Darkmoon(18)

“That new?” he inquired.

“Yeah,” I said casually. “What, did you think I was going to keep borrowing my aunt’s Jeep indefinitely?”

“Guess not,” he replied, with another one of those grins. “I’ll call Marie from the road, and you can follow me over to her place.”

That sounded workable; I’d walked to her house before but hadn’t driven there, and it was probably better to have Connor guide me in. And there was definitely more street parking at her place than at Connor’s.

The last time I’d been in Flagstaff, spring hadn’t truly arrived, no matter what the calendar might have said. But today I could see only a few small patches of snow lingering on Mt. Humphreys’ north face, and while the wildflowers were sparse compared to what grew around Sedona and Jerome, the aspens and oaks and sycamores had leafed out, making the landscape a bit lusher than what I was accustomed to.

Irises bloomed along the front walk of Marie’s house, not the usual purple-blue, but deep crimson and yellow and some that were almost black. I parked behind Connor’s FJ and got out, feeling the cool breeze catch at my hair. As usual, it was a good ten degrees cooler in Flag than it had been back in Sedona, but now the air just seemed refreshing rather than biting.

“I take it you got a hold of her,” I said as I joined Connor where Marie’s walkway met the sidewalk.

“Yeah. It was almost like she was waiting for my call.” He shrugged. “With anyone else I’d say it was a coincidence, but — ”

“But in this case it probably wasn’t.”

“Probably not.”

I reflected then that the McAllisters’ current lack of a seer wasn’t necessarily all bad. Having someone around who knew what was going to happen before it actually did happen could be a bit disconcerting.

Connor rang the doorbell, and, as before, Marie opened the door almost at once. Yes, he’d called her on the way up, but still….

Too bad she wasn’t a poker player, because her usual impassive expression would have stood her in good stead on the pro circuit. As it was, I gave her a half-hearted smile as we entered the living room. The last time I had been here was when we were planning Damon’s death, and what a grim, cold meeting it had been. Today she had the windows cracked open, letting in a fresh-smelling breeze, and a slim vase of ruby-colored glass held a bouquet of irises from the garden. There was even a pitcher of water and three glasses sitting on the low coffee table in front of the couch.

I shot a sideways glance at Connor, and he offered the smallest lift of his shoulders. Apparently he didn’t have any more idea than I did why Marie would provide us such hospitality this time when she certainly hadn’t ever before.

“It’s good to see you, Angela,” she said, and I almost tripped over the rug as I made my way toward the couch.

“Um…thank you,” I faltered. “It’s good to see you, too.”

Marie’s gaze shifted to Connor, and he said, “So…things are better. A lot better. But Angela and I have some news we’d like to share.”

His remark didn’t surprise me; we’d agreed that Marie needed to know about the baby. It seemed only fair, since my clan’s elders had been informed of my condition. The Wilcoxes didn’t have clan elders, not in the same way we McAllisters did, but Marie — and, to a lesser extent, Lucas — seemed to have something of the same capacity in their family.

Then again, it was entirely possible that Marie already knew….

“Connor and I are going to have a baby,” I said, even if making such a proclamation turned out to be unnecessary.

Her expression didn’t change. “Ah. So it has come at last.”

“What has come at last?”

For the first time since I’d met her, Marie appeared almost nervous. She reached for the pitcher of water and poured some in each glass, then handed one to me. “The joining of the Wilcox and McAllister clans.”

She made it sound as if it were something she’d been expecting for some time. “And so…that’s a good thing, right?” I ventured. “So Damon was right? This will break the curse?”

Even as a look of relief began to spread across Connor’s face, she shook her head. “No. That is, the two lines being commingled in such a way is not enough to end the curse. But it is the reason you must make the attempt.”

I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. “Making an attempt isn’t good enough. Damon tried — Jasper tried, too, from what I’ve heard. So how is this any different?”

Marie picked up her own glass of water and took a sip, and after a brief hesitation, Connor did so as well. From the tight set of his shoulders, I gathered he’d drunk the water to keep himself from telling Marie she was being no help at all. Goddess knows I felt like saying more or less the same thing.