She closed her eyes, "I think so. Stand back."
Rex could still feel Suzanne and through her he could sense the plant. The small seed became a sapling and then a tree. Roots dug down to the basement with a groan and limbs quested up and out for light. The wall cracked as the tree skyrocketed upward, and Rex and Suzanne pushed past.
The room they entered spread across the rest of the house and had vaulted ceilings which followed the slope of the roof. In the center of the ceiling was a star-shaped skylight and below it stood a stone altar. Hovering two feet above the altar was an azure sphere encased in a shaft of light. It bobbed up and down in the glow.
"I see you brought the girl," a deep, gravelly voice said. "How very thoughtful."
Five people in long blue cloaks and drawn hoods appe
