Page 76 of Crossroads Magic
“She was trying to keep up with the Joneses,” Broch said.
“Joneses?” I asked.
“Trevalyan,” Benedict said. “He got rid of the demon who thought they’d move in. So she felt she had to at least match him in that.”
Trevalyan shook his head. “Shealwaystried. Damn it.”
Because she loved you. I gripped my coffee mug and sipped, instead of speaking.
“Is that an easy thing to do, invert a summoning token, Trev?” Wim asked.
Trevalyan shook his head. “It’s incredibly dangerous. If you don’t get it just right, the token will do what it’s designed to do, instead.”
I sat up. “Could that…maybe…that is what happened to her?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“Demons don’t steal a knife and stab someone they want to kill,” Benedict said, with an apologetic note in his voice. “They don’t have to use human weapons at all. Your mother would not have been left lying at the crossroads, if a demon had dealt with her. There would have been very little left of her for us to find.”
“Unless the demonwantedus to think a human killed her,” Wim said.
“To confuse everyone and send Anna on a quest to find a non-existent killer?” Broch asked. “Maybe…”
“Demons feed on disagreements and fear,” Juda said. “They feast upon doubt.”
“There are no demons near enough to feed on anything,” Trevalyan said, his tone firm. “I saw to it.”
“And you paid a price for it, too,” Wim added.
“Anyway, the token would have been with her, had she been trying to bury it,” Benedict said.
“Unless the demon took it,” Broch added, his tone thought-filled.
“Besides, nothing has been buried at the crossroad. Not for years,” Trevalyan added. “We’d all have noticed.”
“That’s true,” Wim said. “Olivia would complain about new potholes and we’d be spreading hot tar all over again.”
Everyone smiled.
“Here we go,” Hirom said, from behind me. He reached over the curved arms of my chair and Benedict’s and placed two tankards on the table. The tray he carried on his other hand held two more, which he put next to the first two.
As everyone reached for one of the tankards, except Broch, who kept hold of his empty one, Hirom touched my shoulder, drawing my attention back to him. “I meant to say, a minute ago. Ghaliya hasn’t been in the bar this morning and she always stops by.”
I handed Hirom my nearly empty mug and rose to my feet, while Hirom pulled out my chair. “Thanks,” I told him. “I’ll check on her.”
?
Ghaliya was still in bed.
I tapped on the door a second time, before intruding. “Ghaliya, honey…are you awake?”
Ghaliya didn’t move or respond.
I went over to the bed. She appeared to be asleep, but the flesh on her face was pure white. Any whiter, and it would be translucent. Her cheeks were hollow, the cheekbones standing out in an alarming way. Her face had lost all its prettiness. It was stark, now.
I put the back of my hand against her brow. Her body heat felt normal to me, but her skin was clammy.
“Ghaliya,” I said again, more sharply this time.
