“If God created the universe, then He must have created the demons, too. Thus, the possibility exists. You should know that more than anyone.”
I closed my eyes, thinking about Eric and Allie. “I do. But this is my baby we’re talking about. What if he’s—what if we’re wrong. What if Jared is only trying to get her alone? Trying to capture her? Trying to hurt her?”
“She’s been training,” Father Corletti said. “I have seen her skill, and Marcus has told me many times how much she impressed him. Her skills, her strength. She surpassed his expectations. There’s more to learn, of course, but your daughter is not weak. In fact, I think?—”
“What? What do you think?” I know whatIwas thinking, I was thinking about what he just said about exceeding Marcus’s expectations.
Allie had trained with Marcus in the weeks after she’d sealed shut the gate to hell and before we returned home. I’d told himwhat we’d been doing training-wise in San Diablo, which frankly wasn’t much.
If she had surpassed that—if she’d been as strong and agile as she’d been in that chamber deep beneath the streets of Rome— then I think it’s fair to say that something about that day had brought to the surface skills that had been dormant in my daughter.
But whether that was for good or for ill, I couldn’t know. Like Father Corletti said, I could only believe. I could only have faith.
And I chose to believe that her skills were for the good.
I realized that Father hadn’t answered my question. “Father? What do you think?”
“I think she’s more powerful than either of us realize.”
“Yeah. Me too.” I sighed. “So why doesn’t that make me feel better?
“You’re her mother, Katherine. You wish to protect her. That will never change. But you can’t always do that. In fact, you never really could. You could only do your best.”
I closed my eyes and whispered, “You’re saying that I’m all out of excuses.”
“Perhaps.”
“Perhaps? You see something else here? This vampire teen is more than a hundred years older than Allie, but people are going to think that they’re dating. And to top it off, she’s got a massive crush on him.”
Father Corletti chuckled. “I don’t know how to guide you on this except to say that he is both seventeen and older. Allie is fifteen, but she’s older too.”
“So you don’t have a problem with this?” I actually pulled the phone away from my ear and gaped at it.
“She’s a teenage girl. She has a crush on an older boy. Isn’t this often the way of high school students?”
He wasn’t wrong. But at the same time this was hardly the same as Allie having a crush on a teacher.
As if answering my unspoken question, Father Corletti continued. “He’s a centuries-old vampire who wants to protect a young woman with incredible abilities. Do not create problems that do not exist.”
“Maybe...” The truth was, I’d gotten definite crush vibes from Allie at the kitchen table, but Jared had seemed truly clueless when she’d stormed away.
On the whole, I didn’t know what to think. The only thing I knew for certain was that Father Corletti was right—I can’t protect Allie forever.
I needed help doing my job, and so did she.
At the end of the day, I was simply going to have to trust her.
And that’s never as easy as it sounds.
“I tapped lightly on Allie’s door, then slowly pushed it open. “Hey, sweetie. Can I come in?”
I got no response, so I decided to enter anyway. I needed to check on my baby, after all.
I took a step in, then another. The room was dark, the blackout blinds closed against the Sunday afternoon sun. Then I heard the softest shuffle of clothes against the sheets, and I stepped lightly to the bedside. I settled on the edge, my eyes finally adjusting to the darkness, and saw her curled up on the bed holding her favorite stuffed dog. “I thought he liked me...”
“Well, I think he does.”
She shifted, the mattress moving as she sat up, then clicked on the dim bedside light. Even in the relative darkness, I could tell that she’d been crying. “He just thinks I have to be protected.But I can take care of myself. And why would he want to protect me anyway? He’s a freaking vampire.”
