Niamh followed Dev and the girls back into the main room. Thomas, Tem, and Lizbeth were by the couch. Lyse and Daniela stood close to one another, shoulders touching. Only Eleanora waited alone, her hawkish gaze fixed on Lyse.
"We're going to find Jessika and the other Shrieking Eagles," Lyse told Niamh. "You were right when you said the girls would be safer there."
"Okay," Niamh said, pleased they'd listened to her.
"Lizbeth and Tem will stay here-they're going to see if they can find Evan."
"Lyse will leave us with the Eagles," Dev said. "And then she's going to go on . . ."
"Go where?" Niamh asked, not following.
"She's The Hierophant from your spread," Thomas said, though there was no joy in his words. "Lyse is going to find out where this all started and fix it for us if she can."
So Lyse was the mysterious Hierophant. The last card in the spread-and the only one Niamh hadn't really understood until now. But it made sense that Lyse would be the linchpin upon which they all turned.
"The keeper of the sacred mystery," Niamh said, softly, catching Lyse's eye. "Hello, Hierophant."
"If anyone had told me a few weeks ago that we'd all be here together in a totally alien world having this conversation, I'd have thought they were insane," Lyse said, by way of an answer.
"I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else," Niamh said, looking at each face as she spoke. They were all good people-alive and dead alike.
"Let's do this," Daniela said.
Niamh took a deep breath, readying herself for what was to come.
• • •
"My hand, please," Thomas said to Niamh, holding up his right one for her to take.
Lyse could've brought Niamh, too, but she was already transporting Daniela, Dev, and the girls, so Thomas stepped up and offered his services. They'd watched the others go and now it was their turn.
Niamh would be sorry to see the end of the loft. She was certain this marked the last time things would be calm-it was only going to get crazier from here on out.
"I wish I knew how to do what you and Lyse do," Niamh said. Thomas was very good-looking, very charming . . . he made her nervous and she had trouble looking him in the eye as she spoke.
"You make things come alive in the dreamlands," Thomas replied. "Anything I create here is impermanent . . . but you, you make things real. I wish I could do what you do."
Niamh felt herself blushing, her palms getting sweaty under his gaze. She saw why Marji had developed such a crush on the man. Thomas was very crushworthy.
"I would teach you if I knew how," Niamh said, finally looking up at Thomas.
He had nice eyes. Welcoming eyes. They made her want to tell him secrets . . . not that she had any interesting secrets to impart, but there was just something about him that made her want to talk.
"Maybe one day we will all be lucky enough for you to try," he said, squeezing her (very sweaty now) hand. Then his face went serious. "I'm taking you now, Niamh, because I wanted a word alone."
"Sure," she said, without thinking. "I mean . . . of course. Um, yes . . ."
As she fumbled with her words, his serious expression lifted for a moment-but then it became serious once more.
"You must go with Lyse on her journey," he said. "She will need another with her. Someone who will not let her stay her hand when the time comes . . . I would go, but I don't believe any of you blood sisters truly trusts me. Not out of malice. There is just, shall we say, a lot of water under the bridge."
"You think she'll let me come with her?" Niamh asked, uncertain.
"No, I don't think she'll want to risk your safety. So you're just going to have to insert yourself into her plans."
"If you think that's the right thing," she said. "I mean, if you think she needs me?"
"I do. She's not going to want to do what will be asked of her. You are removed from it. You will help her."
It was amazing how easy it was for her to just accept what Thomas said at face value. She didn't question his motives or ask him why he felt so certain that she needed to go with Lyse.
"I should warn you," he added, "that you will feel slightly compelled to do as I ask. At least while you're looking into my eyes. It's a quirk of my power and it's not something I can control. But I find when I make a person aware of this, it lessens the pull."
He was right. Once he'd told her about his little trick, she didn't feel the need to blindly do as he asked anymore.