As awkwardas Schwint’s Bertha prank had been, it did end up helping everyone quickly feel at ease with each other. Within fifteen minutes, the four of us were settled in the sunken living room, the cookies had nearly disappeared, and Schwint and I had relayed the events of the past few hours—both Hazel’s declarations and what the voice had said.
Dad looked at me as he leaned back against the sofa cushions, his arms stretching over the top. “You’re sure the voice is gone?”
I nodded. “Yeah. It is. It’s like I’m alone in my head, finally. I think I’d gotten so used to him always being there, that I wasn’t even aware that he was still in my mind, even when he wasn’t saying anything.”
Schwint placed a hand on my knee, stopping me. Then glancing at my folks, he pulled it back. “That doesn’t negate what the voice said. If he’s been called by the Vampire Cathedral, Finn doesn’t have a choice but to do what they say.”
I turned to Dad. As I did, I placed my hand on Schwint’s knee, letting him know it was okay and my parents were cool with it. “What do you think, Dad? Have you heard of that? Being called?”
He gave a slow nod. “I’ve heard of it, but only in stories. I’ve never met anyone that had actually had it happen to them. It’s always a friend of a friend or someone’s wife’s husband’s second cousin’s great uncle or some such nonsense.”
Mom had stayed unusually silent as Schwint and I told her and Dad about the day, only piping up to ask for more details or other clarifying questions. However, when she finally spoke up, I heard the typical strength and determination that I equated with my mom. “I don’t care what stories you’ve heard, Wendell”—she glanced toward us—”and I don’t mean any disrespect to you, Schwint, but neither do I care what is expected when the Royals call someone. We make our own decisions. Destiny is shaped by our choices. They do not get to tell my son what he is and is not to do.”
I almost expected Schwint to argue, but he didn’t. How do you disagree with a mother defending her son?
Mom continued after a pause. “I’m not fool or naïve enough to be unaware of how this world works. Evil is real, and I know we’re not immune to it. But we don’t have to sit back and do whatever it tells us.”
Apparently feeling the same, Dad moved his arm from the back of the couch and took hold of Mom’s hand. “We’ll figure this out, my love.”
She nodded. “Of course we will. We always do. There is nothing this family can’t get through together. Nothing.” She gave another nod, this time in a declarative manner in Schwint’s direction. Whether daring him to disagree or just informing him, I couldn’t tell.
The room fell silent, each of us lost in our mutual, yet solitary, fears and thoughts. My family had been through hard times before. Every family has, but ours had been pretty few and far between. The most dramatic had been when everything had happened to Cynthia all those years ago. I guessed some of the stuff that happened when I’d dated Jake might have qualified too, but I’d kept that to myself. Not until Brett, Rodrigo’s death, and all the drama with the vampire and the subsequent aftershocks had we had to face such adversity. By now, though, it began to feel like it would never end.
I looked between Mom and Dad. “Where do you think we start? Should I go there and see what they want?”
“ToCosta Rica?” Mom’s tone suggested I’d lost my mind.
“Yeah, to the Vampire Cathedral. Maybe if I go there, see what they want, they’ll be satisfied.”
Mom started to reply, but Schwint was faster. “They’re never satisfied. Not until they get what they want. If you go down there, you won’t come back until they want you to.”
“But you told me that if they wanted me to be there, there was nothing I could do, that I would have to go there.”
He didn’t meet my eyes. “That’s true too.”
“You’re not going to go to the Vampire Cathedral. That’s all there is to it!” Mom emphasized her words with a single pound of her fist on the coffee table, causing the last cookie to rattle against the platter.
Dad leaned forward. “Your mom’s right. You’re not going to go there. If you go to Costa Rica, you’re on their turf. You’ve lost any advantage you might have. Here, you’re far away from them, and we are together. We have home field advantage.”
“You know I hate sport analogies.” I grinned, trying to make my lame joke sound carefree. “And as far as being on our own turf, it turns out that the Square is actually an offshoot of the Vampire Cathedral, or something like that.” I gestured toward Schwint, indicating that the knowledge had been his.
Dad perked up, looking as if some connections had finally come together. Then his face fell. “Oh. Right. That makes sense, actually. I guess that should have been obvious with all that I’ve heard goes on there. That does change things a little bit. No wonder they wanted you there. If they want you for something at the Vampire Cathedral, the Square is second best.”
Mom stared at Dad, then exploded. “Makes sense!Obvious! Wendell de Morisco, you can be the most frustrating man. This is not a sociology lesson, this is the life of our son!”
Dad turned to her, smiling his ever-calm smile. “I know, dear. I was just putting the pieces together.” He looked at Schwint. Then his gaze leveled on me, his smile gone. “If I’d known, or figured it out sooner, maybe we’d have had a better chance of stopping all this. You wouldn’t have had to go through all that you’ve been through.”
Her voice still growing in anger, Mom stood and started pacing, her hand flailing about. “It’s that demon’s fault. All of it. I should have gone with my gut that night. Should kicked him out of the house, not have let him stayed for a moment. Finn never would have gone to the Square at all. The Royals would have never bothered with him. He wouldn’t have had to go through all of those months doing everything they wanted him to do!”
“Mom, nobody made me to anything. And it’s not Brett’s fault—”
“Don’t you take up for him! He doesn’t deserve it! And of course they made you do the things you did. You never would have left your family. That’s never the kind of boy you were, not the man you are!”
I started to protest again but didn’t. It didn’t seem fair. In all her yelling, I heard a sliver of hope. She’d found a way to not have to put any of the blame on me. Her son was innocent. Everything I’d done had been forced on me by the Royals. I wished I could believe her, let myself give in to that notion. None of it had been my fault. I’d just been a victim.
It was a nice illusion, but it wasn’t true. I was the one who’d chosen the back rooms, the Spor, all of it.
Schwint nudged me with his shoulder, as if reading my mind. “Actually, your mom might be right. Maybe that’s exactly why they wanted you there, to get you more and more under their control. That way you’d be ready for whatever it is they want you for at the Cathedral. You’ve said the voice keeps telling you you’re not living up to your magical abilities. Maybe they were trying to get you to increase your power, do some bad shit.” He cringed and looked at my folks. “Some bad stuff.”
