Page 140 of Blood and Moonlight

CHAPTER 55

Simon is hobbling up and down the passage between Athene’s front door and kitchen on a set of crutches when I return. He doesn’t even wait for me to come all the way through the door before he seizes me in a hug, letting both supports fall to the floor.

“I’ve been waiting more than an hour,” he says, pulling back to frame my face with his hands. I want him to kiss me but he doesn’t.

“Did you get what you needed?” Athene asks, coming up behind him.

“Yes and no.” I lean away from Simon, and he releases me. I still haven’t explained blood magick to him. “It was too rapid and disjointed. She was thinking of Simon a lot, but like she needed to tell him something.”

“Who needs to tell me something?” he asks.

I exhale heavily. “Juliane.”

Simon blinks. “You’re making it sound like you spoke to her.”

“In a way, I did.”

His eyes dart to Athene. “Is this another magick Selenae possess? Conversing with the dead?”

“Yes,” I answer. “But not all Selenae have it, and that’s not all it can do.” The look on his face is slightly terrified. I’m not sure my explanations will make him any less so.

“This discussion can come later,” Athene says. “Gregor is expecting us.”

If I want peace with my uncle, I ought to make an effort, but I’ve decided I need to return home tonight, if only so I don’t endanger the abbey should Oudin or the comte come looking for me. “I can’t,” I tell Athene. “Simon and I need to talk.”

My cousin frowns. “What should I say when Gregor asks where you are?”

I bend down to pick up Simon’s crutches for him. “Tell him I’m following my instincts, and he should let them play out.”

Athene leaves with a sigh, and I walk Simon back to the kitchen. He lowers himself onto a chair, groaning softly. “I don’t want to cause more conflict in your family.”

“It has nothing to do with you,” I tell him. “They sent me away. My return will be on my terms.”

Simon shifts in his seat uncomfortably. “Are you going to tell me how you spoke to Juliane?”

I look down at my hands to avoid his stare. “It’s less like talking and more like listening.”

“I’m listening.”

My fingers curl into fists. “Thoughts—mine, yours, everyone’s—are carried in our blood. When a person dies, the last thought remains.” Simon’s lips part with the first of at least a dozen questions, but I continue before he can get a syllable out. “I can hear them, either by touching blood or using a bloodstone.”

He closes his mouth and waits for me to elaborate.

“That’s pretty much it,” I say after a handful of seconds. “When it first started happening, I thought I was as mad asJuliane, hearing the voices of dead women. I was afraid to say anything.”

Simon smiles ironically. “I doubt I would’ve believed you.”

“But you believe me now? You don’t want a demonstration?”

The smile drops away. “You probably don’t want to hear my thoughts.”

I don’t tell him I already have.

“Is that all you can do?” His voice tight with anticipation. “Or is there more?”

I bite my lower lip. “There’s something else, but not even Gregor understands it. It’s one of the reasons he’s so eager to have me back.”

“And one reason you’re reluctant to return, I imagine.” Simon takes a deep breath. “So you went to listen to Juliane. Her blood. What did she say?”