What Doesn't Kill You(20)

“Who?” Panic shot through her. “Did James come back?” She yanked out of Simon’s grip and rushed over to Zach. “Did he hurt you?”

“He tried.” Zach avoided her eyes, scuffing the carpet with his tennis shoe, which signaled loud and clear that whatever happened was not good. “Simon helped get rid of him. But I was about to—”

“Zachariah,” Claire said. He flinched at the use of his full name. She didn’t do it often, and hadn’t since he discovered the truth about himself. “I want you to tell Annie about James.” He looked up, clearly surprised. Claire was surprised as well. She meant to browbeat, but her mind had another agenda.

“Um, okay. Wait—” Anger flared in his eyes. “Did he—”

“I have a feeling Annie took care of him. She just doesn’t remember. Any of it.”

After a long moment, he nodded. Claire watched him walk over to Annie, sit next to her on the sofa, and take her hand. Tears stung Claire’s eyes; his care of Annie, his concern for her, showed Claire just how much he had grown.

Warm hands closed over her shoulders, Simon’s quiet energy a balm on her ragged nerves. “You should be proud of him.”

“I am beyond proud.” She looked up at him. “Your hair is longer. It makes you look—younger. Less jaded, more—”

“Hippie?”

She let out a choked laugh. “More at ease. You have an intensity, Simon. The type that can intimidate someone who doesn’t know you.”

“It didn’t keep me from getting all kinds of advice while I was traveling.” He pushed the sun streaked brown hair off his forehead. “Stop frowning. Zach’s okay.”

“You’ll tell me what happened to him? I don’t want him to have to relive it.”

“I’ll be happy to. But he’s got something to show all of you.” Letting her go, he moved to her side, met her eyes. The fear in his had her heart racing. “This James is bad news, Claire. The power surrounding him is dark, and it’s old.”

“Is it his?”

“More like he belongs to it. The power surrounds him, but it’s not part of him. And don’t ask me how I know. It’s part of my talent I’ve never been able to explain. I just know.” He let out his breath. “Like I know something happened with you. It’s imprinted on your energy.”

Claire opened her mouth to deny, to stall. Annie’s furious voice saved her.

“He did what?”

“Annie.” Zach inched away from her. “You promised not to be mad.”

“So sue my hormones. Damn it, I want to wring his skinny little neck—” She grabbed Zach’s wrist. “Called himself J.J., the bastard. We need to nuke that tarot deck.”

Marcus pushed off the wall. “He has been as elusive as a desert snake. We need to lure him. With irresistible bait.”

“I might have just the thing,” Zach said. Standing, he reached down and carefully zipped open the thigh pocket on his cargo pants, his free hand hovering just over it. Claire understood why a moment later. The gilt edge of a tarot card appeared, sliding up to meet Zach’s waiting fingers. The thought of him touching that deck, of holding even a single card, sent panic up her spine. “He’ll be missing this. And if I’m right about that deck, it’ll be sooner instead of later—”

“It was him,” Claire said, as the memory snapped into place.

“Mom?” Zach touched her wrist. “What?”

“I knew I had met James before. It was in London. The first time I saw that deck, the same night I met Houdini.” Simon raised his eyebrows. Claire knew she’d have to fill him in, but he got the main point. She gripped her amethyst heart, wanting to ground herself to the now, and the not the past she spent so long forgetting. “The woman, the fake medium who owned the deck. James was her nephew.”

She heard a collective gasp. Simon moved to her side, and Marcus closed both hands over her shoulders. Simon picked up the card, flinching when his fingers touched it. “So, its longevity extends to whoever owns it.”

Claire looked at him. “That seems to be the case. Which means that if we destroy it, James will suffer.”

“Are you good with that?”

She closed her eyes. “He gave us no choice.” Turning around, she looked at everyone in turn, and saw only support. “He will kill eventually, if he hasn’t already. I won’t allow it to get that far.”

“Right.” Simon squeezed her hand; when she glanced over at him, he winked. “Time for a plan.”