Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
TOM
The Collective team, as I’ve started thinking of them, are visibly uncomfortable being around Marc.
We’ve been in Gabe’s cabin, pretending to drink coffee that nobody really wants, for fifteen minutes, and the vibe is super awkward.
It could be worse—he could have made one of his deliberate little comments and made them want to kill him for more reasons than him being a higher demon.
But for whatever reason, he’s on his best behavior, and frankly, it’s making me a little nervous.
I lean over to Gabe. “It’s pretty crowded in here, and you all have a lot to talk about.
Why don’t Marc and I go update the others?
” It’s barely lunchtime, even if I feel like the day’s already lasted a million hours, and our friends will all still be working.
It doesn’t seem right to make them wait until tonight to find out that we have more allies.
But the main reason is getting Marc out of here.
My sorta-boyfriend smiles gratefully at me. “That would be great. Um… would you mind heading to town and grabbing something for lunch? I’m low on groceries, and…” He gestures to encompass the roomful of people he’s going to need to feed.
“I gotcha,” I promise. “If you have a grocery list, I can get those too.”
“You’re taking the demon to town?” Randy’s horrified question is the first hint that we’ve been overheard.
“Uh… yeah?” I side-eye Gabe, hoping for a rescue.
“There are people there!”
“There are people here too,” Gabe points out. “Marc isn’t a prisoner here. He comes and goes as he pleases, and if he decides to go on a killing rampage, there’s nothing we can do to stop him.” There’s a bitter twist on those last words.
“So much trust,” Marc murmurs. “What will I do with these warm feelings?”
If looks could kill, he’d be incinerated right now.
“Take the boys too, will you?” Connor asks, nearly giving me a heart attack. “They need to see reality again, and they can help you with the groceries.”
I shoot Gabe a wild-eyed look. Connor actually wants his brothers to be in Marc’s company?
Something’s not right with that. Just as I’m on the verge of demanding to know if Marc has possessed Con and is playing mind games with us all, Connor says, “They lectured me about treating them like adults. So, fine. They can be adults… under Tom’s supervision. ”
Gabe snort-laughs. “Let’s not tell them that last bit.” He raises an eyebrow at me. “Okay with you for them to come?”
“Nobody’s asked me if I want to go,” Marc says to nobody in particular. We ignore him.
“Sure. The more, the merrier.” I like Matt and Ian, and keeping them and Marc from killing each other will get my adrenaline pumping. “Send me a link to your grocery list.” I lean in to kiss him, and there’s a flurry of muffled exclamations. “Oops,” I mutter.
Gabe grins and kisses me again. “It’s fine. I’ll handle them.”
They seem like his friends, so I’m pretty sure they’ll be happy for him, but still, probably not the best way to announce that we’re seeing each other.
“Come on, Marc.” I stand and pat my pocket to make sure I have my phone and keys.
He looks at me as though I’ve suggested he take a stroll through an active sewer. “I could just go home, if I’m not wanted here. No need for me to go… grocery shopping.” Distaste drips from the words.
“We might have questions,” Gabe counters. “Better that you stay in this world.”
“Then I could stay here.” He gives a little smile and leans back in his chair as if the matter is resolved.
“But then you’d miss out on the best lasagna you’ve ever eaten,” I try.
“And I was going to stop at the bakery, too. You haven’t lived until you’ve had their cinnamon twists.
” I can’t believe I’m trying to bribe a demon to run errands with me.
I’ll bet none of those creeps who try to summon demons would believe this if I told them.
“Dear little human, I’ve had more lasagna than you could ever conceive of. And I don’t live.”
“You definitely won’t live if you don’t go with Tom right now,” Connor threatens.
Marc sighs dramatically. “Next time I feel the urge to do something for others, I’ll remember this moment and let some asshole wipe out the worlds as we know them.” He rises from his chair in a single graceful movement. “Very well. Let’s go.”
I refrain from making a rude gesture and follow him out the door.
“It smells like heaven in here,” Ian declares, sniffing deeply as we walk into the restaurant. “Did you say your uncle does the cooking?”
“That’s right,” I confirm, waving to my cousin Sara, who’s on counter duty today.
Lunchtime on Monday used to be dead quiet when I was a teenager, but then Sara started bringing her Parents so nice and good-looking, and he always tips at least 20 percent. Go you!” She’s beaming, and I can’t help smiling back.
“Thanks. It’s still really new, and we’re taking things slow,” I caution, because I know Sara, and I don’t want her suddenly planning my wedding. “But Nonna likes him. It was her idea for me to ask him out.”
Sara draws back slightly. “What?”
“Um…” What did I say? “Nonna suggested I date him.”
Her face turns sad, and in a gentle voice, she says, “Nonna’s been dead for five years, and Gabe only moved here last year.” She puts a hand on my arm. “Honey, maybe you should talk to someone about your grief. It’s not good that you’re clinging to the past like this.”
I stare at her. She looks back, concerned and caring.
“So… your dad and my mom didn’t mention to you that I ran into Nonna’s ghost at Mannix Estate?
” I’d told my mom and uncle the day it happened.
Came straight here after driving Josh out there, sat down with them in the kitchen, and told them everything.
They both said they didn’t want to go out there to talk to her and bring back the grief of her death, but they promised to tell my cousins.
From the look on Sara’s face, that never happened. “What?” she whispers.
“Nonna’s ghost stuck around. That’s why I always announce it when I’m going to Mannix, because I want her to hear and come with me. That’s the only place I can talk to her.”
My cousin is blinking very fast now. “She’s still here? Like the other ghosts at Mannix Estate?”
I nod. “She likes to come along with me on rideshare, and apparently she hangs around the restaurant a lot.”
She looks around wildly. “Is she here now?”
“I don’t know. I doubt it. There’s some stuff happening at the estate that she’s into, and she’s been hanging out there for a few days.”
Her face falls. “But I could talk to her if I went out to the estate?”
“If she’s there, yes. I do, all the time.” I was surprised when Sara never mentioned it to me. She and Nonna were super close. But then I figured it was too painful for her, and so I didn’t bring it up. I really should have.
She nods sharply. “And Dad knew?”
“I told them when I found out, April last year.”
Sucking in a breath through her nose, she turns toward the kitchen.
I grab her arm. “I know you’re mad, and I am too.
They told me they’d make sure everyone knew.
But…” How to say this without sounding like a selfish ass?
“The thing is, when I said there’s stuff happening at the estate…
Sara, I really need for the family to be stable right now.
I need to be spending time out there, not putting out fires here.
” It’s testing the limits of what I can tell her without freaking her out.
She studies my face, then glances across the room at the table where Marc is. The boys are chatting animatedly, but he’s studying the menu with a curled lip. “Are you in trouble?”
More than she can imagine, but not the kind she means. “No. I’m okay, and I’m safe, I promise. But I need you holding things together here for a bit.”