“She needs too. Allie’s not just a Demon Hunter right now, she’s a target for demons. More so than usual. That puts Mindy in the crossfire.”
“Agreed. I’ll talk to Laura and Allie. Tell soon, or I will.”
Eric nodded approval. “And vampire boy?”
“He must know something. He’s the one who said that Allie was the one who could take out Lilith. I assure you that’s not because of her Algebra grade last year. Which means there must be rumors floating around about some prophesied savior or something. The truth is, I have no idea. But he knows that much at least. Assuming it’s true.”
“Assuming?”
“Well, I hope it’s true. If Allie can take out Lilith, that’s a very good thing. And like we’ve said, something happened in that crypt. That light. It was like it?—”
“Anointed her,” Eric finished for me.
“Yeah.”
For a moment, Eric just watched the kids. Then he said, “I’m going to go patrolling with them. If this vampire wants to watch out for our daughter, I need to see if I want him on the job.”
“Good. I like that.”
I went with him down the stairs and across the patio, following the path that the kids had taken. We passed Mindy coming up. “Are you not coming?” Eric said.
She rolled her eyes. “Allie said she thought I should probably go.” She made a face. “I don’t know why I should. I don’t suck at this, and I’ve been training really hard.”
“She’s probably thinking about the musical,” I said, proud of myself for coming up with such a reasonable lie. Even if you twist an ankle, they’ll use your understudy. You have to dance, right?”
“Oh. Yeah. But she should have just said so.”
I shrugged. “You know Allie.” Which was really no answer at all.
In fact, right then I thought that maybe Mindy didn’t know Allie, after all. Because it was perfectly clear to me that this was a boy issue, not a hunting issue. But I supposed Mindy would figure that out soon enough.
“Have fun,” I said to Eric, wondering if the excitement of patrolling with her dad would outweigh the humiliation of having a chaperone. “Keep them safe.”
“Always. And tell Stuart I came by. Reassure him that I bathe in holy water and eat Communion wafers for breakfast. So he has nothing to worry about.”
“And your dream?” I asked once Mindy was back upstairs and out of earshot. “Do I tell him about that?”
He reached out, then tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “Yeah, Kate, I think you have to. You told him no more secrets, right?”
I had, yes. But I hadn’t realized what a hard habit that was going to be to break.
I spent a few hours alone in the house, walking up and down the seemingly endless maze of hallways. I found the wing in which the staff used to reside. I found secret doorways that led between the levels. And I found a charming little garden in the backyard, tucked away on the only patch of land that was on the same level as the house. Everything else was down below, the only thing passing for a yard being the cemetery itself.
I stood there for a moment surrounded by flowers in a garden that had become much too overgrown. I looked out at the ocean amazed at what a gorgeous day it was, because how could it be so beautiful when there was so much danger brewing around us?
My phone buzzed with a text, and I looked down to see that it was Stuart.Where are you?
I answered quickly.The mansion. Back garden.
Just parked. Meet me inside.
I hurried in, and arrived a few moments after he’d stepped over the threshold. He was looking at the various deliveries, inspecting them for damage. “Thanks for doing this,” he said. “I know it took a chunk out of your day.”
“It wasn’t a problem. I enjoyed having the chance to look around the place. And the girls did some training up in the ballroom. They even killed a demon.”
“Well, that’s what all the cool kids are doing these days,” he said. “Everyone okay?”
“Just another day at the office.”
