I shook my head. “We have history.” And by my count, they’d already acquired what they wanted. The Ring of Aandaleeb, also known as the Seal of Solomon. But Haven didn’t need to know about that. He sounded scared enough of them already. “And they’re actively hunting in our city. That’s not okay.”
He sighed his reluctant agreement. “Well, keep me posted. I don’t like having Roland so far from home, but since you’re like his daughter, let me know how I can help.”
I blinked. “That’s… unusually kind of you, Haven. You sure you don’t have a heartbeat?”
He hung up on me.
I set the phone on the table, thinking about the Templars. They had shown up at the Hellfire Club ready to kill a bunch of people in their search for one woman. But were the three men chasing the brown-haired girl from the alley Templars, too? Were they all hunting this brown-haired girl, or were there two women targeted at the Hellfire Club, and two groups of hunters? Maybe those three men were part of this mysterious Chancery – they hadn’t worn scarves while chasing a witch, and that seemed like a stupid action on their part. Templars would have worn their scarves if hunting a witch.
And Templars probably would have turned around to fight us when they saw us pursuing.
I grunted. But I also had a reputation. A reputation that could have convinced them – Templar or otherwise – that they shouldn’t confront me without solid backup.
I sighed wearily. At least the intended victims were now safe in St. Louis.
Which left me with the Templars hunting the Freaks of Kansas City. I needed to set a trap. Templars stood against magic. Basically, a militia of highly trained – but still human – soldiers. I could bait them, and then have Beckett round them up for carrying illegal weapons or something.
Claire interrupted my thoughts. “You should probably get going or you’re going to be late.”
I sighed. “I really don’t want to do this.”
“Fight Templars? We’ll take care of them. Just like we did earlier—”
I shook my head. “No. See my dad with another woman,” I said in a soft voice.
Claire’s face crumpled into a sympathetic frown. Then she wrapped me up in a hug, careful not to mess up my hair.
“I want him to be happy. I really do,” I said. “But… it’s going to be hard to be nice to her. Hence me bringing a date. Someone to keep me focused.”
“Well, I hope you’re bringing a good conversationalist. Someone nice and sweet and charming who can get their attention away from you. Someone—”
“I’m bringing Cain,” I said, looking up at her.
She stared at me for a few seconds, mouth working, but no words coming out at first. “In the future, you should probably run these things by me first, Callie,” she sighed, running her fingers through her hair in a frustrated sweep.
“I’m sure he’ll be the perfect gentleman. He knows the situation.”
Claire just shook her head. “The world’s first murderer wouldn’t have even entered my maybe list for possible bachelors to take to a family double-date…”
I sighed, nodding. “Better than Dorian, though, right?”
Claire’s smile wasn’t reassuring.
Chapter 29
My dad watched us approach, looking both judgmental of my date and anxious he was about to be judged by me for his date. It was a unique look on the typically confident man.
I smiled, tugging Cain along behind me by the hand as I approached the table. I smiled politely, not really sure if I was supposed to—
My dad jumped to his feet and wrapped me up in a tight hug, his hands rubbing circles on my back. “I’ve missed you, Callie,” he said, and I could tell he was laughing.
“I’ve missed you too, dad.” I squeezed back before stepping away and holding out my hand to reveal Cain like a Vanna White impersonation.
Cain wore a white dress shirt, stylish jeans, and a pair of polished black boots. I could tell they were less fashionable and more practical, but he’d tried to make them look nice.
“This is Cain,” I said. My father studied him critically, not rudely, but in the time-honored tradition of fathers everywhere. You’re on thin ice, the look warned.
“You’ve raised a wonderful woman in Callie, Mr. Penrose,” the world’s first murderer said to my dad. He nodded succinctly, not entirely won over by the compliment, but appreciative.
“And this is Rai,” my dad said, holding out a hand to the woman at the table.
She was a raven-haired, buxom woman around my dad’s age, but to me she looked ripened by her years. She wasn’t overly pretty, didn’t wear overly flashy clothes, and wasn’t caked in a thousand pounds of make-up. She was just… beautifully normal.
She smiled at me with kind eyes, revealing faint wrinkles on her skin, and she wore a hopeful, but slightly hesitant smile on her face. I reached out on a subconscious level, assessing her for magic, and felt Cain stiffen slightly beside me. But she was utterly normal, a Regular. I let out an inward sigh of relief.
“It’s short for Raidia,” she admitted, looking embarrassed. “I didn’t get a vote on my birth name, but I’ve always preferred to go by Rai.” I knew what it was like to shorten a name, and I figured going through childhood as Raidia might have been rough, so I couldn’t blame her. “I’ve heard so much about you,” she said to me, smiling warmly. “You’re all Terry talks about.”
Terry looked suddenly flustered, motioning for us all to sit down.
“Raidia… like Radiant?” I asked.
She grimaced, giving me a weary look. Then lifted her hands as if to say what can you do?
Raidia sighed at something my father had asked Cain. “Seems we’re both guilty until proven innocent, tonight.” She winked at Cain, smiling at him conspiratorially.
Cain chuckled with an easy shrug. “I’m used to it. Gallows humor is like an old friend.”
My smile went slightly stiff, but I quickly relaxed as my dad turned to me with a thoughtful frown. “Cain is a therapist,” I blurted without thinking, immediately wishing I had picked something easier for him to lie about – like a nuclear scientist or chemical engineer.
“Oh?” Rai said interestedly, flashing her brilliant white teeth. “How delightful.” I subconsciously glanced at her purse, checking for the brand. You could tell a lot about a woman by her accessories. Was she a money-grubber? Not necessarily a gold digger, but familiar to a certain lifestyle, moving on from one man to the next, using each victim to get her just a little bit more, but never taking too much from one. The clever kind of black widow. Wrap them up in the excitement of fresh love, bleed them a little, and then move on.
But her purse was a plain black leather bag, no brand name. Just something that could be found in the clearance section of any department store – practical and frugal. She even had a pin in the strap that looked suspiciously like that clown that killed kids in the famous horror movie.
Which made sense. She and my dad had gone to a horror movie convention in Chicago for a long weekend as a pseudo-first date.
I wondered if she was a widow or not. Looking to reclaim a household.
Then I realized that instead of simply talking to her, I was trying to find something to pin on her, a reason she might be dirty. Which wasn’t a healthy outlook on life. With an effort, I smiled at my dad and turned to listen to her talking to Cain – who was doing surprisingly well for himself. As if he were a normal, plain-Joe Regular, and not the son of Adam and Eve.
Nor the hated Biblical icon who had murdered his brother, Abel.
“Do you have any family?” Rai asked him after taking a sip of her water.
Cain coughed, spluttering his own water – which I hadn’t realized had been sitting before us already. My dad must have ordered them ahead.
Cain wiped up the water with his napkin, face slightly flushed. “Sorry, wrong pipe…”
Rai nodded sadly, reading a deeper meaning into his reaction, and I began to hear alarm bells in my min
d. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a sensitive subject, and you’re probably not used to people asking you questions,” she said, laughing lightly. “I have a jerk for a brother, myself. I know how annoying they can be.” She leaned forward with a playful smile. “Sometimes I could just strangle him!”
Cain nodded woodenly, his lips pale. “Sure. Brothers can be a handful. It’s entirely normal to want to kill them sometimes…” He shot me a veiled look. “And I’m a therapist, so…”
I tried not to wince. “Yes. Cain would know.” Sweet Baby Jesus. Where was the waiter? I opened my mouth to ask, shooting a sharp look at my dad, but he was obviously enjoying Rai’s innocent interrogation of my date, and would be of no use to me.
“What about your mom?” Rai asked instead. “What does she do?” My dad wrapped his arm behind her chair, and I saw the pleased inner smile in her eyes at the gesture of reassurance.
Cain grew visibly uncomfortable, unconsciously twisting his napkin into a ball. “She… likes apples,” he managed, as if latching onto the first thing that came to mind.
I wanted to suddenly end this date or find a way to turn the tables back on her. She was also under the threat of judgment. Callie’s guillotine.
“She… likes apples?” my dad asked, frowning. “Is she a gardener?” They were both frowning, now.
“You could say that,” Cain said in a low tone, failing to make his smile look anything but uncomfortable.
He needed a Knightess in shining armor to save him. I cleared my throat. “Orchards. His mom owns an apple orchard.”
Their unease vanished, and they nodded at the simple answer. I almost let out a sigh of relief.
“And your dad—”
A perky, pink and blue haired waitress breasted boobily up to our table. I say it that way because her chest seemed to lead the charge everywhere she went, like a marching band heralding her arrival. I could tell she’d been a waitress for twenty years, and genuinely loved it. And if she used those assets to get better tips, I couldn’t blame her.
“Evenin’,” she said, flashing us with a dazzling smile, displaying a set of suspenders covered in buttons that only seemed to frame her chest like an art exhibit. At this point, I would have welcomed a streaker. “What can I get ya tonight?” she asked in a southern drawl, as sweet and thick as molasses.
Cain looked remarkably relieved at her arrival, taking a long sip of his drink as my dad and Rai began talking to each other as he held the menu, debating options. Cain shot me a desperate look behind his menu as he pretended to read it.
I grinned, squeezing his thigh with my hand. “You’re doing great,” I said, leaning closer and pretending to read the menu alongside him.
“Oh, don’t be so old-fashioned, Terry. Go ahead and order first,” Rai said with a light elbow to his ribs and a lilting laugh.
Terry sighed in defeat, rubbing his ribs to try and get sympathy. “On that note, I think I’ll take the ribs. Pretty sure this delicate flower just took one of mine,” my dad finally said.
The menu in Cain’s hands stiffened as his fingers clenched. My eyes widened in disbelief as I made sure Cain wasn’t about to run screaming. Was there no end to the irony of Biblical references? Maybe I should have asked Dorian to accompany me instead.
“Mmmm. That sounds delicious!” Rai grinned. “I actually may just steal one of yours for that. Would serve you right,” she teased, turning to Cain. “And I’ll have the apple and bacon salad, in tribute to your mother’s orchard.”
Cain gave her a painfully slow nod, attempting gratitude, but looking more like he had felt the first gurgle of an irritable bowel syndrome episode.
“Great choice, honey,” the waitress grinned. “And you?” she asked, turning to me.
“The cake. I’ll just have a slice of cake. Cain and I can’t stay long,” I said, picking the last thing I had glanced at. Christ, could this get any worse?
“Would that be the Original Sin Chocolate Delight?” the waitress asked me in an almost bedroom appropriate purr.
“Unbelievable…” Cain breathed into his menu, soft enough for no one else to hear.
I just stared at her for a second. Then I gave her what I hoped passed for a nod.
“And you, sir?” she asked Cain.
“Steak. Rare. And a double whisky. Neat.” He glanced over at me. “Two double whiskeys.” He closed the menu, handing it over to her as the waitress turned away to the next table. I overheard her stating something cheerful, and laced with sunshine, birdsong, and boobs.
“Let’s talk about you two,” Cain said, attempting a smile. And I squeezed his thigh in gratitude, turning to Rai and my dad as Cain managed to regain control of the situation.
And the night rolled on pretty comfortably after that.
Rai was… well, she was fun. Lighthearted, quick with the tongue, and obviously playful. I would find myself smiling at nothing in particular several times throughout our meal, and soon forgot the awkward introduction. I did try to get a read on her again, but it was readily apparent that she was just a Regular. She wasn’t some demon in disguise – because I had worn my Darling and Dear boots, pointing them at her from under the table. They would give me a slight pinch to the toes if pointed at a demon. But they didn’t.
I watched my dad, and found myself smiling happily to see him laughing, not a shadow of sadness crossing his face even once during our meal. Which was enough to make me want to kiss Rai on the lips. For helping my dad relieve himself of the burden of carrying around my mother’s memory on his shoulders every day, she had my vote.
But it was also strange to see my dad like this. It had been a very long time since he’d opened his heart back up. Thanks to a request from Nate Temple, Death had allowed my father to see my mother once more – to clear the air and say a final goodbye.
She’d encouraged him to live, to move on, to meet every day with a smile rather than regret.
And it looked like he was giving it his best effort. He caught me watching him and smiled at me, Cain and Rai laughing at some joke they had just shared, seeming lost in the moment.
My dad took a deep breath, and then let it out, signifying the relief he felt. I nodded happily.
I felt Rai watching us and turned to look at her. She was grinning triumphantly, and I found myself grinning right back at her.
“Looks like we passed their tests, apple-picker,” she said, lifting her glass of water to Cain.
Cain dipped his head politely at my dad. “Every single day, I consider myself lucky that Callie hasn’t tried to kill me. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about two of Clan Penrose wanting to kill me.”
The waitress brought out my cake, drizzled with chocolate syrup, and…
An apple slice with a cutout bite mark. The severed bite section of the apple was also on the plate, proving that no one had actually taken a bite of it.
Or I would have rained down destruction on this establishment.
I winked at Cain, taking a slow, delicious bite of the apple. He shot me a scowl in return. The rest of the night was full of whiskey, laughter, friendship, and a hint of love to come.
But Cain and I just focused on the whiskey and friendship, leaving the love for Rai and my dad to explore.
My dad finally stood with a tired sigh. “We better be heading out, but maybe we can do this again, soon. Now that it’s safe to do so, I’ll even host it at my place,” he said, smiling at Cain. They traded grips, and then Cain moved onto Rai, leaving me facing my Dad.
He placed an arm around my shoulder, smiling as he watched Rai. “Think your mother would approve?” he asked in a very soft voice.
I leaned into his shoulder. “As long as you’re happy, dad. That’s what she would care about.”
He grunted. “We both know you were Sarah’s favorite. I was just another dependent for tax write-offs,” he muttered playfully. He grunted as I elbowed him lightly. “You doing okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Just tired.”
/>
“We should catch up soon. Just us two.”
“Sounds good,” I agreed, watching Rai and Cain laugh at something. “Where did you meet?”
He chuckled. “Caught her checking out another man so hard that she dropped her bag of lemons. I picked them up for her, clearing my throat politely. She looked more surprised – and embarrassed – than anything.”
I smiled, imagining it. “And how did you overcome her interest in the other guy?”
I felt his chest puffing out proudly. “As I set the bag of lemons in her cart, I told her, ‘when life hands you lemons, make lemonade… and you look thirsty.’”
I stared at him, impressed. “No. You didn’t say that…”
He grinned, rubbing his knuckles on his shirt. “Your Dad’s still got it, Callie.” I rolled my eyes, shaking my head with a grin. “She tried to push me off for a month, but I was persistent. Must have finally worn her down,” he admitted. “She wasn’t looking for anything serious. But she couldn’t resist my charm,” he said, loud enough for her to overhear as she walked up to us.
“Something like that,” Rai said in a dry tone, walking up to him. I grinned at her tone and she finally gave me a guilty sigh. “But he’s pretty much right. I put up a lot of fight, not sure I wanted to get into the dating game again. But he made each request sound so innocent, though, and before I knew it, we were regularly doing all sorts of things.” But she looked genuinely happy with the outcome as she squeezed his shoulder.
“Let’s go start the cars,” My dad told Cain, and they conveniently left Rai and I standing beside each other, all alone.
“He’s too clever for his own good,” Rai murmured. I turned to look at her, but she was staring at him as he walked away, smiling to herself, lost in thought. She sensed me looking and averted her eyes, blushing. “Sorry. I’m not very good at this kind of thing,” she admitted.
I found myself smiling. “Me neither,” I admitted.
Angel's Roar: Feathers and Fire Book 4 Page 14