The Line (Witching Savannah, #1)(85)

“From what you’ve told us, Mercy,” Oliver said, “she may not have tried to stop the ceremony to save you. Maybe she just had second thoughts about harming Peter’s child.”

“I see,” I said, pushing my chair away from the table. “If you will all excuse me for a moment, I think I could use a little time alone.”

“You go on, sugar,” Iris said. “If you need anything, you call out, okay? I’ll be right there for you.”

Oliver had dedicated himself full time to clearing, cleaning, and painting the room across the hall from mine, getting it ready to serve as Colin’s nursery. Toys—some old, some new—lined a shelf that Peter had mounted the previous weekend. Peter’s old fire engine had pride of place, and I found myself unable to resist the urge to add something of my own to sit by its side.

I crossed the hall to my room and dug out the box of toys I’d been saving ever since I’d outgrown them myself. As I rifled through it, the old Ball jar Maisie had given me for our birthday pressed itself into my hand. I pulled it free. Inside danced the flames of the nineteen memories that Maisie had captured for me before the drawing of the lots, back when I had still believed she loved me in spite of my selfish heart. I opened the lid and watched as they flew out. With trepidation I reached out and touched the closest. I found myself sitting in this very same room at an incredibly small table. Maisie and I were having a tea party for the new dolls Aunt Ellen and “Uncle” Erik had brought us from their vacation in Europe. The memory faded.

I reached out again, this time with more determination, and touched a spark that seemed to be trying to escape me. Warmth flooded through me, and I relived the experience of my first dance recital with my sister. Our performances were laughable, but we were both certain that we were destined to be ballerinas when we grew up. It was written in the stars. And then it was over.

I looked at the remaining flames and gasped. It took a moment for me to realize that it wasn’t just my imagination—they had lined up in a single row and were moving away from me. No, they weren’t just moving away from me, they were trying to lead me to Maisie. As the realization hit me, the flames flew back to me and danced around me. “All right,” I said. “But for now, I need to wait.” The flames obediently returned to the jar. I closed the lid on them and returned the jar to the box of toys, burying it deep inside the closet.

I would go to her, and I would find a way to bring her back. I didn’t know how we had gone so wrong, but in spite of everything I still loved her, and somehow I’d find a way to set things right. But first I needed to learn how to control not only my own powers, but those of the line. If I was going to go find my sister, I was sure that I’d have to go through the nine other families, and maybe even my own as well.





THIRTY-FOUR


“Jilo been wonderin’ when you were goin’ to come for her,” the old woman said when she spotted me entering Bonaventure.

“And when I came for you, you figured I’d be bringing flowers,” I said, lifting the bouquet I’d brought with me up so that she could see it. I dismounted my bike and began to walk it.

“No, Jilo reckon as not,” she said, falling in step next to me. I slowed my pace so that she could keep up with me comfortably. After a few steps she took a breath and said. “I didn’t know what your sister was up to. I thought that Jackson was for real. Jilo didn’t know he had anything to do with that worthless boo hag.”

“I know that,” I said and kept walking.

“And I didn’t know that the power Ginny gave me in that stone was yours. I didn’t know that I was stealing from anybody, especially you.”

“And if you had known, would you have accepted it anyway?” I asked.

“Damn girl, you know I would have,” she said, and we both stopped dead in our tracks and laughed. Her laugh dissolved into a hacking cough, and it took a few moments for her to compose herself. “I don’t have much time left here in this world, Mercy. Don’t make me spend what I got left watching over my shoulder for you. You want to get even with this old woman, you do it here. You do it now.”

I pulled a rose from the bouquet and handed it to her. “I got no need for revenge. I figure there has been more than enough hurt hanging around me lately.”

“Well, you tell me, girl. You tell me what I can do to make it right to you.”

“All right,” I said. “First of all, leave those poor souls at Candler alone. I just heard that it’s been bought for use as a law school. I’m going to do my best to free the spirits before that tragedy befalls them.”

“All right, I’ll do that for you, even though it means you are leaving Mother Jilo dry.”

“Well, we can’t have that,” I said, and I held out my hand, palm facing up. A pearl of energy began to form in my hand, and I let it grow to the size of a golf ball before handing it to her. “A little gift for your crossroads,” I said, but then snapped it back from her quivering reach. “This one comes with a couple of conditions though.”

She grimaced and gave me a sour look but concluded, “Okay, name them.”

“One,” I said as I dropped the ball into her outstretched palm. “No killing.”

“Okay, there goes half my business, but you’ve got me between a rock and hard place. What’s the second?”