“The three of you can feel and hear and see what no one’s written down.”
I play back in my mind Avery’s story about the baby blanket. There was no written record that the girl had made it, but Averysawher sewing it in her shabby slave’s quarters. Aaron heard his parents arguing a hundred miles away, heard an entire musical composition in his dream. Neither of which was recorded.
And me? I felt a tragedy that was happening one floor below me, and another that had happened over a century ago. I can read the energy of Tarot cards, crystals, rings, and plants. And I can pick up the emotions of everyone around me.
Rime lets his spoon drop onto his saucer with a clink. “This is why we need you, Betts. You might even be able to sense the weapon itself.”
“I don’t know,” I mumble, looking past him and into space, searching for some sign from the heavens that will tell me what to do.
I’m flattered that everyone believes in me. As someone who, until recently, has always tried to run away from her ability, seeing it in such a positive light is validating. But am I as strong as they think I am? I might be able to deliberately draw and harness emotions, but I haven’t had nearly enough practice disassociating from them. This mission is way above my pay grade. It’s like asking a kid who’s had one driving lesson to race in the Indy 500.
In a beat-all-to-hell race car.
Because that’s what I am. I was never well-built to begin with, but the past few months have left me scratched, dented, and leaking oil. I don’t know who I am or where I belong, what I’m capable of, or how dangerous I might be. And I don’t know if I can be trusted to work alongside Leo. Not when my stupid heart can’t seem to let him go.
I dare to ask, “Why didn’t Leo just tell me?”
Rime’s features soften. “My guess? He was trying to protect you.”
“From what?” What could’ve hurt me worse than all the lies?
“We try not to involve humans in our affairs. We rarely even come to your realm, and when we do, we avoid forming relationships with you. For your own safety and peace of mind.”
Peace of mind? I almost choke on my coffee. That’s exactly whatLeo so callously stole from me. If he cared for me even one little fig, he would never have let our relationship go as far as it did.
Rime meets my eyes. “Leo’s idea to use human psychics was a radical one, and I’m not sure he anticipated all the repercussions. He should’ve been upfront with you from the start, with all three of you, so you could’ve chosen to help of your own free will. But it seems the longer he waited, the harder it was to tell the truth. I honestly don’t know when, if ever, he intended to confess.”
“So how did he expect us to help him if we didn’t know what was going on?”
“A fun adventure? A mystery to solve?”
The world’s most twisted Escape Room?
Leo had all three of us enthralled. By the mystery of the Lost Colony, by our own powers, by magic.
“And then what?” I ask, biting off my words. “He would just go back to Nàdar and we’d never hear from him again?”
“I think that was his plan, before—” Rime’s voice drops off.
Before what? Before he got emotionally involved? Or before Avery and Rime outed him against his will?
Rime sighs and leans back in his chair. “It’s nearly eight.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you need someone to walk you back to the dormitories?”
“No, but thanks. I’m going to finish my coffee.”
He rises and slides his long arms into his coat. Out of the chest pocket, he pulls a phone. “Leo got me one of these. I don’t know how to make it show movies or play songs.” He grins and shrugs. “But I can answer calls.”
I take the phone to get his number and call it, then help him put my info in his contacts. His list is short: Leo, Topaz, and Avery. For fun, I reclaim his phone, get on YouTube, and start a search for funny cat videos. “There,” I say with a giggle. “Something to entertain you on the ride home.”
He bursts out laughing at a calico gagging on broccoli.
See, we humans have our own form of magic.
“Call me, please,” he says, “if you want to ask me any more questions.”
