“We miss you, too, buddy. We’ll see you in just a couple of hours.”
Allister leaned into the camera, taking up the whole frame, his big green eyes full of worry. “Can I sleep with you and Daddy tonight?”
“You don’t want to sleep with your cousins?” August asked.
He hesitated, then shook his head.
“Did something happen?” Lucas asked, frowning. A little thread of unease tugged at his spine—soft and persistent.
Once more that hesitation, then a shake of his head. He was lying. Or he was worried about something happening later. His nightmares were getting worse, the older he got. His visions too. He wasn’t old enough to shield himself from the impressions he picked up. At his age, every object was a minefield and, in a family of killers, a horror movie waiting to happen. Sometimes Lucas wished he could wrap the whole world in bubble wrap just to give his son amoment of silence inside his own mind.
Lucas felt that familiar tug low in his chest, the one that made him want to scoop Allister up and tuck him somewhere safe forever. He’d done this to him. He’d passed along this curse to his sweetest, most fragile baby. And now there was another one due any day now who might also have this trait. He didn’t want life to be hard for them. Did that make him a bad person? His breath caught a little, guilt settling like a stone beneath his ribs.
“Yeah, baby. Of course you can,” August said over Lucas’s shoulder.
“We don’t have to sleep with you though, do we?” Ara asked, like they had imposed this penalty on Allister and not like Allister had asked to be in their bed. “We want to sleep in the playroom like Jett, Jagger, Oscar, West and Theo.”
Lucas bit back a smile at the way Ara kept listing off each one by name. Always in the same order. It was her own tiny ritual, a verbal rosary she recited whenever cousins were involved.
“As long as Grandpa doesn’t mind, you guys can sleep in the playroom with your cousins,” Lucas said.
“We’re doin’ aninvesagaton,” Oscar called from the table.
“Investigation,” Ara corrected sweetly.
“Yeah,” Oscar said, as if she had just confirmed exactly what he meant.
“Investigating?” Lucas inquired. “Investigating what?”
“It’s top secret,” Jagger called. “We can’t tell you.”
“Yeah, snitches get stitches,” Jett reminded solemnly.
Lucas shook his head helplessly. “Yes, I remember. Be careful. And make sure you’re asleep before Santa comes.”
Ara rolled her eyes. “Sure, Daddy. We’ll wait for ‘Santa.’” She air-quoted.
“Arabella Jade and Adelyn Rose,” he said in a menacing whisper. “Do not ruin Santa for the littler ones. Do you hear me?”
“Yeah, Daddy. You don’t have to use our full names.” Ara said, shaking her head like a fully grown adult.
Lucas could only imagine what they were ‘invesagating’.
In some ways the girls were so childlike—obsessed withK-pop Demon HuntersandCare Bears—and in others they were years ahead. The school had advised them to allow the girls to skip a grade or two, but August didn’t think they were old enough for that. He wanted them to have some kind of childhood, unlike himself.
That’s why they’d decided on St. Agnes. Their curriculum was light years ahead of other schools. The kids came home talking about quantum physics and moral philosophy with the same enthusiasm most children reserved for cartoons. Lucas still wasn’t over the day Adi casually explained Schrödinger’s cat to the pediatrician.
“When are you coming?” Allister asked, anxiety creeping into his tone.
“We’re just waiting for the weather to clear up a bit, then we’ll be on our way.” Lucas softened his voice, hoping it would bleed through the speaker and settle Allister’s nerves.
Allister nodded solemnly. “Grandpa says I can sleep with them again until you get here. Will you come get me when you come?” he asked softly.
“Yeah, baby,” August said. “We’ll come get you.”
Lucas loved how sweet August was with their children but especially their youngest. With Ara and Adi he was nice but firm. They really couldn’t afford to give them even an inch lest they take a hundred miles. They were smart, cunning, and had zero remorse when the ends justified the means in their little brains. When that energy met their cousins’ energy, it was dangerous. The Mulvaney littles worked like a pack… a pack of velociraptors, always testing their parameters for weaknesses.
It was impressive and terrifying in equal measure.
