Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
TOM
Ileave Skye and Connor arguing over whether I should stay the night—I’m not planning to, but I figure Connor has a good chance of winning anyway, which will save me from having to argue with Skye—and cross the room to the ghosts.
They’re huddled together having an urgent-sounding whispered conversation, and I clear my throat to get their attention.
I don’t know why they don’t just de-manifest if they want to talk in private.
That would prevent most of us from being able to see them, or even know they’re here.
“Just want a word with Nonna,” I say cheerfully. It’s mostly false cheer. I challenge anyone to have heard everything I just heard and still feel cheery.
“We’re having a meeting,” the punk stableboy, Johnny, informs me. “Come back later.”
Seriously?
“How about no? Nonna doesn’t live here, so I’m sure she’s not essential to your meeting. And I only need a few minutes.”
“She’s an honorary resident,” Maisy informs me. “And she’s joining us in the fight against evil.”
I push down the anxiety that gives me. My grandmother might be dead, and I might have made peace with that, but this last year or so, knowing her ghost is still around and being able to come here and talk to her…
that’s meant a lot. Losing her again isn’t something I want to think about.
“That’s her decision,” I say, and I mostly mean it. “But I still need to talk to her.”
“Pah,” Nonna mutters. I hide my smile. That’s the noise she always makes when she’s about to give in. “I talk to him now. Two minutes.” She shakes her head at me as we walk several feet away, mumbling about me being as rude as my uncle. I don’t take it personally. It’s how she shows love.
Or so my uncle tells me.
“Are you okay?” I ask her first. “The demon didn’t hurt you?” I’m pretty sure he didn’t, but she was hitting him hard, and who knows if contact with demon skin has an effect on ghosts?
She waves a hand. “You worry too much. I am old woman now, and protected by god. Nothing can hurt me.”
I mean… she’s dead. But I leave that alone.
“Good. This is all very strange, but… I guess we’re needed here.” I can’t believe she was right all this time about demons existing. It doesn’t seem to fit exactly with what the church teaches, but they’re real, and that’s something I need to get my head around.
She puts her arms around me and hugs me tight, resting her head against my shoulder, which is as high as she can reach.
I lean my cheek against her hair and hug back.
Ever since I was little, nothing’s been quite as comforting as a hug from Nonna.
“These are good people,” she says, switching to Italian.
It’s a little harder for me to follow sometimes, but way easier for her.
“I thought they were touched by the devil, but I was wrong. God has given them the gifts they need to fight evil.” She lifts her head off my chest and meets my gaze.
“Except the demon. Don’t trust that one. ”
“I wasn’t planning to,” I assure her. “Whatever the ghosts have planned, be sensible. Talk to Josh and Kieran before you do anything. This is a team effort.”
“Pfft. Mostly we’ll be guarding and passing messages,” she says. “And helping to run the hotel. I’m looking forward to that. Freddie says the housekeepers are terrible, and I told him I can whip them into shape.”
“No.” I’ve heard all about how Freddie annoys the poor housekeepers. “Leave them alone. Kieran will deal with it if he’s unhappy with their work. Remember that we’re guests here.”
Her eyes narrow, so I make my face as stern as I can manage. “Nonna, we need you here to help defeat evil, remember? Not to tell the housekeepers they’re dusting the wrong way.” Is there a wrong way to dust? As long as you manage to get most of it off the furniture, I figure that’s a win.
She doesn’t look convinced, so I try a different tack. “This is a very difficult time for Norval. It’s his family legacy that’s being destroyed. Maybe you could concentrate on supporting him.”
Glancing over at Norval, who’s more subdued than I’ve ever seen him—though I’ve only seen him a few times, so that doesn’t mean much—she nods. “I have experience with family being a disappointment,” she concedes.
“Hey!”
“Not you.” She pats my chest. “You’ve always been my good boy, Tommaso, even when I don’t understand you.
But your mamma and zio…” She shakes her head.
“At least Norval has those boys to comfort him.” Her words are nice, but they’re belied by the doubting expression on her face as she gestures toward Connor.
“They’re good men, Nonna,” I chide.
“Maybe.” She smiles up at me. “You should go on a date with Gabriele.”
Uh…
“What? Gabe? A date?” I laugh nervously. “Why would you say that?” She knows I’m gay—I came out to her and the rest of the family about six years ago—but she never talked about it before. It was like the conversation never happened, except she stopped asking me if I’d met any nice girls.
Not gonna lie, it hurt. I was expecting it—the Catholic church is notoriously not welcoming to the queer community—but it still hurt. I’ve always counted myself lucky that at least she didn’t treat me any differently, or disown me.
She levels me with her stare. “I was there that day you picked him up from the airport, remember? You gave him flirty looks and laughed too much.”
Oh my god, this isn’t happening. “You mean until you started calling him the devil and he got all uptight?” I didn’t even know she was there at the time.
All I knew was that the attractive, nice man who was a friend of a friend went from being smiley and chatty to grim-faced and silent.
It wasn’t until we got to the estate and Nonna was able to manifest that I heard what she’d been saying for over an hour.
“You owe him a big apology.” Now that she knows he's the good guy, she might actually do it.
She waves me off. “Later.”
Uh-huh.
“But you should ask him on a date. I don’t want you to be alone forever, and he might end up being a big hero. Or dead, so it won’t matter if he’s not.”
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. For years I’ve wanted someone in my family to care about my love life, but I never imagined it would happen like this. “Remember we talked about being more tactful?”
“I’m an old woman now, Tommaso. I can say whatever I want.”
Sighing, I lean down to kiss her on the cheek. “I think we’ve all got other things on our minds right now, Nonna. Dating can wait.”
Tsking at me, she shakes her head. “Once he’s a hero, he might not want you. All the boys will be throwing themselves at him. And girls,” she adds. “The others say he likes everybody.”
Not going to think about the fact that my own grandmother thinks I can’t compete when it comes to… Nope, not even going to finish that sentence.
“I’ll take my chances. Are you going to stay here tonight, or come home with me?”
She spreads her hands. “Stay here. We have planning to do. But if I decide to go home, I don’t need the car,” she reminds me, patting my arm.
“Now go be helpful. I’m busy.” She pops out before I can say anything else, even though her ghost friends are only a few steps away. I guess that puts me in my place.
Glancing around, I see that the others are mostly gone.
Connor and Kieran are talking to Marc and taking notes.
I don’t want to be part of that conversation, so I head out into the hallway.
I can hear voices from one of the other rooms on this floor, but I’m not ready to argue with Skye over whether I’m staying.
Instead, I head back through the main lounge and out the front door.
The sun has set while we were inside having our world turned upside down, and I breathe deeply of the cool night air. Fall has just begun, but I’m glad it’s here. As much as I love summer, there’s just something about fall.
Turning, I notice my car. It’s parked where I left it, the driver door still open because Gabe dragged me out and didn’t give me a chance to close it.
The keys are still in it, too. I go over to rectify both those things—not that anyone would steal it or anything.
The gates to the estate are closed, and the only people here are the ones I know and Marc, who doesn’t need a car for transportation.
Which reminds me… did he really tip me thirty percent, like he said? I reach for my phone to check, then stop when movement catches my eye.
It’s Gabe, walking around the side of the house. He sees me, stops, then changes direction slightly to join me.
“Hey.” I lean against the side of the car.
“Hey. Are you… It’s been a big night for you. Lots of new stuff.” He leans beside me, and we both look out over the rolling lawn toward the front gate.
“Yup. Not gonna lie, some of it’s hard to take in.”
He snorts. “I bet.”
The silence stretches between us, maybe a little awkward on my part, since Nonna’s words are still echoing in my head.
“So,” I say a bit too loudly. “Um… Are you okay?” Guy just found out his parents and his best friend’s parents aren’t who he thought. And then learned he might have to spearhead the whole saving-the-world plan. That’s heavy.
He sighs. “Yeah. No. Fuck, I don’t even know anymore.”
In the cool dimness, I reach out and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry for your loss.” I feel stupid as soon as the words leave my mouth, but I don’t back away.
Gabe says nothing, staring ahead and blinking, then he clears his throat.
“Thank you. I… I knew my parents weren’t perfect.
They weren’t even the best parents, you know?
In the Collective, it’s hard to be a good parent.
You’re always being called away, and you never know if you’re coming home.
But I didn’t think… I mean, I can’t remember a time, ever, when I wasn’t being told how important our mission was.
How vital protecting Earth from demons is.
When they realized I was a gatekeeper, they were so proud.
How could they have been that proud for me to continue the fight and then have turned around and betrayed it all? ”
The question hangs between us, and I have no answers. I squeeze his shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe you’ll never find out. But their decisions are theirs, and you don’t have to carry that weight.” Does that even make sense?
He seems to find some comfort in it, though, because he turns his head to smile at me. It’s a watery kind of smile, and his eyes are rimmed in red, but it’s genuine all the same. “Thanks, Tom. I’m sorry to dump all my drama on you.”
“We’re in this together now.” I hesitate. “Do you need a hug?” It’s what I’d ask Skye in this situation. If Gabe and I are going to be on Team: Save Earth together, I need to start treating him like a friend and not a sometimes acquaintance. It has nothing to do with him being attractive and buff.
He chuckles. “You know, I really do. Would you mind?”
I hold out both arms. “Bring it in.”
The hug feels a little weird at first. Not because it’s awkward or anything—Gabe fits perfectly in my arms. And that’s part of the problem. Shouldn’t it be awkward? We barely know each other. But Gabe sighs and buries his face against my neck, and nothing in the world has ever felt this natural.
“Thank you,” he whispers, and I swear I feel his lips brush my skin.