of detectives. In case the family history can’t be passed on, it’s the way of the Niteclifs. And historically there’s always been a choice to be made.” Bahlin scrubbed his hands over his face. “Your granddad and father both refused their legacy in order to raise their own families. But every third generation must accept by the age of thirty and pick up the mantle of service for a minimum of ten years. Certain skills are inherited to make this easier for each Niteclif. And now that there’s only you, and you’re also the third generation removed from your great-granddad. I’m afraid you’ve no choice in the matter.” An unrecognizable look passed over his face. Sympathy? Compassion? Maybe it was pity. “But, Maddy, there’s always a significant event that sets off the family tree when the verbal story can’t be passed on. You’ve had two events. First, you lost your parents. Then you say you wished upon a star, yes?”
I nodded.
“Do you remember which star it was?”
I arched one eyebrow at him and said, “Oh, sure, let me run out and point it out to you in the night sky. I don’t have a freaking clue which one it was, Bahlin! I think it was in the southern sky, not too bright. That’s all I know.”
“And which stone circle were you at?” he asked, still standing right in front of me.
“I thought it was Stonehenge… How many are there?” Panic fed into my voice.
Bahlin reached out to stroke my face again, and I calmed a little bit. He drew his eyebrows together and stroked me again. “Dozens.”
“Can I undo this if I get back to that stone circle?” I pulled away from his touch, desperation painting my voice. Maybe I didn’t want to change my reality so much after all. I hadn’t fit into my old life once my parents died; how was I going to fit into a new life here? Then I slowed down and thought about it. My parents were gone. No matter where I was, I was going to have to carve out a new spot for myself. There was no getting around that. Suddenly something Bahlin said earlier flashed through my mind, supernatural.
Bahlin, still stuck on my last question and not privy to the discursiveness of my mind, answered me. “I don’t know that it can be undone without serving the ten years, Maddy. Maddy?” He had picked up on a change in my facial features, probably noticing they’d gone slack with confusion.
“Supernatural?” I asked.
“What? What are you talking about?” He looked confused, running both hands through his hair and pushing it off his face. And then understanding dawned on him. He turned and walked back to the desk, seeming to gather himself with every step. He sat in the chair, shifting it slightly so it faced me. “Let’s work out the family tree issue first, yes?”
“Let’s pretend I can make the stretch and believe that my great-granddad, Aloysius, is who you’re claiming he was. Now go back to the supernatural statement. Explain it to me, please.” My knees had begun to shake and the reality of one of the dream men showing up in person really hit me. I sat abruptly, jarring my spine as I hit the floor. Delayed reaction sucks.
Bahlin jumped up in a flash of movement, intent on coming to me, but I held up my hand again. He sank back to his seat with a small sigh and leaned forward, forearms on his knees, face tilted slightly to the side. “Do you believe in anything supernatural?”
I folded my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them tightly in an effort to keep myself from falling apart. I gave a rigid shrug.
“I’m serious, Maddy. Okay, do you believe in mythology?”
“I don’t know,” I said through clenched teeth. “I’m not sure which mythology you’re referring to.”
“Much of it in general.” He had begun to look uncomfortable, his eyes finding anything to look at but me, and it was making me nervous. “For now, though, we’ll focus on the Isles.”
“The Isles?”
“The Emerald Isles—England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales. Because that’s where you were pulled to, isn’t it?” he asked as if he already knew the answer.
“I felt a need to be here, but I don’t think it was supernatural. I think it was simply a need to get out of my old life.” My death grip on my knees had rendered my hands numb, but I didn’t let go. “But there were the