Page 68 of Crown of Tides and Fury

“Perhaps he’s explained himself in here.” Brian gestured to the book and started turning pages.

“If it is, I shall find it later. If ye’ll go to the end of the next section, Brian…”

Wickham pinned a fresh white poster to the wall and wrote with the fat black marker…

Fallon

I went back to my seat and locked eyes with Persi. She bobbed her eyebrows briefly, then looked away. There was something in the air, and she smelled it too.

Kitch kept his hands on his keyboard and waited for the next name from Brian.

Flann went to the bar and poured a drink, then sat on the stool beside Ivy, who was lost in her own thoughts. Maybe she was already missing her son. She’d left him with his aunts, Loretta and Lorraine, and, except for the survivors from Muirsglen, the rest of the household in Edinburgh were from Wickham’s trusted circle. Wouldn’t that make it easier to let the kid have some time away from home?

That, at least, was something I would never have to deal with.

“Yeah, right. Here we go now.” Brian skimmed, then tapped on the book. “The last name mentioned in the Thessa section is a Roberta Moore Parsons, aka Rinky. Last known whereabouts is Bor, South Sudan. With a name like Rinky, I reckon she shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

We all waited patiently for Kitch to do his magic.

“Roberta (Rinky) Moore Parsons, residence Kings Avenue, Watford, UK. Assistant to the Director at the UNFCCC. Let’s look…” He took another minute. “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.” He checked his second screen. “Looks like she won’t be attending this year. Arrested in Glasgow while protesting the COP26. Currently…here we go. Roberta Moore, alias Rinky, currently incarcerated in Gatesville, Texas awaiting trial for Manslaughter.

“Looks like someone was killed during a protest over oil contracts—a protest she organized. Trial date has not been set. A conflict with the British government. Looks like the UN is getting involved.”

“Charged, not convicted?”

“Aye. Not yet.”

Wickham wrote on the wall…

Roberta (Rinky) Moore Parsons

“Right, then. Who’s next?”

Alwyn and the girls came through the door with a tray of hot scones and fruit skewers, which they passed around the room while Brian announced the next Naming Power on the list.

“Gilliam. War and Peace. Last name entered is Bailey Ann Rosier. Hopkinton, Massachusetts.”

“Ope.” Everly nodded at her laptop. “She’s on Facebook. A funny place for a peace-lover, huh?” She shook her head. “Not home at the moment. Looks like…she’s in Ukraine. There are pictures here…she’s working with José Andrés, World Central Kitchen.”

“This might sound callous,” Persi said, “but…we may want to get to Bailey sooner, rather than later. If something happens to her, the power of Gilliam will be born in another. It would be years, maybe decades, before we track it down again.”

Wickham scowled at the floor, then took a breath and shook off whatever he’d been considering. He wrote Bailey’s name on the chart. “Next.”

Alwyn left the trays on the bar and followed Meral and Reem out the door. Brian shuffled through the precious book like an unprepared student caught off guard by the teacher and expected to know the answer.

“Deona…Deona. Creation and Destruction, is that right? Or was it Art and Destruction?”

“Art and Creation are one in the same,” Ivy offered. “But I suppose there can be creation without art. Our old barn was proof enough of that.”

Urban and Kitch laughed.

“Another female,” Brian said. “The last known possessor of Deona’s power is Felicity Orley, Detroit Michigan.”

Kitch found her first. “Owner of Sustainable Orchid and Orley Group, Architecture and Demolitions. Looks like she enjoys both sides of her coin.”

Wickham wrote the name. “Next!”

“Palida. Light and Darkness.”

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