Page 21 of Simon Says

“The whister will be here in half an hour. Should I stay or should I go?”

“Dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah.” Rosie sang the instrumental reply to the vocal question posed by The Clash. Simon looked at her like she needed urgent psychiatric attention. “You don’t know the song?”

“What song?”

“‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’”?

Simon rolled his eyes. “No. I don’t know that song, but there is a question awaiting a reply.”

“Go.”

“Is that your final answer?”

“I think it would be best.”

“I’m staying.”

“Have it your way, but you are not allowed to interfere. Or even offer suggestions.”

Simon pursed his lips. “Alright.”

“And you can’t enter the circle.”

He looked around. “What will you do if someone comes?”

“Wait until there’s nobody around.”

“I could use some Black Swan influence to cordon off the area.”

Rosie cocked her head to the side. “Why don’t we just see if we can get this done without alerting everybody in the U.K.? Now, do you need anything before I go?”

Shaking his head, Simon said, “No. I just had part of a ginger ale.” He sat down on the ground and looked around. “I haven’t enjoyed the pleasure of being really alone for a long time.”

“K. Later.” And she was gone.

Simon breathed thesea air deep into his lungs. He looked up at the partly cloudy sky that was more rule than exception in Scotia, looked out across the blue water, looked at the occasional wildflower still blooming in early October, and felt his mouth tingle at the memory of Sorcha’s kiss so many years before.

He’d never been the foolhardy sort. As a young man he’d never shrunk from a fight. As a vampire hunter he’d never hesitated when confronted with an encounter that might mean his death. But there was a gargantuan difference between bravery and brashness.

He knew he should sit where he was and wait for Rosie to return. There was no question in his mind that waiting was the prudent thing to do. The right thing to do. Nonetheless, he got up and walked toward the ring.

Maybe he was feeling guilt because he’d been left behind and saved from whatever fate Sorcha had found on the other side of the ring. Maybe he was elated at learning something that passed for an answer as to what happened all those years in the past. Maybe his eagerness overrode both sense and self-preservation.

In any case, when the whister arrived, Simon wasn’t there.

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