A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness [283]
“Are they both daemons?” Matthew asked me.
“Yes,” I replied, though something made me hesitate.
“Are you a vampire as well?” Nathaniel asked Marcus.
Marcus gave him a wolfish grin. “Guilty.”
Sophie was still nudging me with her characteristic daemonic glance, but there was the faintest tingle on my skin. Her hand crept possessively around her belly.
“You’re pregnant!” I cried.
Marcus was so surprised that he loosened his grip on me. Matthew caught me as I went by. The house, agitated by the appearance of two visitors and Matthew’s sudden lunge, made its displeasure clear by banging the keeping room’s doors tightly closed.
“What you feel—it’s me,” Sophie said, moving an inch closer to her husband. “My people were witches, but I came out wrong.”
Sarah came into the hall, saw the visitors, and threw up her hands. “Here we go again. I told you daemons would be showing up in Madison before long. Still, the house usually knows our business better than we do. Now that you’re here, you might as well come inside, out of the cold.”
The house groaned as if it were heartily sick of us when the daemons entered.
“Don’t worry,” I said, trying to reassure them. “The house told us you were coming, no matter what it sounds like.”
“My granny’s house was just the same.” Sophie smiled. “She lived in the old Norman place in Seven Devils. That’s where I’m from. It’s officially part of North Carolina, but my dad said that nobody bothered to tell the folks in town. We’re kind of a nation unto ourselves.”
The keeping-room doors opened wide, revealing my grandmother and three or four more Bishops, all of whom were watching the proceedings with interest. The boy with the berry basket waved. Sophie shyly waved back.
“Granny had ghosts, too,” she said calmly.
The ghosts, combined with two unfriendly vampires and an overly expressive house, were too much for Nathaniel.
“We aren’t staying longer than we have to, Sophie. You came to give something to Diana. Let’s get it over with and be on our way,” Nathaniel said. Miriam chose that minute to step out of the shadows by the dining room, her arms crossed over her chest. Nathaniel took a step backward.
“First vampires. Now daemons. What next?” Sarah muttered. She turned to Sophie. “So you’re about five months along?”
“The baby quickened last week,” Sophie replied, both hands resting on her belly. “That’s when Agatha told us where we could find Diana. She didn’t know about my family. I’ve been having dreams about you for months. And I don’t know what Agatha saw that made her so scared.”
“What dreams?” Matthew said, his voice quick.
“Let’s have Sophie sit down before we subject her to an inquisition.” Sarah quietly took charge. “Em, can you bring us some of those cookies? Milk, too?”
Em headed toward the kitchen, where we could hear the distant clatter of glasses.
“They could be my dreams, or they could be hers.” Sophie gazed at her belly as Sarah led her and Nathaniel deeper into the house. She looked back over her shoulder at Matthew. “She’s a witch, you see. That’s probably what worried Nathaniel’s mom.”
All eyes dropped to the bump under Sophie’s blue sweater.
“The dining room,” Sarah said in a tone that brooked no nonsense. “Everybody in the dining room.”
Matthew held me back. “There’s something too convenient about their showing up right now. No mention of timewalking in front of them.”
“They’re harmless.” Every instinct confirmed it.
“Nobody’s harmless, and that certainly goes for Agatha Wilson’s son.” Tabitha, who was sitting next to Matthew, mewled in agreement.
“Are you two joining us, or do I have to drag you into this room?” Sarah called.
“We’re on our way,” Matthew said smoothly.
Sarah was at the head of the table. She pointed at the empty chairs to her right. “Sit.”
We were facing Sophie and Nathaniel,