His next remark confused her, and Ophelia found herself doing mental gymnastics trying to make sense of it. The words themselves seemed innocent enough, but his way of saying them seemed to imply they had a darker meaning. If there was one, though, it was lost on her. Could it have been her paranoia causing her to see demons where there were only normal shadows? She wasn't sure. Maybe he really was just making conversation, but if that was the case, why? He wasn't here to exchange pleasantries; he wanted something. Most likely something involving Nicky. Why dance around it?

"Mm," she mumbled in agreement, a pleasant but vague sort of response. "The Christmas season does tend to bring family out of the woodwork, doesn't it?"

She had only meant it as a remark to buy time to figure out what he was getting at — they had been playing host to all sorts of relatives she had only met on a handful of occasions since her wedding, which was a little dizzying for a girl who had found herself orphaned for generations back only a year ago — but as the words left her mouth she suddenly realized what he must have meant. He thought Nicky had been here, and that was what he was getting at — and perhaps, unwittingly, Ophelia had just conveyed to him that she had.