by Julie Kenner
“It’s nasty stuff,” Allie said, while I made fascinated noises and hoped that they couldn’t tell that not only did I already have this information, but that it worried me greatly.
“You’ve done terrific work, girls,” I said, closing the report and trying to change the subject. “But school is for schoolwork. I don’t want your grades to suffer. Especially yours,” I said, aiming a stern glance toward Mindy. “Your mom’s counting on scholarships.”
They both rolled their eyes at that, and then Mindy shook her head in a gesture I recognized as Laura’s when she’d reached the point of exasperation.
She tugged her backpack toward her and started pulling out folders. “All done,” she said. “And we even did extra credit work. We’re totally on the ball, Aunt Kate. I swear.”
“Honest,” Allie confirmed when I glanced her way. “Me, too. All caught up.”
“Well,” I said, then stayed silent since I didn’t know where to go from there. Homework done before reaching home was a new precedent in my household. And if this was the boon from getting Mindy involved then I couldn’t help but wish that Allie had shared our deep, dark secrets months ago.
“So since we’re all caught up, can I sleep over at Mindy’s?”
“Mom’s got a date coming over, but it’s just Cutter, and we’ll totally stay out of their way.”
“Cutter?” I repeated.
The girls exchanged glances. “You didn’t know?”
I hid a frown, wondering why Laura hadn’t mentioned it and trying not to feel slighted or jealous. Daily, I seemed to be learning how little the people most important in my life shared with me. “No, no,” I said. “My mind was just somewhere else. And if you’re sure a sleepover’s okay with Laura then it’s okay with me.”
“Awesome,” Allie said. “And can we go patrolling tonight?”
“Not tonight. I’ve been checking the paper. No new leads.”
“You don’t have to come. Just Mindy and me. I want to take her. And a slow night’s a good one to start on, right?”
I aimed a severe look in her direction. “Are you insane? Of course you’re not going patrolling on your own.”
“But—”
“No. Now go get your stuff for tonight before I change my mind. Honestly, Allie! Patrolling? What on earth are you thinking?”
She didn’t tell me what she was thinking. Instead, they both skulked away, leaving me alone in the kitchen with thoughts of Lilith and Odayne and Cutter and Laura. In other words, a mishmash of thoughts sufficient to spur a headache in the strongest of women.
Which was why I didn’t feel in the least bit weak when I went to the freezer and snagged one of my candy bars. Not only did I need it, I deserved it.
I was finishing up my second Snickers when the girls clambered back down the stairs. I got a quick kiss from Allie, and then they were gone. I watched the door slam shut behind them, and fought a sense of loss. For a moment, I considered calling Laura, then I remembered her date.
With Cutter.
Honestly.
I started pacing, needing to get my mind off my friend and back onto the more serious problem of my first husband. And since I had no brilliant new ideas on that front, I decided to head upstairs and see if my trusty alimentatore had figured anything out. I was halfway up the stairs when I remembered that Rita had come by earlier, and they’d headed out to the movies. For a Wednesday night, romance certainly seemed to be in the air. And, yeah, I was feeling a little sorry for myself when the garage door opened and Stuart walked in.
“The dishwasher’s dead, Eddie’s at the movies, the girls are sleeping at Laura’s, and she’s got a date with Cutter,” I announced. “How was your day?”
“Good,” he said. “I’ve got a deal closing on Friday.”
I examined his face. “You’re liking it?”
“I am. But don’t think I like it so much that you’re going to convince me to stop training.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
“So should I go change?” he asked. “We can go out tonight.”
I shook my head, suddenly realizing I had a much better idea. “Not a good night for patrolling,” I said, moving closer to him and closing my hand around his tie. “So I’ll just give you a tip today, okay?”
“Fair enough,” he said, keeping his eyes on mine.
“Dagger. Eyes. And only the eyes. Don’t forget.”
“I won’t forget,” he said. Or, rather, he tried to say it. I caught him in a kiss that effectively cut off his words. I could tell I surprised him, but my husband’s a big-shot attorney, and he recovers from surprise quickly. He deepened the kiss, making my entire body weak and tingly. “Upstairs?” he asked.
“Here,” I said, then grinned when I saw his brows lift.
“Really?” he asked.
“Damn right,” I said, kissing him again, backing him toward a wall and fumbling with his clothes.
He got with the program quickly enough, and while I’d like to say that Stuart knows how to follow directions, “here” quickly became “there,” and we ended up sweaty, satisfied, and naked in the living room, rolled up in each other’s arms on the floor, half-covered by the afghan I keep on the sofa.
“Well, that was a nice welcome home,” Stuart said. “Where’s Timmy?”
“Either asleep in his room,” I said, “or getting an eyeful at the top of the stairs.” We both glanced that direction, relieved to find there was no small child peering down at us.
“I love you,” I said, then kissed him, this time warm and sweet rather than hot and desperate.
“I know,” he said. “I love you, too.” He pulled me close, and we stayed like that, the wood floor beneath us growing more and more uncomfortable, but neither of us wanting to get up and break the spell.
The phone, however, managed that.
I sighed and climbed to my feet, frowning when I saw that it was Laura. “I thought you had a date,” I said.
“Oh.” I heard the guilt in her voice. “Right. About that. I was going to tell you, but—”
“It’s okay. Really. But is it true? You’re dating Cutter?” I tried to decide how I felt about that. I had nothing going on with the man—nothing—but I’d always had the impression he was a little attracted to me. So was I going to be jealous now that he was hot for my best friend?
I told myself I wasn’t, and hoped that I meant it.
“No!” Laura said, but then qualified it with a soft, “Well, maybe.”
“You’re not sure?”
“I’m working for him,” she said. “His office manager quit, and since I used to do administrative stuff for Paul, I offered to fill in until he found someone. And now he’s hired me officially.”
“And tonight? Was that admin stuff?”
I could practically hear the blush over the phone.
“Don’t answer,” I said, managing to keep the chuckle out of my voice. “And I’ll only say this. I know Cutter. I like Cutter. And we already know he’s not a demon. I figure those are some serious points in his favor.”
“Yeah,” she said. “And he kisses great, too.”
“Laura!” And that time I really did laugh.
She did, too. “Listen, I didn’t call to talk about the man in my living room—”
“He’s still there?”
“I need to talk to Mindy,” she said as a knot of fear settled in my gut. “Her dad wants her to come on Wednesday, but—”
“Laura,” I said sharply. “Mindy’s not here.”
“What? Did you let them go to the mall?”
“No,” I said slowly. “I let them go to your house.”
“Shit,” she said. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe they’d do that.”
“They wanted to go patrolling. I said no.”
“You don’t think they’d go by themselves, do you?”
I considered it, remembered too clearly what Allie had asked. But I couldn’t believe she’d actually go thro
ugh with it. “No,” I finally said. “Allie knows she’s not a match for a demon. She wouldn’t put Mindy in that kind of danger. She’d only go patrolling if I was with her. Or,” I added, realizing the awful truth, “if her dad was with her.”
“Allie has no idea why Eric’s dangerous,” Laura said.
“I know.” Stuart was beside me, the fear in my voice having brought him over. He clung tight to my hand and watched my face. “Get over here,” I said. “And in the meantime, I’ll call Eric.”
I dialed Eric’s cell as I climbed back into my clothes, and both Stuart and I managed to be dressed by the time Laura and Cutter arrived at my house. “Straight to voice mail,” I said. “His home phone and his cell.”
“What do we do?” Laura asked, clinging hard to Cutter’s hand. To his credit, he didn’t ask one question, though I knew he had to be baffled.
“You and Cutter go back to your house in case they come back. Stuart stays here. And I’m going to go see if I can find Eric.”
Her eyes were wide and worried, but she nodded.
“Be careful,” Stuart said as I slipped on my jacket, checked my stiletto, and made sure I had enough holy water in the vial in my purse.
“Trust me,” I said. “If he’s out patrolling with them, the only one who has to worry tonight is Eric.”
I kept trying, constantly pushing the redial button on my phone as I sped over the San Diablo streets toward the beach.
“Hello?”
“Eric?” I almost slammed into the back of a Mercedes I was so surprised to hear his voice. “Where the hell are you?”
“At home. Why?”
“Mindy and Allie. Are they with you?”
“No.” He said, his voice sharpening. “Why?”
“You’re sure? Dammit, Eric, if you’ve taken them out patrolling, I’m—”
“I said they aren’t here. I’m not him. I’m not Odayne. And still you don’t fucking trust me.”
“Trust?” I snapped back, remembering his words at the mansion. Remembering the look in his eye. “Dammit, Eric, you’ve been lying to me.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Never seen the dagger? No clue where it is or what it looks like? You’ve got drawings of it, Eric. A whole notebook of drawings and notes.”
“The hell I do,” he said, but the force had gone out of his voice, and I stayed quiet, realizing that he needed to process the words. “Jesus, Katie. I didn’t know.”
I drew in a breath and gripped the steering wheel tighter, desperately wanting to believe him, but not knowing if I should. And, yes, knowing that even if what he said was true, that in and of itself was terrifying.
“You really don’t know where the girls are?” I asked, this time more softly.
“I don’t,” he said. “But I’ll come over. I’ll help you look.”
“Thanks, but—”
My phone beeped and I pulled it away from my ear long enough to look at it, then let out a relieved breath when I saw that the call was coming from Allie.
“It’s her,” I said.
“If there’s trouble, call me.”
I promised I would, then clicked over to my daughter, and was immediately blasted by a stream of “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
“They’re safe,” Stuart said, taking the phone from Allie. “Come home.”
I did, cutting over the streets in record time to find both girls sitting quiet and forlorn on the sofa. Laura and Cutter had come back, and now they were pacing the living room with Stuart.
“We weren’t going to patrol on our own,” Allie said the moment I came in. “Honest. And so we headed to Daddy’s.”
I saw Cutter’s brow furrow at that, but decided that now wasn’t the time to worry about it.
“I talked to him,” I said, anger rising. “He swore he hadn’t seen you.”
“He didn’t,” Allie said, quickly rising to his defense. “We saw him.”
“And Nadia,” Mindy added.
“They were going upstairs. You know. To his apartment.”
“And we didn’t figure it would be a good idea to interrupt.”
“No,” I said, forcing my voice to stay calm. “I don’t expect it would be.”
“So we came back.”
“How?” Stuart asked. “Neither of you has a car.”
“Joann,” Allie said. “She was going to the beach to meet some guy, and we tagged along. And then when we said we weren’t staying at Daddy’s, she brought us back. I think she decided to blow off her date.”
“Good,” I said, wondering if all the teenagers in town had gone insane. Maybe there was a full moon or something.
“This conversation isn’t over,” Laura said to Mindy. “Home. Now.”
“And you,” I said to Allie. “Upstairs.”
As soon as they all left, I looked at Stuart, my head shaking. “It’s all spiraling out of control,” I said.
“You need to tell her,” Stuart said. “She needs to understand the truth about her father.”
“I know,” I said, rubbing my forehead. “But it’s two different issues, isn’t it? And even if everything was peachy keen with Eric—hell, even if none of us in this house knew a damn thing about demons—she still shouldn’t have done this. She shouldn’t have gone out on her own. She knows better,” I said, thinking back to the last—and only other time—that she’d snuck out of the house. A time when she’d nearly gotten killed.
“I know,” said Stuart gently. “But keep in mind that she came back on her own. Allie’s a good kid.”
At that, I raised my eyebrows.
“The operative word being kid,” he admitted. “But she reined it in. That’s more than a lot of fourteen-year-olds would do.”
I nodded, but I didn’t say anything. Because the truth was, that was what worried me. Because fourteen became fifteen and that became sixteen.
And with each year came more independence. More defiance. And definitely more danger.
I woke to the sound of someone moving stealthily through the house, and without even realizing I was moving, I was out of bed with my stiletto in my hand.
“Whasgoinon?” Stuart mumbled as he pulled my now-empty pillow toward him.
“Just getting a snack. Go back to sleep.” If there was a demon downstairs, Stuart would be pissed in the morning. But I’d rather deal with his irritation about missing the action than have to watch his back while I checked out our house.
I moved slowly down the hall, avoiding the creaky spot as I peeked my head in Timmy’s room. He’d managed to maneuver himself completely upside down, and now his feet were on his pillow, and Boo Bear was clutched tight in his arms. He snored softly as he slept, sounding a little snotty and wheezy, and I made a mental note to put him to bed tomorrow with a humidifier and some Vick’s VapoRub. Until then, I’d cover him with an extra blanket, but I’d do it after I checked the rest of the house.
I pulled the door closed and moved on to Allie’s room, which was bathed in the soft pink glow of the wall flowers she’d picked up from Ikea. Plastic blooms with lights behind them, six of which now outlined her window in stark contrast to the opposing wall with its martial arts posters and display cases for swords and knives. The latter were new, as Allie had only recently started haunting thrift stores and flea markets for bits of antique weaponry. On the whole, I had no objections; after all, if she wanted to be a Hunter, I wanted her to be the best, most focused Hunter she could be. The combination of focus and training and interest translated to skill.
But at the same time, I’ll admit I missed the posters of the boy band of the moment and the hours on the telephone in the evening talking with her friends about absolutely nothing. I’d never had the high school experience; I’d never really had the chance to be a teenage girl. And I’d desperately wanted my daughter to have a different kind of childhood.
Sometimes things don’t turn out the way you planned. And though I mourned my daughter’s lost innoc
ence, I’m honest enough to admit, privately, to a hum of self-satisfaction and pride, that she wanted to be like me.
Right then, I feared she might be doing exactly that.
She wasn’t in her bed, which meant that either it was Allie I had heard moving quietly through the house, or else she’d heard the sound, too, and had slipped out of bed to go battle our intruder.
Not an option I cared for, and I was back out the door and moving quietly down the stairs even as the possibility occurred to me. I told myself she was simply restless; after all, the alarm hadn’t tripped, and I was certain I’d set it. Probably she was curled up on the couch reading a romance, or sitting at the kitchen table stuffing her face with forbidden ice cream, and when I saw her I was going to feel downright foolish for getting so worked up over nothing.
That was it, I told myself. Nothing major. Just a teenager.
Even so, I moved with care, watching my back as I slipped through the living room, peering into shadows as I made my way toward the darkened kitchen.
Not one light was on downstairs, the only illumination coming from the light under the stovetop vent hood that I keep on as a matter of habit. It glowed a muted yellow, the anorexic light barely illuminating the kitchen beyond.
Still, I saw nothing moving in the dark and heard nothing rustling in the shadows. And as I moved closer, my worry spiked. My daughter wasn’t in her bedroom, she wasn’t in the living room, and the kitchen was too dark and too quiet.
Shit, shit, shit.
I told myself it was nothing. That I was unreasonably worried. That I would have heard a struggle if a demon had broken in and gotten to my daughter.
And I was damn certain that she wasn’t going to be sneaking out again. Not after what had happened earlier in the evening.
So what was going on?
I didn’t know, and that scared me, the tempo of my heart accentuating my fear. Training, however, took over and I moved with purpose and stealth into the breakfast area.
I was, honestly, prepared for anything.
Anything, that is, but what I saw: my daughter, head down at the table, shoulders shaking with muted sobs.
I was at her side in a heartbeat. “Allie.” I put my arms around her and she jumped, her eyes wild, then focused as she looked at me. She gasped, then threw her arms around me, pressed her face to my chest, and cried and cried and cried.