Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
DANIEL
Iwatch the car holding Skye’s mom wind along the estate road toward us and fervently hope she’s sick. Then I feel guilty. But sickness might be treatable. I don’t even know what else it could be, but I don’t think any of the options are good.
Skye kept the phone call brief, telling her he wanted to talk and could she come to the estate. She agreed immediately. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad sign.
Regardless, Skye and I are standing on the tiny porch of Gabe’s cabin, waiting for her, while the others are inside.
The door is wide open so they can hear everything, and Connor assured us that if she comes onto the porch, she’ll be close enough for them to get a sense of what’s going on.
It might turn out that she and Skye have an uncomfortable conversation and then she leaves.
Fingers crossed for that outcome.
She gets out of the car and slams the door, her gaze on Skye. She doesn’t even look my way. I grip Skye’s hand a little tighter and wish I could push him behind me.
“Hi,” she calls, her voice a little uncertain. “I’m glad you called.”
For a second, Skye doesn’t speak. Then he takes a shaky breath. “I’m not sure if I am. But I think we need to talk.”
She comes closer, and I realize I don’t even know what her name is. I hold out my right hand to her as she steps onto the porch. “We didn’t get introduced last time. I’m Daniel Kovac.”
Dragging her eyes away from Skye, she shakes my hand. “Samantha Collins.”
Skye flinches, I’m guessing because she kept the same last name as him and his dad even though they’re divorced.
Before we can say anything else, the screen door opens and Connor comes out.
“Hey,” he says casually, and my guard goes up.
“I’m Connor. Good to meet you, Skye’s mom.
” He holds out his hand and, when she takes it, yanks her closer and wraps his arms around her.
She yells, Skye gasps, and the others burst from the house.
“What the hell?” she demands, her expression shocked and… betrayed? I don’t doubt Connor and Gabe, but I bet whatever’s going on, she’s in the dark.
I hope.
“Sit here, Ms. Collins,” Gabe invites as Connor hustles her toward one of the rockers.
She swears and struggles. “Skye, what—”
“Please, Mom.” His voice cracks, and I wrap my arm around him. “Nobody’s going to hurt you. Please just sit for a minute.”
For a second I think she’s going to ignore him, but something in his face must convince her, because she subsides into the chair, folds her arms across her chest, and glares at Connor.
Gabe goes back inside, and Jill moves forward. “Ms. Collins, I’m Jill. Could you tell me what made you decide to come and see Skye after all this time?”
She switches her glare to Jill.
“Mom, please,” Skye begs.
Samantha’s eyes fill with tears. “I don’t know why you’re doing this. I told you, I talked to your grandparents, and they said you worked here, and—” She breaks off when Gabe comes back out with a tackle box. “What’s that?”
“Nothing important.” Jill smiles, then bends down, grabs the arms of the chair, and pulls it away from the wall.
Samantha shrieks.
“It’s okay, Mom,” Skye promises, then looks at Connor. “Right?”
“It’s going to be. Ma’am, after you talked to your parents, when did you decide to come? Right away?”
It looks like she’s not going to answer, but Skye’s sad face is still firmly in place, and nobody can resist that.
“No. Not right away. I-I’ve stayed away from here for a long time.” Something in her face makes me think she regrets that, but maybe I’m just seeing what I want to. Because I know that even now, Skye would love to be able to connect with his mom.
Randy starts pouring a thick line of salt in a circle around the chair while Gabe draws on the deck with chalk, and Samantha pulls her legs up, eyes wide with fright.
“You were saying you didn’t decide right away?” Jill prompts. She and Connor seem to be the spokespeople.
“N-No. I wasn’t going to come. I didn’t think Skye would want to see me, even if…” She swallows and looks at her son. “Even if my intentions were good.”
Skye goes stiff under my arm, probably remembering how much it hurt to have her tell him his life was worthless. But he says nothing.
Jill nods. “So what changed your mind?”
Something happens to her face then that drives home how serious this is. It goes frighteningly blank.
“We’ve got its attention,” Mart mutters, coming to stand beside me. He hands me a water pistol, which I know from stories will have herbal water in it that demons don’t like.
“What?” I whisper urgently. The way Connor’s explained it, demon possession isn’t like in the movies, so if that’s what this is, I have no idea what to expect.
“She has a connection with a higher demon. An unwilling connection, from the looks of it. If she manages to break out of the circle, shoot until that gun is empty, then run.” He moves away before I can ask how likely it is that she’ll break out of the circle… and what a “connection” means, exactly.
“What changed your mind?” Jill repeats. “Did you tell anyone about it? A friend?”
Samantha stares at her blankly.
Connor nods. “Let’s get this done.”
He, Jill, Randy, and Mart step up to the edge of the circle, evenly spaced around it. For a moment, nothing happens. Then there’s a surge of… something. I can’t see or hear or even feel it, but the hairs on my arms stand on end.
Samantha collapses in the chair like a rag doll.
“Mom!” Skye lunges toward her, but I grab him around the waist and hold him back. Gabe steps into the circle and lays a hand on Samantha’s brow, then visibly relaxes and nods to me.
I let Skye go, and he skids to his knees in front of the chair. “Is she okay? What happened?”
“She’s fine,” Gabe assures him. “There was a light connection between her and a higher demon. From the way it felt, she never even knew it was there, but the demon was able to see and hear what she did and influence her decisions.”
I shudder. “Mind control?” My voice is hoarse.
“No.” They all say it at once, and it’s oddly comforting.
“It wasn’t a strong enough connection for that,” Connor says. “Maybe if the demon had been beside her, but from a distance… no. In fact, I’d guess that even the influence only extended to things she was already considering.”
Skye looks up. “But why? Why would a demon… what? Track down my mom and send her here to spy? That’s so far-fetched.”
Samantha murmurs something and blinks, her lashes fluttering as she comes around. “Skye?” She lifts a hand toward him, then lets it drop. “What happened?”
I shoot a startled glance at Connor, who shakes his head.
“You passed out,” Gabe says. “We think someone you know has been poisoning you. Have you had memory lapses lately? Or found yourself doing things you didn’t plan to?”
Her eyes widen. “I… yes. Oh my god, who?” She doesn’t seem to notice how weak the story is… but then, she did just have a demon connection exorcised from her mind.
“A friend? Someone you talked to about this situation with Skye?” Jill suggests. “We’ve been trying to track down the distributors of this drug, and it would be really helpful if you could give us a name.”
Samantha blinks a few times. “The only person I talked to about Skye was Marc.”
“Marc…?”
“I don’t know his surname. He’s my bus friend. We get the same bus to work and try to sit together. Do you really think he could have…?”
Jill pulls a sympathetic face. “This kind of drug only requires exposure to take effect, and it sounds like he had plenty of access, if you see each other every day. And he suggested you should come here?”
She nods, seeming dazed and confused. “Why would he do that?”
“Does he know where you live?” Randy asks. “He may have wanted you gone so he could access your home.”
I frown, and Skye glares at him. Scaring her isn’t going to help.
“Let us take you back to where you’re staying, and we’ll make some calls,” Jill hurries to add. “Make sure your house is undisturbed. And anything more you can tell us about Marc would be helpful.”
Samantha agrees, then looks to Skye. “Is… are…?”
“We’ll talk later,” he says. “You need to rest now.” We move back, giving her space to get up from the chair, then watch as Jill and the others guide her to her car. It’s not until the car is out of sight that Skye sags against me.
“Holy fuck.”
I steer him into the rocker and perch on the arm. “What the hell? A demon befriended Skye’s mom to spy on him? And she just doesn’t remember the circle and you guys doing your woo-woo stuff?”
Connor shrugs. “It happens that way sometimes. Removing the connection takes a lot of energy, and sometimes a few minutes of memory are lost. If they come back later, she’ll probably think she dreamed it.
And she was likely here to spy on us all, not just Skye.
The demon might not have known at first that Skye wasn’t in contact with his mom.
Or was hoping that with everything that’s happened here in the past year, Skye might reach out. ”
“W-Why not come to town and pick someone we actually see and talk to?” Skye asks.
“Because Connor and I would have sensed a higher demon that close. And maybe Josh.” Gabe’s voice is grim, and it only takes me a second to realize why.
“This demon already knows a lot about us. Probably that we’re searching for the hidden gateway.”
Gabe nods. Connor’s mouth is pressed in a straight line.
“Do you think it’s Cato?” The idea of the head honcho of higher demons, one that’s renowned for cruelty, knowing all about our lives and spying on us, makes me cold all over.
Gabe shrugs. “We don’t know.”