Star Harbor Nights

Dani awoke hours later. It was still light out side, but Raven, her silent guardian, was nowhere to be seen... and neither was the raven which sometimes took her place. Dani went over to the window and looked all around the street, but there was no black bird visible anywhere.

Ray was finding himself back in the Sands of Time far more frequently than he liked. But then, Perfect had told him to follow up on a mystical lead, and truth be told, he only had two really solid contacts in that area. One of them, of course, was the guardian of the Sands, the Seeress herself... but she gave convoluted commands more often than straightforward information. As she'd been the one who'd set him down this path, it was unlikely she'd have anything more to say to him about it.

"Well, anyway, babe, I'm really sorry, but as much as I'd love to help, I've really gotta run," D.J. said to Perfect when Dani's story had concluded. She added in an undertone, "Unless you don't feel comfortable being alone with present company." She glanced briefly at Dani and Raven, but her gaze lingered pointedly on Ray, who she'd made sure was close enough to hear her.

Perfect ushered the newcomers inside quickly, not sure that she trusted them but feeling it would be better to get to the bottom of things inside and away from prying eyes. Also, there was something on the young woman Dani's face that spoke of pain and fatigue that she didn't think could be faked. The other woman, Raven, was harder to be read. Her thin lips were almost smiling, but her face was impassive. The look in her bright, black eyes was almost one of curiosity.

"Why haven't you shared your concerns with Allison and the others?" Bast asked Thoth. She lay warming herself atop the immense ISIS computer mainframe, while he stood frowning, watching the information play across the immense screen which covered one entire side of the device.

Maxim Prather was the owner and founder of Hermes Pharmaceuticals, the largest privately held drug company in the United States. He was the sort of man who needed a lot of talking before he made up his mind. Allison knew the type... somebody who not only didn't trust his instincts, but didn't seem to have any. Everything had to be decided by careful deliberation. There had been many rounds of negotiations before he'd agreed to a face-to-face meeting. So many rounds of negotiations, in fact, that it hardly seemed like there would be anything left to hammer out face-to-face.