“At the hospital earlier, there was this woman in the lobby, with whoever was doing that press conference, and they said she was a lawyer.”
Hopefully, he was following her train of thought so far.
“I felt like I knew her from somewhere. Then she was on the news report when I was with Patience. Talking about what happened today. She sounded like some community leader trying to get people help and coordinate the response to today’s tragedies.” She repeated some of what the woman had said. “I really felt as if I knew her from somewhere. But I haven’t met her since I moved here, and where would I have seen her before?”
“Want to look her up?” He slid the phone from his pocket and set it on the counter.
“Oh, I guess we could do that.”
“Still thinking in analogue terms?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll have you know I looked up the Reverence Sisters today in theDominatusdatabase.” So much had happened that she couldn’t even assimilate it all. Maybe they both needed sleep, not just something unrelated to talk about. “Not that I found out anything. I’m just making conversation.”
Better than thinking about how she couldn’t talk to him about what had happened in the vault today.
Eliana concentrated on chopping her veggies rather than dwelling on memories she’d rather forget, because otherwise she was going to cut herself.
The rhythm of the action let her focus, and some of the confusion and stress slipped away. Too much was going on right now. Scary things were happening. She still wanted answers and couldn’t help wanting to write off all the danger and tragedy as a distraction. But it wasn’t as if God was trying to get her attention with other people’s pain or trying to make her lose focus on her goal.
She had work tomorrow, or she’d want to spend some time with her journal. Processing her thoughts about what wasgoing on around her while she struggled to make sense of the questions that had no answers.
She prayed for Carlos, that the consequences of today didn’t derail his career or cause him to lose his job entirely.
Then she prayed for Luci to be found safe, and free of someone who might mean her harm.
That made her think of the Dreamers, one now dead in an ugly way. So similar to Doctor Splitfield. She’d seen the nails and the way he was left. It wasn’t lost on her, and she’d heard Carlos mention the app.
Eliana bit her lip.Not my fight. Not my case.
And yet, it was going on around her, which meant she couldn’t escape it.
Don’t let me get caught in this web. Whatever it is.
She wanted to do her job, take care of Patience, and learn what she could aboutDominatusand her connection to it.
Was that too much to ask?
She didn’t want to be famous or some kind of hero like her parents. She didn’t want to singlehandedly fight crime. She wanted to live a quiet life where she could make a difference, but every sermon she had heard lately was about doing great things for God. Like she had to have a calling, the way Carlos did. That her life should be defined by amazing feats for the Lord, not just by living a humble life.
Knowing what she didn’t want to do, or what she’d been taught not to want, wasn’t really all that helpful. She wanted to be inspired to do something, preferably without seeing dead bodies. Maybe she would always wrestle with this. But it seemed like she needed to figure it out before she could let go of the restlessness—the part of her that felt as if she hadn’t found the answer.
Eliana dumped the veggies in the pan with the chicken and stirred.
“Here we go.”
She turned, and Carlos held out his phone, the screen facing her.
“Is this her?” he asked.
Eliana wiped her hands on a paper towel and took his phone. “That’s her. Lydia Rosenberg? The name doesn’t seem familiar. Why do I feel like I know her?”
Carlos took his phone. “Says here she was born and raised in Chicago. Went to Harvard, studied law, and graduated top of her class. No siblings. Parents are deceased. There’s a whole article about her on the city website. She’s a community liaison, and she’s the one who negotiated that agreement the pastor was talking about between the religious leaders in the community. To get them to work together.”
“So she uses her powers for good.” Eliana stirred the food in the pan while it hissed and sizzled. “That’s useful to know. However, I feel like I know her, or if I don’t, it seems like she’s doing good for Chicago.”
“Maybe she came through the museum, or you passed her at the grocery store, and she stuck in your mind.”
“Could be. It feels like something I should remember, but I don’t.” Like a dream she couldn’t quite recall. Certainly, an odd feeling. “Turns out I’d rather puzzle over the mystery of where I know her from than think about dead people across the hall. Or the craziness of today.” She shut off the burner and pushed the pan to the back of the stove, turning to Carlos. “Am I in denial?”
