But then Ren’s chin went up.
“You’re wrong,” he said, looking Bruce straight in the eye. I wanted to applaud him, but I didn’t think it was the moment.
“I thought you were cool,” Ana said, moving to stand beside Ren. “But you’ve been playing us since you killed Jessica, haven’t you?”
Bruce smiled. “Jessica took one for the team, yeah.”
“You’re screwed up. How could you do this to a little boy?”
“I’m not doing anything to him. They are. All I want is Allie. She comes with, I let the kid go.”
“You hurt him, and you are dead,” Allie said, moving to my side. “You’d never get out of here. You know that, right?”
“Actually, I think I would,” he said. “Guess which one of us is more likely to take that risk.”
“What does she want?” Eric asked.
“Her,” he said nodding to Allie. “Haven’t you been paying attention?”
Allie turned to look at me, then Eric. She turned to look at everyone behind us. I did, too. Stuart was sitting on the side of his hospital bed now, his IV still attached, and his pale face lined with grief and fear. Laura stood with him, holding his hand. Mindy’s eyes were on Allie, and I saw tears in her eyes as she shook her head, her mouth forming into the wordno.
Beside her, Jared was holding onto the footrail of Stuart’s bed, the metal denting under the force of his grip.
My whole body went numb as I realized that Mindy and Jared were one step ahead of me, and I turned back to Allie in shock.
My baby girl shrugged. “I have to,” she said.
“We’ll find another way.”
Bruce snorted. “Yeah, thinking you won’t. Not unless you want to sacrifice the Timster here. Whadda say? Should I filet him now?”
I wanted to scream at him. To tell him that he was wasting so much potential. But I knew it would be futile, and I’d only be risking his temper, and that meant risking Timmy’s life.
“Allie.” It was all I could say. All I could manage.
“You both know I’m right,” she said, looking from me to her father. “That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? To fight demons? To help humanity? Isn’t that what Father Donnelly said? I was bred for a purpose. So why not start at the top with Lilith? Why not start with saving my brother?”
“You’re walking into a trap,” I told her.
“I know.” She turned and looked straight at Ren and Ana. “So I guess school’s really open now, huh? And your first assignment is to figure out how to rescue me.”
* * *
“This can’t be happening,” I said, pacing the entry hall thirty-one minutes later. “He can’t have taken her.”
Bruce had told us to wait in Stuart’s room for thirty minutes, and we had, even with theForzadoctor having arrived to check Stuart out.
At exactly thirty minutes, all of us except Stuart had raced to the entry hall, only to see that there was no sign of them. Just the open gate at the driveway entrance, as if welcoming all demons, just so they could waltz in and rip my heart out.
“One of Lilith’s minions must have waited for him in a car. He wouldn’t drive himself—not with Allie in the car. He’s not that stupid, and neither is Allie.”
“I can’t think,” I said. “I can’t even form thoughts. Eric…”
“I know,” he said, pulling me close. I clung to him, craving the comfort until reality slapped me in the face. The reality of what just happened … and the reality of what we’d done.
I pushed away, my body going hot with guilt as I saw Stuart and an elderly doctor standing on the stairwell landing, my husband weak and pale and thin.
“He’s fine,” the doctor said as I sprinted to him. “He’ll need physical therapy, and he shouldn’t strain himself, but I think he’ll have a good recovery.”
