Cursed Sight

by T. G. Ayer

  When had he suddenly taken such interest in her medical well being?

  When you were almost shot to death? a voice murmured in her head.

  Even the voice in her head was acting odd.

  Allegra waited until Max sat back. “So? Am I cleared? Will I live?”

  Max nodded, ignoring her attempt at lightening the mood. Instead he looked over at Les still standing just inside the door. Her skin was pale, and she looked like she’d just seen a ghost.

  “Could you give us a minute?” he asked softly.

  Les hesitated, her gaze going from Max’s face to Allegra’s. She stared for a moment at Allegra, her expression confused, her mouth opening as if to ask a question.

  But Max cut her off. “Les? Please?” He got to his feet and walked over to the other woman. His ex. Allegra had to keep reminding herself of that fact. Why did it not rip her apart with jealousy? Oh maybe because she and Max were not in a relationship so she didn’t have a say in who he saw, or what he did in his personal life.

  She shook the thoughts off and Max returned to sit beside her.

  “What is it? You look like I took a sledgehammer to your skull.”

  He snorted. “I’d say that’s just about what you did.”

  Allegra frowned, more confused than ever. Then she thrust the thoughts from her head. “Look. I can’t get distracted or waste any time, Max. I have to relay what I saw before I forget the details.” She shifted to the side of the bed, pausing when the room began to spin a little too fast.

  Max put a hand on her shoulder. “Stop. Just sit there for a few more minutes. You can’t just go rushing off. You’re not even healed from the bullet wound. You had no business going into a vision now of all times.”

  Allegra snorted. “Oh? That’s because I know exactly how to summon the damned things, huh?”

  Max began to pace. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. It’s just that things have gone a little off the plot.”

  “At least you had a plot,” muttered Allegra as she scooted up the bed to lean against the pillows. “I’m still wondering if such a thing as a plot exists in my strange life.” She was musing, and so hadn’t expected Max to respond.

  “You’ll have to forgive me. I’ve been a little unfair to you,” he said, startling her.

  She watched him warily, unsure if she really wanted to hear this terribly ominous revelation.

  “The vision you just had-”

  Allegra gasped, reminded that the details of that vision were slowly disintegrating. “Max, I have to tell you everything.”

  He looked up at her and simply said, “You’ve already told me.”

  “What?” Allegra said, her voice so soft she may as well have whispered.

  Max nodded. He leaned across Allegra’s knees and picked up the pad and pencil. Without a word, he handed it to her and got to his feet to pace as she flipped through the pages.

  His script was long and dramatic, giving the contents an even deeper resonance. Or perhaps that came from Allegra having experienced it firsthand.

  Or was it secondhand given that it was a vision?

  She focused on the words, seeing Max had taken down almost everything she’d said, with only a few blank spaces; likely moments when she’d been speaking too fast for him to keep up.

  As Allegra stared at the words, a thought made her stiffen. She’d spoken the words of the vision out loud.

  She looked up sharply. Although his back was to her he seemed to sense her attention, and pivoted on his heel to meet her eyes. Allegra’s stare penetrated Max’s hooded gaze, even as her heart sank.

  “Celestra was in the room?”

  Max nodded. “She heard every word you said.”

  Chapter 26

  The silence in the room hung between them, heavy and almost tangible. Max shifted, his hands searching his waist for a place to hide, for something to do that would mask the tension in his muscles, the tight grip of his fists.

  He nodded and sank onto the bed. “It was too late. You scared us, and Les . . . she didn’t want to be anywhere else.”

  “You should have known better,” said Allegra, her tone hard and cutting. “We cannot allow her to get too involved in our mission. You of all people should know that.”

  He nodded and rested his elbows on his thighs to support his head in his open palms. “I wish I could change what happened. But you were so . . .” He shook his head and straightened, twisting in position to face her. “There isn’t time beat around the bush. What happened today was dangerous. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can know.” He gave her a harsh look.

  Allegra shook her head, not sure what she was supposed to take from that. “You mean because I spoke my vision out loud?”

  Max took a breath and got to his feet. “The last time a Pythia spoke her dreams without assistance, dreams not attributed to Apollo, she was crucified, then burned alive. Roman rule at the time didn’t suffer witchcraft, nor did they parse too much of a difference between seer’s visions and demonic worship.”

  “So, you’re afraid that if people found out I voiced my visions without the need of an interpreter-” Allegra stiffened. “Wait one moment.” She lifted her hand, waving it in the air to stop Max as he opened his mouth to speak.

  “I needed to tell you something else. Another vision that I had of Cathenna.”

  “When?” Max stared at her in confusion and then, his expression cleared. “The stabbing.”

  Allegra gave a half nod. “We haven’t had much of an opportunity to talk.” Then she let out a soft laugh. “It was such a strange, confusing vision, and in the end such a terrible one that I think I may have needed time to absorb it.”

  “You certainly did absorb it with that stab wound.”

  “It wasn’t really a wound. More like a phantom memory of what Cathenna had experienced.” Allegra took a shaky breath. “But it’s probably best that I explain it to you.”

  Max nodded then glanced at the door.

  And Allegra said, “But it can wait until after we talk to Les. She needs some comfort and it’s probably best she isn’t left alone for too long. Not right now.”

  “You think she’s in danger even within the embassy?”

  “Maybe. But it’s not the external dangers I’m worried about. We need to know what she is thinking. For her own safety.”

  Max nodded and headed to the door. He opened it and poked his head out into the living area. A moment later he stood aside to let Les in. She entered bearing a tray of iced teas and light snacks—mainly cheeses, cut fruit and breads. She set the tray on the bed and sat beside Allegra, her expression somber.

  “You need your strength if you want to get better faster.” Without looking at Allegra she prepared a plate, handing it over with a serviette. The last thing Allegra wanted to do was eat, but the tremor in Les’s hands as she passed the food had forced Allegra to remember that there was more to this picture than just her own emotional turmoil.

  She ate while Max fiddled with the papers and picked at the cheese and grapes on his own plate.

  A few minutes later, Allegra said, “So you heard it all?”

  Les shrugged a single shoulder. “I should have known to be more careful and not touch you.” Her voice was dull, as if she was too tired to care.

  Allegra leaned forward. “Regrets are only regrets because they are too late.” She shook her head, the movement drawing Les’s gaze. “It was so different. Things changed this time. The vision itself had changed in so many ways and yet, the outcome was the same.”

  Les’s face was pale as her gaze drifted to Max, seeking reassurance in his eyes. She didn’t find it. Max’s attention was focused on the sheaf of papers in his hand.

  Allegra touched Les’s arm and when the woman flinched, Allegra said, “Don’t worry. I suspect I won’t see anything more at least for a day or two.” Then she paused, still holding Les’s gaze. “I need you to be totally honest with me, Les. Have you been entirely truthful with me?”

 
Les paled, her gaze shifting away from Allegra’s for the briefest moment. “I am. I promise. I’ve told you all I know.”

  Despite Les’s words, Allegra had a strange sense that the woman was lying.

  With a shake of her head Allegra sat back, her spine stiff as she searched her memories. And unexpectedly, they came rushing back in such a wave of images and emotions that tears flooded her eyes and she had to blink rapidly to hide them.

  Her vision shifted and the memories of the apartment were overlaid upon her room. She saw Celestra’s bloodied corpse like a movie projected upon the image of the doomed woman, still alive and well, her eyes lined and her shoulders bowed.

  “The apartment?” Allegra said, her words making Les flinch. “Do you know the place?”

  Les shook her head, staring at Allegra in confusion. Max cleared his throat. “Some of it I missed. And at some point your words were . . . garbled.”

  Allegra nodded, feeling her heart filling with dread. She’d hoped she’d have the easy way out, but now she was forced to repeat what she’d seen, give voice to Celestra’s horrific death, hear her own word falling like jagged spikes filled with fear.

  Max’s gaze said she really had no choice. And so she inhaled slowly and described the room, the pale tiles, the billowing curtains and the view of a dark and terrible sky.

  Through the transparent vision of the room, Allegra could see Les’s pale, shocked face as she described the blood trail and the bedroom filled with shadows and death.

  She finished her retelling, keeping one crucial detail to herself. The time wasn’t yet right and she wanted to hear more from Les first.

  When the room was silent and all she could hear was Les’s ragged breathing and the scraping of Max’s pencil on his pad of paper, Allegra leaned forward.

  Les had been staring out the window at the view of the gigantic Pyramid of the Emperor, and Allegra’s movement drew her gaze. There was a blank, emotionless quality within their depths that made Allegra’s heart clench.

  Allegra swallowed and said, “Do you know the apartment, Les?”

  Celestra couldn’t evade Allegra’s gaze, nor could she avoid answering the question. She gave a sharp nod. “It’s my apartment back at the Capital.” Fear flitted across her face and her expression faded to ice. “Why did you have to do this to me?” she asked, her tone rising as she got to her feet and glared at Allegra.

  Max stirred, glancing up from his writing. “Les?” he said, a note of warning in his tone.

  “Don’t Les me. You know what she did. Why did she have to come here and put me in this position? If she’d just left everything alone, just stayed out of everyone’s business, these stupid visions of hers wouldn’t come true.” Les snapped her gaze to Allegra, her eyes now hard and angry. “What they say about you is true. You’re nothing but an interfering bitch, pushing her way into things that don’t concern her.”

  Allegra’s jaw dropped. She’d expected a dramatic reaction, but not one filled with hysteria and paranoia. She glanced helplessly at Max, and was disappointed to see her worries reflected in his eyes.

  He got to his feet as Les continued, “If you know what’s good for both of you you’ll take her and leave this place. Before you cause more innocent people to be killed.”

  Max reached out and put his arms around her, and then she began to cry, pushing Max away and swiping the heel of her hand across the stream of tears on her cheeks. “Get out of here, go!” She screamed the words, and Max grabbed her by the shoulders giving her a solid shake.

  “Les,” he said, keeping his tone even and calm.

  Whether it was his voice, or the mention of her name, Les fell silent, her body shuddering as if in shock. Her words came out in a whisper. “Dear Hera . . . the bear.”

  Something was very, very wrong here and Allegra meant to find out what it was. But one thing was clear.

  Now was not the time.

  Allegra wasn’t entirely sure what Les was talking about, or what bear she referred to. For a moment she stilled, as if something at the edge of her memory was waving out to be heard, but try as she might she couldn’t quite grasp hold of it.

  Allegra knew she’d missed something crucial but she couldn’t put a finger on it.

  For now, she would have to put it at the back of her mind and deal with the problem at hand.

  “Allegra?” Max’s voice broke through her worries.

  “Sorry . . . what?” she asked, distracted.

  “Can you try to recall anything that would help us pinpoint a time? Anything you can remember just to be sure it’s not in the immediate future?”

  Allegra nodded and sank into the memory again, going through it frame by frame to pick it all apart.

  She shook her head. “Maybe the moon? But that’s hard because you’d have many options and you’d likely be able to pin a time of the month on it from the fullness of the moon, but you’d have an opportunity once a month for Apollo knows how many years.”

  Max was silent, and Les shrugged his arm away, giving him an apologetic look. He didn’t seem to notice either the rejection or the regret. “She still dies.”

  Allegra nodded even though it hadn’t been a question.

  “What can we do?”

  “I don’t know.” Allegra sighed, her shoulders bowed now as her strength began to fade.

  “We have to get her out of Qusqu. Fast.”

  Allegra shook her head. “You’ll likely just send her to her death. We avoided her death here, but the very fact that this vision shows her death now taking place in her home in the Capital means we didn’t save her. We just postponed her death.”

  “Then what do we do?”

  “What we can’t do is put Les in danger.” Allegra nodded. She had a plan and she hoped Max would agree. She wasn’t sure how he’d feel, considering her choice of destination, but it was as good a plan as she could come up with on the spot.

  She looked up at Max who suddenly appeared to have aged decades.

  “We take Celestra away with us.”

  Chapter 27

  “What do you mean the Pythia was shot?” Langcourt shook with fury. “What did you do?” he spat, glaring at Roquefort who stood behind him with a stiff spine.

  “I assure you, sire, I did nothing to instigate such an act.” The man’s voice quavered and Langcourt felt only slightly comforted that he would not have been responsible.

  “Then will you find out who is behind it?” Langcourt stabbed a finger onto the desk, pressing so hard that his joints bent at a dangerous angle. “I want the woman dead, but it must be by my own hand. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is allowed to kill her besides me. I want her brought to me alive. Do you hear me? Alive.”

  Roquefort nodded, then scurried out of the room, leaving Langcourt still vibrating with anger. He took his finger off the table, feeling the slight twinge in the joint from the pressure. He massaged the bones and glared at the stone-walled room. He felt impotent, unable to do anything without someone else doing it for him. He hated being so removed from the agents who were doing his bidding. Hated not being in total control of the local priests and their cults.

  The room was bright, filled with light, the late afternoon sunshine giving the gray stone a golden glow. Still, he longed for home, even if it meant dull and dreary Londinium skies.

  He’d given his instructions to Roquefort, to make the arrangements to capture Allegra Damascus. Though the last time he’d wanted her in his custody it had been for the sole purpose of sacrifice. And he’d been determined to do just that, despite the disagreement of his brothers in the Society of Hermes.

  In the end, she’d escaped. Someone had aided her, but Langcourt had no way of knowing who. Especially not since his entire estate had been blown to smithereens.

  Perhaps that had been a tad of an overreaction, but he had managed to kill a good number of the Brittanic policemen who had raided his home.

  After Allegra had escaped she must have reported her abduction to the polic
e, but Langcourt had been certain she’d had no way of knowing who he was, or where she’d been held captive.

  So he suspected it had been an inside job.

  Not Roquefort, of course. The man wasn’t bright enough to plot behind Langcourt’s back that way.

  Still, Langcourt supposed given the Pythia was still alive, he still had his chance to capture her for his own requirements. He just had to be smarter and faster.

  Langcourt still had one ace up his sleeve.

  His mole at FAPA was still feeding him good intelligence.

  And what he’d last heard had made him want to rail at the gods at the injustice of it all. Again he was thwarted by one of the Oracle’s prophecies. From the word going around at FAPA, Allegra was in Qusqu investigating a prophecy which had something to do with major citywide destruction. His contact knew no more than that.

  Which was understandable, yet supremely frustrating.

  Langcourt had had little contact with the rest of the elite from Hermes, but word—from those who were still his men to command—was everyone had agreed it was in the best interest of the whole Society that the Pythia be left alone. They were still strongly convinced that Allegra was important to the world.

  Langcourt disagreed.

  The other members were cowards, afraid of their own tails, afraid to take danger by the horns, afraid to endanger their standing in the community, within society.

  Hidden in a room beneath his estate, they’d been men who’d appeared brave, determined, courageous. But now, given the opportunity to act upon those same principles they backed away like cowards. Langcourt had to wonder if some of those very men had turned on him, had redirected their loyalties, as the rich elite found it all so easy to do.

  And so now he was at an impasse with them. They’d decreed that the Pythia will live. But Langcourt had never been the type of man to bow to another man’s rules. He’d do what he wanted. Especially when it came to the Pythia.

  He had history with her and her lineage going back two entire millennia.