“Because it will not be a primus seeking to break the curse, but a prima. The energy involved is completely different.”
That made some sense, I supposed. Maybe. “So what do I have to do?”
Her eyes shut. I noticed how long and thick and black her eyelashes were, just like Connor’s…and those of most of the Wiloxes I’d met. The blood ran strong and true in this family, no matter what it was mixed with, apparently. Then she opened her eyes and, rather than looking at me, seemed to stare through me, as if her gaze was intended to pierce something that no one but she could see.
“It is not my place to tell you everything. You must make the journey yourself. But I can tell you that sometimes you must go back to the beginning to see your way through to the end.”
Well, that was helpful. Any more vague, and she could have pulled that pronouncement out of a fortune cookie. “Um…do you want to give me any more details?”
She blinked, and suddenly the faraway gaze was gone, replaced by a stern and not all that approving look. “As I said, you must make the journey for yourself. Just because I sensed this coming, and knew you would play a key role, does not mean I know everything. I’ve told you what you need to do.”
No, you haven’t, I thought. So I have to make a journey. Never mind that I have no idea where.
Connor spoke for the first time. “It might help to know a little more, Marie. Unless you want us to fail the same way Damon did.”
Her mouth tightened. “It’s not that I want you to fail, Connor. It’s simply that there are some matters it’s not my place to speak of. This is Angela’s story — and yours as well, to a lesser extent. You are the primus of this clan, true, but we’ve already learned that the primus does not have the power to make a difference here.”
Frowning, he glanced over at me. I didn’t really like the sound of that, and I guessed he didn’t, either. It could have been that I was misreading her statement, but it almost sounded as if she was saying Connor couldn’t possibly hope to prevail when his own brother, a much stronger warlock, hadn’t managed to do so. Thanks for the no-confidence vote, Marie.
But since I’d already come to the realization that it was a prima’s turn to sort out this mess, I couldn’t be too angry with Marie for having her own doubts. It would have been nice if she could’ve given me a smidge more information, although I’d already figured out that wasn’t exactly her style. Maybe that was just standard seer practice; if you didn’t get too specific, later on you couldn’t be blamed for seeing things incorrectly if events didn’t turn out as expected.
“Well, sounds like we need to get our thinking caps on,” I said in a too-bright tone that made Connor raise an eyebrow. “Thanks for the insight, Marie. We’ll let you know if we come up with something. Connor, let’s talk about all this over lunch. I’m starving…eating for two, you know.”
And with that I got up from the couch, grasping the strap of my purse as I did so, and he rose a second or two later. Actually, I wasn’t all that hungry, but it seemed as good an excuse to get out of there as anything else I could think of.
If Marie saw through my little subterfuge, she didn’t show any sign of it…not that I really expected her to. She stood up as well, saying, “I know you wanted more from me, but this is the best advice I can give. Don’t allow what you think you know to get in the way of what you need to know.”
“Thanks, Marie,” Connor said, obviously realizing that I was about to utter a few pithy words about his cousin and her “advice.”
I sent her a smile that probably wouldn’t have fooled anyone, let alone Marie Wilcox, and then Connor and I were headed out the front door and back to our cars.
“Don’t say it,” he told me, just as I opened my mouth to speak. “I get it. I really get it. Let’s just go back to the apartment and regroup, okay?”
“All right,” I said with some reluctance.
“You take the spot behind the building. I’ll park my car on the street.”
“Connor, you don’t have to do that — ”
Rather than argue, he bent down and kissed me, smothering my protests. Not that I minded; the kiss ignited all the fire I had forcibly banked down the past few months, and right then I didn’t care who parked where as long as we were together at his apartment. Soon.
I followed him back downtown, then turned in at the alleyway that led to the rear of his building. He disappeared around a corner, apparently in search of a parking space — no easy feat in the historic section of town on a bright and breezy May afternoon. Since I didn’t have a key, had taken the one he’d given me this past winter and shoved it into a compartment in my jewelry box, all I could do was wait at the back entrance to the building until he returned a few minutes later, over-long hair flying in the wind.