The older man seemed to recognize Alex’s unease. “She can come on a little strong,” he said. “I apologize for that. She’s just worried. We all are.”
Caitlin swallowed. “I am so sorry about not saying anything about my visions before this. I never thought — ”
Andre held up a hand. “It’s — well, I’m not sure if I can say it’s all right, exactly, but what’s done is done. The best we can do now is hope that your talents, combined with Marie’s, will be enough to guide us to those girls before…before anything else can happen to them.”
His expression was grim, and Alex couldn’t blame him. For all any of them knew, what Caitlin had seen the night before was only the smallest taste of what Danica and Roslyn might be enduring even as the rest of them sat here, far away from any danger. Alex reminded himself that Andre was Angela’s father, and very likely was putting himself in the places of Roslyn’s and Danica’s fathers, both of whom must be worried sick about their daughters, but who could only sit and wait while the elders of their clans attempted to effect some kind of rescue.
“I hope so, too,” Caitlin said. “I’ve been trying and trying, hoping to get something else to come through, but…I just can’t force the visions.”
“It’s all right,” Andre told her, although some hesitation in his voice told Alex the other man wasn’t quite as all right with it as he wanted Caitlin to think. Maybe he thought, after being married to Marie for the past few years, that the whole seer thing came that naturally to everyone who’d been born with the gift.
They all fell silent then. Alex wished he could think of something to say that would break the tension in the room, but every option that crossed his mind sounded worse than the last. Glad to see you’re putting that communications degree to good use, he thought, even though he knew none of the classes he’d taken at U of A had exactly covered this type of situation.
The sound of the French door opening made everyone look up. A spark of hope flared in Caitlin’s eyes as Marie entered the room, but the grim expression on the older woman’s face told them all that she’d had no luck, even when granted the peace and quiet she’d requested.
“Nothing,” she said, crossing the living room and setting Danica’s bracelet down on the coffee table. “Normally, I should have been able to pick up something, even if I couldn’t get a great deal of detail. But it’s as if she’s hidden behind some kind of dark curtain, some sort of barrier that my Sight can’t penetrate.” Marie’s brows drew together, and she shook her head, lips compressing into a tight line that was already familiar to Alex. “If that had been Roslyn’s bracelet, I might have understood it more. I don’t know the girl — I might have seen her in passing at a family gathering here or there, but that would be the extent of our contact. But Danica? I’ve known her since she was born. I should have been able to detect some trace of her.” Her gaze sharpened, that laser-beam focus falling on Caitlin, who flinched. “How is that you’re able to have visions of her, when you’ve only been friends for a few months?”
“More than a year,” Caitlin said. Her tone was quiet but firm, and her chin lifted as she looked up at the other woman. “We’ve been friends for over a year now. I wouldn’t have moved in with someone I’d only known for a few months.”
That show of defiance, mild as it was, made Alex think that Caitlin wasn’t quite as ready to get walked over by Marie Begonie as he’d worried she might be. And Marie seemed to notice, too; she didn’t quite scowl down at Caitlin, but her expression turned even more grim.
“Be that as it may, it still doesn’t explain how you’re able to see her when someone who’s known Danica her entire life cannot.”
“Maybe we won’t ever be able to explain it,” Andre said thoughtfully, and Marie’s gaze shifted to him, then softened. Prickly she might be, but that prickliness didn’t appear to extend to her husband. “We’re talking about magic here, talents that run in our blood. This isn’t science, where things can be measured exactly, and where certain inputs will always return the same results. Perhaps we’re meant to trust in Caitlin’s talents and see what they can do for Danica and Roslyn.”
That sounded sensible to Alex, but, judging by the stricken look on her face, it seemed Caitlin didn’t entirely agree. No doubt she’d been hoping that Marie would swoop in and pinpoint exactly where the two kidnapped girls had been taken, and that would be the end of it.