Dark Choices - I. T. Lucas Page 0,50

that should be interesting. The Chinese have a lot of superstitions.”

“They don’t allow women on the construction site,” Kian said. “That’s why I chose to show you the lots from an elevated spot instead of going down there.” He turned to Syssi. “Talking to Mark was your idea, so perhaps you should explain.”

Syssi’s cheeks pinked. “It’s probably nothing. Kian and Kalugal both experienced a mental nudge, and I said that I have a feeling Mark might have something to do with it.”

Amanda snorted. “When you get a feeling, everyone should pay attention.” She turned to Nathalie. “Well? What do you think?”

Nathalie shook her head. “I haven’t heard from Mark in a long time. He either moved on or found a new host.”

“But you know him well, right?” Amanda wasn’t ready to give up. “You can tell if it sounds like him or not, true?”

Nathalie sighed. “What was the mental nudge about?”

Kian raked his fingers through his hair. “Somehow, we all got to talking about starting construction on the new lots because Sari and her people might be forced to move into the village.”

Nathalie smiled. “That’s probably something that you subconsciously worry about. It doesn’t sound like Mark.”

“What about me?” Kalugal asked. “It was none of my business to suggest that the two parts of the clan form a federation or some other arrangement. Maybe as an outsider, I see things more clearly, but I shouldn’t have said anything, and I usually refrain from butting into other people’s business.” He glanced at Kian. “Maybe the ghost is right, though, and you should give it some thought? There is safety in numbers, and you and Sari could still lead your people independently while cooperating on some things.”

Kian had a feeling that Kalugal had jumped on the ghost idea to excuse his curious interest in unifying the clan. What was he hoping to achieve by that?

The guy was a master manipulator, so there must be something in it for him.

Nathalie shook her head. “Whoever you heard, it wasn’t Mark. He never talked to me about important stuff. He would give me advice about what to wear, and we would chitchat about trivial things like who was in love with whom, and why it worked. The only time he had a real message for me to deliver was when he asked me to tell Amanda that he’d forgiven her, and that she shouldn’t torment herself over loving Dalhu. He said that he tried to get into Amanda’s head and failed, and he even tried Syssi but couldn’t make her hear him. That’s another reason why I don’t think it was him.” She smiled. “Perhaps some other entity is trying to communicate with you.”

Syssi threw her arms in the air. “Who else could it be?” She turned to Kian. “How did the voice sound? Was he good-natured or angry?”

“I don’t know. I thought it was my subconscious talking, so I wasn’t paying attention to nuances. I still think that it was my own inner voice.” He cast Syssi a sidelong glance. “I know that your intuitions are often foretelling, but I frankly don’t think that we are dealing with a ghost. Perhaps Kalugal is right and the prodding we both felt came from the Fates.”

Kalugal shook his head. “Upon further reflection, I take it back. The voice was male, and it was pushy. Not angry, not good-natured, but urging.”

“Yeah.” Kian tapped his fingers on the table. “That’s my impression as well.”

“We need to talk to Mark. Everything else is guesswork.” Syssi turned to Nathalie. “Is there a way you can summon him?”

Nathalie cringed. “I used to be able to do that. But I’m out of practice.”

“Could you at least give it a try?” Syssi pleaded. “This is important.”

“I’ll do it tonight. I need to mentally prepare for it.”

“Thank you.”

Kian didn’t like that Syssi was pressuring Nathalie into doing something that she was obviously reluctant to do, especially since he was convinced that the voice he’d heard had been his own, and Kalugal’s was made up. But since that was such atypical behavior for Syssi, she must be convinced that it was needed.

Bottom line, Kian trusted his wife’s intuition much more than his own, and he was itching to call Sari and ask her if everything was okay. Perhaps he would do it later from the privacy of his home.

If Kalugal was indeed pretending to believe in the ghost idea, he was probably laughing on the inside and thinking that Kian was gullible and was allowing