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“That’s right. Anything else?” Birdie tore off a piece of bread and stuffed it into her mouth.
I tugged at the memories of my lessons with Pops. “The god of prophecy.”
Her eyes glinted with a secret. “Very good, Lorelei.”
“You’re a prophet.”
“Some say prophet. Some say seer. Others say psychic.” Birdie shrugged. “I’m not stuck on labels.”
It only took a second to work out the connection. “You use the gifts the crows bring you to tell the future about the items’ owners.” I turned to Kane. “That’s why she’s your fount of information.”
Looking at Birdie, Kane splayed his hands. “I warned you she was clever.”
Birdie chuckled and she mopped up the remaining oil with another piece of bread. “I never doubted you, dearest.”
“Are you human?” I asked. I didn’t sense anything otherworldly about her, which was unusual. I’d developed decent supernatural radar as a survival coping mechanism. If I encountered the wrong nonhuman unawares, I could’ve ended up in a regrettable situation.
She pinched the pruned skin of her arm. “I’m as human as they come. My parents didn’t know what to do with me once they discovered my ability.”
I understood that all too well.
“Were you born and raised in Fairhaven?”
“Indeed, I was. My parents were farmers, but that land’s been bought and sold several times over since then. I remember running through the fields as a child and delighting in the line of crows that followed me. I thought I was the pied piper for birds.”
“Do you know Jessie Talbot?” Jessie was one of the oldest humans in town. Rumor had it she might have some fae blood in her line, but she tended to stay on the human side of events in town.
“Of course. I used to play pinochle with her. I don’t get out much anymore, though.”
“What about the Bridgers? You must’ve known them.”
A scowl passed over her face. “Witches aren’t my cup of tea, and some of those Bridgers were trouble with a capital T. I steered clear whenever I encountered one of them.”
I smiled. “I knew I liked you.”
“Finish your bread,” she ordered. “Next course is up.” She left the table, and the rich aroma of chili reached my nostrils before I saw the cast iron pot. I felt a pang of guilt for leaving Sian to fend for himself in my bare kitchen while I was feasting on homemade bread and chili.
“What do you know about Bone Lake?” I asked.
Her face clouded over. “Nothing good. Why do you ask?”
“Because I encountered a creature there. I got the impression it’s killed a lot of people.” I didn’t feel comfortable saying more than that.
“The creature has been here a long time. It used to leave the lake and hunt animals in the woods.” She used a ladle to serve the chili. “I sometimes wonder if something happened to the creature like what happened to me. Not paralysis, of course, but something to prevent it from leaving the lake.”
It made sense. I’d only escaped its clutches because I’d fled the lake. And the fire didn’t streak far enough to reach the trees, although it should have.
Magic was the most obvious answer.
The taste of tomatoes and spices exploded in my mouth. “Birdie, this is incredible.”
“Why, thank you. It’s one of my specialties, but I save it for the season. Gets me through the long winter months.” She patted her stomach. “Kane is partial to my goulash, though. The two of you should come back for dinner one night. I’ll make it for you.”
I caught Kane’s eye across the table, and he held my gaze. A warm sensation spread from my stomach to my extremities. I credited the chili, but I knew it was more than that.
“If you can see the future, maybe you can skip Sarah and tell us where the changeling is?” I proposed.
Birdie dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “You know that’s not how these things work. There’s no crystal ball to show me the child.”
