Midnight Crystal Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  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

  Teaser chapter

  Praise for

  DARK LIGHT

  “Lively, fast-paced banter keeps the story moving forward, and the sexual attraction . . . sizzles . . . another terrific, ghost-hunting page-turner from the fascinating world of Harmony.”

  —romancenoveltv.com

  “It is always great to visit Harmony . . . The latest thriller is exciting and fast-paced . . . Fans of the saga will relish this strong paranormal romantic whodunit.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “This book thrilled and chilled, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. One will not want to put it down until the last page is read. Another keeper!”

  —ParaNormal Romance

  “With her classic sharp sense of wit and unrivaled skill for creating captivating characters (including a dust bunny that threatens to steal the whole show), bestselling Krentz switches to her Castle pseudonym to cook up another delectably entertaining, paranormal-flavored tale of romantic suspense.”

  —Booklist

  “This latest Harmony [novel] is great fun, perfect for fans who like their futuristics with a paranormal touch and a lot of sass.”

  —Library Journal

  “A lot of fun to read with a good mystery to solve.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  SILVER MASTER

  “Expertly blends adventure, fantasy, and romance into an enthralling story that will keep readers riveted until the final satisfying conclusion.”

  —MyShelf

  “Will fulfill all your longings for a romance with a paranormal setting that will pique all your senses.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  “Silver Master is my new favorite in the Harmony series, and absolutely a keeper. Fans of the series will enjoy this addition very, very much. It’s earned four and a half of Cupid’s five arrows.”

  —BellaOnline

  “Fast-paced . . . a fun, lighthearted investigative romantic romp.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  GHOST HUNTER

  “Bewitching . . . Castle’s new futuristic romance brilliantly blends exceptionally entertaining characters, witty prose, and a thrilling paranormal-tinged plot in a sublime novel of romantic suspense.”

  —Booklist

  “Cooper stole my heart. Elly was properly feisty. Their chemistry sparkles. Highly recommended . . . It’s JAK at the top of her game.”

  —The Best Reviews

  “Jayne Castle has long been one of my favorite authors. With each story that she writes, her special touch enhances each page. Paranormal fans will rejoice at what she has put together in Ghost Hunter. This book is one that offers a wealth of intrigue, mystery, and all-out sexual chemistry. Those are trademark elements of a great author. Very highly recommended.”

  —MyShelf

  “We welcome back Jayne Castle (Jayne Ann Krentz) to the genre of paranormal romance in which she is one of the leading writers. If you love paranormal romances, Ghost Hunter is just the ticket for you.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  “Sexual fireworks laced with humor equals fizz. Fizz is a trademark of author Jayne Castle aka Jayne Ann Krentz, and Ghost Hunter is volatile. Go for it!”

  —Reviewer’s Choice Reviews

  “As usual in a Castle/Krentz romance, you get plenty of steam, gripping emotion, and characters who come alive as you’re reading . . . This one’s earned four of Cupid’s five arrows.”

  —BellaOnline

  Praise for the novels of New York Times bestselling author Jayne Castle . . .

  “Castle is well-known for her playful love stories, and this futuristic tale of romantic suspense runs delightfully true to form . . . An appealing, effervescent romance mildly spiced with paranormal fun, this novel won’t disappoint.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Writing under Jayne Castle, Jayne Ann Krentz takes her trademark combination of witty, upbeat action, lively sensuality, and appealing characters to [a] unique, synergistic world.”

  —Library Journal

  “Jayne Castle, one of the pioneers of the futuristic subgenre, continues to set the standard against which all other such books are judged.”

  —Affaire de Coeur

  “As always, the characterizations and plot blend perfectly for a thrilling, funny, and fully satisfying read.”

  —Romantic Times (4½ stars)

  . . . and Jayne Ann Krentz

  “Good fun.”

  —Cosmopolitan

  “Entertaining.”

  —People

  “Fast-moving . . . entertaining . . . highly successful.”

  —The Seattle Times

  “Fast-paced . . . interesting characters . . . A good time is had by the reader.”

  —Chicago Tribune

  “Quick and witty and the romance sizzles . . . Reads fast and will make you smile, wince, and sigh. What else could you want?”

  —The Columbia (SC) State

  “Along with Nora Roberts, Krentz is one of the most reliably satisfying romance writers publishing.”

  —Sunday (CA) Times

  “Jayne Ann Krentz is one of the hottest writers around.”

  —Albuquerque Journal

  Titles by Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Jayne Castle

  MIDNIGHT CRYSTAL

  OBSIDIAN PREY

  DARK LIGHT

  SILVER MASTER

  GHOST HUNTER

  AFTER GLOW

  HARMONY

  AFTER DARK

  AMARYLLIS

  ZINNIA

  ORCHID

  Titles by Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Amanda Quick

  BURNING LAMP

  THE PERFECT POISON

  THE THIRD CIRCLE

  THE RIVER KNOWS

  SECOND SIGHT

  LIE BY MOONLIGHT

  THE PAID COMPANION

  WAIT UNTIL MIDNIGHT

  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

  FIRED UP

  RUNNING HOT
r />   SIZZLE AND BURN

  WHITE LIES

  ALL NIGHT LONG

  FALLING AWAKE

  TRUTH OR DARE

  LIGHT IN SHADOW

  SUMMER IN ECLIPSE BAY

  TOGETHER IN ECLIPSE BAY

  SMOKE IN MIRRORS

  LOST & FOUND

  DAWN IN ECLIPSE BAY

  SOFT FOCUS

  ECLIPSE BAY

  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

  Anthologies

  CHARMED

  (with Julie Beard, Lori Foster, and Eileen Wilks)

  Titles written by Jayne Ann Krentz and Jayne Castle

  NO GOING BACK

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada

  (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

  Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia

  (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

  Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand

  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196,

  South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  MIDNIGHT CRYSTAL

  A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Jove mass-market edition / September 2010

  Copyright © 2010 by Jayne Ann Krentz.

  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.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-44256-2

  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 of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  For my brother, Jim Castle,

  with love and thanks for the background info

  on Dream and for Gibson’s name.

  Ride safe.

  The Dreamlight Trilogy

  Dear Reader:

  Welcome to my other world, Harmony, and the conclusion of the Dreamlight Trilogy.

  The legend of the Burning Lamp goes back to the earliest days of the Arcane Society. Nicholas Winters and Sylvester Jones started out as friends and eventually became deadly adversaries. Each sought the same goal: a way to enhance psychic talents. Sylvester chose the path of chemistry and plunged into illicit experiments with strange herbs and plants. Ultimately he concocted the flawed formula that bedevils the Society to this day.

  Nicholas took the engineering approach and forged the Burning Lamp, a device with unknown powers. Radiation from the lamp produced a twist in his DNA, creating a psychic genetic “curse” destined to be passed down through the males of his bloodline.

  The Winters Curse strikes very rarely, but when it does, the Arcane Society has good reason for grave concern. It is said that the Winters man who inherits Nicholas’s genetically altered talent is destined to become a Cerberus—Arcane slang for an insane psychic who possesses multiple lethal abilities. Jones & Jones and the Governing Council are convinced that such human monsters must be hunted down and terminated as swiftly as possible.

  There is only one hope for the men of the Burning Lamp. Each must find the artifact and a woman who can work the dreamlight energy that the relic generates in order to reverse the dangerous psychic changes brought on by the curse.

  Some of the secrets of the artifact were revealed in the first two books of the trilogy, Fired Up and Burning Lamp. Now, far in the future, on a world called Harmony, the lamp’s final mystery—the secret of the Midnight Crystal—will be revealed. The destinies of both the Jones and the Winters families hang in the balance.

  I hope you enjoy the trilogy.

  Sincerely,

  Jayne

  From the Journal of Nicholas Winters

  April 14, 1694

  I shall not long survive, but I will have my revenge, if not in this generation, then in some future time and place. For I am certain now that the three talents are locked into the blood and will descend down through my line.

  Each talent comes at a great price. It is ever thus with power.

  The first talent fills the mind with a rising tide of restlessness that cannot be assuaged by endless hours in the laboratory or soothed with strong drink or the milk of the poppy.

  The second talent is accompanied by dark dreams and terrible visions.

  The third talent is the most powerful and the most dangerous. If the key is not turned properly in the lock, this last psychical ability will prove lethal, bringing on first insanity and then death.

  Grave risk attends the onset of the third and final power. Those of my line who would survive must find the Burning Lamp and a woman who can work dreamlight energy. Only she can turn the key in the lock that opens the door to the last talent. Only such a female can halt or reverse the transformation once it has begun.

  But beware; women of power can prove treacherous. I know this now, to my great cost.

  From the Journal of Nicholas Winters

  April 17, 1694

  It is done. My last and greatest creation—the Midnight Crystal—is finished. I have set it into the lamp together with the other crystals. It is a most astonishing stone. I have sealed great forces within it, but even I, who forged it, cannot begin to guess at all of its properties, nor do I know how its light can be unleashed. That discovery must be left to one of the heirs of my blood.

  But of this much I am certain: the one who controls the light of the Midnight Crystal will be the agent of my revenge. For I have infused the stone with a psychical command stronger than any act of magic or sorcery. The radiation of the crystal will compel the man who wields its power to destroy the descendants of Sylvester Jones.

  Vengeance will be mine.

  Chapter 1

  THE LADY FROM JONES & JONES LOOKED VERY GOOD in black leather.

  Adam Winters waited for Marlowe Jones in the shadows of the ancient ruins. He had heard the trademark growl of the big Raleigh-Stark motorcycle for almost a full minute before the bike rounded the last curve of the narrow, winding road. Sound c
arried in the mountains.

  The nightmares and hallucinations that had struck a few weeks ago had destroyed his sleep. He was living on the edge of exhaustion these days, fighting off the worst of the effects with short bouts of edgy rest, a lot of caffeine, and a little psi. But in spite of the toll the change had taken on him, a surge of exhilaration coursed through him when the newly appointed director of the Frequency City offices of J&J brought the bike to a stop and de-rezzed the engine.

  She was close enough now for him to feel the power in her aura. Her energy sang a siren song to his senses. Too bad she was a Jones. He would just have to work around that awkward fact.

  She kicked down the stand with a leg clad in leather chaps, planted one booted foot on the ground, and raised the faceplate of the gleaming black helmet.

  “Adam Winters,” she said.

  It was not a question. He was the new boss of the Frequency City Ghost Hunter Guild. Anyone who had bothered to glance at a newspaper or watch the evening news in the past month could recognize him.

  “You’re late, Miss Jones,” he said. He did not move out of the quartz doorway.

  “I made a few detours.” She unfastened the helmet and removed it. Her hair was the color of dark amber. It was caught in a ponytail at the nape of her neck and secured with a black leather band. “Wanted to be sure I wasn’t followed.”

  He watched her, trying to conceal his fascination. Objectively speaking, she certainly qualified as attractive, but she lacked the bland symmetry of real beauty. Marlowe Jones did not need a cover model’s looks to rivet the eye, however. She was striking. There was no other word to describe the strength, intelligence, and passion that illuminated her features. Her eyes were a deep, mysterious shade of blue, almost violet. The color of midnight, he thought. Midnight and dreams.