“I know.” He and I shared a smile as we watched them dodge and parry, kick and spin, their kicks and jabs and grunts echoing in the cavernous room.
As I looked around, I realized how huge this room was. They were moving all over it, but not even making a dent in the square footage.
“I hope Mindy and Eliza and Allie can get some more use out of this place before Stuart and Bernie sell it. It’s almost poetic that we’ve got demon hunters in training practicing in themansion, when the whole reason we’re remodeling again is that demons practically destroyed it.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Eric said.
“Wasn’t your fault, no matter how much it might feel to you like it was.”
He took my hand and squeezed it. “Thanks for that.”
I nodded, thinking of Lilith. Wishing she was out of our lives completely. But considering what Jared had said, I feared we’d soon be facing off again with that determined and ancient bitch of a demon.
I wanted to crack a joke. To tell Eric that if I could get out alive from seventy percent off after Christmas sale, I could survive whatever Lilith had to throw at us.
But I couldn’t say it. This was important stuff, and our daughter was at the middle of it.
Sure, I can joke about how I honed my fading skills by practicing sword fighting with Swiffer handles, but that wasn’t what I needed now. I needed enchanted swords and lost information. I needed almost inhuman strength. I needed every ounce of the training I’d ever had.
I needed research. I needed help.
I realized then that I’d reached for Eric’s hand, and that help was right there.
He squeezed mine tight, and I was certain he understood what I was thinking. Our baby girl was in the middle of this. So was he, for that matter. And none of us understood what was going on.
I knew Stuart was worried about Eric. Worried about Allie, too. But I was certain that they were just as clueless as I was.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure if that simple fact made this whole thing better or worse.
It wasn’t a question I could examine too deeply, though, because the girls noticed us and raced over, Allie crying outfor her father, and Mindy doing fist pumps and congratulating herself and Allie on what a great job they were doing kicking butt.
“This place is so cool, Aunt Kate. Can you imagine if it had equipment in it and mats and stuff? It could be like one of those places where gymnasts go to live while they train for the Olympics. I’ve seen documentaries, you know. Those girls move down there, and they train and they train and they train and then they go and they win the gold.”
The words rattled out of her, and I suddenly imagined a Demon Hunting Olympics. If there was such a thing, it felt like we were in the thick of it.
“It really does suck that Stuart and Bernie’s company is going to sell this place instead of Stuart buying it,” Allie said. “It would’ve been really cool to live here. Everybody I know could have moved in for week-long parties, and I mean how much fun would that be?” She looked between me and her dad. “Can you imagine? We’d be like movie stars or something.”
“Stuart was going to buy it?” Eric asked.
“A passing whim,” I said. “I’m certain it wouldn’t have happened. The place is prime real estate. And now with all the repairs, it would be too much of an investment. Now I think they’re planning on selling it for someone to convert into a hotel.”
“Sucks,” Allie said, and Mindy seconded it.
Honestly, now that I was standing here, I had to agree.
“Hey lady!”
The delivery guy’s voice filtered up the stairs, “Boxes are all in, and someone’s down here waiting to talk to you.”
Allie and Mindy went back to sparring, while Eric and I went down to find Jared standing right in the middle of the maze of boxes and stacked wood.
“Jared,” I said. “How did you find this place?”
He shrugged. His eyes darting to Eric. “It wasn’t hard.”
That wasn’t exactly an answer, but I realized that he used his vampiric senses to pick up on our trail. Obviously, he wasn’t sure if Eric knew the situation. Which, of course, Eric didn’t. Not yet.
Eric took a step closer, his eyes narrowing, his body stiff in a fighting stance that surprised me considering he didn’t tend to get surly around teenagers. Especially since this teenager was a student at the school where David Long taught.
