Pax Demonica (18 page)

“Children often surpass their parents,” he continued. “From what I have seen of young Allie, she will turn out to be at least as exceptional as her mother and father.”

“Now you’re just playing on my parental pride.”

He laughed. “Yes, but I also speak the truth. Katherine,” he said, and the change in his tone had me shifting so that I was looking directly at him and not at Allie, who was working with Marcus on the form of her kick. “I am glad that you are letting her train.”

“I am, too,” I said, speaking slowly as I gathered my words. “I wasn’t certain at first—it’s a scary world out there, even more so when you know what’s in it. But it’s important, too.” My lips curved into a quick smile. “Most of all, I don’t think I had a choice. It’s in her blood.”

“As it is in yours.” He nodded toward Eliza. “We will speak more of the family history that you are starting to piece together. But now, while the girls are occupied, there is something I wish to discuss.”

“Of course,” I said, though I silently feared that something was horribly wrong.

“I wish for Allie to train formally,” he said.

“Father . . . ” I trailed off. We had broached this subject before, and both Stuart and I were adamant that Allie wasn’t going to give up the rest of high school.

“No,” he said. “You do not understand. I wish her to train formally in San Diablo. And it is my desire that you step in—again, formally—as her trainer.”

Chapter 14

“Y
ou’re serious?”
I asked. Me? Training Demon Hunters? “I can barely get a decent dinner on the table,” I said.

Father Corletti laughed. “Perhaps not, but I do not recall any demon being slayed by the timely presentation of meatloaf.”

I frowned, but not because I hated the idea. No, my discomfiture came from the fact that I liked it a little too much.

From across the room, Eliza let out a loud whoop even as Allie went sprawling on the mat. Seconds later, my daughter sprang to her feet. I tensed, not sure what her reaction would be. But she bounced to Eliza, congratulated her on “kicking my ass majorly,” and then asked the older girl to show her how she’d managed the maneuver.

She saw me looking and flashed me a quick, happy grin. “Can we just move here, Mom? I am so totally loving this.”

“Roomies!” Eliza said, and they both laughed as they high-fived each other.

I tensed, thinking about my daughter halfway across the world, training without me. I could keep her in California for three more years. After that, the decision was hers to make.

But if there was a training facility right there at home . . .

Beside me, Father Corletti pressed his hand over mine. “We will not speak of it any more today. I ask only that you think about it, and do not discount the possibility outright.”

“I won’t,” I heard myself saying. “I don’t know if I could pull it off, but I promise you I’ll think about it.”

“Good,” he said, then stood up and waved to the girls. “I am going to show Katherine my roses in the garden. You are welcome to join us, but you are also welcome to remain with Marcus. I believe he may be in the mood for weapons training.”

Allie and Eliza exchanged glances, and then Allie waved at me, her smile impertinent.
“Ciao
, Mom,” she said. “We’re staying here.”

“Color me completely unsurprised,” I said as I followed Father Corletti out the rear exit. We walked in companionable silence until we emerged in the private garden that had been his favorite spot for as long as I could remember.

“It’s lovely here,” I said. “But I don’t really believe that you wanted me to see the roses.”

“Ah, but I do,” he said. “I want us to look at beauty while we discuss the ugliness that plagues the world.”

I sat on a small stone bench. “You know what it is that the demons think I have?”

“No,” he said. “But I can make an educated guess.”

“I’m listening.”

“You are aware that the altar in San Diablo was vandalized recently?”

I nodded. “Eric told me.”

“I believe that I know why.” He paused, but I said nothing. After a moment, he stood. “Both the Old Testament and mythology refer to gates leading into hell. You are familiar with such lore, of course?”

“Um, sure.” I frowned, not particularly liking where this was going. “Are you saying that San Diablo has one of those gates?”

“I am saying that the altar hid one of the keys.”

“I—” I closed my mouth, unsure what I had intended to say. “Wait. Seriously? How do you know? And why wasn’t I told?”

“The key was discovered many years ago during an archeological dig. The Vatican gave permission for it to be hidden in the altar. Only three people on this earth knew—myself, the Pope, and the Hunter who placed it within the altar. And I have only known this truth for the last twenty-four hours.”

“Who was that Hunter?”

He sat beside me. “Your grandmother.”

“Oh.” I leaned back, not entirely sure how to process that information. “So that’s why they think I have it. And probably why they’ve attacked Eliza, too. It makes sense that my grandmother’s kids were told the truth, and with both my parents and Eliza’s being dead, we’re the only two with a connection.”

“That is my theory, yes.”

“But I don’t know where it is. And if I don’t, and Eliza doesn’t, and these demons don’t . . . well, then doesn’t that mean that a key that can unlock a gate to hell is missing?”

“I’m afraid it does.”

“This really isn’t good.”

He sighed and sat down next to me. “I will agree with you,
mia cara.
But I will also say that we rarely face a crisis that is good.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Fair enough.”

It was my turn to stand, because I couldn’t seem to wrap my mind around all the thoughts swimming around in my head.

“So someone desecrates the altar and takes the key. And the demons assume it’s me because I’m the local Demon Hunter, and suddenly I’m winging my way to Rome.”

“That is my theory, yes.”

“All right. But who really has the key? And who killed Thomas Duvall?”

“I do not know, Kate. But these are questions we must answer.”

I ran my fingers though my hair. “I’ll call Eddie. He can go poke around at the cathedral, ask questions. I don’t know. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“Naturally we have turned all our resources to the question as well. If there is even a hint of a whisper of a rumor, a
Forza
agent will hear about it.”

I scowled. “That presumes that whoever took it will talk. If I’m the person looking to open the gates, I’m going to keep my mouth shut.”

“I’m afraid you have a point. However, that also presumes the person knows how to utilize the key and where the gate is located. Both are big presumptions.”

He had a good point. “So we focus on people—or demons posing as people—who are researching the location of the gates and this particular key.”

He nodded. “I should also tell you that I spoke with Eric. He was unable to reach you and was concerned. As you and I had not yet spoken, I told him that all was well as far as I knew. But now . . . ”

“I left him a message,” I said. “I’ll bring him up to speed when he calls.”

“I apologize if I overstepped my bounds.”

“No,” I said stiffly, though I was unsure why I felt defensive. “No, he should know. And he is my partner. He’s—he’s had a lot to deal with, and I hate worrying him. Especially when he’s so far away. But if he’s in the loop, even for research, then . . . ” I trailed off with a shrug.

“Then you have to tell Stuart or else feel as though you are keeping secrets that you should not be keeping.”

“Pretty much,” I admitted.

“Every path in life has its pitfalls and its joys, Katherine.”

“Yeah,” I said wryly. “And I’ve got marriage and demon hunting. High drama on both counts.”

As I’d hoped, he laughed.

I moved to sit on the edge of a low fountain. I wanted to ask him about taking on the role of trainer. I wanted to bat around more ideas about this key. I wanted to just kick back and reminisce about the past.

Mostly, I just wanted to sit and think and let everything that had happened settle over me.

Instead, I got teenage drama.

“Mom!” Allie called, bursting into the garden with Marcus right behind her. “Is Eliza here? Marcus said he’d show us the Vatican library, but I can’t find her.”

“She was with you. What do you mean you can’t find her?”

“She went to the bathroom, then said she was going to get something to eat.”

“I showed her where the mess was,” Marcus said. “I got her a cup of coffee and a pastry. But Allie wanted to work with the crossbow, so we left her. I assumed she went to explore the dorms, but we’ve been unable to find her.” He turned his attention to Father Corletti. “I apologize, Father.”

Father Corletti waved the words away. “She is not the first teenager to wish to explore the maze of
Forza
on her own, and she cannot go where she is unwelcome without a code for access. Come,” he said, standing. “If we all look, we will find her more quickly. Undoubtedly in the last place we look,” he added, with a wink to Allie.

I was following them back inside when my phone rang. “It’s Laura,” I called. “I’ll catch up with you. Hey,” I said, as soon as the call connected. “Guess where I am.”

“Rome,” she said. “Listen, I need to talk to you.”

I shifted to work mode immediately. “Go.”

“Okay, so I told you Duvall was a trust fund baby, right? That he hangs with celebrities and makes the news? Well, there was this arrest that hit the
Times
Entertainment section. About a month ago. That’s after the car accident.”

“After he was a demon,” I said. “Interesting.”

“Yeah, I thought so too. But it gets even weirder. The arrest was for assault. Apparently he tried to shove the heel of a woman’s shoe through some guy’s eye.”

“One demon trying to kill another demon?”

“I told you. Weird, right?”

“Very,” I agreed.

“Well, hold onto your socks, because it just gets stranger. The shoe belonged to a woman named Deborah. Deborah Michaels. Kate,” Laura said, her voice dropping, “I’m pretty sure she’s your aunt.”

My mouth was suddenly very dry. “I don’t know her last name,” I admitted. “I didn’t think to ask.”

“There was a picture in the paper,” Laura said. “Kate, she looks just like you. Somehow or other, your aunt was working with a demon. What the hell does that mean?”

I shook my head in silence. I didn’t have a clue.

“But it doesn’t make any sense,”
Allie protested. “Maybe it wasn’t the accident that took Duvall out. Maybe he was still human when he and Deborah got arrested.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But I doubt it.”

We were in a black Vatican-issued sedan, and the driver was speeding me, Allie and Father Corletti toward the B&B.

“You think that Debbie was working with Duvall? And that they decided to go all postal on a demon? Why?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “But odds are good it had something to do with the key.”

“So, what?” Allie demanded. “A Demon Hunter and a demon worked together to steal the key? And then they both get killed? Or maybe they were working together to protect the key, and then they both got killed.”

“Protect it?” I protested. “What? A warm fuzzy demon?” I glanced at Father Corletti.

“It is not likely,” he said. “But there are demons who seek to earn their way back into God’s good grace. I would not dismiss the possibility out of hand.”

“Ha!” Allie said triumphantly.

“And we still don’t know where the key is,” I said.

“I think Eliza has it.”

“Did she say something to make you think that?” I asked.

Allie shook her head. “No. We just talked about stupid stuff. What we’d done so far in Rome. She told me how weird it was not being able to travel with her knife in her boot. I really want a knife that slides into a boot, by the way.”

“I’ll get right on that.”

“I told her she was lucky. She could have been traveling with her baby brother and the bouncing blue bear.”

I laughed. “You told her about Boo Bear?”

“Are you kidding? That stupid bear was the floor show for most of the trip. She said she used to have a stuffed tiger. I don’t think I had anything, did I?”

“You were fickle,” I said. “A new lovey every week. But this is entirely off-topic. If she didn’t say anything, why do you think she has the key?”

“Um, because there’s nobody else on the suspect list?”

Not exactly sound logic considering we didn’t even know who all the players were. Still, it was the only theory we had at the moment, and I was willing to run with it. “Let’s assume you’re right,” I said. “If she has it, it needs to be protected. So why not give it to Father Corletti when we were right in the middle of the Vatican?”

Allie and I both looked to Father Corletti, but he merely held up his hands. “I do not have the answers you seek. Nor will we find them until we find the girl. But the fact that she has disappeared concerns me. Did she leave, or did she fall prey to bad dealings?”

“Inside
Forza
?”