“What is this place?” I asked, but Aidan was no longer there. Instead, I saw my father standing at thebottom of the stairs. Hatred burned in his eyes. He whispered:“Prophecy.”
My cheeks felt wet with tears. But that was impossible. I didn’t cry. Icouldn’tcry.
I turned to go back down the spiral stairs, but they began to disintegrate beneath my feet. Rung by rung, the pinging of metal snapping fought with the ticking of the watch. I lost my foothold and began tumbling, falling headfirst, down and down, into the burned remains of the house, into the thick pile of ashes....
I had been underwater only once, and had nearly drowned. But I vividly remembered the sensation of fighting my way up and out of the watery depths, my eyes searching for the light of the moon dancing on the surface of the bay, streaming toward it, lungs screaming for air, gut spasming. That was what this felt like.
With a violent jolt, I yanked myself out of the trance.
Chapter 5
“Hold on one gol-durned second.Prophecy?What prophecy?” My voice ended on a squeaky note.
Aidan and I were standing just as we had been, in the center of the room, but according to the antique grandfather clock, several hours had passed. I felt cranky and mildly nauseated, and my muscles burned with fatigue. Combining energies with Aidan was disorienting, exhausting, and, of course, revelatory.
Aidan nodded. “I believe you were named in a prophecy, yes.”
“Me?”
“It wasn’t clear until recently, but yes, I believe that’s so.”
“That’s why everyone’s always acted so weird around me? You couldn’t havetolda person?”
“The signs weren’t clear.”
“But now they are?”
He inclined his head, as casual as if he were ordering eggs for breakfast.
“This is ridiculous.”
“I believe the timeline sped up a bit when you went up against the demon named Deliverance Corydon. I told you it was a mistake for you to battle her alone. A part of her now resides within you.”
Deliverance Corydon was a demonlike creature who had been burned at the stake after being accused of witchcraft, way back in the day. My own guiding spirit, the Ashen Witch, had known—and fought—her back then. So it did seem foreshadowed, somehow, that I would battle her when she tried to rise again. But I rejected Aidan’s theory—which he’d espoused before—that Deliverance Corydon was now a part of me.
“That’s even more ridiculous. I mean, seriously, Aidan. I know Corydon was bad news, but she’s gone. She came back and was destroyed by lightning, no less. Also, she despises witches.”
He shrugged. “I can feel it when we meld energies.”
“And I have the Ashen Witch as my guiding spirit.”
“More evidence for the prophecy.”
“And what does the prophecy prophesize, exactly?”
He hesitated, as though choosing his words carefully. “That a practitioner connected to your father would come to town, and spark a kind of supernatural showdown in San Francisco, the results of which would be crucial, and not just for the city. The effects have the potential to ripple out, endlessly.”
“That’s it?”
“There’s a bit more to it, but that’s the gist of it.”
“And couldn’t there be someone else who fits that description? You, for instance?”
He laughed and shook his head.
“And your role in this has been, what?” I demanded. “To help me? To stop me? Both? Was Oscar your spy?”
Aidan sat down in his desk chair, as though tired. “For the moment, I’m here to help you, and to help San Francisco. Lily, you’re missing the point: IfIknow aboutthis, it’s a good bet other practitioners, like Renee, do as well. And if she does, she’ll stop at nothing to siphon off your powers for her own use. Yet another reason this relationship between you and Sailor is a problem. It couldn’t come at a worse time.”
