12. Chapter Eleven
Chapter Eleven
Keir
The reception was underway. The wedding had been beautiful, just like something out of a fairytale. Amelie was thrilled to see Lake and Jamie were there, saving her questions about where Lake had been until later. Dash was currently talking to Jamie as I sat at the other side of the table with Lake.
“You’ve been feeling okay, right? Jo would have called us if you weren’t, wouldn’t she?”
I was hungry for every detail about the pregnancy Lake would share. I wished to hell we could be with her at the doctor appointments, but Lake, Jamie, and our baby’s safety were of the utmost importance. It was a sacrifice Dash and I had to make, though we both hated it.
“Jo would have let you know if something was wrong in case I couldn’t. She watches over me like a mother hen, but I love the attention. I, uh, I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, Keir. The privilege to carry this precious little baby for you guys has been so amazing, and the chance to get my degree in cosmetology was more than I ever imagined I’d have when I was dancing not long ago. Jo is such a wonderful grandmotherly figure for Jamie, and since Lily came to visit, we’ve been having so much fun. I do hate that she and Quinn had a fight and decided to spend some time apart. Do you think they’ll work out their differences soon?”
I’d wondered how Lilith justified joining Jo in the babysitting duties without Lake asking a lot of questions. “I have a feeling they’ll figure things out very soon.”
Not many people wanted to discuss heartbreak, so it was a genius idea to use that as the basis for her visit. Lilith was a smart woman...er, demon.
“Is there anything you need?” I knew I’d drop everything and get Lake whatever she desired.
She grinned. “I just want to go home.” She rubbed her belly, her eyes belying the toll the pregnancy was taking on her body.
I stood, scooted my chair in front of Lake, and lifted her feet to rest on the seat. “Sit here and rest. Jo, how about a dance?” They sat next to me, knitting needles clacking away.
“Sure, Keir. That would be lovely.” I extended my hand and led them to the dance floor.
“How were you able to secure the time for Dad to come?”
The band was playing a waltz, and thanks to my mother, I knew how to slowly lead a partner around the floor. I’d done it a few times growing up, and it was something I could teach our daughter when she was older. The idea of it thrilled me and instilled a lot of dread. Surly teens lining up to dance with my daughter brought on a sudden surge of anxiety.
Jo offered a big smile. “Your father is doing a great service to all of us, but he’s not the only entity in the collective, so they could spare him for the time he needed to be here to speak with you. And really, who would know your family history better than your father? You needed to understand the family lineage much faster to deal with Lorraine Joly and get her out of the way. Did you find your answers?”
“Yes. We are part of Pierre’s lineage, not Claude’s. Dad said Pierre had a son who was my many-times great-grandfather, while Claude went on to join a religious order in Spain and never fathered any children. Dad says I resemble Claude, but I’m not the reincarnation of him. It seems he went for judgment when he originally died, and Lorraine’s got her wires crossed.”
The visit with my father was quick. The information dump had been intense, but he’d solved a mystery and saved me hours of reading through his research. I’d thanked him very much for offering me the shortcut. I wished he could have stayed longer.
“We need to confront that spirit and set her straight very soon. What about the spell? What do we need to do? Is there any way I can help?” The music ended, and we clapped as I slowly escorted Jo back to their seat.
We stopped short of the table where Dash sat with Jamie and Lake. “Dash and I want to bring them back to our apartment.” I could see Jo’s face morph into a scowl, so I held up my hand. “Before you protest, we want you to stay with us, too. We made a bedroom for Lake and Jamie to share, and I’m guessing you don’t sleep, but we can make up the couch in our office upstairs to give the pretense that you have somewhere to sleep.”
Jo still wasn’t convinced, but frankly, I didn’t care. It felt wrong for Lake and Jamie not to be with us where we could look after the two of them—well, three if you counted Lake’s tiny passenger.
I decided to change the subject. “Do you have any idea who is reopening the portals you’ve closed? Is it Lucifer? You know there’s a bet between Nyx and Lucifer, so I was wondering if he was somehow giving himself an unfair advantage. Is he trying to make our job harder or something?”
“I’ve been doing it, actually. Now that Lake is so far along, I’ve been trying to steer Nyx away from Reardon. I didn’t know the significance of your little girl’s birth when I was closing those portals to guide the fight straight to you without harm coming to other humans, but as more was revealed, I realized I needed to undo what I’d done.
“I’m trying very hard to keep Nyx away from your walk-in, Keir. I’ve also been backtracking over Lake and Jamie’s auras to confuse anyone attempting to track them. They think we’ve been in San Francisco since we left Hades, but really, we’ve been constantly on the move. Do you really think you can keep Lake and your baby safe at the funeral home?” Jo looked skeptical. I was beginning to question it myself.
I ushered them to the table and pulled out their chair when something struck me. I knelt and touched their arm. “Jo, is there a portal in Normandy or anywhere nearby?”
She seemed to think for a moment before she answered. “Yes, there’s a portal there. That site has been a source of turmoil and strife for millennia. The evil that has taken place in that part of the world makes it impossible to sanctify the ground. Why? That portal was extremely difficult to close, such that I didn’t reopen it.”
“Open it. It seems like Normandy has a tie to everything surrounding my family, and if we want to take the fight elsewhere, then that seems like the best place since that’s where Henri’s actions caused the spell to be cast on my family in the first place.”
I hoped the plan formulating in my brain was possible to carry out. It might just be the way to end all the madness.
“Dearly & Son, Keir Dearly speaking.”
We’d been home from San Francisco for ten days. Lake and Jamie were living with us in our apartment. They didn’t mind sharing a bed, thankfully, and instead of Jo being present in her human form, she was around in her angelic form, which Lake and Jamie couldn’t see.
“Hey, Keir. It’s Jonas. How are you and your guests?”
“We’re all doing well. Have you and Vale set a wedding date?” Amelie’s wedding had been beautiful, and I was anxious for Vale and Jonas to tie their proverbial knot. I was finding myself to be a sucker for a good wedding.
“What, misery loves company, is it?” Jonas had me laughing at his joke.
“What can I do for you? You guys want to get together for poker before the baby comes?” We had been too busy to even consider it before the wedding, but now that it was behind us, I wouldn’t mind playing again. I always had a lot of fun with our friends.
“Yeah. I’ll talk to Vale. We got a call from Mercy General in Sacramento. Mrs. Hannah Blount was brought in, DOA. She didn’t show up for work at Whole Foods, so the store manager went to check on her and found her dead in her bed. The police contacted her physician, who said she was due for an angioplasty next week. Joachim confirmed she’d had a widow-maker heart attack.”
I hoped she hadn’t suffered, maybe slipping away in her sleep. “Okay. I have time. Do you want me to come pick her up?”
Since Lake and Jamie had come home with us, we hadn’t had any guests. I’d been getting bids for renovations in the mortuary to begin after the first of the year. We still needed to repair the human-shaped drywall break from a scuffle with the dark side about a year ago. I wanted to update some of my equipment as well, but I still had everything in working order, so I could do one more funeral before the renovation began.
“I’ll bring her out to your place, but here’s the catch. She didn’t have life insurance to pay for her funeral and no surviving relatives. Right now, she’s an unclaimed body, but she has a final resting place at Quiet Haven, where her husband and twin daughters are buried, according to her neighbor. Do you think you could embalm and prepare her for burial as a courtesy? I know we hit you with these requests more than we’d like, but you’re a good soul. We might be able to get the county to chip in for expenses.”
“Save it for next time. It’s not that expensive to prepare her. Does she have clothes to be buried in, or should I order a shroud?” I currently didn’t have many on site. It would depend on her size whether I could accommodate the woman from existing stock.
“I’ll give the court-appointed administrator your information. I’ll bring her out tomorrow. Thanks, Keir. We appreciate your generosity.” Jonas and I said our goodbyes and hung up.
I went about doing a quick inventory to ensure I had what I needed for Mrs. Blount’s prep. I didn’t want to order anything right now because I’d just have to pack it up before the reno. I’d already put out calls to other funeral homes in the area that I’d worked with in the past to alert them we were closing on the fifteenth and wouldn’t be reopening until probably April. Thankfully, my husband had money from his brother’s estate to tide us over.
The door at the top of the stairs creaked open, but no one came down. I rose from my stool and went to the bottom of the stairwell to look up, seeing Jamie standing at the top, her mouth opening and closing with no sound forthcoming. “Hi, sweety. What’s going on?”
All she could do was point up. That was when I heard the smoke detector blaring from the apartment. Dash was at the store, so I raced up, two stairs at a time.
I handed Jamie my cell phone when I reached the top. “Take a deep breath, go outside, and call 9-1-1. I’ll get your mommy and come out in a second.”
Jamie ran through the funeral home as I hurried up the stairs to the apartment, seeing smoke everywhere, the smoke alarms continuing to blare. Why hadn’t my phone gone off in warning? The security system should have— Had Dash not engaged it when he’d left earlier?
Still, though, it should have notified me of a fire. I turned the knob at the top of the stairs, but the door was locked. I pulled my keys out of the pocket of my scrubs and tried to find the right key, but my hands were shaking so badly I couldn’t get it into the lock. I didn’t remember locking the door when I’d gone downstairs that morning.
“No, I couldn’t have. Jamie came down through here, right?”
“Keir, Lake’s inside. Hurry.” It sounded like Jo’s voice, but I couldn’t see them anywhere.
I put my shoulder forward and crashed against the door, only for it not to budge. Of course, my muscular husband wasn’t around when I needed his brute strength. Finally, on the third thrust of my shoulder against the door, it gave way and popped open.
Smoke had engulfed the top floor, so I wasted no time. I hurried to check the bedrooms, unsure where or how the fire had started, just that it was getting worse by the moment.
When I got to the galley kitchen, Lake was on the floor and a skillet on the stove was blazing. The fire had spread to the range hood and along the cabinets and counter.
I didn’t waste any time trying to find the extinguisher. I crawled into the room and touched Lake’s throat, praying I felt her heartbeat. It was fast, but it was there, and I had a moment of relief before I formed a plan of action.
The bite of the fire against my cheek and neck as it ate up the bottom cabinets next to the stove was doing painful damage, but I wasn’t giving up. I would get Lake out of this damn fire if it cost me my life.
Since I couldn’t stand and risk being overcome with smoke, I grasped Lake’s ankles and dragged her with me away from the stove and into the dining room, where I could gather her in my arms and get the two of us out of there. We were headed toward the stairs to the funeral home when a huge explosion from somewhere below knocked me on my ass.
What in hell was happening, and would the two—three—of us survive?