Thief Eyes - Janni Lee Simner [13]
I pulled it out and set it on the table. The symbol on it looked a little like the symbols in Katrin’s notebook.
Katrin’s shoulders stiffened. She grabbed my hands, not noticing the scars there. “You’re unharmed?”
I nodded, frightened by her intense gaze, feeling a headache starting up. I forced myself to focus on Katrin’s words.
“The coin must be returned to Hallgerd, at Hlidarendi in the east, where she used to live,” Katrin said. “Thorgerd—that’s Hallgerd’s daughter—left instructions for her descendants, and they were very clear on this point. Perhaps the spell will not be done until we follow those instructions. There’ve been too many small quakes this past year, and the pattern they form is unsettling. Yet if we return the coin, maybe the pattern will be ended.”
“Enough.” Dad’s chair scraped the floor as he shoved it back. “Amanda ran away.” Did I think his voice was quiet before? It had been loud compared to how softly he spoke now. “We fought, and she ran, and no one knows what happened next. I’ll regret that fight—and other things, too, Katrin—for the rest of my life, but there was no magic involved.”
I stared at the coin, afraid it would find its way back into my pocket if I dared look away. Katrin picked it up, then dropped it as if burned. The coin clattered to the table. “You’ll have to carry it,” she said, frowning. “We should go now. I don’t know how much time we have, but I’ll do what I can to save you from your mother’s fate.”
“Bullshit.” Ari threw his menu down. He looked furious. “You use magic as an excuse for everything. Tell Haley what really happened.” He glanced at Dad, then back to his mom. “Tell her the real reason neither of you followed Amanda when she ran.”
I looked at Katrin. “Wait—you were there?”
“That’s enough, Ari,” Dad said.
“It is not enough!” Ari said. “I cannot believe you did not tell her.”
“Tell me what?” The stomach-clenching, I-don’t-want-to-know feeling returned, stronger than yesterday.
Katrin said something to Ari in Icelandic. It sounded like a warning.
Ari answered her in English. “Yes, well, if you and Gabe had kept your hands off of each other, maybe Amanda would not have run.”
“What?”
Dad let out a breath and sank down into his seat. Katrin said something sharp in Icelandic and pointed to the door.
Ari answered her in Icelandic this time, his scorn clear enough. “I am sorry, Haley,” he said to me in English. “But it is not sorcery I am sorry for.” He grabbed his leather jacket and notebook and stalked out.
I looked from Katrin to Dad. My chest felt tight. “Is it—” The words stuck in my throat. “Did you—”
Dad shut his eyes. He looked utterly, completely lost.
The room felt too hot, too close. I didn’t care how lost Dad felt, not if he—but he couldn’t have—he wouldn’t have. I stood, grabbing my own jacket and backpack as I did.
“Haley,” Katrin said. “Until the coin is returned, you remain in danger. Hallgerd’s spell could consume you yet.”
“You—” I couldn’t get enough air. I couldn’t stand to even look at her. Had she and Dad really—I whirled away and bolted down the hall, pulling on my jacket as I did.
“Haley!” Katrin shouted, right across the restaurant. “You must never run from magic!”
I burst out the door and across the hotel parking lot. Sun shone off the asphalt as I ran, pack bumping against my shoulders. Katrin ran after me, Dad close behind. I didn’t slow down. If I ran, I didn’t have to think—about Mom, about magic, about Dad and Katrin. My sneakers crunched as I turned onto a gray gravel path. The gravel gave way to dirt, and gray geese flew up from the river to my right. Ahead of me I saw the blocky walls of the rift valley outlined against a bright blue sky. Dad and Katrin both shouted after me, but they were too slow. Their voices quickly faded.
Gulls flew in circles high above. The path sloped uphill, through green grasses. I’m running now, Dad. Are you happy? Anger made my eyes sting. The coin flared hot in my pocket, though I’d left it on the table.
“Haley!” a woman’s voice called, somewhere