My thoughts were interrupted by the shrill ring of a cell phone.
The ringtone cut off abruptly. "Mom?" said Jude's voice.
Mom? Jude was getting calls from his mom? That was weird, wasn't it? I realized that in Florida, I'd never met Jude's parents. Was his mom calling him from Bradenton? Did his mom know he was a Satanist?
"You," Jude's voice said, but it was angry and menacing now. Was he still talking to his mom? "What have you done with her? Let me talk to her."
Wait. Did someone have Jude's mom?
"Sure," said Jude. "I know where she is. I have her, in fact."
He had her? He had his mom? I was really, really confused.
"No," said Jude. "No, absolutely not. No deal."
"Who are you talking to?" asked Noah.
My sentiments exactly. Who was Jude talking to?
Jude ignored Noah. "If you hurt her . . ." He paused. "Well, of course I'm not going to hurt Azazel."
Me? He was talking about me? Who was he talking to? What was going on?
"Who is it, Jude?" Gordon demanded.
Jude ignored him. "Listen, there's no way I'm going to trade her for Azazel, you idiot. If you don't let my mother go, I'm going to hunt you down and—" Jude stopped talking, as if he'd been interrupted. He paused for a long time. Finally, he just breathed, "Fuck you," in a gravelly voice.
"Who was that?" Gordon asked.
Jude didn't answer.
"Who was that?" Gordon asked again.
"Turn around," said Jude.
"Turn around?" asked Noah.
"Yeah," said Jude. "We can't go there. He's there."
They couldn't go there? Had Jude gotten a call from their destination? But I thought they were going to Michaela Weem's house.
"Who's there?" asked Noah. "Who were you talking to on the phone?"
"He's got my mother. He's threatening to hurt her if we don't give him Azazel," said Jude.
Who had Jude's mother? And who would want me? And what was Jude's mother doing in Shiloh? Weren't we in Shiloh? Were they taking me to Michaela Weem or not?
"Who's got your mother?" asked Gordon.
"Jason," said Jude. "Jason's got my mother."
Jason had Jude's mother? So Jason was trying to save me! He'd picked a kind of screwed-up way to do it, but he didn't hate me. That was good. Suddenly, I remembered that just hours before I'd argued with drunk Jason, he'd told Lilith that he couldn’t exist without me. I couldn't believe that I'd doubted him.
"Big deal," said Noah. "Don't we want Jason dead anyway? We'll just go in, grab him, tie him up and wait until Azazel's ready to do him in."
"You don't understand," said Jude. "Jason was trained by the Sons of the Rising Sun. We'd be no match for him. Not like this."
"He's a kid," said Gordon. "How tough could he really be?"
"He's killed before," said Jude. "A guy named Sutherland owed Mom a favor, and was keeping an eye on Azazel for us. He got fresh, and no one's heard from him since."
Sutherland? Jesus, he was in on it too? He was working with the Satanists? Well, I guess it made sense that he knew about the invocation, then, didn't it? And why did Sutherland owe Jude's mom a favor? Who was Jude's mom, anyway?
"Yeah," said Noah, "but Jason wouldn't hurt Michaela. She's his mother too, isn't she?"
What?!
Oh God.
* * *
Now that I was looking at Jude, I didn't understand why I didn't see it before. Sure, Jude had bright purple hair and multiple piercings. Sure, he was wearing heavy eyeliner. All of that made him look different. Exotic. But his skin was the same shade as Jason's—dusky light brown. His face was the same shape as Jason's—heart-shaped. His eyes were like Jason's too. Big and dark. They looked alike. A lot alike. They were brothers. But before, I'd never made the connection, not even when Jude told me he was a quarter Native American. Like Jason. I was such an idiot. How had I trusted him?
Lilith and I were sitting in the back of the minivan. We were still tied up. We were parked on the side of a country road. The back hatch of the minivan was open, and Jude, Noah, and Gordon were peering in at us. Well, Noah and Gordon were looking at us. Jude was pacing back and forth behind the open hatch, swearing and running his hands through his hair. Noah and Gordon had long since given up trying to calm him down.
"Maybe we could go to a hotel," said Noah thoughtfully, gazing at Lilith and me.
"How are we going to get the two tied-up girls inside without attracting attention?" Gordon asked.
"Good point," said Noah.