Whatever that meant, it couldn’t be good for Allie and Eric. For any of us, really.
Eddie was the last to leave. He paused in the doorway, fixing me with those sharp eyes that had seen more than I could imagine.
“You okay, girlie?”
“I’m fine.”
“Liar.” But there was no heat in the word. “I knew Antonio’s father back in the day. Good man. Tough as nails.” His voice went rough. “The Russos have been with Forza for twenty generations. Hunters, alimentatores, researchers. Good people. Loyal.”
He made a gruff noise. “That boy came here to tell you something, and some demon made damn sure he never got the chance.” He looked up at me, and beneath that curmudgeonly exterior, I saw real fear. “Whatever demon did this, it wasn’t random. Russo wasn’t coming just for a visit. He was coming with information. And it got him killed.”
“Believe me, I know that.” I drew a breath. “Eric and Allie. In the thick of it again.” I blinked hard, fighting back tears. “I hate this for her. For both of them, but especially her.”
“We all do,” Eddie said. “And Jared’s on deck, too. Got a tiny bit of demon in him, that boy. Left over from the first vampire. Ancient and minuscule, but enough there to matter.” He drew a long breath. “Each of them thinks they’re the one, and maybe one of them is. Or maybe it’s about all of them.” He shrugged as he continued walking, then paused at the door. “Or maybeit’s about someone we haven’t met yet. Prophecies are tricky like that.”
I nodded. “Thank you,” I said, my voice almost a whisper.
He chortled. “Hey, I ain’t killed the beastie yet.”
“For being here,” I said firmly. “For all of it.”
His curmudgeonly face softened for a microsecond, then his familiar scowl returned. “Don’t go getting sentimental on me, girlie. I’m just here because Rita’s off on some pansy-ass girl trip.” He said it as if he was annoyed, but I knew he was happy for her, off on a trip with old college friends. And, presumably, safely out of danger.
“If it’s all the same to you,” Eddie continued, “I’m gonna stay until this is settled.”
I smiled. “I was hoping you would.”
Then he was gone, and I was alone with the cold fireplace and the weight of everything pressing down on me.
But I couldn’t rest. Not yet, and I hurried to catch up with Stuart.
“Hey,” I said as he approached his bedroom door. The one that should beourbedroom.
“You okay? “I asked.
He nodded, but his eyes had that faraway look—the one that told me part of him was still wherever the visions took him. “Just need to sit for a minute. They take it out of me.”
I followed him inside. The room was dim, lit only by a small lamp on the nightstand. He settled into the armchair by the window rather than the bed, already more himself than he’d been in the dining room.
“Do you remember anything else?” I asked, perched on the edge of the bed across from him. “About the prophecy? Anything that might help us figure out what’s coming?”
He shook his head slowly. “Just fragments. Images that don’t make sense. A door. Blood on stone.” He rubbed the back of hisneck. “It’s like trying to hold water. The harder I grip, the faster it slips away.”
“It’s okay. We’ll work with what we have. Maybe—I don’t know—make sure we’ve found every door in this spooky old house and test the thresholds with holy water.
He nodded. “Couldn’t hurt.”
Silence settled between us, heavy with everything we weren’t saying. I watched his profile in the lamplight—the new lines around his eyes, the gray at his temples that hadn’t been there a year ago. He looked tired, but not broken. Just...different. Like someone who’d seen things he couldn’t unsee.
“I could stay tonight,” I said. “In case you have another vision, or?—”
“Kate.” His voice was gentle. Final. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to,” I said. But did I? Or was this guilt talking? Guilt over the feelings I couldn’t quite bury for Eric, the man who wasn’t my husband anymore? Guilt for dragging Stuart into this life in the first place?
I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I missed my husband. Everything in my personal life was a huge, freaking mess, but I missed Stuart. I missed the man he was. And he wasn’t letting me know the man he’d become.
“I know that what happened changed you,” I said softly. “And I know that it’s hard. But I also know that I don’t want to lose you. I need you. And so does Timmy. We love you. And you can move back to the master bedroom anytime.”
