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Margo gripped my hand tighter. “No, so my parents can see that not everyone over here is like you.”
Somebody stifled a snigger, while I exchanged a surprised look with Nathan.
“That’s settled then,” Byron hurriedly said before Jeremy could respond. “I’m sure it helps to have another human to, uh, translate. Let’s move on. Margo, we’d like you to tell us what happened last night, as much as you can remember. Every little helps.”
Her bravado fell. The trembling of her hand in mine made my heart ache.
“It’s hard to explain. It was all so confusing.” Her voice was still a little hoarse. She had wrapped a scarf around her neck, so I couldn’t see if the bruising was any worse. “Everything was fine at first. I mean, I felt good. I was having fun.”
“No warning signs?” Amelia asked. “Nothing felt odd?”
“Not at all. We went skating first, then for food. Then… we headed for the bus stop. I was walking with Chloe and Emma. Emma wasn’t feeling so good, so we fell a bit behind. I wasn’t feeling great either, so maybe I didn’t notice.”
She frowned as though doubting herself.
“What didn’t you notice, Margo?” Perdita’s voice was soft and encouraging. “Looking back now, can you tell us what exactly you sensed?”
“The cold,” she said after a moment. “It was cold, and it felt bad. I saw death. Not like the usual threads I see.”
“Threads?” Jeremy sounded interested despite himself.
“Usually, I see something connecting me to the person in danger. When the danger is taken away, that connection is broken and sent back to me. That’s when it hurts, usually.”
I bit on my lower lip to hide my reaction. She’d never defined it so clearly before.
“Like you’re taking death in their place?” Amelia said. “That’s what Vira told us.”
“I’m not sure if that’s what’s happening,” Margo said. “But this time was different anyway.”
Amelia leaned forwards. “If it was different, then how do you know it was death?”
Margo stared into space for a moment. “The cold. The feeling it gave me. Familiar. Only it looked different, more like… more like fog in the shape of a hand. Death wasn’t there, but he made it come. I saw it reaching for the girls, not at the same time, but first one then the other. Like it was choosing who to take.”
“And was it choosing?” Nathan asked. “Could you tell?”
“Looking back, it felt deliberate. Like a test. To see if I could tell.” She shivered again, instinctively inching closer to me for heat. “I told the girls to run. I wanted to run, too, but I suppose I was so confused by what was happening that I didn’t react quickly enough.”
“Tammie told me she wanted to run,” Perdita said. “She felt like she was paralysed for a moment. Maybe Eli did something to both of you to trap you there.”
“Fear can be paralysing, too,” Jeremy said.
Margo shrugged. “He must have been watching us, waiting for me, but I never sensed anything, no danger, no death, nothing.”
“Maybe because he hadn’t decided to hurt anyone yet,” Nathan said. “It’s not your fault, Margo.”
I doubted she even heard him. Her eyes were wide with fear, as though she were back in front of the harbinger. “He could have hurt me.” She touched her throat, her eyebrows furrowing. “I was pretty much helpless. I felt like he desperately wanted to watch me die, but he was interested in what I could do and that held him back.”
Mrs Harding pressed her face against her husband’s shoulder. I knew exactly how she felt.
“He could tell what you can do?” Amelia asked.
“Yes. I mean, I think so. He said something about killing me if I couldn’t see it. I’m not sure anymore.” The more she spoke about Eli, the more panicked she sounded.
“It’s all right,” Perdita said. “Tell us anything that comes to you, but if you need a break, we can stop here.”
“We can’t afford breaks,” Jeremy said. “We could be attacked at any time. We need to know everything.”
“She's been through enough,” Perdita snapped. “She’s a kid, Jeremy. You need to start cutting the kids around here some slack. They’re not your responsibility, so back off.”
