“I expect an elected official to do something and keep people safe,” Rhiannon mumbled through gritted teeth as she shaved a corner a touch too sharply. Paloma could swear the tires of the right side of the car left the road for a brief moment.
“Well, here we have an elected official, and she is doing something,” Ceridwen said, and Rhiannon grunted, taking another turn, and the left wheels were definitely all the way in the air. Paloma gulped. Among the chaos, Rhiannon turned slightly to Seren and winked.
“Well, Ceridwen is right. You definitely are.” Rhiannon’s voice was full of self-satisfaction. “Doing all of this. Feeling Deryn, that is. So, Rennie, I expect my hundred dollars by tomorrow.”
Paloma stared. Ceridwen looked as if she had sucked on a lemon. Seren’s expression was nothing short of thunderous.
“This doesn’t prove shit, and you know it.”
Rhiannon cackled, not at all dissimilar to Victoria.
“It proves everything, andyouknow it.” She turned to Paloma in the back, and her voice held none of the glee fromearlier. “Just a minute more, and we will be there, and I hope it’s at the Tavern.”
“What’s happening?” Paloma stared at Ceridwen, since she really wanted Rhiannon to focus on the road, and Seren seemed pissed as hell.
“I think you can answer that question, Paloma. What are you feeling?” Ceridwen kept her hand in hers, her thumb still circling the spot where Deryn’s Fire once burned.
“Dread. Cold. Deryn…”
Rhiannon shot Seren another sideways glance before the wheels hit the curb, jostling all of them.
“And that, right there, is why I won that hundred fair and square, Rennie. All this pouting is totally useless.”
Seren rolled her eyes. Paloma bit her lip.
“I don’t feel her… I don’t know how to explain… I didn’t even know I was feeling her…”
Paloma trailed off, expecting Rhiannon to slam on the brakes. Instead, she parked the car smoothly right in front of the back door to the Tavern.
“These two might not know, and I think it’s half the reason Seren is pouting, but I know exactly how you feel. And if at any time in my life I stopped feeling Prudence, I’d be just as terrified as you.”
Paloma tried to grasp the deeper meaning of Rhiannon’s words even as Ceridwen was hauling her out of the car, still holding her hand. They reached the entrance first. It was locked. Ceridwen gave the handle a few extra jiggles to make sure.
Rhiannon looked around questioningly, but Seren was having none of that.
“Move!” was all she said. Paloma did not know what she was expecting Seren to do, but smashing the door open by kicking it in was not it.
Rhiannon shook her head and followed her inside, Paloma and Ceridwen on her heels.
“Deryn? Victoria?” Seren called as she ran ahead of them.
“Der! Aunt Vicky?” Rhiannon clacked in on her amazing heels, easily managing to keep pace.
“She really hates that name…” Paloma did not know why she said it. Yes, she’d heard Victoria say “never Vicky” so many times in their not-all-that-long acquaintance that it felt like not saying it would be a jinx.
“Maybe that will piss her off so much that she will hear it and come out?” Rhiannon huffed out a breath and finally stopped in the middle of the pristine, dark dining room. “Aunty?” she called once more, her voice echoing in the quiet space.
Seren peeked her head in from the kitchen.
“It’s empty in here as well, but…”
Ceridwen again pulled Paloma’s hand, and Rhiannon took the other one. They entered the kitchen together, the stainless steel surfaces gleaming. The silence was deafening. And yet… Paloma stopped and turned to the side, the emptiness inside suddenly lifting, becoming smaller, easier to carry.
“She’s here. Lynnie…”
Ceridwen lifted an eyebrow.
“That’s a name I haven’t heard in ages. Lynnie was our great-great-grandmother. She died in 1876?—”
