“If only that applied outside of the tub,” I said, shooting a sideways glance to Laura, who passed the toys back to me. I handed Timmy the plastic purple duck, then settled his favorite red boat on top of the water. “All yours,” I told him, then shifted my little plastic stool so I was looking more directly at Laura, my back against the wall and my fingers slowly stirring up the water as Timmy hummed to himself.
I took a sip of my wine, then returned to the topic of the hour. “So you two are really getting serious, then? Santa Barbara. That’s pretty romantic.”
“A bit,” she said, her cheeks actually turning pink. “But we’re taking it slow.” She cocked her head. “What about you and Stuart? Things still back on track?”
“Also good,” I said, though I turned my face away, ostensibly to soap up Timmy’s back as I continued speaking. “He stepped up to the plate coming back home, and then in Rome, too.” All of which was true, although I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the fact that he left with Timmy in the first place still hurt, even though I understand why he did.
Sort of.
When I’m feeling generous.
As for this friction with Eric? Well, that was all just alpha male territory claiming, right? And when you got right down to it, wasn’t it good that Stuart wanted to claim home and hearth again?
“I’m hearing a but…?” Laura pressed, as Timmy took the cloth from me and started in on his underarms before slappinghis hands on the water’s surface to make the boat and duck bob into each other.
I wiped some of the errant splashes off my face. “No buts,” I assured her, even though there were definitely a few buts. “Softer, kiddo. Mommy doesn’t need a bath.”
“It’ll be fine,” Laura said, proving why she’s my bestie. “He knows he screwed up by walking away. And he knows that your ex pretty much saved the world. You can’t expect them to launch into a bromance. You get that right?”
“I do. Of course I do.” I battled back a wallop of guilt. I’d told her about the Stuart-Eric showdown this morning, true. But Laura doesn’t have the full story of what happened in Rome. She knew that a gate to hell had been about to open. And she knew that we’d managed to lock it tight.
She also knew—because I hadn’t been thinking clearly when I called to share the good news that the world wasn’t ending—that the secret to closing the gate had been the blood of a hybrid. She’d reasonably assumed that meant Eric, and I’d let her cling to that assumption because Allie’s my baby just as much as the little guy now splashing in the tub.
Thus began the guilt.
Until now, I’d been keeping Laura in the loop about my demon-hunting adventures. Even though my status as an officialForzaDemon Hunter is supposed to be a deep, dark secret, I’d been relieved back when she’d stumbled onto the truth. I’d been unceremoniously pulled out of retirement, and I’d desperately needed a confidante. At the time, no one else knew, and it had been like lifting an emotional weight when I told her everything.
Now, I was struggling under a different weight, and once again I wanted to share everything with Laura and lift it right off my chest. But how could I? I want to believe that Laura wouldn’t treat Allie differently, or eventhinkabout her differently. I want to think it—but how can I know for sure?
And even if I were one hundred percent positive, at the end of the day, it’s Allie’s secret, not mine. And that means that she gets to decide who knows.
“—all of it.”
“What? Sorry.”
“I said that I really do want to hear about all of it, but if you want to wait that’s fine, too. It’s just that with everything—and you being all the way across the globe—I haven’t even heard the details of how Eliza found you. She seems like a great kid, though.”
“She is,” I agreed, feeling a bit more guilty as I realized that they hadn’t even met until earlier when Eliza and Allie went to Laura’s house to get Mindy and head to the beach.
Granted, we only got home this morning, but my guilt isn’t limited to one little incident. The truth is, that I should have taken the time to bring Laura up to speed during one of our many phone calls between Rome and San Diablo in the days following the near-apocalypse. But those calls had mostly been quick check-ins, since I’d been running around like a crazy person. Eliza had been in the hospital, Allie had filled entire days training with Marcus Giatti atForza, andStuart and I had worked hard to squeeze in a few hours of actual vacation.
On top of all of that, we’d each—all of use including Eliza—spent time with Father Corletti individually and as a group for the sole purpose of talking about Allie and what this new revelation meant for both her and our family. I’m not sure if any of us had a major breakthrough—my takeaway was pretty muchlove my kid like I’ve always loved my kid, and expect the teen years to be a tad more dramatic than the version of hell I’d been anticipating—but it helped having Father to talk to.
In other words, I’d been both incredibly busy and emotionally drained. Not to mention exhausted. Battling demons takes a lot out of a girl. Add in a series of unexpectedfamilial revelations, and I was craving neighborhood gossip during my calls with Laura, not a deep-dive into my own family’s craziness.
So, yeah, maybe my guilt about staying silent from half a world away was misplaced.
Now though…
Well, now I knew that the friendship rules required catching up, even if I did intend to keep a few secrets to myself.
For now, anyway…
“You’re telling me she got away?” Laura sat across from me at the kitchen table, her eyes wide with both shock and loyalty. “Fromyou?How is that even possible? I’ve seen you in action.”
“Right? I could barely believe it myself, but she grabbed it and sprinted. Beautiful leather. Perfect stitching. And the strap was just the right width, you know?”
“So it doesn’t cut into your shoulder,” she added, nodding knowingly. “It sounds amazing.”
