AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When the power of the line had brushed past Emmet on its way to me, it had broken the nine intelligences he’d embodied off from their sources and had somehow melded them together into a single consciousness. Emmet was no longer a mere golem. He might not exactly be a real man, but for all intents and purposes he was close enough. I wasn’t sure if he had what you might call a soul, but who was I to judge?
“No,” I replied. “I was a little weirded out by him before, but now he seems right to me. And he’s the best teacher I could have hoped for,” I said. After all, he had maintained the knowledge of each of his nine creators.
After the investment, my aunts, uncle, and I had made a pact: no more lies or secrets, even if they were well-intentioned. I decided that the present would be as good at time as any to live up to my side of the bargain. “Listen, y’all. I’ve been thinking about something. Well, more than thinking about it…I’ve been working with Emmet on it.”
“And what might this ‘it’ be?” Iris asked, folding her arms and leaning back against the sink.
“I want to find Maisie,” I managed to say before the others piled up on me.
“The families will never allow it,” Ellen said, as if that should be the end of it.
“To hell with the families,” I responded. “I mean it. To hell with what they want and with what they’ll allow.”
“Gingersnap,” Oliver said, “you have to think about what’s best for you and your baby. We all loved Maisie, but you have to realize she’s probably dead. And even if she isn’t, I’m not sure you’d recognize what’s left of her as Maisie.”
“It’s out of the question,” Iris said. “She was going to sacrifice you. She lost her place in this family and her right to be in this world.”
“You said she tried to stop the investment at the last minute,” I said. “I heard her ask you all to stop it. I don’t believe she was capable of going through with her plans. You said something to her, Ellen. Right before. Something that changed her mind. What was it?”
Ellen looked at me, the corner of her mouth twitching as she spoke. “I told her that you and Peter were having a baby.”
“From what you’ve told us, Mercy,” Oliver said, “she may not have tried to stop the ceremony to save you. Maybe she just had second thoughts about harming Peter’s child.”
“I see,” I said, pushing my chair away from the table. “If you will all excuse me for a moment, I think I could use a little time alone.”
“You go on, sugar,” Iris said. “If you need anything, you call out, okay? I’ll be right there for you.”
Oliver had dedicated himself full time to clearing, cleaning, and painting the room across the hall from mine, getting it ready to serve as Colin’s nursery. Toys—some old, some new—lined a shelf that Peter had mounted the previous weekend. Peter’s old fire engine had pride of place, and I found myself unable to resist the urge to add something of my own to sit by its side.
I crossed the hall to my room and dug out the box of toys I’d been saving ever since I’d outgrown them myself. As I rifled through it, the old Ball jar Maisie had given me for our birthday pressed itself into my hand. I pulled it free. Inside danced the flames of the nineteen memories that Maisie had captured for me before the drawing of the lots, back when I had still believed she loved me in spite of my selfish heart. I opened the lid and watched as they flew out. With trepidation I reached out and touched the closest. I found myself sitting in this very same room at an incredibly small table. Maisie and I were having a tea party for the new dolls Aunt Ellen and “Uncle” Erik had brought us from their vacation in Europe. The memory faded.
I reached out again, this time with more determination, and touched a spark that seemed to be trying to escape me. Warmth flooded through me, and I relived the experience of my first dance recital with my sister. Our performances were laughable, but we were both certain that we were destined to be ballerinas when we grew up. It was written in the stars. And then it was over.
I looked at the remaining flames and gasped. It took a moment for me to realize that it wasn’t just my imagination—they had lined up in a single row and were moving away from me. No, they weren’t just moving away from me, they were trying to lead me to Maisie. As the realization hit me, the flames flew back to me and danced around me. “All right,” I said. “But for now, I need to wait.” The flames obediently returned to the jar. I closed the lid on them and returned the jar to the box of toys, burying it deep inside the closet.
I would go to her, and I would find a way to bring her back. I didn’t know how we had gone so wrong, but in spite of everything I still loved her, and somehow I’d find a way to set things right. But first I needed to learn how to control not only my own powers, but those of the line. If I was going to go find my sister, I was sure that I’d have to go through the nine other families, and maybe even my own as well.
THIRTY-FOUR
“Jilo been wonderin’ when you were goin’ to come for her,” the old woman said when she spotted me entering Bonaventure.
“And when I came for you, you figured I’d be bringing flowers,” I said, lifting the bouquet I’d brought with me up so that she could see it. I dismounted my bike and began to walk it.
“No, Jilo reckon as not,” she said, falling in step next to me. I slowed my pace so that she could keep up with me comfortably. After a few steps she took a breath and said. “I didn’t know what your sister was up to. I thought that Jackson was for real. Jilo didn’t know he had anything to do with that worthless boo hag.”
“I know that,” I said and kept walking.
“And I didn’t know that the power Ginny gave me in that stone was yours. I didn’t know that I was stealing from anybody, especially you.”
“And if you had known, would you have accepted it anyway?” I asked.
“Damn girl, you know I would have,” she said, and we both stopped dead in our tracks and laughed. Her laugh dissolved into a hacking cough, and it took a few moments for her to compose herself. “I don’t have much time left here in this world, Mercy. Don’t make me spend what I got left watching over my shoulder for you. You want to get even with this old woman, you do it here. You do it now.”
I pulled a rose from the bouquet and handed it to her. “I got no need for revenge. I figure there has been more than enough hurt hanging around me lately.”
“Well, you tell me, girl. You tell me what I can do to make it right to you.”
