Bruce crossed his arms, and stayed surly, but I couldn’t blame him. Ren and Ana looked intrigued, and I hoped they’d seek Eddie out. Not only because I truly believed that they’d learn, but because I wanted Eddie to have an excuse to come here daily. Already, I missed having him around.
I let the students introduce themselves next, starting with Mindy. “Yeah, so, that’s my mom, Ms. Dupont. And I’m here to study to be analimentatore.”
“Not a Hunter?” Ren asked.
Mindy shook her head. “I like the book stuff. But I’ve killed demons before,” she said. “It’s pretty cool.”
“Verycool,” Eliza said, then gave her name. “I’m Kate—I mean, Ms. Connor’s—cousin, and my mom hunted demons, too. Just not forForza.I guess you’d call her freelance. But I want into that fight, and I want to live, too. So I’m glad thatForzaopened this school and that Kate—Ms. Connor—is running it. She’s freaking awesome.”
“Thanks, Eliza.”
“Just calling it as I see it. And that’s Allie. Her daughter,” she added. “Well, their daughter,” she amended, pointing to Eric, who was making a show of leaning on his cane. She winced. “Was I supposed to say that?”
“It’s fine,” Eric told her. “No secrets among Hunters, right?”
“You’re the one who came back,” Bruce said, looking at Eric. “When I was living with the Hunter who hooked me up with you guys, he told me a story. You were like kick-ass when you were young. And you got married. And you had her,” he said, pointing to Allie.
“Right,” Ana said. “I heard that, too. You retired. And then you got mugged and died. But you came back.” She took a step back, shaking her head. “That is seriously freaky.”
“So you’re their daughter?” Ren said, turning toward Allie, but pointing to me and Eric. “Wow.”
“That means you’re the one,” Bruce said to Allie. “You like closed the gates to hell. You saved the freaking world.”
“No way,” Ana said.
“Oh, yeah,” Bruce said. “Beautiful and kick ass.”
I watched as Allie’s cheeks turned red, and Jared took a step closer. “Gee.” Allie shifted her weight. “Didn’t realize anyone actually knew about that.”
“Like I said. That Hunter who turnedForzaon to me. He knew.”
I frowned, wondering how he could have heard. Allie was right. What happened to Eric had become well known withinForza.But Father Corletti had made great efforts to keep who Allie was a secret exactly for this reason. She didn’t want the eyes on her, or the inevitable questions about what made her special.
Apparently the secret wasn’t a well-kept one.
“What was that Hunter’s name?” Eric asked.
“Jonathan Bartlett.”
“Bartlett’s dead,” Eric said.
I wanted to call him out for being an insensitive ass. After all, that Hunter was Bruce’s friend. But then I realized he did it on purpose. The fact was, it was humans who didn’t know Allie’s secret. But many actual demonsdidknow. And Eric was making sure that Bruce wasn’t working with them.
Bruce took a step back, his head shaking and his expression one of total shock. “No. No way. What happened—Oh, God. Was it a demon?”
Eric nodded, and I saw tears in Bruce’s eyes as he turned to the two he’d arrived with. “He—he’s the reason we’re alive. The reason I knew what to do. Though the eye, I mean.” He shook himself, then took a few deep breaths before lifting his chin. “I’m in. If I hadn’t said it before, I am so in.”
“Good.” I looked to the other two. “This is your final chance to say no. Tomorrow, your education starts.”
“I’m in, too,” Ren said
“Yeah,” Ana agreed. “Totally in.”
Then all the kids started talking at once, and I held up a hand to quiet them, but to no avail.
Finally, Eric whistled, and the room went still.
“In a few moments, you’ll be shown to your rooms so you can settle. You all have a binder on your bed with your schedule. You’re our first class, so you’re small, and we want your feedback. Next semester will be much more crowded and much more scheduled.
