“Are you thinking about a hotel?” Laura asked. “High-end but with these rooms for kids doing the hostel thing?”
“No. Mindy actually gave me this idea.”
“Mindy?”
“Well, the kernel of it.” I looked at Cutter. “Do you think that ballroom could be transformed into a training center? With mats and punching bags and the whole shebang? And could the salons be set up for archery practice, knife throwing and stuff like that?”
His brow furrowed. “Are you asking me to set up a training center here?”
“No, not really. I mean, if you were interested in doing some of the training and participating, that would be amazing. Right now, I just want your opinion.”
I looked between the three of them, feeling the excitement rise in me. “I told you all how Father Corletti thinks that I should start training Demon Hunters. Apparently they’ve discovered a lot of potential hunters in the Southwest and California. What ifForzadiverts them here and we train them?”
I watched their faces, but only Eric said, “Go on.”
“Right. Well, I’m thinking that Forza should buy this place. I’m thinking that I should turn this into a training center. A full-blown, live-in training center.” I shrugged. “Anyway, that’s the idea. What do you think?”
The three of them exchanged glances, but nobody said anything.
“You hate the idea? Really? I thought it was kind of great.”
“No,” Eric said, with a crack in his voice. “Honestly, I think it’s brilliant. And you can totally count me in to train.”
“Really?”
He took my hand, and I knew he’d been thinking about our past. About our own time in the dorms. “Absolutely.”
We headed back to the ballroom so that Cutter could take another look now that I’d told him how I wanted to repurpose it. “Honestly Kate, I think this place is about as perfect as it gets. The ballroom will convert easily. You have the kids in the dorms. They’re living together, so there will be that camaraderie.”
“It would almost be likeForza West,” Eric said, making me laugh.
“Forza, the sequel,” Laura said in a low movie trailer voice. “This time, it’s personal.”
“I’m really glad you guys think it’s a good idea,” I said when I’d stopped laughing and could breathe again. “I was afraid you’d say I was thinking too big, taking on more than I could chew.”
“Well, you might be,” Eric said. “But I have your back. And we can move my book collection here too,” he added. Eric had been the Rare Books Librarian at the San Diablo Public Library before he died. Because of who he was and what he was trying to learn about himself, he had built quite a collection of rare books, particularly on the topics of demons and demonology. I’d assumed that he’d used the library fund, but it turned out he’d bought the books himself or through a research account withForza.
Having those manuscripts here if we were trying to train hunters would be a huge boon, but I didn’t see how it would happen. They belonged to the library now.
“No,” he said when I pointed that out. “My will authorized the library to hold them in trust for you, but ultimately it’s your decision where the books go.”
“Yourdecision,” I said.
“No. Eric’s dead. David Long has no claim on those books.”
I said nothing. He knew perfectly well I’d do whatever he wanted with those rare manuscripts.
“I’m getting excited,” I admitted, as the four of us continued to chatter about the possibilities.
“We can hold your women’s self-defense class here too,” Cutter said, “It’s not that convenient for me to come, but if I’m going to be consulting here anyway...”
I shook my head. “No. I want to keep this separate. And we’ll have to arrange for some sort of private school accreditation. I figure with his law background, Stuart will be able to navigate those channels. Assuming he signs off on this whole idea. And Father Corletti, of course.”
“I’m sure they will,” Eric said.
Below, the contractors were still hard at work. We walked through them, trying to avoid their bits of equipment and stacks of tile as we headed toward the exit. We’d almost reached reached the door when one of them launched himself at Eric, a pry-bar tight in his hand.
Cutter, in the kind of move that he doesn’t show off in class, whipped his leg around high and fast and sent the guy sprawling with a solid kick to the chin .
