“I’ll leave you to him, Doctor Clarke,” Poppy Elstone said, then she quit the room before Alec could protest.
* * *
Poppy saggedagainst the wall in the corridor, her heart racing a mile a minute as she tried to catch her breath. Goodness! What had Captain Galbraith said? Prometheans? Fire witches and warlocks? Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined that such a creature actually existed.
He’d called her a Seer! Was that what she was? It didn’t seem as though she saw very much and she understood even less than what she saw. The same was true for Laurel. Even after all these months, they were no closer to truly understanding their powers. So how could Captain Galbraith know her secret? Could he tell just from looking at her? Could everyone else tell something was different about her just from seeing her?
Poppy’s heart began to pound even faster and she felt light-headed.Please, please, please don’t let me faint.That was the last thing she needed. If only—
“Poppy!” her sister Georgie called from the far end of the corridor. “Papa is in his study.”
Which was good to know as Poppy had been avoiding their father all morning long. Once the dust settled from all the excitement of the previous night, he was going to expect answers to questions that he had not yet asked, and Poppy had no idea what she would tell him when that time came.
“He’d like a word with you and Laurel,” Georgie continued.
Poppy’s belly twisted anew with those words. She refused, however, to give her younger sister any ammunition against her. So she pushed away from the wall and swallowed down her fear. Papa was kind and gentle-natured, after all. She had never been afraid of him before. Surely, there was nothing to worry about now. So she steeled her shoulders and started toward her younger sister, hoping she presented an air of nonchalance that she did not feel.
“Did you faint?” Georgie asked once Poppy reached her side.
“Of course not.”
“Then why were you leaning against the wall?”
Oh! Little sisters were a plague for which there was no cure. “Just a bit light-headed is all.”
“So youdidfaint.” Georgie fell into step beside her.
“For pity’s sake! I did not faint!” Poppy scowled at her most irritating of younger sisters. “If I had fainted, I would have beenonthe floor. You do know how fainting works, do you not?”
“There’s no reason to bite my head off,” Georgie breathed out. “You and Laurel both have the worst temperaments today.”
And for the exact same reason, not that Poppy could admit as much. “Well, if you’re hounding her about fainting too, she has my condolences.”
Luckily, Georgie decided to take a detour to the music room and leave Poppy in peace for the rest of the journey to their father’s study.
Poppy knocked softly on Papa’s door and was met with a clear and crisp, “Enter!”
“You wanted to see me, Papa?” As she stepped into the dark-hued study, Poppy was relieved to discover that Laurel was there as well. At least they were in this together.
She crossed the floor and then slid her hand into her sister’s hold while their father held court in an overstuffed leather chair behind his large, mahogany desk. He did appear more foreboding than usual. That had to be her imagination, didn’t it?
Papa heaved a sigh. “Now that you’re both here, I would like one of you to tell me what exactly you were doing, wandering around the countryside in your nightrails in the dead of night.”
That was a very good question. It was the one Poppy would want answered if she was in her father’s place. Unfortunately, she did not have an answer that would appease him. She didn’t really have one that appeasedher. Great-Aunt Alora’s warning about telling Papa the truth about their magic echoed, once more, in her mind. On one hand, she wished to tell him all of it and be done with this torturous secrecy, but on the other—
“Poppy was sleepwalking,” Laurel blurted out.
Poppy’s attention snapped to her sister, stunned at the ease of which Laurel’s lie spilled from her lips. Honestly, Poppy hadn’t slept-walked in a decade. Papa would never believe—
“Snowy woke me up and I opened my door to let him out, and I saw Poppy headed down the steps. I could tell she wasn’t awake.” Laurel chanced a glance in Poppy’s direction.
“Sleepwalking?” Papa narrowed his eyes on Laurel.
Her sister nodded vigorously. “Caroline has always said we shouldn’t wake her when she’s in such a state, so I followed her instead to make sure she was safe.” Her sister took a staggering breath. “Once she was outside, I didn’t know what else to do, Papa. At that point, I couldn’t really head back inside for help or I might have lost her.”
Papa made a grumbling sound low in his throat, but he didn’t say anything to counter Laurel’s claim.
“So I just kept following her and then we ended up at the crossroads which was a bit of luck for Daniel and his friend, if you ask me.” Then she stood her tallest and said, “Clearly, it was providence that led us to them.”
