Page 62 of Crossroads Magic
I flinched again and now, finally, I remembered the stag. The feel of his velvety nose under my hand.
“That would be yes,” Trevalyan’s voice wavered like an old man’s. “I saw it. It was confirmation, but I already knew she was ours.”
I shook my head. “No,” I said again. “How could you know that? You didn’t meet me until that moment.”
“I’ve felt your presence here since the moment you arrived,” Trevelyan said, his tone gentle. “I felt your mother’s absence, too. Ghaliya…she is your daughter and will inherit everything, later, and in her turn, so will the girl child she carries.”
I continued to shake my head. As long as I did that, I was not giving in to this madness.
But then I processed what he said. “You know about the baby….” I breathed. I had only told Hirom, who was discretion itself. I put my hands to my face, trying to hold in my reaction. “It will live?” My eyes pricked hard with tears that threatened to fall, but I didn’t care. “She’ll bear a daughter?”
Trevalyan shook his head. “You will know that better than I. Seeing the future is your gift. What I see is murky at best. One of many futures, laid over the top of each other.”
I dropped my hands, staring at him, my thoughts swirling. I had known why Benedict had called me in Los Angeles before I spoke to him. I had known he was lying, two days ago. I had known that Ghaliya wasn’t interested in the kid at the gas station in Edwards.
Ihad known.
Had I also known about the cupboards behind the picture frames? Had the force pulling me to the wall been nothing more than my own certainty?
High buzzing blanketed my thoughts, scrambling them. “I need to sit down…” I whispered.
Benedict took my elbow and steered me to a low armchair with bun feet. I fell into it, sinking deep into the old cushion. I was trembling.
Trevalyan sucked on his pipe, making the bowl glow. He drew in the smoke and held it for long seconds, before exhaling and putting more blue-white smoke into the air.
Perhaps I was simply stoned, and when I sobered up, this fantasy would dissipate.
But Trevalyan had known about Ghaliya’s pregnancy. I couldn’t get around that.
“I’m going back to Los Angeles,” I said, trying for a firm voice. “I have to find a job and a bigger apartment.”
“You should do what you must,” Benedict said. “But the Crossing will have the last say.”
I stared at him, completely unnerved. “What doesthatmean?” I snapped.
Benedict held up his hand. “That was one fact too many, clearly. Don’t worry about it for now.” He held out the same hand. “Come and meet Broch.”
I shook my head. “I want to go back to the inn. I have to phone the coroner. I have to…I want to pack.”
“Of course,” Benedict said. “Whatever you want.”
Why did it feel like he was patting the head of a recalcitrant child? Keeping them biddable by telling them what they wanted to hear?
I got to my feet, anyway. There was work to do at the inn, simple hard work bereft of anything supernatural, that would bring me back to reality.
Chapter Nineteen
I made the mistake of stopping by the bar, first. I should have headed straight upstairs. But I wanted to see if Ghaliya was in the bar, visiting with Hirom, who seemed to like coddling her just as he had suggested she needed.
Hirom was drying mugs. Broch sat at the locals’ table, the big tankard in front of him. He stared at the flames in the fireplace, but looked up as I entered and gave me a warm smile that seemed perfectly ordinary.
“Your daughter is upstairs, I believe,” he told me, lifting his voice only a little, because the room was unoccupied except for the two of them. His smile faded and he got to his feet. “Are you…quite alright?” He moved over to where I stood just inside the curtain. “Your heart is running too hard,” he added as he drew closer. He took my elbow. “Come and sit down for a minute. Recover.”
I let him draw me to the table, and pull out a chair for me. I sat in it, because Ididneed to recover. I gripped my hands together to hide how badly they shook. “My life for a brandy,” I breathed.
“Hirom’s whisky will have to do,” Broch said. I saw him wave at Hirom from the corner of my eye. “Now,” he said, bringing his chair up to the table so he was right next to mine. “What has happened? Why do you look as though someone has tried to kill you?”
“I thought the worst thing about this place was that my mother had been killed,” I said. “But that is just thestartof the strangeness, isn’t it?”
