“No. Sorry.”
“Me neither,” Ana said. “Except…”
“What?”
“Nothing specific in the actual words, but it still feels like something I’ve seen or heard.”
“Seen? Okay, try to dial that in,” I told her.
“I told you, there’s something familiar about this,” Ren said.
I looked at all of them. “Then figure out what it is.”
“Okay,” Ren said. “One step at a time. This second part. Deep inside. Hidden in the hills. That must mean something inside a mountain. A cave probably. Or some sort of building that’s built into a hillside. Didn’t one of Jared’s telepathic communications with Celia say something about the house being buried?”
Jared, who’d been pacing, stopped. “You’re right. That’s good. Nearby. Some sort of construction built into a hill.” He looked around the table, then pointed to Marcus. “You’re decent on a computer, right?”
“Reasonably,” Marcus said. “Mostly I’m a trainer, the research side isn’t usually my thing.”
“It doesn’t matter. Start trying to find any sort of architectural plans or permits for buildings built into the hills on the east side of San Diablo.”
“Right. I’ll do my best,” Marcus said.
“I’m on it too,” Eric said from the doorway. “At least until somebody calls me back about the damn Remnant.” I knew that he’d started the day with dozens of calls, trying to find the chain of title for the remnant stones. “I tried everybody I could think of. I’ve got people all over the world working on it. But no luck so far.”
“Well, this is a totally different puzzle to tackle,” I said.
He frowned. “Battled in the dark light that burns no more.” He shook his head. “Not ringing any bells at all.”
“Daddy!” I turned around to see Timmy running towards Stuart, who was out cold now. Timmy scrambled up, curled up on his dad, stuck his thumb in his mouth, and closed his eyes, too. I sighed, desperately wishing I could set aside this day that easily.
In the doorway, Fran offered an apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry. I know you all have a crisis on your hands. But he really wanted to see his daddy.”
“It’s okay,” I told her. “I think they’re fine for now.”
“Well, good. Can I help? I could ask Signora Micari to bring you some snacks.”
“That would be very nice, actually,” Eric said.
Fran pointed across the room. “I can cut to the kitchen through there, right?”
“Absolutely,” I said. But she didn’t seem to have heard me. Instead she was staring at the wall. Mindy had finished transcribing the words from Stuart’s trance, and Fran walked closer to them.
“Battled in the dark light that burns no more,” she read aloud. She turned to face me, then Eric. “What is this?”
“Stuart’s started having visions or trance-speech or something. He doesn’t know what it means, and we’re trying to figure it out.”
“It sounds really familiar,” Ren said for the millionth time.
“To me, too,” Fran said. “It was in a book I had when I was a little girl.”
“What? Seriously?” I hurried to her side, as did Eric. Everyone else just stared at her. “What book?”
“Years and years ago,” she said. “I had a book of scary local stories and supernatural things. Supposedly true. Got it from some used bookstore. I was probably ten, maybe eleven, but the book was for adults.”
“Do you still have it?”
She shook her head. “I don’t even remember what it was called. Or the story, honestly. Not in detail, anyway. All I recall is that there was a dark tribe centuries ago. Not satanic worshipers. No, the book said they invited in the demons.”
