduction
Other titles by
Jayne Ann Krentz
White Lies
All Night Long
Falling Awake
Truth or Dare
Light in Shadow
Summer in Eclipse Bay
Smoke in Mirrors
Dawn in Eclipse Bay
Lost & Found
Eclipse Bay
Soft Focus
Eye of the Beholder
Flash
Sharp Edges
Deep Waters
Absolutely, Positively
Trust Me
Grand Passion
Hidden Talents
Wildest Hearts
Family Man
Perfect Partners
Sweet Fortune
Silver Linings
The Golden Chance
By Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Jayne Castle
Ghost Hunter
After Glow
Harmony
After Dark
Amaryllis
Zinnia
Orchid
Second Sight
Amanda Quick
JOVE BOOKS, NEW YORK
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
SECOND SIGHT
A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author
Copyright © 2006 by Jayne Ann Krentz.
Excerpt from White Lies by Jayne Ann Krentz copyright © 2007 by Jayne Ann Krentz.
Cover and stepback photograph of Key chain © Jeffrey Coolidge/Getty Images.
Cover photograph of Statue © Sandro Vannini/Corbis.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ISBN: 1-101-19130-9
JOVE®
Jove Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
JOVE is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
The “J” design is a trademark belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
FOR CATHIE LINZ:
GREAT WRITER, GREAT PHOTOGRAPHER,
GREAT FRIEND
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Second Sight
Prologue
Late in the reign of Queen Victoria…
THE SKELETON LAY on an elaborately carved and gilded bed in the center of the ancient laboratory that had become the alchemist’s tomb.
The two-hundred-year-old bones were still draped in tattered robes that had been fashioned of what had surely been the most costly silks and velvets. Gloves and slippers embroidered with gold and silver thread shrouded the bones of the hands and feet, giving an eerie appearance of flesh and blood.
“His tailor must have loved him,” Gabriel Jones said.
“Just because the client is an alchemist, it doesn’t follow that he cannot possess a keen sense of fashion,” Caleb Jones remarked.
Gabriel glanced at his cousin’s clothes and then surveyed his own attire. The trousers and linen shirts they wore were covered in dust and grime but the garments as well as their boots were handmade and fit to perfection.
“A family trait, it seems,” Gabriel said.
“Makes for a nice addition to the Jones legend,” Caleb agreed.
Gabriel moved closer to the bed and raised the lantern higher. In the flaring light he could make out the cryptic al-chemical symbols for mercury, silver and gold that decorated the wide hem of the skeleton’s robes. Similar designs were carved into the wooden headboard.
A heavy strongbox sat on the floor next to the bed. Two centuries of rust encrusted the sides of the box but the lid was covered with a thin sheet of some metal impervious to corrosion. Gold, Gabriel thought.
He leaned down and used a still-spotless handkerchief to wipe away a bit of the dust that coated the lid. The light glinted on a leafy, decorative design and some cryptic Latin that had been etched into the thin sheet of gold.
“It’s astonishing that this place was never discovered and looted at some point during the past two hundred years,” he said. “By all accounts, the alchemist had a number of rivals and enemies during his lifetime. To say nothing of all the members of the Arcane Society and the Jones family who have searched for it for decades.”
“The alchemist had a well-deserved reputation for cleverness and secrecy,” Caleb reminded him.
“Another family trait.”
“True,” Caleb agreed. There was a decidedly grim edge to his voice.
He and his cousin were different in many ways, Gabriel reflected. Caleb was inclined to brood and sink into long silences. He preferred to spend time alone in his laboratory. He had no patience with visitors, guests or anyone else who expected a modicum of civility and a few social graces from him.
Gabriel had always been the more outgoing and less moody of the two of them, but lately he found himself retreating into his personal library for extended periods of time. He knew that he was seeking not only knowledge but distraction, perhaps even escape, in his studies.
They were both running, each in his own way, from those aspects of their natures that could only be classified as not normal, he thought. He doubted that either of them would find whatever it was they were searching for in a laboratory or a library.
Caleb examined one of the old books. “We’ll need assistance packing up these relics.”
“We can hire men from the village,” Gabriel said.
Automatically he began formulating a plan of action to take care of the crating and shipping of the contents of the alchemist’s laboratory-tomb. Formulating plans of action was something he did well. His father had told him on more than one occasion that his ability to craft strategy was closely related to his unusual psychical talents. Gabriel, however, preferred to think of it as a manifestation of the part of him that was normal rather than paranormal. He wanted desperately to believe that he really was a logical, rational man of the modern age, not some primitive, uncivilized throwback to an earlier stage of evolution.
He pushed the disturbing thoughts aside and concentrated on his scheme to transport the relics. The nearest village was several miles away. It was very small and no doubt owed its survival over the centuries to the smuggling business. It was a community that knew how to keep its secrets, especially when there was money involved. The Arcane Society could afford to buy the villagers’ silence, Gabriel reflected.
The remote location on the coast that the alchemist had chosen for his small fortress of a laboratory was desolate even today. Two hundred years ago it would have been even wilder and more isolated, he thought. The laboratory-tomb had been concealed underground beneath the remains of an ancient, tumbledown castle.
When he and Caleb had finally succeeded in opening the door of the laboratory a short while ago they had been met with a foul, dead-tasting wind. It had sent them both reeling back, coughing and gasping.
By mutual agreement, they had decided to wait for the atmosphere inside the chamber to be refreshed by the crisp ocean breeze before entering.
Once inside, they had discovered a room furnished in the manner of a scholarly study. Ancient leather-bound volumes, the sp
ines cracked and worn, lined the bookshelf. Two candlesticks stood at the ready, awaiting tapers and a light.
The two-hundred-year-old apparatuses that the alchemist had used to pursue his experiments were neatly set out on a long workbench. The glass beakers were caked with dirt. The metal implements, burner and bellows were clogged with rust.
“If there is anything of great value in here it will no doubt be in that strongbox,” Caleb said. “I don’t see a key. Shall we force the lock now or wait until we get it back to Arcane House?”
“We had better find out what we are dealing with,” Gabriel said. He crouched beside the heavy chest and examined the iron lock. “If there is a fortune in gems or gold inside this box, it will be necessary to take extra precautions to protect the contents on the journey home.”
“We’ll need some tools to pry open that lid.”
Gabriel looked at the skeleton. An iron object lay partially concealed beneath one gloved hand.
“I think I see the key,” he said.
He reached down and carefully lifted the gloved fingers to remove the key. There was a soft rustling sound. The hand separated from the wrist. He found himself holding a glove filled with bones.
“Damn,” Caleb muttered. “Talk about a chill of dread going down one’s spine. Thought that sort of thing only happened in sensation novels.”
“It’s just a skeleton,” Gabriel said, putting the glove and its morbid contents down on the old bed. “A two-hundred-year-old one at that.”
“Ah, but it happens to be the skeleton of Sylvester Jones, the Alchemist, our ancestor and the founder of the Arcane Society,” Caleb said. “From all accounts the man was both very cunning and very dangerous. He may not like having his laboratory discovered after all these years.”
