Chapter 17 #2
She flopped down at the table. “She’s being totally unreasonable.”
“Is she?”
“Mom. Don’t even start with me.”
“Why haven’t you told her? She’s your best friend.
You haven’t even told her that Jared’s a vampire, have you?
” I realized that I hadn’t told Laura, either.
But that was an oversight, not intent. I was so used to her knowing everything, I’d forgotten to bring her up to speed, something I’d do as soon as I saw her.
At the table, Allie let out a teenage-quality sigh of frustration. “She knows I like him. What if Daddy had decided he was evil and killed him? I really didn’t think I wanted to have that conversation with anybody.”
I went and took the chair beside her. “Allie, you need your friends. You and Mindy have been through a lot, and she loves you.”
If it was possible, she seemed to sag even further. “I know. But...” She trailed off, not meeting my eyes.
“But?”
She leaned back in her chair and huffed again, her attitude switching from dejected to teenage frustration. “Mom. You know what I am. Or you don’t know what I am. And that’s the problem. What if she looks at me different? What if she’s scared of me?”
My heart broke a little. “Why would she be?”
“Duh. I mean I’m scared of me.”
I reached over and took her hand. “Oh baby. I know it’s hard, but you are you.”
“Yeah. I am me. But what is that? A freak?”
“No. Definitely not.”
She scowled as she pulled her hand away so she could hug herself. “I don’t know. Maybe I am.”
I fought back tears, hating the realization that I could do nothing to help but be there for her. There was no Band-Aid I could put on this boo-boo, and kisses wouldn’t fix it anymore than a Popsicle before dinner.
All I could do was trust that we’d raised her right and be there for her as she worked through it all.
I didn’t like the feeling. I wanted to do, to fix.
But I knew I couldn’t. And like Allie, somehow, I was going to have to find a way to live with this new reality.
“So have you looked at Eliza’s papers yet?
” Laura asked that afternoon as we walked through Old Town toward Eyes Only.
I’d filled her in on everything—from girl drama to vampires to demons who couldn’t seem to decide it they wanted to kill my family or worship it.
I’d also told her about the boxes of family information that Eliza had mentioned, one box of which Stuart had brought back with him from San Diego.
“Mostly random papers and stuff,” Eliza had said when I called to thank her. “A few pictures of our moms, that kind of stuff.”
My throat had tightened as I’d thanked her again, but I still hadn’t opened the box. I didn’t have any photos of my parent, and I didn’t want to open that box until I was ready to deal with whatever emotions were packed in there with the photos.
I didn’t tell Laura that. Instead, I just told her I hadn’t had time, what with being so busy cleaning.
Laura stopped on the street, her hand going to her heart as she reaches out. “Steady me. I think my heart skipped a beat from the shock.”
“You’re so very funny.”
“Just lightening the moment. You okay?” Her words were gentle, and I realized she knew exactly why I hadn’t opened the box.
“I’m good. Thanks.”
“Okay, then.” She cleared her throat, her tone lightening as she said, “And the cleaning? How’s that going?”
I groaned.
“That good? Why didn’t you call me? I would totally help you get ready for the party.”
“I considered it, but to be honest, I wanted something mindless. Something where I wasn’t worrying about demons or my marriage, or the rivalry between Eric and Stuart.”
“Or Allie?”
“Most of all, Allie,” I admitted. “She still hasn’t told Mindy. Not about Rome. Not that Jared’s a vampire.”
“I know. Mindy thinks Allie’s all in a twist because she has a crush on Jared.”
“That’s probably part of it, although she won’t admit it to me.
But the bigger part is that she thinks that Mindy will freak.
About Allie, I mean. The whole being bred to fight demons thing.
Especially since that means there’s something demonic in her.
She’s afraid of how Mindy will react. So she’s damaging the friendship by trying to protect it. ”
Laura paused on the sidewalk, then shook her head slowly. “I get it, but I think it will be fine. She might stumble a little bit at first, but I did too.”
“Yeah, but I’m just me. I don’t have any supernatural essence running through my blood. Apparently, Allie does. Would that have changed things for you?”
“I don’t think so. I mean, you’re still you. You can’t clean a house to save your life, and before everyone comes, I really want to check your baseboards.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Seriously, do you want me to get involved? I could tell Mindy so that she has some time to process before Allie finally gets around to the big reveal.”
I considered that. “No. It’s Allie’s story to tell. But I do think Mindy deserves to know. I’ve been meaning to give Allie an ultimatum. Tell or I will. I just haven’t done it yet.”
“It’s hard,” Laura agreed. “Did you mean it about Mindy being a target?”
“Directly, probably not. But since this whole thing seems to have shifted the demonic focus in this town off me and onto my daughter, that puts you in the clear and Mindy in the target zone.”
“Well, that sucks.”
I drew a breath. “Maybe it would be for the best if they have a rift. Keep Mindy safer.”
For a moment, I feared Laura would agree, but ultimately she shook her head. “No. They’re besties. Once Mindy understands, she’ll be right there at Allie’s side. Trust me. I know how that feels.”
I swallowed the tears that had gathered in my throat. “Thanks.”
“As for the drama that might happen if Allie has a boyfriend—vampire or not—I really can’t say.”
“Mentor,” I said. “Not boyfriend. I wouldn’t even let her go out with a nineteen year old, much less someone who’s crossed the century mark.”
“Crush then.”
We walked in silence for a while, then Laura sighed. “Teenagers. You don’t even have to throw demons in the mix to have drama. How lucky are we to have this extra layer of angst?”
I laughed at that. She wasn’t wrong.
By the time we reached the shop, we’d decided to give the girls a few more days to work it out.
Hopefully, Allie just needed a little more time to work up the nerve to tell Mindy, and I’d give her that leeway.
But if Mindy didn’t know by Timmy’s party on Saturday, I was going to insist that Allie either tell her or Laura will.
Especially since keeping the information from her could be dangerous.
The little bell jangled as we pulled the door open, an anachronistic sound considering the shop was full of cutting-edge technology.
“Don’t tell me our girl lost that necklace again?”
“She didn’t,” I said. “For that matter, she didn’t lose it the first time. She loves it. The demons ripped it off.”
Eddie snorted “That just means she’ll lose it again. When aren’t the demons going to be after her?”
“Eddie.”
“What? Like you didn’t already know that? That’s this life. Always was, always will be.”
I knew that, of course. Before Eric and I retired, demons had been a daily part of my existence. Practically an hourly part.
But I’d always wanted something different for Allie. Hadn’t I?
Is my problem the fact that she’s suddenly neck deep in the family business?
Or am I more concerned about the fact that I don’t understand what her larger role is in this hazy world that we were moving through? A world that most people don’t see, but that my family sees all too clearly?
“You two just coming to say hi?” Eddie asked, pulling me from my thoughts. “I don’t see a bag of bakery goods in your hand, so you’re not bringing me lunch.”
“We’re here to enlist your aid,” Laura said. “We’re on a mission.”
“Are you now?” His eyes twinkled beneath his bushy brows. “So how am I helping?”
“We need something that lets us listen to Allie and Jared,” I said.
Eddie’s face turned nine shades of red as he barked out laughter. “Hoo boy. Our girl is going to be pretty ticked off if she finds out you’re doing that.”
“But she’s not going to find out because you’re not going to tell her, and your equipment is so awesome that we will be far enough away that she won’t notice us. Right?”
He snorted. “That so?”
“You do have something like that, right? I see it in movies all the time. Special amplifying headphones or telescope-like microphones that bad guys aim at windows so they can hear the conversations inside. Or, I don’t know, something?”
I realized that perhaps I’d been watching too many movies, and I was about to be utterly defeated in my plan to listen to what my daughter and her vampiric protector were talking about. But then Eddie gave a low snort and said, “Yeah. I got you covered.”
As Laura and I shared a smile of victory, Eddie dipped below the counter. I heard him rummaging in the cabinetry before popping up a moment later with a shiny cardboard box, the kind where the top lifts off to reveal the contents inside.
I peered in and saw something about twelve inches long, very slim, and silver gray in color. “How does it work?”
He took Laura and I through the instructions, which were actually pretty simple. All we had to do was turn it on, put on some headphones, then aim the receiving end toward the kids. (Although kid really is the wrong word for Jared, and I needed to remember that.).
Once again, Eddie disappeared behind the counter, then came back up with a small packet. “Auxiliary headphones,” he said. “So Laura here can listen in, too.”
“Terrific,” I said. “I’ll take it. How much?”
Eddie waved the question away. “You’re looking out for our girl. Let’s just say this one’s on the house.”
“Should I remind you that you don’t actually own this place? You work here part-time, Eddie. Do you really think your boss is going to be okay with that?”
He snorted. “You let me worry about that.”
Since I was more than happy not to have to explain to Stuart why a charge for spy equipment had appeared our credit card, I didn’t protest any longer.
I put the box in one of the plain brown shopping bags the store offered, told Eddie, goodbye, then headed out to go spy on my daughter, my best friend at my side.
We paused just outside the store. “Where are they?” Laura asked.
I rummaged in my purse for my phone, then turned on the app.
I’d recently learned I could also track her phone, but considering my daughter was out in the world kicking ass, I knew it was likely she’d fall on it, too.
And that phone she loved might easily get lost or crunched if she kept it in her back pocket.
Besides, the necklace had been a gift from me. A reminder to her that I loved her. And that I would always be looking out for her.
I expected to see that they were at the beach, and I was surprised when I found them at the park, just a few blocks away at the east end of Old Town.
“Oh, that’s an easy walk,” Laura said. She glanced up the street, then pointed to a small art gallery.
“There’s an alley between the gallery and that little cafe, and if we use it to cut through to the next street over, we can grab some ice cream at that cute little shop.
We’ll just have time to finish before we get to the park. ”
The alley isn’t actually intended as a throughway, and it was clogged with Dumpsters and plastic milk crates. It was cooler there, too, the buildings on either side keeping it shaded and gloomy. “Well this is charming.”
“Trust me,” Laura said. “Shortcut to ice cream. It’s worth it.”
We walked a few more steps, and then I stopped to adjust the shopping bag, the handle of which was cutting into my arm. As I did, I heard another step behind us.
I whipped around—at the same time mentally kicking myself, because I really should have been paying more attention—and found myself staring at a familiar-looking woman with a sullen expression standing behind me.
I tried to remember where I’d seen her before, but before I could place her, she leaped on me.
That’s when I remembered.
And, dammit, I knew I should have impaled SourBitch that day at the checkout stand.