When Arabella could see again, albeit dimly, Zeth had stepped inward from the cliff edge. He had one arm around Catherine’s frail body, although Nelda still held onto one of the older woman’s arms as well. A short step away, Paul and Marisol tussled over the onyx rod, both of them exerting all their strength to retain possession of it. Zeth gathered himself as if to intervene, but they were moving around too much, too fast.
He grabbed for the rod several times as they passed him, but each time just missed it. The stone dowel was now the nexus of force, moving as if of its own power. It twisted and shifted in an apparent struggle to break free of any hold. Paul and Marisol’s grips both seemed to be weakening, but Zeth could not grasp it without letting go of Catherine. That he was clearly
