the Motherhouse completely. I think I can get into it. I can reach one of the very old members, one of the most trusted and revered. I need perhaps fifteen minutes with him to know whether this evil springs from the Order collectively, or from a small group.”
“Can’t be one person, Rowan. Too many people are dead.”
“You’re right, and three of their soldiers are dead. But it could be a very small group within the Order, or outsiders who have a connection within.”
“You think you can get to the bad guys themselves?”
“Yes.”
“Use me for bait!”
“And the child inside you too? If it is Michael’s—”
“It is.”
“Then they might want that more than they want you. Look, I don’t want to speculate. I don’t want to think of witches as some sort of rare commodity to those who know how to use them, of women in the family falling victim to a new species of mad scientist. I’ve had enough of mad science. I’ve had enough of monsters. I only want to end this. But you can’t go. And neither can Michael. You have to be here.”
Rowan pulled back the black silk of her jacket sleeve and looked at a small gold watch. Mona had never seen her wear this watch. Probably Beatrice had bought it too. It was delicate, the kind of watch women wore when Beatrice was a girl.
“I’m going to go upstairs and talk to my husband,” said Rowan.
“Thank God,” said Mona. “I’m going with you.”
“No, please.”
“I’m sorry. I’m going.”
“For what reason?”
“To make sure you tell him everything that you should.”
“All right, then let’s go together. Maybe you’re one jump ahead of me. You’re going to give him the reason to cooperate. But let me ask you one more time, Jezebel. Are you sure this child is his?”
“It was Michael. I can tell you when it probably happened. It happened after Gifford’s funeral. I took advantage of him again. I didn’t think about precautions any more than I had the first time. Gifford was dead and I was possessed of the devil, I swear it. It was right after that that somebody tried to get in the library window and I smelled that scent.”
Rowan said nothing.
“It was the man, wasn’t it? He’d come for me after he’d been with my mother. Must have been that way. When he tried to get in, it woke me up And then I went to her and she was already dead.”
“Was it strong, the scent?”
“Very. Sometimes I can still smell it in the living room here, and upstairs in the bedroom. Can’t you?” Rowan didn’t reply.
“I want you to do something just because I ask you,” Rowan said. “What’s that?”
“Don’t tell Michael about the baby until the usual tests have been done. There is someone you can confide in, isn’t there, someone who can be like a mother? There must be.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Mona. “I have my secret gynecologist, I’m thirteen.”
“Of course,” said Rowan. “Look, whatever happens, I’m going to be back here before you have to tell anyone at all.”
“Yeah, I hope so. Wouldn’t that be something, if you could finish it that quick? But what if you never come back and Michael and I never know what happened to you or to Yuri?”
Rowan thought about this, apparently, and then she merely shrugged. “I’ll come back,” she said. “One more caution, if you don’t mind.”
“Hit me with it.”
“If you do tell Michael about this baby, and then decide to get rid of it later, that will kill him. Twice before, this has been promised to him and taken away. If there’s any doubt, any whatever, don’t tell him till that doubt is resolved.”
“I can’t wait to tell him. I can get my doctor to see me this afternoon. I’ll tell her I’m having a nervous breakdown and I’m on my way over. She’s used to this stuff with me. When the tests come back okay, nothing’s going to keep me from telling him. And nothing, I mean nothing, is going to keep a baby of mine from being born.”
She was about to get up when she realized what she’d said, and that Rowan would never face this particular dilemma again. But Rowan seemed not at all offended by her words, and certainly not hurt. Her face was very quiet. She was looking at the cigarettes.
“Get out of here so I can smoke in peace, will you?” Rowan asked, smiling. “And then we’ll wake up Michael. I have an hour and