“What?” Ana asked, her eyes wide.
“He saved Stuart instead,” I said, when it was clear Jared wasn’t going to answer. Stuart had intended to sacrifice himself to save Allie. And so Jared had saved Stuart. Because Stuart had saved the girl that Jared loved.
“She must be really pissed at you,” Ren said. “Lilith, I mean.”
“Yeah,” Jared said. “I’m hoping she’s pissed enough that she’s keeping Celia from me. I think I’d know if my sister were dead. But … Anyway, it’s our best lead. Wherever she’s keeping—or kept—Celia, that’s probably where Allie is, too.”
He looked so broken, that I told everyone to go get busy thinking and researching, and that we’d reconvene in an hour. Jared started to follow, but I caught up with him. “You okay?”
He shrugged, then took a seat on the staircase. I joined him, sitting silently and looking at the ornate tiles that decorated this grand entranceway.
This stately old mansion had once been the home of Theophilus Monroe, the black sheep of his family who had been deep into the occult. So deep, that he’d meticulously incorporated demonic symbols throughout the place. Including, I assumed, the tiles I was looking at.
When I’d first suggested we use the mansion as a school, I assumed Father Corletti would look at the history and say no. But then Father explained that we could turn the darkness around. Bring it into the light. Take away the power of the demons and make this place a home filled with goodness and hope and a passion for fighting for the right.
Now, I looked at all those symbols on the floor and twined into the railings, and I hoped that he was right. I hoped that this house was imbued with good. With the power to help us get through this.
Because right then, all I could think about, was the time that Lilith—in the form of that bitch Nadia—had made it through the doors, and had almost taken Eric from me.
After a moment, Jared offered me a thin smile. “I don’t think it helps, but I do understand how you feel now about Timmy.”
I thought of Celia, and nodded. “And Allie?” I asked.
He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “I don’t know how you feel about her leaving. Going with him. Risking her life for her little brother. Pride, I assume. Fear, I think. I don’t know, because I’m not her mother.” He’d been talking to the floor. Now he turned to face me. “I don’t have the same kind of love for her that you do.”
“But you do love her.”
“I do,” he said. “I truly do. Does that bother you?”
“It scares me,” I admitted.
“Because I’m so much older.”
“Yes. And that pesky fact that you’re a vampire.”
“You don’t trust me?”
I shook my head. “That came out wrong. Of course I trust you.”
“Good. Because from what I understand, one of the men you’re in love with has a demon inside him that managed to get out not that long ago. Or had a demon. Honestly it’s all a bit confusing. ”
“Sounds like Allie’s told you our entire family history.”
He shrugged. “I hope that’s okay. We’ve been talking a lot. She’s a lot older than sixteen, you know.”
“And yet she’s really not.”
“Do you think I don’t know that, too?”
“Do you?”
“I’m not going to walk away,” he said. “But I’m also not going to push her. Nothing’s happened between us if that’s what you’re wondering. And nothing will until she’s ready. If she’s ever ready.”
Since I wasn’t sure what the appropriate mom-answer was, I stayed silent.
He clasped his hands together and put them between his knees as he looked down. “The truth is, I don’t think she feels the same way about me. Shethinksshe loves me, but I don’t know what that means to her. She’s focused, our Allie. She understands what’s been put on her shoulders. I want to take part of that burden from her. I want to help her. But I don’t know that she’s ever going to let me. She’s remarkable, Kate.” He tilted his head toward me. “From what I’ve seen, she got that from you.”
“I like you, Jared. And for what it’s worth, I think you’re good for her. And I think she really loves you. In whatever way a sixteen-year-old girl loves the first boy that she’s fallen for. And you are the first boy. So be careful with her heart, please. And, like you said, give her space. She has a lot on her platter.”
