be watching and listening from now until the end of your life, which could be very soon, or could be many years from now. Think about that.”
Ward stood and walked out the door.
Chapter Ten
Jenny ate an unspeakably delicious slice of mushroom pizza with a rich, spicy tomato sauce, sitting alone at an outdoor table at L’Oraziano, directly across the street from the high glass facade of the economics school. She had a weird craving to smear a glop of peanut butter on top of the pizza, but she didn’t have a jar handy. As best as she could tell, she was about three months pregnant, and she was starting to feel it.
Mariella Visconti had not bothered her again, but Jenny had continued thinking about the girl as the weeks passed. It made Jenny uneasy to know that another of her kind might be right here in Paris, one who was searching for Seth and already knew where Jenny lived.
Jenny was allegedly shopping for Thanksgiving dinner. Of course, in Paris it was just another Thursday, but it would be nice to have something that reminded them of home.
This was the third day she’d slipped off to spy on Mariella. So far as she could tell, Mariella had told the truth—she did live in a student apartment building near the Sorbonne, where she attended classes at the Broca Center, the business school, as well as the Saint-Charles Center, which housed the school of art and cinema. Today, she’d come to the economics building, which was far from the rest of the campus. Jenny watched and waited for her to come out.
If the girl was like her and Seth, then she posed a serious threat. Jenny couldn’t stand not knowing. She had to determine whether the girl had a supernatural touch like her, and what it was, and what the girl’s intentions might really be. Watching Mariella go to class or hang out with other students at cafes and wine bars wasn’t telling her much, unfortunately.
Jenny had a sense of growing urgency, as if time were short. She tried to pretend that it didn’t have anything to do with the baby growing inside her, or her insane wish that the baby could live, that she and Seth could start a family. Thinking about it only led to pain...but still, she couldn’t help feeling more worried and more alert to danger.
Jenny decided not to wait any longer.
She wolfed down her food, to the disgust of two women at the next table, and then hurried out.
When Mariella emerged from the front door of the building, Jenny just happened to be strolling slowly along the sidewalk, and she just happened to glance up and make eye contact with Mariella. A look of recognition flashed across Mariella’s face, followed by excitement. Jenny acted surprised to see her, then wrinkled her brow as if trying to remember who Mariella was.
“Have you seen him?” Mariella asked, looking up and down the street. Mariella wore gloves, a long jacket, and a scarf, and most of her hair was gathered into a soft cloth hat. Like Jenny, Mariella bundled up before going out in public.
“I’m sorry, who?” Jenny replied.
“The boy. Do you not remember me?”
Jenny looked at her for a few seconds. “Aren’t you that girl who came by my apartment? Looking for some guy?”
“That is me.” Mariella’s smile faded as she realized Jenny hadn’t come to tell her she’d found Seth. “How did you find me here?”
“I was just having lunch.” Jenny pointed across the street. “I was walking by, and I had a feeling that I should stop here. So I did.” Jenny shrugged.
“Do you get strange feelings sometimes?” Mariella’s voice dropped to a whisper, and she glanced over her shoulder, as if afraid a student or teacher would hear her. “About the future?”
“I get strange feelings about everything,” Jenny said, and Mariella surprised her by laughing. “Can you see the future?” Jenny asked. “Does it happen when you touch people?”
“How could you know this?” Mariella’s eyes widened, and she looked at Jenny’s hands, gloved in powder-blue silk. “We should walk away from the school.”
They went south down Boulevard de l’Hopital, along a broad sidewalk decorated with stands of trees gone skeletal in late November. The baroque and Art Noveau architecture gave the entire evening a dreamlike atmosphere as the glowing spheres of the streetlamps came to life.
“Tell me what you know,” Mariella whispered.
“About what?”
“About anything. About all of it.”
Jenny looked at the girl’s earnest face and almost felt