Sleight of Hand

THE NIGHT AUTUMN Bradley died... ...she met the woman of her destiny: the fire-haired woman who sends Autumn back to her dying body and thereafter mysteriously haunts Autumn`s dreams. Getting by with sleight of hand and other quick-fingered magic tricks, Autumn has no memory of her life before the age of 17. In the years since only a medieval choral chant has stirred her memory. Life`s shadows reach for her. But she resists with the power that dances in her hands.

URSULA COLUMBINE begins a journey... ...to join Kelly, the woman she loves. Leaving the protection of a powerful circle that has sheltered her all her life, she is immediately exposed and threatened by a hungry darkness that craves something only the naive Ursula can give. Weakened and afraid, she finds unfaltering strength in Kelly and other women who are compelled to awaken the power in Ursula that can save them all. But she also finds Autumn in her dreams. Dreams that promise passion but may also lead to oblivion.

WHAT DARK FUTURE does the distant past hold? Dreams lead to nightmares. Autumn sees the faces of women she might know, women who have always stood by Ursula. But if her nightmares hold true, only she can save Ursula from the centuries-old darkness that made her a legend.

Ursula's body was shuddering with awareness--the momentary clasp of their fingers had unfolded the rest of her memory, of another time, another life, when they had completed each other. It was only a flash, but she had seen Kelly in a thick gray robe tied with deep red cording that blew into view when her long cloak was opened by the wind. A flash, then it was gone. It was enough. She looked into Kelly's eyes more deeply than before--they were a lovely golden brown, like a fawn's first coat. She knew those eyes, knew she had looked into them, just this way, long ago. The cold seemed to make the air between them crackle. Kelly finally said, with uncertainty welling in her eyes, "I don't--I don't believe this." "I believe enough for both of us," Ursula said. She drew Kelly into the sheltering privacy of the trees. She brushed Kelly's short hair behind her ears, then gently cupped the back of her neck. The kiss had felt like journey's end and beginning at the same time, and Kelly's moan of surprise and desire had stirred Ursula's pulse to a higher point. She slipped her fingers inside the collar of Kelly's shirt and began to unfasten her anorak with her other hand. Here, now. It was needful.