Jason turned the pouch over in his hand and then stared at her, broken and devastated by loss yet again. She’d blamed him, she knew, but that wasn’t the whole of it. She had blamed herself so much more. But she had needed somewhere to direct the pain and the guilt. She had been in an entirely different country when it had happened. Her brother had been the obvious target, whether it was warranted or not.
And Jason had willingly taken all that blame and added it to his own.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
Ari smiled. ‘A charm of protection. It’s an old tradition. Put it somewhere safe.’ And she hugged him as hard as she could.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Laure was carrying about a dozen carrier bags, all from high-end stores from Quimper. She must have left at the crack of dawn to get there, buy all this and come back.
‘The roads were crazy,’ she said in her usual bright tones. ‘You should have seen it on the—’
‘Laure,’ Rafael stopped her. ‘There’s been a drowning.’
She went white. The blood just drained out of her face and her hands went limp, the bags falling from her hands.
‘Wh-what?’
But her eyes fixed on Rafael. Because she knew as well as he did that it should have been him. That he could be the next.
‘This morning. Or last night. At thefest noz.’
She looked thoroughly bewildered. ‘But…butIwas at thefest noz!’
As if that made a difference. She knew these stories as well as he did. She’d grown up with Mémé too. And the women of his family were the ones to survive. They were the ones who carried those legends, who held the lore.
But for his sister, everything in the world centred around her own self. It always had done. She was Yvette du Lac’s daughter to the core.
‘You were?’ Mémé asked. ‘I thought you went out with the Morvan girl.’
‘I did,’ she replied. ‘We did. But it was just thefest noz. Mémé, remember? I told you. What happened?’
Their great-aunt dropped her gaze and didn’t answer.
‘Who was it?’ Laure pressed on.
Rafael swallowed hard. She wasn’t going to stop and the louder her questions, the more likely it was Ari and Jason would hear her. He didn’t want them any more upset than they were. Mémé had done enough in that respect. ‘One of the divers staying at Ty Elen.’
She drew in a single breath and her face went white.
‘Who?’ The tremble in her voice was unmistakable.
Rafael frowned and Mémé’s hand tightened on his arm. Was that a warning? But a warning of what? Maybe just not to start a fight with his sister right now. As simple as that.
In theory anyway.
‘His name was Thierry,’ he replied. ‘Thierry Jacquet. From Les Sables-d’Olonne originally.’
‘Oh,’ Laure said at last. ‘I…I’m sorry. What happened?’
He fixed her with his sternest glare. What did she think happened? ‘We don’t know any details. I’m waiting for word from Alain Vannier. He’s in charge of the investigation. The body was found this morning, in Pors Sirène, by two of his friends.’
She made a small ‘o’ with her mouth, her eyes very wide. ‘But…oh, that’s awful. Was he drinking? Of course he was; everyone drinks at afest noz. Did he go in the water? What do they think—’
A sound from the other room made Rafael look around and he frowned. He really didn’t want Ari and Jason to hear Laure speculating.
But it was Mémé who interrupted this time. ‘Enough, Laure, help me to my room. I am tired and need to rest. This has all been most exhausting.’
