Liza considered this. ‘It will be,’ she said finally. ‘Anyone can see how much he loves you.’ Her voice dropped. ‘I feel the same way about Owen. There’s nothing that would make me walk away from him.’ Her voice hardened. ‘Nothing.’
She was going through hell and I was talking about my love life. ‘Would you like a hug?’ I asked.
This time she answered instantly. ‘No. And I don’t want any sympathy from you either, so take that bloody look off your face. Anything like that will push me over the edge.’ She glared at me. ‘I mean it.’
I nodded. ‘Okay.’
Liza looked away, seemingly satisfied. I watched her for a moment or two, then I swallowed. ‘Liza, do you know where Owen was? Where he went with Fred, I mean?’
‘He said something about an address he’d found in the Quincy Carmichael file that he wanted to check out. He said it was outside London and it would take him a while, but he was in a rush to get there and back before night time. I don’t know any more than that.’ Her shoulders sagged. ‘I should have asked,’ she whispered.
I should have found the address when I’d glanced through the file. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. There was a lot of that going around.
We lapsed into silence for several long seconds before Liza raised her head. ‘Why’s Horvath so desperate for you to eat? He seems even more protective of you than usual.’
Given I’d been standing next to all four werewolf clan alphas at the fire, the entire supernatural world probably knew by now. Also, Liza clearly wanted to talk about something else beyond the horror that Owen and Fred were currently facing. ‘I’m pregnant,’ I told her.
Her eyes flew to mine. ‘Seriously? Congratulations!’ Then she grimaced and asked, ‘Is it congratulations?’
I half-smiled. ‘It is.’
‘Then I’m thrilled for you both.’ She managed a smile of her own, though it didn’t reach her eyes. ‘This new power of yours, is it related to the baby?’
‘No. I…’ I sighed. I could trust her not to go blabbing. ‘I’m now a Cassandra,’ I admitted.
She started. ‘You can see into the future?’
‘Occasionally. I don’t have much control over it – actually, I don’t haveanycontrol over it. It’s part of the reason why I’m in so much trouble over what happened to Alan Cobain.’ Although given everything else, being a murder suspect seemed like the least of my worries.
Liza seemed to go even paler. ‘Did you see this? Did you know this was going to happen to Fred and Owen?’
‘No.’ For the first time, I wished that I’d actually had a vision. Even if it was beyond me to change the future that I saw, at least I could have tried. The realisation shocked me.
The door to the small room burst open and Liza and I leapt to our feet, but it wasn’t a doctor with news. It was Buffy. ‘Where’s Fred?’ she snarled. Patches of fur were appearing across her face and her eyes were flickering yellow. Damn it; the last thing we needed was a fully transformed werewolf wandering around the hospital.
‘He’s in surgery,’ I told her. ‘We don’t know anything more.’
‘Where are the operating theatres?’ She bared her teeth again. ‘Never mind, I’ll find them myself.’ She whirled away, but I grabbed her arm and hauled her back.
‘You will do no such thing. You’re going to wait here with us and calm down.’
Her breath quickened. ‘Are you going to try and compel me, detective?’ she sneered.
‘Sit the fuck down, Buffy,’ Liza said. ‘Let the doctors do their job.’
Buffy’s narrowed gaze flicked from me to Liza. I waited, preparing to stop her again if she didn’t back down. Fortunately for us all, she tossed her head and allowed her emerging wolf to subside. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I’ll wait.’ She paused. ‘For now.’ She threw herself onto a chair, folded her arms, crossed her legs and huffed loudly.
The business of waiting and watching the seconds tick slowly into minutes and then hours began all over again.
* * *
Dawn was breakingbefore we finally got some news. I’d been curled up against Lukas, my head on his shoulder and the detritus of the meal he’d brought on the table in front of us. Liza was hunched over, while Buffy had barely moved a muscle since she’d first sat down.
Fred’s parents had arrived some time earlier and were sitting together in the corner, clinging to each other’s hands as if afraid to let go. Even Owen’s sister, Catherine, had arrived to join our slumped, anxious vigil.
When the tired-looking doctor appeared, we all straightened up and forgot our fatigue. I was taut with tension, but I had to know what was happening with Fred and Grace. We all did.
Before the white-coated doctor could open his mouth, there was a loud roaring in my ears and spots flashed in front of my eyes. I gasped and clutched at Lukas’s arm, then words started spewing forth before I could stop them. ‘Find a penny, wear it in your left shoe and your wish will come true. Throw that penny into the well and a revelation will be beheld.’
