“I love you,” she said.

“Crap.”

“All right. How about, I like you?”

“Good enough. I —”

Then a chill and numbing wind blew along my spine. I stiffened and resisted what was to come by blanking my mind completely.

Someone was looking for me. It was someone of the House of Amber, doubtless, and he was using my Trump or something very like it. There was no mistaking the sensation. If it was Eric, then he had more guts than I gave him credit for, since I had almost napalmed his brain the last time we had been in contact. It could not be Random, unless he was out of prison, which I doubted. If it was Julian or Caine, they could go to hell. Bleys was probably dead. Possibly Benedict, too. That left Gerard, Brand, and our sisters. Of these, only Gerard might mean me well. So I resisted discovery, successfully. It took me perhaps five minutes, and when it was finished I was shaking and sweating and Lorraine was staring at me strangely.

“What happened?” she asked. “You aren’t drunk yet, and neither am I.”

“Just a spell I sometimes get,” I said. “It’s a disease I picked up in the islands.”

“I saw a face,” she said. “Perhaps it was on the floor, maybe it was in my head. It was an old man. The collar of his garment was green and he looked a lot like you, except that his beard was gray.” I slapped her then.

“You’re lying! You couldn’t have…”

“I’m just telling you what I saw! Don’t hit me! I don’t know what it meant! Who was he?”

“I think it was my father. God, it’s strange…”

“What happened?” she repeated.

“A spell,” I said. “I sometimes get them, and people think they see my father on the castle wall or floor. Don’t worry about it. It’s not contagious.”

“Crap,” she said. “You’re lying to me.”

“I know. But please forget the whole thing.”

“Why should I?”

“Because you like me,” I told her. “Remember? And because I’m going to trounce Harald for you tomorrow.”