Demon 04 - Deja Demon (42 page)

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Authors: Julie Kenner

BOOK: Demon 04 - Deja Demon
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“Exactly what I would have hoped,” he said, his voice sharp.
Score one for Stuart.
“What are you going to do?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I came home planning to pack a bag for me and Timmy and go to a hotel. I’m not really sure why I didn’t. Maybe I wanted the explanation. Maybe I wanted to believe you when you said you’d explain everything.”
“I did explain,” I said, swallowing a throat full of tears.
“You did,” he said. “And I appreciate that. But my God, Kate. Zombies in our house. Demons in our yard. Our children in danger. I’m not sure if I didn’t have the right idea in the first place, albeit for different reasons.”
A tear trickled down my cheek. “I see.”
“Will you give it up? Can you walk away and tell this
Forza
thing that you’ve had enough?”
“No,” I said, then saw him wince at the harshness of my answer. “I don’t have a choice. When Eric and I retired here, we thought we could walk away from
Forza
, from being Hunters. But it’s not a job, Stuart. It’s my life. And life finds you, you know? I made a choice a long time ago to be a Hunter,” I said, though in truth the choice had been made for me. Raised in the
Forza
dorms, I had known no other life. “And if I had to do it all over again, I’d make the same choice. Because this is important stuff. I’m fighting evil, Stuart. Can you understand that? The world needs people who can fight the good fight.”
I licked my lips, watching his face, but unable to read it. “This life has made me the woman I am. The woman you love. Who loves you. So it’s up to you now, Stuart. Can you live with that? Can you love the woman I am?”
“Oh, Kate . . .”
“Please,” I said, fighting tears. “Please tell me you’ll stay.”
“I love you, too,” he said. “It’s a lot to make work.”
“I know it is. But we can do it. Please, Stuart. Please try.”
He stood there, his usually expressive eyes unreadable, then turned and went to the back door. I saw him hesitate, then open it and go outside. I waited, not sure if I should follow, but after five minutes I couldn’t take it any longer.
I found him on the swing, and his eyes cut toward me as I stepped through the threshold.
“Stuart?” I asked my voice small.
A beat, and then he held out his hand, reaching for me. I went to him, hope and relief vying for space in my heart. He settled me on his lap and pulled me close, tears brimming in his eyes, too. “It’s going to be hard, isn’t it?”
“Everything worthwhile is,” I said. “Are we worth it?”
A silence that seemed to last forever filled the room. Then he nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “We are.”
I woke up feeling warm
and loved and relieved. The night had been sheer hell, but in the end it had been worth it. Stuart knew the truth, and yet he’d chosen to stay with me, his body as much as his words assuring me that he loved me.
The bedcovers were horribly rumpled, but Stuart wasn’t buried in the pile. I checked the clock, and saw that it was after ten. I sat up with a start, realizing that Stuart was long gone for the office. My purse was by the bed, and I reached into it, fumbling for my cell phone to call David. I needed to know that Ben had been taken care of. He deserved the best; surely more than he’d gotten.
I found a voice mail waiting for me. David, assuring me that he was arranging everything. That
Forza
had been called in, and that Father Ben was in good hands. I closed my eyes, crossed myself, and said a silent prayer.
Then I swung my legs off the bed. I wanted revenge— wanted to find this new demon that Goramesh and Abaddon had merged into—and yet I didn’t know where to begin. They were surely gone now. And as much as I’d told Stuart that this was my life now, I couldn’t see hauling myself all over the world chasing demons, even if my husband was home holding down the fort.
The truth, though, was that I was secretly glad it was over. I felt ripped apart from the inside. I needed time to decompress. Time to get over losses and assimilate the changes in my life.
I padded into the hallway and checked Timmy’s room. Empty, which wasn’t too surprising. I was sure Allie had gotten him up, and now I needed to go down and talk with her. I’d checked in on her last night, but she was sound asleep and I couldn’t find it in my heart to wake her. Now, though, I needed to see how she was doing after last night’s horror.
But it wasn’t Allie I found at the kitchen table with my little munchkin. Instead, I found Stuart, a bowl of oatmeal in front of him and a bright blue spoon in his hand.
“Come on, little man,” he was saying. “How are you going to get big and strong if you don’t eat up?”
“Chocolate!” said Timmy, and Stuart laughed.
“Might make you big,” my husband acknowledged, “but I’m not sure about strong.” A flash of melancholy crossed his face, and as I watched, he grabbed Timmy, pulling him from his chair to plunk the boy on his lap and hug him close.
There was nothing unusual about the move. Nothing that should have my antennae twitching. But they were. And when Stuart looked at me over the top of Timmy’s head, I knew what was coming.
I held my hand up, desperate to stave off the words, but it didn’t work. The gauntlet came down anyway.
“I’m sorry, Kate. I can’t do it. I thought I could, but I can’t.”
I swallowed. “What exactly are you saying?”
“I’m saying I need some time to think. And I need to know that Timmy’s safe.”
Ice-cold fear shot through me. “You’re thinking of taking Timmy away.” I stood up straighter, a fighting posture. “I don’t think so.”
“Kate, be reasonable.”
“You talk about taking my son away, and this is as reasonable as I get.”
“You can’t keep him safe.”
“The hell I can’t.”
“Was he safe last night? Was he safe last summer? And how many other times have there been? Times I haven’t even known about when you were keeping him so very safe from the ghosties and ghoulies.”
I shook my head, wishing I had words, but knowing I’d never convince him.
“I’d take Allie with me if I could,” he said. “But you know damn well I’d win a fight with Timmy at the center.” He looked me in the eye, and all I saw was betrayal. “Don’t make me fight that battle.”
“He’s safe,” I repeated stupidly, knowing even as I spoke that he wouldn’t believe. Knowing it wasn’t even really true.
“Did you kill that thing last night?” he asked, and I heard a glimmer of hope in his voice.
I wanted to tell him I had. That I’d done the superhero thing and taken out the boogeyman, making the neighborhood safe and secure.
I wanted to say that, but I couldn’t. Instead, I closed my eyes.
“That’s what I thought,” he said, standing up. “I love you, Kate. But Timmy and I have to go.”
"Mom?” I felt
the bed dip down as Allie sat, the scent of Earl Grey tea wafting near my head. “Mom, you have to get up. It’s Good Friday. We need to go to mass.”
“I’m taking a pass,” I said without opening my eyes. I’d been in a funk since Stuart left, living in my bed for more than a day, sleeping and coming out only when I desperately needed food. Immature and irresponsible, yes, but that kind of behavior fit my mood just fine.
“But Father Ben,” she said, her voice catching. “We have to go. We have to say a prayer.”
“I’ve done nothing but pray since last night,” I said, my fingers stroking the necklace Stuart had given me. “So far, it’s not helping.”
“Mom,” she said, her voice breaking. I rolled over to face her, feeling like the absolute worst mother in the world. And why not? I was.
“I’m sorry, Al. Yes. We’ll go to mass.” I glanced at the clock. Two hours until the noon service. Surely I could pull myself together in two hours.
I sat up, expecting her to head to the shower herself. Instead, she stayed on the bed, carefully inspecting each of her fingernails.
I pulled her close and gave her a hug. “I’ve been wallowing, and it’s not fair to you.”
“It’s all my fault,” she said, her chin trembling.
“What? How do you figure?”
“I wanted to see Daddy. And Stuart—and, and—and if he’d just found out some other way. But he insisted on following you, and I couldn’t stop him, and—”
“This is
not
your fault,” I said firmly. “It’s mine. I should have told Stuart a long time ago. There would have been an explosion then, too, but it probably would have been smaller. And maybe we could have survived it.”
“Will you guys survive this explosion?”
I hesitated, weighing my possible answers and deciding truth was probably the best option. “I don’t know,” I said.
She nodded, then straightened her shoulders. “Well, you have to get up now. You’re a Demon Hunter, right? And you have a job to do.”
“Do I? They’ll be gone now. The only reason Goramesh risked being near me despite the prophecy was so that they could have the joining ceremony. Why would he stay now?”
“Well, he’s invincible now, right? Wasn’t that the point of joining?” Allie asked. “So if he’s invincible, why not stay?”
The kid had a point.
“Maybe the sword still works,” I said.
“I thought it
didn’t
work,” she said.
“Yeah, well, there is that. But I can’t believe the demons went to all this trouble to keep me from wielding this sword, only to find that it doesn’t really have any powers. There’s something else going on. Maybe the time of day when the sword has to be used. Maybe the blade has to be coated in blood. Something.”
“I’ll figure it out,” she said. “I swear.”
I pulled her forward and kissed her forehead. “I bet you will, too.”
“Except who cares now?” she asked. “The prophecy said you’d kill Goramesh. But he’s not around to kill anymore.”
“Maybe he is,” I said. “Maybe it still works now that he’s joined with Abaddon.”
“Get Gora-don with the sword and kill them both?” Allie asked. “That would be cool.”
“Gora-don?”
“Well, what would you call them?”
“Touché. But, yeah, that’s pretty much what I was getting at. But, again, why stay in San Diablo?”
She sighed, shoulders sagging. “I guess you’re right,” she said, pushing off the bed. “If there’s even a chance you could take him out, he’s going to be long gone.”
“Unless there’s some other reason for him to stay here.” What that reason could be, though, I didn’t know.
“I’ll go get dressed for mass,” Allie said. “Want me to check on Tim—
Oh.
God, Mom. I’m sorry.”
I managed a smile. “It’s okay, baby. They’ll both be back. Stuart just needs some time.”
The bishop didn’t mention
Father Ben once during mass, which wasn’t too surprising, as no one at the cathedral would have yet realized he’d gone missing. Even so, I said my own quiet prayers for him, and also for Stuart and Timmy, pleading with God to bring my family back together. To give me the chance to make it right.
After mass, Allie raced upstairs, ready to hit the books. As for me, I’d barely had time to make a cup of coffee when the doorbell rang. I raced for it, almost careening into Allie in the living room. “Stuart,” I cried as I ripped the door open. A guess that, in retrospect, was ridiculous because he has a key and is perfectly capable of using it.
“Not Stuart,” David said. He looked at me, long and hard. “I hope you’re not too disappointed.”
“Oh, God, Eric.” Seeing him brought everything back, and as I tugged him inside I felt the tears well up again.
“Should I have stayed gone?” he asked, one arm pulling Allie close.
“No,” she answered immediately, as I echoed the sentiment.
“I came to talk to Stuart,” he confessed. “I get the impression it’s a little late for that.”
“He’s gone,” I said, my voice not really cooperating. “He took Timmy with him.” I wiped away a tear, hating the fact that I kept losing it in front of my teenage daughter.
Perceptive kid that she is, she looked between the two of us, then took a step back. “I was doing some research,” she said, hooking a thumb toward the upstairs. “I’m gonna get back to it, okay?” She pointed to David. “Don’t you dare leave without saying good-bye.”
He promised, and she disappeared, taking some of the weight of parental responsibility with her.
I led David into the kitchen, then passed him a cup of the coffee I’d just brewed. “I’m sorry about Stuart and Timmy,” he said.
I cocked my head. “Are you really?”
He shrugged. “About Timmy, yes. About Stuart . . . Honestly, I’m tempted to try to move in on his territory. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’m fighting the urge to tell you it’s for the best.”
“Keep fighting,” I said dryly. “That’s not what I need to hear. Not today.”

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