The Thread That Binds the Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Author:Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504040242
Publisher: Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Published: 2016-08-25T14:59:02+00:00

Chapter 16

Maggie strode off, choosing one of the narrow trails that led deeper in among the trees, and Tom followed. The morning sun had chased the frost out of all the exposed places, but under the trees the white lace still lingered on the carpet of dead leaves. The air in the shadows was chilly, tainted with the breath of winter.

After a few minutes’ walk they came to a place where half-bare trees cast what shadows they could over a wide spot in the creek. Maple leaves flared yellow and red; some lay on the water, swaying gently in a loose tapestry against the rocks at the pond’s lower end. Maggie shivered. She had come out without her jacket. Tom noticed how little he felt the cold. He wondered if that was something Michael had built into his clothes with the stain resistance, or whether this was another case of heat being a friend.

Maggie sat on a damp licheny fallen log, one touched by sun. Tom sat next to her. “Liked—hosting Ianthe,” she said. “She untangled all those webs on Miss Annis and the baby, she cut just the right cords—with light beams that came out of my fingers! She made heat come out of my hands and it didn’t burn me. She just wanted that kettle to get warm and it did. Wish she was inside me all the time.”

“I think that’s dangerous, though. Laura said she could burn out your insides.”

She peeked sideways at him through brown hair. “Don’t care. I’d like to die from that. Wouldn’t mind at all. Especially if I could go home, and then if Dad laid a hand on me—heat! If Carroll came for me, and I could do what he could … don’t know what I’d do, but …” She frowned and tucked her hair behind her ear, staring at the ground. “Ask Pa Peregrine if he can call Ianthe back. Bet she could make me fly.”

Tom heaved a deep sigh.—Peregrine?

—Yes, honored? He sounded sleepy.

—Maggie wants to host Ianthe as I host you. Is that dangerous?

—? Oh! Peregrine woke with a rush.—Yes, Tommy. For one thing, Ianthe, unlike me, has no wish for half-life. For another, Maggie has no sitva in her bones. If she hosted Ianthe for a prolonged period of time, her body would destroy itself. I refuse to wish that on one I … consider my daughter.

“He says it would kill you,” said Tom to Maggie, “and he won’t do that. He loves you.”

“Oh … how …” She looked at him and a tear spilled down her cheek. “How could anyone—”

He gathered her into his lap and held her. At first she was all knees and elbows; her face was hot and wet, and she snarled as he hugged her. Then she relaxed.

Tom let Peregrine share the embrace. Peregrine felt awkward at first, but he reached up and stroked Maggie’s hair. She stiffened at his touch, then gradually relaxed. For a long time all they heard was their own breathing—Maggie’s interrupted by occasional sniffles.

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