Before Nina could answer, a small voice caught her attention. ‘Mommy, what’s going on?’ Macy joined her parents, regarding their hosts with concern. ‘Why is everybody angry with you?’
‘Nobody’s angry, honey,’ said Nina. ‘These people just have… some differences of opinion, that’s all. They want me to do one thing, and your daddy wants me to do something else.’
‘What thing?’
‘It doesn’t matter. Because I already decided what I’m going to do.’
The others almost unconsciously leaned forward, anxious to hear her decision. Nina faced them again. ‘I’m going to go back to New York and turn the Crucible over to the IHA. Like I should have done in the first place.’ She raised her voice over the protestations. ‘They can work with Interpol to investigate Trakas and find out if he really has got the other Crucible, and if he has, then the international courts can deal with him. But Eddie’s right: this isn’t my problem. And I don’t want to discuss it any more. After everything I’ve been through, I just want to go home and be with my family.’
‘By turning your back on another part of your family?’ said Anastasia, indicating Olivia.
‘It’s not the decision I was hoping she would make,’ said the old lady, downcast. ‘But it is her decision. We can’t force her to do something she doesn’t want to do.’
‘Thank you,’ Nina said.
‘Are we going home?’ Macy asked. ‘But we only just got here!’
Mikkelsson spoke in Icelandic to the clearly angry Anastasia, who drew in a frustrated breath, then he turned to Nina. ‘It would be a shame if you were to leave so soon. You are welcome to enjoy the hospitality of the hotel.’
‘Thanks for the offer, but it’d be better if we left,’ Nina replied. She knew that if they stayed, she would be subjected to non-stop pressure to change her mind.
Macy tugged at her sleeve. ‘Mommy, I don’t want to go yet. I want to play in the snow.’
‘I’m sorry, honey, but we have to leave.’
‘It was very nice to meet you, Macy,’ said Mikkelsson. ‘I hope I will see you again sometime. I am afraid you have quite a wait for the next flight to New York, though,’ he added to her parents. ‘It does not leave until this evening. Are you sure you do not want to stay here until then?’
‘I think they’ve made their decision,’ Olivia said, standing. ‘We should respect it.’
Mikkelsson nodded. ‘Of course. Then may I suggest you visit Reykjavik before your flight? It may not be Manhattan, but it has its attractions. And some very good restaurants.’
Nina hesitated, wanting to leave with no further fuss, but Eddie spoke first. ‘What do you reckon? Got to be better than airport food.’
‘There is that, yeah,’ she admitted. ‘We’ll take your advice, then,’ she said to Mikkelsson. ‘Thank you.’
‘My pleasure,’ said the Icelander. ‘Rutger can drive you there.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ said Olivia. She caught Nina’s attempt to hide her suspicion. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t try to change your mind. I have to fly back to the States anyway, and since I’ve no more business here…’
‘Okay,’ said Nina, with reluctance.
‘Thank you. I’ll just wrap things up, then we can leave. Fenrir?’ Olivia ushered Mikkelsson away, beginning a quiet discussion. Lonmore looked put out at not being included.
‘Bit of a shame to come all the way out here only to go straight back home,’ Eddie said to his wife. ‘Still, at least we’re not paying for it.’ Olivia had covered the cost of the air fares.
‘Yeah,’ Nina agreed, though she couldn’t help wondering if some other price for her decision would follow down the line. Feeling oddly defensive, and unsure why, she collected the Crucible, holding it tightly as she waited to leave.
21
The atmosphere inside the super jeep was as frosty as outside.
‘Anyone fancy a game of I Spy?’ Eddie joked to break the tension as they rounded the frozen lake. ‘I spy, with my little—’
‘Snow?’ said Macy.
‘Tchah! How’d you guess? Your turn.’
Olivia, in the front seat, sighed. ‘We’re not going to have this all the way back to Reykjavik, are we?’
‘We can talk about anything you want,’ said Nina, ‘as long as it’s not what I said I absolutely wouldn’t discuss.’
‘You’ve clearly made up your mind, and I respect that. And I’m sure I don’t need to restate my own position.’
‘No. You don’t.’
The old woman turned to give Nina a look that was somewhere between disappointed and irked. ‘There’s no need to be so curt. All I wanted was what was best for my family.’
‘What was best for your family, as long as it involved finding the Midas Cave,’ Nina shot back. Eddie quickly diverted Macy’s attention with another round of I Spy. ‘You know, you could have come to me at any time in my entire life. Like, I don’t know, maybe twenty years ago, after Mom and Dad died?’ She was hit by a sudden surge of anger, which she struggled to contain so as not to upset Macy. ‘I was completely alone, Olivia. You could have seen me then, told me what happened between you and Mom for her to shut you out of her life. Out of my life. But you didn’t! You waited until I could do something for you. That might have been what was best for you, but it sure as hell wasn’t for me.’
‘I know, and I’m sorry. But it wasn’t out of some monstrous sense of self-interest, I assure you. You lost your mother… and I lost my daughter.’ She glanced at Macy. ‘My only child. I hope to God you never have to go through that experience. Not even losing Tom, the man I loved the most in all the world, compared to how I felt after Laura died.’
Nina’s anger was quickly replaced by guilt. She had attended Macy Sharif’s funeral, and witnessing the grief of the young woman’s parents had been one of the most emotionally painful experiences of her life. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘It’s all right. Time may not heal all wounds, but it does at least dull the pain. As for why I didn’t come to you until now, Laura had made it very clear that she didn’t want me in her — or your — life. As painful as that was, I respected her wishes before she died. And afterwards, how could I simply turn up and tell you who I was? It would mean revealing that she’d lied to you, and to your father. I didn’t want to dishonour her memory. But you’re my family, Nina. You’re so much like Laura that… that’s it’s almost as if she’s still here.’ A deep sadness filled her eyes. ‘Whatever else may have happened, I’m still glad that I got to meet you. And I hope I can get to know you better in the future.’
Nina had no comeback to that. ‘Thank you. I hope so too,’ was all she could say. Olivia smiled, then looked back at the icy vista ahead.
They eventually returned to the paved road, De Klerx turning at the crossroads to take them back to civilisation. Once they reached Reykjavik, rather than retrace their route to the airport, he instead followed a road that took them towards the city’s centre along its northern waterfront. ‘I suggested we go this way,’ said Olivia. ‘It’s slightly longer, but it gives the best views. It’s actually a very pretty town.’
‘Yeah, I see,’ said Nina, gazing across a wide bay to the mountains beyond. Most of the snow had gone near sea level, but the distant peaks were still capped in white. Looking the other way, she saw that Reykjavik itself was very spread out, plenty of open green space between the relatively low-rise buildings. ‘How often have you been here?’