ADI STARED INTO the open safe in her office. A safe that for almost eight years held but one object—a metal box. The box had been small, a hand’s length in each dimension.
And it had been made of lead.
Had been. Past tense. All that remained of that box now was a pile of gray-black dust. Laying in that dust was a leather bag, dark brown with a rawhide drawstring. Adi pulled out the bag, cursing her hand for trembling and ignoring the powder that rained onto the carpet.
She clutched the bag in her fist, feeling its hard, sharp-edged contents. Still there. One small blessing. Or curse. She glanced at the pile of dust in the safe. This thing did that. To solid lead.
This thing did that. To solid lead.Suddenly not wanting to hold it, she thrust the bag and what it contained back into the s
