“I remember how we got the teleport…Wynne and Valentin…but I don’t know why. There was a feeling that it was enormously important, but none of the emanations seemed to be able to explain it. They were discussing it for quite a while amongst themselves. Ashtara wants it, but won’t give a reason.”
Tara drops back onto the bed, her curls splaying against the white silk of the pillow. Some of it falls into her eyes; she puckers up and blows it out of the way. “Unfortunately, it’s not surprising. For a communal entity, Ash isn’t big on collaboration.”
“There’s something else,” I say hesitantly. “Something important. They were trying to hide something from you, something big.”
She sits up abruptly, thumping her fist on the mattress. “I knew it. Valentin looked upset the whole time he was emanated. Then the night after we got the teleport, he was playing the piano, and all of a sudden he ran to the window and jumped out. That’s when Ash flew to the Atlas Tree and emanated Suibhne.”
“And Suibhne created Canopus to try to fix something that he thought was wrong.”
“It must have something to do with the Denolin. Maybe it’s what happened to Lorcan. Maybe it’s Till…”
She hops off the bed, paces restlessly for a while, and says, “I know it’s early. I’m still having a drink.”
“What about Till?”
She presses a drink into my hand. “It’s nothing.”
“Now who’s lying and trying to cover things up?”
She gulps her drink quickly, slamming the glass on the dresser. “In the same way that Lucius can emulate the SongLuminants, Till can emulate the Denolin. I can’t help but feel that this has something to do with that.”
“Till can emulate the Denolin?”
“Yes, and it’s all my fault. That’s the only way I can believe that Dermot would betray the promise he represents. It’s my fault because…”
Suddenly her voice is dropping away from me. I hear the words “Lens saw…” and then…