"We'd better leave that answer to my books," Patrick said. "On this case the truth comes best from the source. So you can be sure neither of us is misleading you."
"I would never--" Ioan began.
"Which includes unintentionally misleading you, through our own misunderstandings. Finish your mocha, Liv. You can read my books when you pick up the hound. I know you're both eager to get on the road for your vacation."
"They can't go on vacation," Ioan said. "If the sluagh have made contact--"
"Through a vision," Patrick said.
"Which is the realm of the sluagh. To them, it's no different from making contact in this plane. And it's just as dangerous. If they'd attacked Liv and Gabriel there..."
"We'd be a pile of bird-gnawed bones?" I said.
"Unfortunately, yes, which means as much as you want this vacation, you cannot leave until we've figured out why the sluagh made contact. And no, I'm not saying that because I want to stop the two of you from spending time together, though I suspect that's why Patrick is being a little less cautious than he ought to be."
I glanced at Gabriel. His lips pressed in a thin line, but he said nothing.
Patrick stayed silent for a moment and then said, with obvious reluctance, "Ioan's right. You should stay close until we figure out what's going on."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
I dropped Gabriel off at the dealership. His car was fixed, so he was driving that back to Cainsville. He would pick up Lloergan at Rose's, giving me time with Patrick.
As Patrick led me into his living room, I said, "I didn't try to tap into your personal memories. But, yes, I knew there was a chance I might. Had I known what I'd access, I wouldn't have done it."
"Is that an apology?"
"It's a Gabriel-apology. Which means that I'm acknowledging having done something that upset you and regretting that outcome, while not completely agreeing that I did something wrong or that I won't do it again."
"That's sort of like an apology."
"Which is what I always say to Gabriel." I sat. "We needed that information. Gabriel asked for it, and we both know how hard that was for him to do. You owed him an answer. Not necessarily the full story, but some form of an answer."
"Is that w
hy he isn't here? He's upset with me?"
"No, he's coming. He's disappointed that he put himself out there and you rejected him, but that's what he's used to, parentally."
"Can't resist the low blows, can you."
"It's the truth. Gabriel doesn't need a daddy, Patrick. In fact, I'd strongly suggest you don't try to be one, or he will find reasons to not come by. But understand that he has zero expectations of you, and maybe try to do more than exceed them."
"In anything else, I would have."
"Not good enough. He asked you for that."
--
When Gabriel arrived, I stepped out to pet Lloergan, giving Patrick a minute with his son. It really was no more than sixty seconds. Just long enough, I'm sure, for Patrick to apologize and Gabriel to brush it off as "hardly necessary," and then escape the awkward conversation by bringing me inside.
Patrick had the book ready. When I started to open it, Gabriel said, "One moment, please. Patrick, Ioan said that visions are the same as reality with the sluagh. If you're about to send Olivia into a vision of them, you need to clarify exactly what that means."
"This isn't a vision. It's a replay, which doesn't count."
"You're certain of that?"
"I wouldn't send her in if I wasn't, Gabriel. When Ioan said visions are the same as reality for sluagh, he means visions that are the equivalent of human dreams. What do you see when you dream?"