I sat next to Annie in time to see her swipe at her eyes with the back of her hand.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “The Prelude is gone. All of it, even the necklace. It is just…gone.”
“Gone?” What did that mean? How did something like music just disappear? But then I got it because while I could remember the music from the videos, when I tried for more, my memories were blank, empty.
Without thinking, I turned and hugged her as if somehow we could come together to recapture the notes between us. I allowed my hands to roam into her hair. “The curse? I’m sorry,” I whispered into her ear. “I’m sorry you came here and got sucked into all of this.”
Annie pulled back and took my hand in hers. “I am not. Really. It is just so hard. For a little while, I knew what was going to happen. How everything would work out. And I knew that Dmitry would be proud of me. That is the worst of it. That I failed him.”
“But you didn’t,” I said. Everything I’d learned from my parents about comforting those in mourning came rushing back. “You did exactly what he asked. You found the Prelude. You found the composer. You did more than that. You freed Tristan. How many people can say that they’ve saved a soul?”
Annie hesitated. She wiped her face again, but I could tell that what I’d said had helped. She gave me a sad nod. “Wow, that is really annoying,” she said, pointing toward the phone.
“I’m on hold,” I said, without going into detail. “What are you going to do now?” I was half-afraid she would say she was staying in St. Hilaire, just as I was leaving.
“Well, I am going to have a large amount of explaining to do. Viktor will not understand; what could I tell him, anyhow? I guess I will practice the Tchaikovsky, even though it is too late. I have no chance of winning. Then there are the Dublin dates, and after that, I think I might take a break. Go home to see my parents; get to know my brother. Sort things out from there. What about you?”
“I can’t stay here. I don’t fit in. I don’t have my parents’ talent, and every single time I open my eyes, all I can see is that they aren’t here. Laura and Harriet can keep the business going without me.” I stared at my suitcase, wishing I had something concrete to share. “There’s nothing left for me in St. Hilaire.”
Annie took my hand again. I wanted to stop time. She said, “Laura and Russ both believe you would be happier somewhere else.”
Tears stung my eyes. Russ and Laura knew I wanted to leave, but I had never been sure if they understood that I had to. That leaving St. Hilaire didn’t mean leaving them.
“Where will you go?” she asked.
I looked into her eyes, which were as green as Tristan’s in the light of my room. “I don’t know long-term,” I admitted. “I can take the GED from anywhere. I have a little money saved up, but not a ton. I’ll have to get a job. I think I’ll start in the city. Mom had a cousin whose floor I can probably crash on for a couple of nights. Maybe I can get a piano-playing gig?” Blood rushed to my cheeks. “God, I sound like a geek saying that to you. Never mind. I’ll do something. You’d think I’d have sorted that part out by now, right?”
Annie smiled; it seemed like she’d moved ever so slightly closer. “I might be able to help. A little. Have you ever wanted to see Ireland?”
“Ireland?”
“Viktor is always complaining about having to do all of the travel administration. It is mostly data entry and phone calls. You could do the tasks from here, but you are leaving anyhow. I can cover your plane ticket. In all honesty, I could use a buffer. This is all going to get harder before it gets easier.”
I looked around my room at the ticket stubs and receipts that had belonged to other people with other lives. I stared at my passport, unused and waiting for me to get my shit together. “Are you offering me a job?”
“Come with me, Dec,” Annie said. “Please? For a while?”
I stared at her and tried to see the person in front of me and not the girl on my computer or the inside of my closet door. She looked hopeful. Excited. A smile danced through her eyes while she waited for my answer. As if there was any doubt.
Before I could say anything, a voice came from my phone, “Ireland, Mr. Hampton? Isn’t that a fascinating turn of events?” Clive Rice sounded amused, but then he always sounded vaguely entertained by life.
I ran over and picked up the phone, taking it off speaker. “Sir? Sorry, I—”
“No, no, no, Mr. Hampton. Apologies are unnecessary, even if quite understandable.”
“Sir?”
“Travel is good for a young mind. Your parents traveled. Of course, that was before you or your sisters were born. I believe it made them better at their jobs. More empathetic. More open to those who needed them. I trust the same thing will happen for you. I will expect you to come in for your test tomorrow. Then we will have your position set up for when you return.”
Tomorrow? Shit. I held on tight to the phone, worried I’d drop it. Rice wasn’t offering, he was insisting. “I’m not planning to come back,” I said quietly. I knew I should be more confident; it wasn’t like I hadn’t been preparing for this in one way or the other for the past two years. But confidence was surprisingly difficult to come by with Annie staring out my window and Tristan gone and Russ doing everything he could to kiss the Guild’s ass.
“I’m sorry? I didn’t quite hear you,” Rice said.
I cleared my throat. “I said I’m not planning to come back. I mean, I’ll visit. Of course, I will. Laura is here and Russ Griffin. And Harriet.” Harriet’s name came out as almost a surprise to me.
Annie turned and watched, no judgment on her face.
There was silence on the other end of the line.
Then, Clive Rice said, “I’m not quite sure you understand the gravity of the situation, Mr. Hampton. Your parents were very important to us. To all of us.” To my ear, the words sounded almost sinister. “Their legacy is important to St. Hilaire. We had hoped, well, we are counting on you to take your rightful place here where you belong.”
I glanced out the window at the sun playing off the tops of my parents’ headstones. I steadied my voice. “If you need someone, you should talk to Russ Griffin.”
Clive Rice laughed softly. “Oh, we’re well aware of Mr. Griffin’s unique abilities, Mr. Hampton. Very aware.”
“Then you know how much better he is at all of this than I am, Mr. Rice.” The anger I’d been fighting for the past two years transformed into a type of resolve I’d never quite managed before. I smiled at Annie. I smiled at my bulletin board and the desk where Tristan had burnt circles into the wood. I smiled at the picture of my parents and Annie’s Carnegie Hall flyer, which was still up on my closet door. I smiled at the thought of a future, my future, not one that had been chosen for me, but one I was choosing.