“Jeezus, white man… Ain’t that a bit morbid, especially today?”
“You wanted the truth.” I gave him a resigned shrug before continuing, “I don’t think it will happen. Everything is a stalemate at this point, and if that status quo is maintained, everything should be fine. At least that’s my hope. But, let’s face it, Ben-this is a Pandora’s box scenario. Annalise more or less let Miranda loose on the world, and we know how that turned out. Then I screwed up and fostered a connection to my wife without even realizing it.”
“But you fixed that, didn’t ya’?”
“Yes, but by that point the damage was done. The Lwa has fixated on Felicity, and she’s obviously looking for new meat, which is why I think the spellwork connects her to my wife. Think about it. Miranda used Felicity’s body to try killing me twice before. I’m an even bigger obstacle now than I was then. With me out of the way, she could assume control. And if she does that, the cycle will just start over again. Different physical body, but for all intents and purposes, the same killer.”
“But if you got a stalemate, like you said, everything is fine. Right?”
“Unless she tries an end run and uses someone else as a horse.”
He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Fuck me… Ya’know, this shit just gives me a headache.”
“Yeah, I know. Me too. Literally,” I agreed. “Fortunately, I think that last option is less than likely. She would need a connection to the person, so unless someone else is using Miranda as a personal Lwa , then we should be relatively safe.”
“Relatively?”
“Annalise is still alive and connected.”
“Yeah, and locked up.”
“As long as she stays that way, then we should be fine. Either way, that’s where I have to trust you.”
“Not me. More like the Feebs and the penal system.”
“Okay. But in any event it’s not something I have control over, so I’m left trusting someone else to keep that factor from changing.”
“Uh-huh… Okay… Tell ya’ what, I’ll make a coupl’a calls. Lemme see what I can find out, but I’m not makin’ any promises. What you’re askin’ is pretty much impossible.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Yeah. I’ll add it to your friggin’ tab,” he said as he turned to go. He hesitated then turned back and asked, “So what makes ya’ think Devereaux would tell ya’ what you wanna know anyway?”
“Revenge. I think Miranda forced her to do that spellwork. I don’t believe for a minute she would have done it of her own free will.”
“Why not?”
“Easy. She’s addicted. She’ll do anything to keep from giving up Miranda to another horse, so why would she work magick to create a connection to one? That’s why Constance is in the hospital right now. Annalise wanted Felicity dead, so Miranda would be hers and hers alone.”
“Yeah,” he grunted. “Well do us all a favor and go do some more hocus-pocus or whatever and stop havin’ bad feelin’s. I got enough on my plate right now.”
“I’m right there with you.”
“Okay, last question-what if you can’t get the low down on this… What then?”
“We hope like hell I’m right about the status quo keeping everything in check.”
“But if you’re wrong and Miranda gets back into Firehair, she goes off the deep end and this shit could start all over again?”
“Yeah… Pretty much.”
“That’s fucked up, Row.”
“You won’t get any argument from me there.”
When I finally arrived back at the truck, I had already blown well past the outer marker of “don’t be long.” However, I knew that if Felicity had been in a real hurry, she would have simply taken the wheel and driven around into sight as a cue for me to get moving. She hadn’t, so I wasn’t too concerned. I approached from the front, and I could see my wife through the windshield, seated on the passenger side, but her attentions were obviously focused elsewhere.
I stepped off the roadway onto the dormant grass then carefully slid between the idling vehicle and a small hedge so that I could open the door and climb in. The interior was already considerably warmer than the outside temperature; of course, I’m sure some of that had to do with the fact that my tardiness gave it even more time to heat up. At any rate, it was too warm for me, so as I settled in I reached over to the dash and adjusted the driver’s side climate controls.
“Sorry,” Felicity said absently, giving me a quick glance. “I meant to do that earlier.”
She hadn’t acted startled when I opened the door, so apparently she had seen me coming after all. She quickly returned her gaze to the mirror on the back of the sun visor and continued half-heartedly fussing with her makeup. A bottle of eye drops and a handful of cosmetics were lined up across the dash in front of her, but it didn’t appear that she had attempted any major resurfacing where the latter was concerned. It wasn’t as if she really wore that much makeup anyway, and as I’d told her, she really did look just fine.
“No problem,” I replied. “Sorry I took so long.”
“I was beginning to wonder what happened to you then.”
“Just lost track for a few minutes.”
The radio was tuned to the local classical music station and set to low volume. In the background, just above the hiss of the air vents, an unnamed orchestra was ringing its way through Carol of the Bells.
“What were you two talking about?” Felicity asked after a moment.
“Nothing important.”
“ Thug tu d'eitheach, ” she returned, calling me a liar. Even though her tone held no anger, I knew she was somewhat serious because she had resorted to Gaelic.
“Okay, how about nothing for you to worry about.”
“Aye, do you really want me to say it again?”
“Not really.”
“Then tell the truth.”
I fell quiet for a moment then attempted to redirect the conversation. “Are you about ready to go?”
“Just a minute, I’m almost finished,” she told me then paused for a moment herself. I really should have known better than to think I could get away with diverting the topic, and she proved that when she asked, “You were talking about her, weren’t you? Miranda.”
“She came up,” I replied.
“And?”
“And what?”
“And what about her?”
“We decided not to invite her to the Christmas party,” I said, unsuccessfully trying to lighten the tense mood.
“Be serious.”
I shrugged in surrender. “Honestly, I’m not sure what you want me to say, sweetheart.”
“I’m not sure either,” she sighed, then her voice took on a hint of fear as she added, “She’s still out there.”
“I know,” I said, trying to sound soothing. “And, yes, that’s what we talked about.”
“So what do we do about it?”
“I’m working on it. We have the necklace put away.”
“Aye. Do you plan to explain that at some point?”
“Eventually, once I’m sure about some things. But, for right now though, as long as it stays in that jar of salt and you don’t come into contact with it, we should be fine.”
“And what if it isn’t?”
“That isn’t an option.”
“But…”
“No… No but’s…” I calmly interrupted her. “Listen to me, honey, it’s only been a few days. Everything is way too fresh right now. Just give yourself a little time to deal with all this, okay?”
She didn’t respond. Instead she glanced down and began carefully tucking the tubes and compact into her purse. “I just need to touch up my lipstick,” she finally said, her tone flat and words terse. “But I’ll do that when we get there. I suppose we should get moving.”
“So, are you mad at me now?” I asked.
“No.” She shook her head as she looked over at me. “No… I’m sorry… I’m just…” She let out a frustrated breath and shook her head again. “I’m just trying to cope with… with…”
“The guilt?” I offered.
“Yes, but it’s not what you think… I mean, it is, but it’s something else too… It isn’t just… It’s… It’s just something you wouldn’t… It’s…”