Page 233 of Seer Prophet

I shook my head. “No. I think fewer lights in here is better.”

Revik made a low, humorous sound.

When I glanced at him, he smiled, too.

I want you watching,I sent, holding his gaze.I’m going to try with Lily first, so you can see what I’m doing.

He smiled, giving me a sharpof coursegesture with one hand.

Unfortunately, I caught the nuance there, too, which was something along the lines of:of course I will watch, of course… assuming I can see jack shit… since I have no idea what you’re talking about, wife…

As usual, Revik was more expressive with his body than his actual words.

“You said something about the Four,” Revik said next, still watching me intently. “What did that mean?”

I waved that off. “We can talk about that later. I would need to be out of here to look at that. Out of the tank, I mean. It’s really just an idea at this point.”

“But you think they can help with this?” he asked, pressing slightly. “Having all four of us in one place again?”

Hesitating, I gave a nod. “Yes.”

“In what way?”

“Revik.” I held Lily tighter. “I think I can do enough to get you and Lily free of the immediate problem with the Dreng. But you’ll both be light dependent on me. Like… really light dependent. I’m not sure what the actual effects of that might be.” Hesitating, I clicked softly. “I think with Terian and Cass, we might be able to do more.”

“What kind of more?” Revik asked.

“Likerealindependence. For Lily, anyway.” I gave him a faint smile. “You might be stuck with me, baby. Sorry.”

He just looked at me for a moment. Then I saw him let it go. I wasn’t off the hook totally; the conversation felt postponed, not off the docket.

Revik nodded slowly, his eyes thoughtful.

When he looked at me, I saw a flicker of conflict return to his expression.

“Allie, don’t take this the wrong way, but how do you know you can do any of this? I’m not asking for me, but for Lily. Did you see this in a dream? You seemed to know what you wanted to do before we even came in here. Is it from…” He trailed, coloring a little as he glanced at the wall speaker. He looked back at me. “…Is it something to do with last night? With why your light is different?”

I thought about that, a little stumped.

Looking down at Lily in my arms, I felt a corresponding flicker of doubt. It was there and gone. Once it began to dissipate, that warmer certainty continued to pulse.

“I have no idea,” I said truthfully. “Does that matter to you? Do you want me not to do it?”

Funnily enough, my answer didn’t freak him out. It might have freakedmeout, if he’d said the same thing to me in relation to our daughter’s life.

Instead, my blunt question seemed to stump him.

Then it made him laugh.

Clicking at me, he shook his head, still smiling. “No. It doesn’t matter. We seem to be running on prophet’s fumes these days anyway, love.”

I thought about his words.

As usual, he’d noticed something that was bothering me, although I hadn’t yet put a name to it, or even noticed it consciously.

It didn’t seem to bother him, though.

Even weirder, in looking at him, I could tell my words had reassured him somehow.

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