Page 41 of The Sisters of Crimson House

the answers

in these stars of mine.”

Sy watched them for a moment, then launched into his own verse.

“Born with sight

and cursed to bear it,

We share the star,

But the dead beware it.”

He took in the table’s collective shocked expressions.

“How do you know that?” said Charley.

“What?” he said, smug. “I’ve done my homework. Any skeptic worth their salt knows the lore around the Bryde family and the Seeker’s Star.” Sy nodded at Charley’s hand. “Is that what you think is happening to you?”

“Charley is turning into an X-Man,” Miranda said, deadpan.

Charley self-consciously clasped her hands. “No. I mean, I don’t know what’s happening to me. You know the poem. The women in my family are born with the Star. It doesn’t just pop up when…”

“Some random person touches you,” Sy finished for her.

“Exactly.”

They looked at each other, many questions going unanswered in their stare.

“I’d like to make an official appointment to discuss it,” he said finally. “I believe that’s the Black and Bell protocol?”

Astrid reluctantly nodded.

“Excellent. But maybe somewhere with better lighting,” he said, looking around the diner.

“That hundred thousand is just burning a hole in your pocket, isn’t it?” Charley said, her smile a challenge.

“I just need someone to provide a good reason to give it away,” he said, granting her a mysterious smile before heading toward he exit.

Miranda and Charley sat in silence as they watched him walk out of CK’s.

“You can’t trust him, Charley,” Miranda said after a long moment.

“I can handle him,” Charley said, annoyed.

“You don’t get it,” Miranda fired back, equally annoyed. “There’s something wrong with him.” Miranda stared at her sister, her face serious. “He tracked me down at a show in England, claimed he was doing research for school or whatever.” She waved her hand dismissively. “He sat in the theater night after night, and the box office was happy to keep taking his money. But then he kept waiting for me outside even though I told him I didn’t want to talk,” she said, visibly unnerved by the memory. “They finally had him bounced out of the place because he was yelling about our family being professional thieves and scaring the customers. Until I scared him back.”

Charley followed her gaze to Miranda’s hands, where she twirled a petite pearl-handled switchblade in her lap. Her eyes widened. “You pulled a knife on him?”

“I showed him I had one,” Miranda corrected. “And he left me alone after that.” She neatly folded the knife before stashing it in her bra. “Celeste taught me that there are some things worse than a dark spirit. It always pays to be prepared.”

“He found you overseas?” Charley didn’t know why that stung like a betrayal. All this time, she’d been rooted to the house and its occupants, kept in the dark to another life flourishing on another continent. Sy Prescott of all people had just casually walked right in and bumped up against the pointy end of a knife.

“You’re focusing on the wrong thing here. He’s a liar, and he’s not your friend,” said Miranda, her eyes focused on Charley.

“I know he has a habit of dropping in and announcing that to everyone who will listen.” She held up her palm so Miranda could see the V emblazoned on it. “But here’s the thing: He touched my hand, and I had my first vision.” She took a deep breath. “You just heard him say he saw the second one happen.”

Miranda closed her eyes like she was experiencing actual pain. “I’m not going to be able to keep you away from him, am I?” she said finally.