He lifted his head, met her eyes, looked amused. “Minions?”
“Well, whoever she sent to get my things. Those dark beings who were lurking by the gate after we arrived, I presume.”
“Family, Lucy. They were family. She sent some of our relatives to get your things.”
She didn’t quite know what to say. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be offensive. I’m just not quite up on the political correctness of discussing a species I didn’t know existed. Probably using any of the old clichés is bad form. But then again, I don’t even know which ones are myths and which ones are true.”
He shrugged. “I don’t suppose I can blame you for being impatient with us.”
“No, you can’t. You broke your word to me once already when you let me believe you were taking me home, only to bring me here instead, so I’m not sure how I’m supposed to trust you to keep your promise now. Clearly you intend to keep me here for as long as you need me, regardless of how badly it interferes with my life and my career. But I need to know you’ll keep your promise to let me go once I’ve translated the tablet.”
He nodded and seemed to be deep in thought for so long that she felt compelled to speak again.
“Aren’t you even going to promise me that much?”
“That was my first inclination. But the thing is, a week ago, I would have sworn I would never do anything like this. Bring you here against your will, keep you here when all you want to do is leave, force you to help us in a struggle that has very little to do with you.” He closed his eyes. “I don’t want to make a promise I may not be able to keep. I’m doing a lot of things I never would have thought myself capable of, Lucy. I don’t expect you to believe that, but I swear it’s true. I’ve always considered myself one of the good guys.”
“Then why are you behaving like one of the bad guys?”
Lifting his head, he looked her in the eye, and she saw him searching for an answer. He got up, paced away from her, seemed to gather his thoughts. Lucy closed the pizza box and set it on the floor beside the bed. Then she made herself comfortable and watched him.
“I was born with the gift of healing,” he said. “But I never knew why.”
She thought about that. “Does there have to be a reason?”
“Doesn’t there?”
“I don’t think so. I was born with brown hair and eyes. There’s no reason for it. It just is.”
He nodded. “Lots of people are born with brown hair and brown eyes. But I’m the only one of my kind.”
“You’re a twin.”
“Brigit’s…entirely different from me.”
“I see.” But she didn’t. Not really. “So she doesn’t have the healing touch, then?”
“No.”
She sensed there was more, but she didn’t press. He was in a talkative mood. She sensed it would be best to let him run with it, see where it led, rather than risk making him clam up again.
“Go on,” she said. “Please.”
He nodded. “I don’t really know where I was going.”
“You have the healing gift. You believe it’s for a reason. You’ve been wondering what that reason is for your entire life. What else have you been doing while you were wondering?” she asked. “I take it you’ve been…estranged from your family?”
He nodded. “They see it that way. I haven’t been out of touch with them, I just chose not to live among them. I’ve been trying to lead a more…normal life, in constant search of a raison d’être.”
“So do you have…a job?”
“Lots of them. Mundane ones, though. Jobs where I can be largely anonymous, and come and go at will. Nothing like a career, the way you have. I do whatever is necessary to earn enough money to keep me going. My real vocation has been healing.”
“You just…go around putting your hands on people?”
He nodded and got a faraway look in his eye. “Huts in HIV-ravaged villages in Africa. Cancer wards at children’s hospitals. Refugee camps in Darfur. I slip in while the mortals sleep, and I put my hands on them. The little ones, usually. And then I try to slip away without being caught.” He shook his head in self-deprecation. “Brigit says I’m like some oversized tooth fairy.”
She sat there, stunned to her core. Of all the things he could have told her