I had to leave.
“Can you see Desmond?”
“I don’t like to look at the wolves.”
“I know. But I need you to do it now, because if I’m going, he’s coming with me, and I need to know he can handle it.”
“I dislike the idea of you having him with you at a time like this,” she replied quietly.
“I’m not going to die, Cal. I need you to tell me if he can handle it. Dominick and Lucas won’t admit it if I ask.”
After a thoughtful pause she said, “He will manage. But he isn’t where they claim he is. You’ll need to seek him from whence he came.”
“Just this once, with time being of the essence and all, do you think we could not talk in riddles? For my sake?”
Calliope snorted, and I could practically hear her eyes rolling. “He’s at his mother’s house. That was barely a riddle. I’m disappointed.”
“Don’t be. I’m actually going to take your advice for once. You should be thrilled.”
Although with advice like don’t die, it was pretty hard not to listen.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Penelope Alvarez had grown about a foot since the last time I saw her.
When she opened the door for me, her big eyes lit up with surprise, but instead of staring up at me, she now looked me right in the eyes. She was only thirteen, and if she kept growing at this rate, she would be taller than me before she could drive.
I was more relieved to note she wasn’t in the clutches of an insane fae who wanted to dismember her. Things were looking up in more ways than one.
“Secret,” she enthused, her grin spreading so wide I thought it might hurt her cheeks. “What are you doing here?”
Her greeting drew the attention of the remaining Alvarez family, bringing Grace, Desmond’s mom, as well as Dominick into the foyer. Dominick had inherited his mother’s stature and coloring, and the two short, blond Alvarezes stood side by side, regarding me uncertainly.
Dominick seemed ready to kick me to the curb, but his mother quickly shifted into hostess mode. “Secret, please come in. What a pleasure to see you.”
As I stepped into the hall, they spotted Holden on the front step, eyeing the house warily.
“Who’s your fri—?” Grace began, but Dominick cut her off.
“He’s a bloodsucker.”
It would have been nice if we could have gotten through the visit without resorting to name-calling, but evidently I wouldn’t be so lucky.
“Holden is safe, I assure you.”
“I can wait outside,” the vampire grumbled. “I don’t need to stir up any trouble. But let’s keep this snappy, shall we?” The last was spoken directly to me.
Once I had impressed upon him our need to be hasty, his natural first suggestion had been leave the dog behind. After I’d gotten it across that I had no intention of leaving Desmond behind, Holden had pouted on our whole drive over.
I’d already stopped at my apartment to grab my sword and a small travel bag, and we’d made a similar drive-by at Holden’s place, though his bag was larger than mine. Desmond was our last stop before we hit the airport in New Jersey, and I was sincerely hoping a polite phone call to Sig or, ugh, Lucas, would get us a plane on short notice. The custom BMW Z4 Lucas had given me was a sweet ride, but there was no way two vampires could hide anywhere in it during daylight hours.
Rather than argue about whether or not Holden should be allowed inside, I chose to keep my fights limited and stick to the only one that mattered. “I’m here for Desmond.”
“We talked about this,” Dominick said, moving to stand in front of his mother as if she needed to be protected from me. “How did you know he was here?”
I could have played coy or gotten mad at him for lying to me about Desmond’s whereabouts, but I chose the truth instead. It seemed like less hassle. “I asked the Oracle.”
“Handy,” he replied.