I heard the squeak of the same phantom wheel that had manifested in my garden. As the sound grew closer, the entity threw back her head and an earsplitting whistle vibrated from the back of her throat. She flung out her arms in supplication a split second before she was sucked backward into the darkness.
I was so utterly flabbergasted by what had transpired that I failed to sense the newcomer. He stood at the edge of the garden gazing up at me, his expression unfathomable in the moonlight.
Forty-Two
“Amelia?”
My heart fluttered as I watched Devlin move through the garden and mount the steps. He must have come straight from work because he still had on his usual attire of dress pants and crisp cotton shirt. He’d removed his coat and tie, and his shirt was unbuttoned at the throat so that I could see the gleam of the silver chain around his neck.
When he reached the top stair, he took my shoulders. Then his gaze scoured the porch behind me, an indefinable expression on his face as if he’d seen something he couldn’t explain. A shadow? A flicker of light? If he’d caught a glimpse of Mott, he would never admit it. He would search and search until he came up with a logical explanation.
“Everything okay?” he asked, leaning in to brush my lips with his.
As distracted as I was by Mott’s strange visit, my senses were still so attuned to the night that it almost seemed as if I could hear his beating heart through his clothing. The sound was deep, steady, primal. I put a hand to my chest, where my own heart still pounded. “Everything’s fine. You gave me a start, though. I had no idea you were coming.”
“It was spur of the moment.” He cocked his head. “Are you sure you’re all right? What are you doing out here on the porch so late?”
“It’s not that late, and why are you really here?”
“Dr. Shaw called. He said you had a scare today.”
“He shouldn’t have bothered you with that,” I said in annoyance. “You have enough to worry about right now, and anyway, nothing happened that I couldn’t handle.”
“What did happen?” He was still holding my shoulders, still studying my face in the moonlight. “What’s this about Louvenia Durant’s grandson following you?”
“I’ve seen him around in a few unexpected places, but I don’t think there’s any cause for alarm.”
Devlin was silent for a moment. “You’re being awfully cavalier about all this.”
“I don’t mean to be cavalier. But nothing happened with Micah Durant.” I summed up my interaction with the beekeeper in as succinct a manner as I could muster, but my brevity only deepened Devlin’s concern.
“This guy sounds like trouble. Did you contact the local authorities?”
“No, because he didn’t do anything. If he’d wanted to hurt me, he had ample opportunity when we were alone in Kroll Cemetery. But he never made a move toward me. He didn’t even threaten me. I think he just means to scare me off.”
Devlin’s grip tightened. “And what happens when you don’t scare off? You think he’ll just give up? I can tell you almost certainly that he won’t.”
I tried to shrug off his worry. “It may not matter anyway. I haven’t agreed to the restoration. Louvenia and I haven’t even discussed the details. Once she hears my price, she may decide she doesn’t need my services after all.”
“When are you meeting with her?” Devlin asked.
“Tomorrow morning at eight.”
He nodded. “That seems a good time for a conversation with Durant. It won’t hurt to let him know that you have a police detective watching your back. Maybe he’ll think twice before escalating his behavior.”
My hand flitted to his chest. “Are you sure you have time for all that? You don’t need to get back to your grandfather?”
“He’s in good hands, don’t worry. Tonight, I’m exactly where I need to be.” I saw the briefest of scowls before he curled an arm around my waist and drew me to him. When he bent to kiss me, I felt the cool brush of silver against my fingertips as the medallion slipped from his shirt.
So much power in this totem. So much history in this emblem.
I’d sworn not to dip back into Devlin’s past, not to use my newfound abilities to intrude upon his privacy. But before I could stop the process, my mind emptied and a flood of images stormed in.
I almost expected to find myself in the same disturbing tableau as before, but instead of hovering at the edge of the woods, observing Devlin and Mariama from afar, I found myself in a strange room that smelled of leather and old books. For a moment, I thought I was in Dr. Shaw’s office, that I must have slipped into a memory of Devlin’s time at the Institute. But the room was more opulent and orderly and it reeked of very old money.