“What happened with your case?” Eliana asked. “I read something in the news about you guys getting captured?”
Her mom made apfftsound. “Don’t worry about us. We got through it just fine.”
“I’m pretty sure that is what will make me worry. Maybe you should find some time later, after we figure all this out, and you can tell me what happened.”
“I doubt you want to hear all the gory details.”
Eliana rolled her eyes at the fish. “And yet you expect me to tell you everything that happened to me.”
“That’s how it works, honey.”
“Well, maybe that is something that should change.” She didn’t like the frustration that echoed in her voice, but figured that honesty was better than pretending everything was okay. “You guys risk your lives to hunt down dangerous criminals. But when I leave town, you arrange for me to be protected.”
“You wanted to know aboutDominatus,” her mom said. “We realized the time had come for you to step out a little and learn some things about our history. But did you really think we were going to do that without ensuring they would do everything they could to protect you? You’ve learned the hard way that Chicago is a dangerous place. People there don’t care who you are. They see others as people they can take advantage of. Or they don’t see them as people at all.”
And here Eliana had been thinking that it was Carlos they had sent to protect her, at least on top of finding Luci and doing his job. He had told her he promised them he would look out for her.
“If they were supposed to have been protecting me, then they’ve done a bad job of it.” She gripped the phone, the device warm against her ear. “They haven’t protected me at all—at least not until it was too late. I still have no idea who stuck me with a needle, or why. No one knows who killed Doctor Splitfield and my neighbor. And the FBI hasn’t identified the Mother. Don’t even get me started on Lydia Rosenberg. The Shrine seems to bemore interested in covering their own butts and subverting the law.”
Tony moved beside her. “Give me the phone.”
Eliana flinched, glaring at him. “I’m not giving you my phone. It’smyphone.” She took a step back.
Her mom said, “I know that voice. Put him on.”
Tony stared at her.
“I’m not putting him on the phone so you guys can decide for me what happens next. This is my life.” Eliana lowered the phone and hung up.
“Your mother?”
“Both my parents. Which is nothing to do with you.” She stomped back over to the chairs and sat down, trying to figure out why having them manage her life caused such a reaction in her.
No one wanted other people to dictate their entire existence. But keeping her safe, when they were experts and she wasn’t, might not be a bad thing. So why did it make her want to tell them all to leave her alone? She wanted to be treated like an adult—because she was one. She didn’t want the fear of being exposed and in danger, and they could help with that.
Eliana was still wrestling with this. Maybe she would wrestle with it for the rest of her life, and there was nothing she could do about that.
She closed her eyes.
Lord, am I going to be coming up against this wall for the rest of my life?
She didn’t want every move she made to be a battle of wills with people who loved her but didn’t need to manage her life for her or tell her what to do all the time. Maybe it was the simple fact that she hadn’t yet figured out the path she was supposed to be on, or her calling. But did anyone really have that figured out at twenty-five?
“We all care about you.”
Eliana opened her eyes and looked at Tony. “I’m not interested in old grudges or what you owe them. It doesn’t have anything to do with me. I’m trying to live my life, not get swept up in everyone else’s business.”
“Maybe you don’t have a choice. It’s already far too tangled for you to pull away now.”
“I came here for answers, thinking the Shrine could give that to me.” Eliana blew out a breath. “I had no idea that Luci was missing, or that the group she joined would decide they should kill me. I still don’t know why they wanted to end my life.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Tony nodded. “This is more than just answers. It’s a whole life that you could take hold of if you wanted. Sylvia isn’t going to run the Shrine forever. Someone will have to carry on after she retires, and what better person to do that than someone who understands whatDominatusis to the level that you will?”
They actually thought she would agree to be the director of the Shrine? As if somehow that was the whole reason she’d come? Eliana shook her head. “Why do I get the feeling everyone has a path in mind for me, but no one has actually shared with me what that path is?”
“Until now.” Tony shrugged. “What does it matter who came up with the idea? It’s a perfect fit for you.”
“You telling me that is part of the problem. No one is letting me figure it out for myself.”
