Evie looked at Henry. “Do not say clowns.”
Henry sighed. “Well, now you’ve done it. Clowns are all I can see.”
“Ling’s right. I want you to concentrate on something concrete,” Sister Walker said. “Think of creating an energy field… around this credenza.” Sister Walker marched over to a long, beautifully carved chest. “Stare at the credenza. Concentrate. Be aware of your energy as well as the energy coming from your fellow Diviners.”
It was very still. Beside him, Sam could hear Henry breathing, and soon, the rhythm of his breath matched the rhythm of Sam’s breathing, and Evie’s matched Sam’s, all the way around the circle. Sitting on the sofa outside the circle, Theta could feel her own restless energy wanting to join the others, like a horse longing to run with the herd. She could feel Memphis’s heartbeat strong inside her, lining up perfectly with hers. A great hum filled Evie’s ears, like a strong wind carrying a million voices inside. An aura appeared around the credenza, the air dancing with pinpricks of light that stretched to the Diviners themselves. The hum became a roar. The chandelier directly above them flared bright and hot, shattering the bulbs and showering the carpet with broken glass. With a shriek, the Diviners dropped one another’s hands.
“Aaah!” Sam said, putting his hands over his ears. “Did you feel that?”
“For a minute there, it was like falling—” Ling said, excited.
“Then floating—” Evie added.
“In a warm bath made of stars that you felt joined to?” Memphis finished.
Sam jerked a thumb at the others. “Uh, what they said.”
“Yes,” Theta said so quietly that no one heard.
Henry’s eyes widened. “Is it just me or is the credenza rather… un-credenza-like?”
Across the room, the antique oak table bowed out in the middle, as if trying to give birth to some other form. And then it contracted and settled back to its proper table shape.
“Will…” Sister Walker whispered.
“I know,” he answered. “Incredible.”
Ling moved as swiftly as she could. She touched the credenza gingerly. It was still warm. “It’s pos-i-tute-ly solid now.”
“You’re using the word!” Henry beamed. “I taught her that word, you know.”
Ling’s excitement bubbled out of her in a torrent of words. “Everything radiates. The radiation we emit isn’t visible to the naked eye, but it’s there. This is incredible. Our combined energy can disrupt electromagnetic fields or create one!” She burst out with a rare full grin. “We’re an unimaginable source of energy!”
“Diviner Industries—powering the nation! Charleston, Charleston!” Evie sang, pulling Henry in to dance with her.
“People who could do that would be pretty valuable,” Memphis said.
“Yeah. And dangerous,” Sam said.
“What do you mean?” Evie had stopped dancing, but she still held Henry’s hand.
“I mean, either everybody would want ’em around, or nobody would. We were created for national security, right?” He looked to Sister Walker, who nodded. “Well, what happens if somebody decides we aren’t so secure? What happens if somebody decides that a bunch of people like us with Diviner powers are a threat to that new, special America they’re trying to build?”
“Ice Man, you okay?” Memphis crouched down in front of his brother. Isaiah was breathing heavily. He seemed frightened. “What’s the matter?”
“Anybody else see something scary while they were under?” Isaiah asked.
Will moved closer. “What did you see?”
“It was real dark. And then I could see there was a rip in the dark, like when I tore my shirt on a branch one time and Octavia fussed at me for it. I could feel that there was something inside the rip trying to get out. Something bad.” Isaiah swallowed. “I heard a voice.”
“What did it say?”
“It called me the clairvoyant,” Isaiah said, sounding out the unfamiliar word. “It said, ‘I see you, Clairvoyant.’”
“Something made contact with you,” Sister Walker said. “We should go back in.”
“No,” Memphis said.
“I understand that you’re concerned about your brother, Memphis. But something from the other side wants to talk with Isaiah. This may be our best chance to talk to that entity.”
“What if that something…” With a glance at his brother, Memphis moved to Sister Walker, whispering, “What if that something wants to hurt him?”
“Do you trust me, Memphis?”
If they were on the street or in church, Memphis would back down from Sister Walker’s imperious gaze with an I didn’t mean any disrespect, ma’am smile. Smile. Nod. Look away. Get along. But Sister Walker had gone to jail for sedition. She and Will had lied to them about their origins, about what Project Buffalo really was. Hadn’t Blind Bill and Aunt Octavia said that Sister Walker couldn’t be trusted? And from what Memphis had heard on those recordings, Sister Walker, Will, and the others hadn’t been able to look out for poor Guillaume, and he was a Diviner—a powerful one at that. But if Sister Walker was right, and this was a chance to find out how to heal the breach Memphis’s mother had talked about, then they had to take it. For now, Memphis needed to believe that once they closed the door between worlds, things would be better. The ghosts would go away. Isaiah’s seizures would stop.
“He’s not going in without me,” Memphis said finally.
“Fair enough.” Sister Walker maneuvered around Memphis, making straight for Isaiah, and crouched before him. “Isaiah, you remember when you warned me about the chair?”
“Yes, Sister.” It had been a few months ago. Isaiah had been at Sister Walker’s house reading cards. He’d guessed most of them before they were turned over. On the way out, he’d taken hold of Sister Walker’s hand and gotten a strong sense that something was wrong. He saw her standing on the chair to reach into a kitchen cupboard, and then he saw her fall.
“You were right. Not ten minutes after you left, I climbed up on that chair to get some sugar and the chair leg broke underneath me. Let’s see what you can find out from this.”
Isaiah was excited and a little scared. He wanted to show off what he could do in front of the bigger Diviners so they’d see him as one of them, less of a kid.
“Memphis, I want you to sit beside your brother. The rest of you gather ’round. Let’s see if we can increase the strength of Isaiah’s clairvoyance. Okay. Put your hands on Isaiah’s shoulders… that’s it.”
“Feels as if we’re posing for a family photograph. I refuse to put on a Shriner’s hat or hold a monkey.” Evie sighed.
Sam quirked an eyebrow. “What sort of family do you—”
“Shhh, please,” Sister Walker chided. “Memphis, take hold of Isaiah’s hands. Isaiah, I want you to relax as much as you can. When you’re under, concentrate on your surroundings, look around, remember what you see. The rest of you, I want you to think about helping Isaiah.”