“I spoke with your uncle on the phone. He said you helped solve this case.”
“Only a little.”
This was definitely a convergence of anomalies. Shawn hiring me. Dr. Schwab’s receptionist, Tiana, opening up to me. Reyes getting abducted. Again.
“We can’t thank you enough.” Her voice cracked, and her shoulders began to shake.
I shook my head. “You know who you should really thank?” I stepped closer and told her all about Tiana from Dr. Schwab’s office, where Mrs. Foster had worked. “If not for her, I would never have known about Dawn. Tiana suspected the Fosters had something to do with her disappearance and had even reported them to the police. They just couldn’t find anything on them.”
“Until now,” Mr. Brooks said. He exuded gratitude, but this was a bizarre case of blind luck and coincidence.
Then again. I looked toward the heavens. I was beginning to believe less and less in coincidence.
20
She has been through hell, so believe me when I say, fear her when she looks into a fire and smiles.
—E. CORONA
Two days later, I sat outside Calamity’s, having lunch with Shawn, who was still a little beaten up, and possibly a little sad, but no worse for the wear. Cookie had found his parents, and I wanted to give him the information in person. And to thank him.
“I can’t believe it,” he said, staring down at the paper. “They really did die in a fire.”
“I’m sorry. It was most likely set by the Fosters. They didn’t want to risk the authorities coming after them again.”
“But they did, anyway, right? The authorities?”
“Yes. When it was discovered that you didn’t die in the fire, they suspected it had been set to cover up your abduction. They just had so little to go on, and the Fosters were clearly good at what they did.”
He stared at the pictures Cookie had found of them. Ran his fingers over his mother’s face.
“But you have family. You have an aunt and two uncles and several cousins. I’m sure they’d love to meet you.”
He nodded, not quite ready to take that step. “Their information is in the file?”
“It is. And if you need me to make the initial contact, should you decide to meet them, I’d be happy to.”
“Thanks. I’ll think about it.”
Uncle Bob had found enough evidence to exonerate Veronica Isom. The Fosters may have been psychotic, but they’d kept meticulous records. We were still working on the other children they’d abducted. One was living in Albuquerque. Two more were found at the compound. And countless others were still unaccounted for.
The press had dubbed them the Divine Siblings. Even above the atrocities they’d committed, the fact that they were married siblings was what caught national headlines.
Shawn filled his lungs, closed the file, and took a sip of his iced tea. “This is a nice place.”
“It is. It belonged to my dad before Reyes bought it.”
“So, Reyes.”
I thought he might broach that subject eventually.
“He’s kind of like a brother in a weird, demented kind of way.”
“I agree.”
He wanted a brother. I could sense it. He wanted someone he could talk to. Someone he could confide in like he had the other night. They’d gotten along so well, I felt Reyes would benefit from such a relationship as well.
“Shawn, I have to ask. Why did you give the Fosters an alibi the night Dawn Brooks was taken? You told the police they had been home that night.”
“Because they really were home. But as you can tell, they had a lot of followers who would do anything they told them to.” He dipped his chin and bit down. “Anything.”
I could only wonder what he meant by that. “Why not tell me about the compound?”
He lifted a shoulder. “I grew up out there. Spent my summers there. Those people were like family. They were just … lost.”
“And murderous.”
He nodded. “I didn’t know. Mom—” He cleared his throat. “Eve kept that part private. All I knew was that I loved going out there even though the adults were crazy. That’s what we thought growing up.”
“We?”
“Us kids who were raised at the compound. We always knew something wasn’t quite right there.”
“Did you know the Fosters were brother and sister?”
He froze. Pressed his mouth together. Grew even paler.
Crap. “You know what? Let’s just save that for later.”
He shook his head. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
Apparently he hadn’t seen the paper. I looked down and gave him a moment to deal. But I eventually let my gaze wander up and went back to staring.
Knowing what Shawn was, the product of a union thousands of years ago between an angel and a human, had kept my gaze locked onto him through most of lunch. Like, I couldn’t stop staring. He was a blond version of Reyes. Absolutely beautiful, though not as compelling. Not as … what was the word? Sexy? Exotic? Dripping with sin? But still. The coolness factor sitting across from me rated right up there with pumpkin spiced lattes and Chuck Norris.
Shawn chuckled, probably trying to cover up for the awkward silence of my thousand-yard stare.
“What?” I snapped out of it. “Wow, I’m so sorry, Shawn. It’s just, I didn’t know your kind existed. It’s so cool.”
“Well, in all fairness, I didn’t know your kind existed, either. I mean, have you looked in the mirror?”
“Do I have something in my teeth?” I turned to look at my reflection in the window behind us.
“No, I mean, your light. It’s crazy bright.”
“Yeah, I can’t really see it, though I did force it into a former slave demon from hell so that I could sneak up on a god incognito, and I saw it then. Really bright.”
“Is that how you did it?”
I turned to an elderly man standing beside us, stunned that he’d gotten that close without my feeling his presence. His essence.
Then again, he emanated zero emotion. That wasn’t what I did feel. I felt the staggering power radiating out of him. The waves of energy.
Shawn knew something about the man was different. I felt interest from him. And confusion.
“How I did what?” I arched a brow as arrogantly as I could. “How I snuck up on your bestie and took him out in a matter of minutes?”
Shawn grew alarmed. He glanced over his shoulder, wondering if he should go inside and get Reyes.
The man shuffled toward us, barely able to walk, but we both knew that was not the case. When he came around, a little girl stepped out from behind him. He held her hand, the smile on her face forced there, plastic like a Barbie’s.
“Eidolon, I presume?”
He was corporeal. He’d taken a human body. He had blood that could be used to trap him. I slid a hand inside my pocket and wrapped my fingers around the god glass.
He held up a palm to stop me. “Please. I am not half as stupid as my … bestie? If you even think of taking the glass out of your pocket, I’ll snap the girl’s neck.” He sat down and hugged the girl to him, his hand tight around her jaw. But her smile stayed in place. Her eyes remained unblinking. “And if you summon him, she won’t live long enough to see him materialize.”
I could only assume he meant Reyes.
“You’ve already lost one of your precious humans. Although all I see is old leather and a bag of bones.”
The poor man whose body Eidolon had confiscated had died the moment he took it over. The power was too much for the human system. And it would start to decay immediately. Eidolon didn’t have much time.
“I only took him because he was close by and he could hold me long enough to have this chat.” He pointed an aged finger at me. “I know how much you humans like to chat.” He smiled wide and indicated the girl. “Plus, this body came with a ready-made bargaining chip. She is his granddaughter. Two for the price of one.”
The walls of my chest tightened. As did his grip on her jaw. Tears slipped past her lashes and slid like silver ribbons down her face.
“Please let her go. Take me instead.”
“Posh.” He waved off the notion. “You think I don’t know what you are?”
“You’re one, too. You could kill me. Just let her go.”
“Don’t patronize me,” he ordered from between gritted teeth. “I told you. I know what you are, Elle-Ryn.”
I blinked in confusion. A god could kill another god. What did he mean?
“You are thirteen strong. You have gifts passed down from the original seven, made stronger every time you”—he leaned in and chuckled—“conquered another of your brethren. I’ll wait for the right moment, if that’s okay with you.”
“Conquered? I don’t understand. The seven original gods from my plane melded together.”
He burst out laughing. Because of the host he’d chosen, it came out more as a cackle. Did he choose an elderly man to set our minds at ease? To make himself appear harmless? ’Cause it wasn’t working.
“They melded? Who told you that, little god?”
“I’m not little. If what you say is true, I’m stronger than you.”
“That you are. I meant no offense. I only meant that, of all the gods to exist, you are the youngest. Have you not heard what you are called?”