Pax Demonica (16 page)

“Sounds like it,” I said.

“Then he was a in a car accident about two months ago. Nasty one. The kind no one walks away from, but he did. You know the drill.”

“I do indeed,” I said, and as I spoke my friendly neighborhood demon cut diagonally in front of me. She walked in firm, determined steps. And I—equally determined—set out after her. “Go on,” I said, but now my voice had dropped to a whisper.

“What’s going on?” Laura said, obviously cluing in to my change of tone.

I gave her the quick and dirty run-down. My demonic encounters. My familial encounters. The whole shebang reduced to quick soundbites given on the fly. Fortunately Laura and I knew each other well enough that she could interpret both the words and the emotion.

“Jesus, Kate, you must be ripped up.”

“Something like that,” I agreed. I paused beside a stall selling roasted nuts and watched as my quarry lingered outside a store front.

“She’s really your cousin?”

“I think so. And I think I trust her. But—”

“But you trust Eric more and he told you not to trust anyone.”

“You got it.”

“I’m with Eric. Watch your back, Kate. I’m worried for you. I wish we could have come, too,” she said. “Finances are just too tight.”

“I know,” I said. “And it’s hardly a dream vacation if I’m spending the days chasing demons.”

“I want to help.”

“You can. Find me some answers.” My quarry started to move again. “Listen, I have to go.”

“Wait—”

But I didn’t wait. The dark-haired demon had turned abruptly to her left and then disappeared down a narrow alley. Since I wasn’t about to lose her again, I followed, retrieving my stiletto from my purse as I did. I got a few questioning looks—most tourists don’t walk around armed—but no one tried to stop me. Neither did they follow me, and I entered the alley alone.

The stench hit me straight off. The sickly sweet smell of rotten fruit combined with moldy meat and other not-so-delectable delicacies.

I gagged, took a step back, and was immediately shoved forward by the press of two firm hands against my ass.

I fell forward, landing hard on my knees and yowling with pain even as my attacker thrust down against my shoulder blades. I exhaled with an
oof
, then froze as I felt the press of a hand at the back of my neck—and a knife blade.

I cursed myself. I’d been so busy chasing after the woman that I’d completely ignored the possibility that she wasn’t working alone.

My mind whirled with possibilities, but unfortunately, none ensured that I’d get out of this mess without my jugular being sliced open.

I was about to go for it anyway—thrust my head sharply back and try to whip around before he could reposition the knife—when I heard a high-pitched
whizz
and felt a whoosh of air brush against my cheek and ruffle my hair.

Almost simultaneously, the pressure on my neck decreased, and then the knife clattered to the ground. I stayed frozen for a moment—too baffled to move—then I looked up.

The dark-haired demon from the market stood with her feet planted in front of me, her expression stern.

And right there behind me was the body of the demon who’d attacked me—the child-sized body of the demon who’d first stolen Allie’s backpack, and who had presumably ransacked our room. And who now had a knife protruding from his eye.

Chapter 13

“D
on’t even think about moving,”
I said as I climbed to my feet. I had the child-demon’s knife in one hand and my own stiletto tight in my other.

The dark-haired demon stood straight, her feet slightly apart, her hands at her sides. “I am unarmed, you see. And now is the time to talk.”

“Talk?” I repeated. “What the hell do I need to talk to you about?”

“The key,” she said. “You must—”

But she didn’t finish. Her words—and her corporeal life—were cut short by the knife that zinged through the air to land dead-on in her eye.

It all happened in a split second. The silver blade. The shimmer of the demon as its essence escaped the body. And then the thud of feet approaching from behind.

I turned, armed and ready, as Eliza rushed forward, followed by Allie and Stuart, with Timmy clutched tight in his arms.

“Jesus, Kate!” Stuart called.

“Out,” I said. “We need to get out of here now.”

So far no one else had wandered into this dark and smelly alley. But I really didn’t want to get rousted by the Italian police.
Forza
used to have people placed within the various local law enforcement offices, and I had no reason to doubt that was still true. Even so, I hardly needed the hassle.

Instead, I hurried everyone out of the alley, through the market, and down a side street. When we’d reached yet another fountain in yet another square, I gathered everyone close, sat down, and took my first deep breath.

“Kate,” Stuart said, and there was no mistaking the urgency in his voice. “Are you okay?”

“That demon . . . ” Eliza’s words trailed off as she shook her head. “God, between the two of them, you almost—”

“No.” I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so.”

Allie’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“She killed the little kid demon. And then she said something about needing to talk to me. About the key,” I added.

“Oh,” Allie said, nodding with understanding.

“The key?” Stuart said. “What key?”

“Wait,” Eliza said. “You’re saying she killed another demon? Why would she do that? And does that mean that I screwed up? I mean, I didn’t know. She’s a demon, right? And she tried to kill me before. And she was right there in front of you and there were knives and a fight, and—”

I held up a hand to ward off her rising hysteria. “You did exactly right,” I said. “Except for the fact that I told all of you to stay put,” I added, giving them each my Stern Mommy look in turn.

“Kate,” Stuart said. “You were attacked. I think it’s damn lucky Eliza was there.”

I agreed—though I couldn’t deny that I wish she’d come fifteen or twenty seconds later. Whatever that demon wanted with me, she had information on this mysterious
it
that every demon in town seemed to think I had.

Then again, at least I now knew that it was a key. That much she’d managed to tell me before Eliza dropped her.

Eliza
.

I turned my attention to her, shifting from Hunter to Mom when I saw how dejected she looked. She might legally be an adult, but eighteen was only three years older than Allie, and the young woman I saw still had the glow of youth—and the haunted eyes of someone who had recently lost a parent.

“You did great,” I told her again, keeping my voice level and soothing and extremely parental. “Thank you for watching my back.”

I watched as she swallowed, then smiled up at me. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. “Thanks.” She scrubbed the heels of her hands over her face. “I’m really glad I found you,” she said. She shifted, so that she looked at Stuart and Allie, then reached down for Timmy, who shoved his chocolate-covered hand into hers. “All of you.”

“We are, too,” I said, because this wasn’t the moment to lecture whichever member of the family had decided that it was a good idea to feed the toddler chocolate. And then—because I thought she needed it and I knew damn sure that I did—I pulled her in for a hug.

She squeezed back, whispered a soft, “I’m sorry,” then pulled away.

“Nothing to be sorry about,” I said, but she just looked at the ground and shrugged.

I wasn’t going to press the point. I’d learned a thing or two about dealing with teens over the last few years. Instead, I knelt beside Timmy. “Let me clean him up before he smears chocolate all over the stroller and we attract every ant and fly in the area.”

I found the plastic case of baby wipes at the bottom of the diaper bag, then proceeded to clean up my little boy, who was starting to make cranky noises. I said a silent prayer in the general direction of St. Peter’s and hoped that we’d make it through one more day with above-average toddler behavior. After all, so far he really had been an angel.

Maybe the holiness of the city was rubbing off.

As soon as he was as clean and shiny as could be expected, I pulled out a few more wipes and used those to doctor my hands. They were raw from where I’d fallen on the rough and filthy street, and I winced as I rubbed them.

Stuart’s hand closed over my shoulder. “It could have been a lot worse.”

I nodded. He was right.

I sat back on my heels. “I hate to do this, but I need to change our plans. I need to go in to
Forza
now. I need to see if Father Corletti has a clue about what’s going on.” I shot a look in the general direction of the alley. “And I need to get someone out here to take care of that.”

“I know,” he said. “It’s okay. Demonic mysteries and potential apocalyptic moments first. Sightseeing once we keep the world from ending.”

“The apocalypse?” Allie said, her voice rising to a squeak. “Who said anything about the end of the world?”

“Stuart’s being funny,” I said, then scowled at my husband. “Or trying to.”

He shrugged. “Let’s hope it’s just a joke. But when a demon mentions a key, I think
to hell
. Or am I wrong?”

He wasn’t, of course. But instead of answering, I fished out my cell phone and gave Father Corletti a call.

“Ah,
mia cara
,” he said after I explained the situation—including giving him a quick-and-dirty rundown of the various demon-related events since our arrival. “This is not what I had imagined for your first trip back in so many years.”

“Wasn’t on my ideal itinerary either,” I admitted. “You’ll send a disposal team?”

While I was more or less on my own in San Diablo as far as body disposal was concerned, I assumed that Rome was still a full-service operation. Thankfully, Father Corletti confirmed that was the case. He promised that he’d send a team right away—and that he looked forward to hearing all the details as soon as the family and I showed up at his office.

I looked at Stuart, who was frowning down at me.

“You
have
been busy,” he said.

For a moment, I didn’t understand the tightness in his voice. Then I remembered that I still hadn’t brought him completely up to speed on the various demonic encounters.

“I’m sorry. Really. I was going to tell you everything last night. But then I got distracted by the fact that I passed out from exhaustion.”

“I know. I do,” he said, as if to ward off my protests. He dragged his fingers through his hair. “I told you before I understand, and I meant it. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It just means that I want us to get through it.”

“Then let me tell you now,” I said. “Let’s go to
Forza
. You can meet Father Corletti. You can hear the whole story. You can see the dorms, see the training area. Then you and Tim can either do the tourist thing while I give the girls a more in-depth tour, or you can join us, too. Full disclosure,” I said, my arms spread wide. “Really, Stuart. I’m tired of keeping secrets. It may take me a while to get used to not keeping them, but please believe me that I want to try.”

“All right,” he said, reaching out and stroking my cheek. “Let’s go.”

I took his hand and turned to get my bearings. When I did, I caught Allie’s eye—and saw the hint of worry there. But whether it was because she didn’t want to share all our secrets or because she was afraid of what would happen when all those secrets came out, I didn’t know.

She had reason to be wary, though. Stuart might think that he wanted the truth—he might even think he could handle a pending apocalypse—but the god’s honest truth was that I still wasn’t sure he was ready.

And that, I knew, was going to become a problem.

“Wow,” Allie said
as we moved through the quiet, formal halls of the Vatican offices. “I mean, seriously, wow.”

Beside her, Stuart and Eliza looked around with equal amounts of awe and wonder. As for me? Well, I was striding down these familiar halls with a certain amount of pride. I may not be able to keep a clean house, but I’d grown up around pure, undiluted beauty.

Of course, that wasn’t entirely true. Most of my life had been lived in the training rooms and
Forza
dorms, which had a decidedly less opulent feel. Visits inside the actual halls and corridors of the Vatican had been rare, mostly because
Forza
was a secret arm of the Vatican. And that meant secret from both the general public and from most of the priests and Cardinals and staff that lived and worked in this holy place.

Today, though, I was coming as a friend of Father Corletti’s, and we were given the full treatment, including being escorted by two fully uniformed members of the Swiss Guard.

“I’m guessing this isn’t where you spent most of your time,” Stuart said as the taller of the two guards showed us into Father Corletti’s outer office.

“You’d guess right,” I said. “I’ll take you out through the dorm entrance. It’s considerably less formal. So much so that you’re lucky if the wall lights are functioning.”

A giant wooden desk dominated the far side of the huge room, and from behind it a young man in a familiar priest’s robe rose to greet us. “I’m Katherine Connor,” I said. “My family and I have an appointment with Father Corletti.”