CHAPTER TWELVE

Too Much Information

I scrutinized Marcy over the rim of my teacup. The firelight shone on her blond hair and burnished the two thin plaits keeping the wavy mass off her face. Dark eyes studied me in return. Friendly, sincere, eager eyes. The 'beginning' I supposed must start with her unexpected knowledge and unquestioning acceptance of me.

'How do you know me? Wha...who I am, I mean?'

'Ross told me of course.'

'And who are you?' I asked.

'You already know that, I'm Marcy, Marcy Nix. A friend of Ross.'

'How did you know I was coming here tonight?'

'Oh, I didn't, at least not tonight. But I hoped I would get the chance to meet you soon.'

'You said, when we arrived, that Ross had chosen to do the right thing. What did you mean by that?'

'Ah, now we are coming to it. But I am afraid that part of the story isn't mine to tell. Ross will have to explain that when he's ready. Suffice to say Ross and I agreed that should the right circumstances arise he would bring you here. You'll be safe here and I'll be able to help you.'

'Thank you but as I said, I won't be here long. I have to leave tomorrow.'

She raised an eyebrow and I added, 'There are people back home who need me. I should really have gone tonight but I have no way to get there until I get my things from a friend's flat and.... What?'

Marcy had turned questioning eyes to Ross.

'You can't go home. Not yet.' Ross said flatly.

'Ross,' Marcy objected.

I felt a stab of panic. Beatrice and Henry. They had to leave. They had to be warned.

'There are people at home who... I mean, at the clinic, Jeremy said that people I care for would be in danger if I left before he said I could. I have to get them somewhere safe.'

'And what will you tell them to persuade them to leave?' Ross asked maddeningly. 'That there is a crazed bunch of super-humans after them? Threatening to kill them? And then you would need to tell them why they were being threatened. How would you do that, Grace? Would they believe you? And supposing they did, what would that do to them. And where would they go? They're not young. Would you keep them moving from safe house to safe house? For how long? Weeks? Months? Years?'

All the while he spoke I could feel my panic ratcheting up, a little more, a little more, 'I don't know,' I bellowed and my cup rattled on its saucer. 'But I have to do something. I can't sit here while those two are... while Leon and Karl...' hot furious tears trickled down my face and I brushed them aside. 'I have to do something.'

'We agree,' Ross said.

'We?'

'My family have agreed to keep watch on them until this is straightened out.'

'Beatrice and Henry won't want a bunch of strangers in their home either. That would terrify them.'

'They won't even know they are there.' Ross said.

A tiny flame of hope struggled to grow but I pushed it down. 'Your family, have they, I mean do they do this kind of thing often? Are they...'

'Competent?' he finished for me and I felt my face flush. 'They are very good at what they do. Your Penningtons will be safer than they have ever been in their lives.'

He sounded so sure and Marcy gave a quick nod of agreement.

'Why? Why would you help me with this?'

They exchanged a quick look.

'Because we wanted you out of the clinic's reach and if doing that means protecting people you love then that is what we are prepared to do,' Ross said.

There was a pause.

'I don't understand,' I said at last. 'Why was it so important to get me away from the clinic? So important that you've dragged your whole family into this mess. And why would they agree to help? They don't even know me. Do they?' I asked uncertainly.

'They agreed because I asked them to,' Ross said. He sounded as if he expected nothing less of them.

Infuriating. But I had to admit to myself I was somewhat reassured. Both Ross and Marcy seemed supremely confident in the plan. At least the part about keeping the Pennington's safe. My own safety had not been spoken of with the same degree of confidence.

'So, now that's settled,' Marcy said. 'Can I look forward to working with you?'

'Sorry, working with me?' I asked, perplexed.

'Ross, have you told her nothing at all?'

He continued to stare into the fire his face unreadable. Marcy sighed, 'A trait of the breed I'm afraid. Chronically closed-lipped. I hope to be able to teach you ways to control your new powers, Grace. It's one of the reasons Ross chose me as your safe house. You see, I am a necromancer too.'

She smiled at my shocked face.

'You're a, I mean you see ghosts? Can talk to them?'

She nodded, 'But we both know it's a lot more than that.'

'Not if I can help it,' I muttered.

'Why?'

'Excuse me?'

'Why, 'not if I can help it'?'

I was nonplussed. She said she was like me and yet she couldn't understand why I felt the way I did? 'Because. Because it's not normal and it can get you into a lot, and I mean a LOT of trouble.'

'What can? Being seen speaking to people no one else can see?'

'Well, yes.'

'How long is it since you did that, Grace. Before the clinic I mean.'

I was getting irritated again. Good manners, I reminded myself, we were after all in her house. The exhaustion I was feeling from the day's events took the edge off my temper and I managed a reasonably civil, 'I don't know. Years probably. I've learned to control myself better since then.'

'No, you have learned to suppress it better. There is a huge difference.'

'No, there isn't. I can control,' I put probably a little too much emphasis on the word, 'things just fine.'

'That's your choice of course. I can't force you to learn. But the chances are you will find that your abilities have changed. Your original abilities I suspect are now stronger and deeper maybe, but you almost certainly will have new ones too. That was the clinic's intention from the start.'

'I'm not sure I understand you. Either that or you have totally misunderstood the situation. I know they were giving me drugs to lower my control but that will wear off. It's already beginning to wear off in fact. I noticed that only an hour or so ago.'

'You have been here almost an hour,' she said.

I frowned, 'Yes I know.'

'And you must know the drugs they were giving you were not only to lower your control.'

'Of course they were, and they were working, believe me.'

Marcy shot Ross a furious look. For all the notice he seemed to be taking of the conversation he could have been playing door-warden again.

'Grace, they weren't trying to suppress your control, and though no doubt they did that too. But it was not their primary goal. Their aim was to develop any dormant powers you may have and to further develop those which had already manifested.'

'No, you're wrong they showed me the people they were trying to help. I saw...'

'And it has been our experience,' Marcy continued, 'that the effects of the drugs do not wear off. Not entirely anyway.'

I could not speak. Why would she lie about this? The effects were already wearing off. I felt more at peace now than I had done for a long time. Why had Ross brought me here? Why was he staying silent? Guilt? What did they want with me? The awful feeling I had made a terrible mistake trusting Ross was growing. It started as a tingling in my fingers and toes and spread rapidly to my stomach. Why did I feel so betrayed? What was I expecting? Some kind of loyalty? I put my cooling tea on the little table with my untouched cake and stood up. 'I think, if it's all right with you, I would like to go to bed now.'

'Yes, you must be tired. There's just one thing I want you to be aware of before I take you to your room, Grace.'

I made no response.

'You said that you felt the effects of the drugs were wearing off by the time you got to this street.'

I nodded.

'The street is warded, Grace. Despite the CSC's edict that your existence must not be made known to others in the community. Some friends and I got together and found a way to exclude the majority of unwanted spirits in preparation for your hoped-for arrival. It's not the drugs wearing off, it's the careful crafting of some powerful spells by very powerful witches.'

'Witches,' I echoed and heard the disbelief in my voice.

Ross dropped his eyes to the carpet.

The smallest hint of a smile touched Marcy's eyes. 'Yes, witches.'

The room Marcy showed me into was as homely as the living room had been. It was feminine without being frilly, comfortable without being shabby. Marcy bid me good night as she closed the door behind her. I sat heavily down in the armchair at the cold fireplace.

Witches? Was she serious? What in the name of god was I going to do?

'Get a grip, Grace,' I muttered. I took a deep breath and dropped my shoulders, closed my eyes, took a few slow deep breaths to lower my heart rate, and began taking stock. Fact number one, I was out of the clinic. Fact number two, Ross had helped me escape. Fact number three, my abilities along with my temper were barely under control. These three things were undeniable. A place to start.

But then there were all the things I had been told but could not absolutely prove. The biggest being that the clinic had been giving me drugs not only to lower my control but to increase the abilities I knew about and, even more unlikely, to develop abilities I knew nothing about.

Why?

And what about Marcy? Was she really a necromancer. The word still grated on my nerves. Or was she lying? And if so, why? Could I believe anything she said? I carefully opened my mind and felt for ghosts. Again I felt none nearby but there was something, not spirit, it was more like a wall. A barrier out at the edge of my perception. I tried to push past but it flexed and pushed me back with such force I had to grab the arms of the chair to steady myself. I had never experienced anything like that before. I felt dizzy and disorientated. Thankfully it faded after a second or two. Could that be the barrier supposedly erected by friends of Marcy? Her witch friends? Witches? Really? I mean I knew that people chose to become witches. It was a life choice I had always supposed. But I couldn't see them being able to create anything like the barrier I had just felt. Could they? Marcy believed so. Yes, I thought, Marcy had truly believed what she had told me. How did I know that? How could I be so sure? But I was. I knew, simply knew, without doubt, that Marcy was telling me the truth. At least the truth as she knew it. When I thought about what she had said I felt as though I was standing on solid ground. I turned my thoughts to Ross. He had said his family would guard Beatrice and Henry. Again the earth remained firm but there was a weak area. Where? What was causing it? Not his promise. That was sound. What then? There was a tap on the door and my concentration broke. I opened my eyes. The tap came again.

'Come in.'

I stood to meet Marcy as she came into the room with an armful of clothes.

'I thought you might like these,' she said putting some fresh pajamas and a dressing gown on the end of the bed.

'Thanks.'

'You tested the barrier,' she said.

'What?'

'The barrier Anne and Vicky erected. Hope it didn't give you too much of a jolt.'

'How did you know?'

'I felt it. There's a lot for you to learn, Grace. We'll take one step at a time. Get some sleep, we can start in the morning if you feel up to it.' She left closing the door softly behind her.

Tears stung my eyes unexpectedly. Sadness, a deep sadness, loneliness, fear, helplessness, uncertainty. All the emotions I had suppressed for more than a week suddenly swamped me and I curled up on the bed and cried.

The pale-blue light of dawn was showing through the windows when I woke. It took a second or two for reality to replace confusion. Then the sick feeling returned. I felt as though I were about to venture out into a minefield and one wrong move would bring disaster on me and the people I cared about.

I rose, showered, and redressed in my crumpled clothes.

'Well, ready or not, here I come,' I muttered. I straightened my spine and went in search of coffee.