“Honestly? I wanted to be closer to you. I wanted to be part of your fight. To make amends, perhaps. And because you will need my help, I think.”
Eric frowned. “In general, or…”
“San Diablo seems to be one of the focal points for increased demonic activity. It seemed practical to be here.”
I leaned forward. “You think that means a gate is here? Leaking hell-goo?”
“It’s possible. Or it could be something else.” He drew a breath “For generations, our families have fought demons. They excelled at it. Were renowned for it. Allie will outshine them all. Don’t walk away, child. You are here for a purpose.”
“All I wanted was to do was what my mom did. I never wanted to be this super fighter. What if I want a different path? A different purpose.”
“Do you?”
She looked at me and her father, then shrugged. “I don’t know. I wanted in, I did. I practically begged.”
“I remember,” I told her gently.
“But I thought I’d be one of many. Like serving in an army.”
“You’re still part of a team, baby,” Eric said. “Look where you are. Think about who has your back.”
She looked across the table at Father Donnelly. “I don’t like what you did. But I understand why you did it. Why our ancestors did. But I haven’t forgiven you. I might never forgive you.” She pushed away from the table. “I’m going to go find Mindy. To Eliza she said, “Want to come with?”
Eliza nodded, and they stood. I watched them before turning back to Father Donnelly.
“And you, Kate? Eric? Do you understand? Will you forgive?”
I started to say never, but Eric spoke first. “You’re right about one thing. What you did—what our families did—that led to Allie and who she is. And for her sake,” he said, his voice grave, “I’ll forgive most anything.”
12
While Eric took all of the kids on a tour of the library, I went to see Stuart.
Nancy looked up as I stepped in, then smiled brightly at me. “Timmy is playing over there,” she said, nodding toward the attached bedroom. “He’s being an absolute sweetheart.”
I glanced around the partially open door. Sure enough, Timmy had spread all of his cars and stuffed animals over the floor and arranged them into, as far as I could tell, some sort of imaginary town.
He waved happily when he saw me, then went back to whatever important work he was doing.
“Thank you so much for watching him today,” I said, turning my attention back to Nancy. “I know that’s not what you signed on for. I need to focus on finding someone to act as a nanny during the workday. As you can probably tell, we launched this school a little bit earlier than we’d intended. Things are still crazy.”
“Oh, it doesn’t bother me at all, dear. He’s quite the little angel.” She nodded towards Stuart. “Nothing, I’m afraid. I was hoping he’d speak to me as he did to you, but sadly no. Has he said anything else to you?”
I hadn’t told Nancy about Stuart, and it felt a little odd that she knew. It seemed like a secret, but that was ridiculous. She was his nurse now, and she needed complete information. As for how, I assumed Eddie told her, or Rita had. Through Eddie, of course.
She stood. “Why don’t I take a little break so you can spend some time? I’ll go get a cup of coffee downstairs. I believe Rita’s with Eddie, I’ll go find them for a chat.”
“I appreciate that,” I told her. “And you’re lucky. Our new cook just arrived. Senora Micari. You should find her in the kitchen as well.”
“That sounds lovely.” She turned to face my husband. “Stuart, Kate is here. Don’t you want to wake up for her?”
I smiled at her words, feeling both grateful that she was here and melancholy. With every day that passed, I was coming to terms with the probability that I wouldn’t get Stuart back. Even despite his inexplicable talking, hope kept moving farther and farther away.
As she left the room, I popped my head again into the connecting bedroom. “You good, kiddo?”
“A-okay, Mommy!”
“I’m going to talk to Daddy for a while, you come in here if you need anything, okay?”
