I shuffled closer to check for myself and grimaced. “That’s not enough to kill someone but it is enough to worry me. That didn’t come from a small wound.”
“No,” Braden agreed, sliding around me to look closer at the stain on the floor. “Paris is right. There are no bodies. We have to treat that as a good sign.”
“Unless the revenants eat bodies, like cannibals,” Redmond countered, earning a stern glare from his brother. “What? I was just thinking out loud.”
“Well, stop doing that!”
“I agree,” I supplied, moving to the kitchen. The room was equally disturbed. “I don’t want to think about the bodies being eaten. I’m choosing to believe there was an attack and somehow the family members managed to fight off the creature. Maybe they’re at the hospital or something.”
“That’s possible,” Braden agreed. “I’ll call Griffin to see if he’s heard anything.”
“Don’t do that.” Redmond shook his head. “He’ll melt down if he thinks Aisling is out in this.”
I could see that. “She’s not out in this,” I reminded him. “She’s fine.”
“Besides, he has to get over that,” Braden added. “He knew what Aisling was when he fell in love with her. It’s not as if that’s suddenly going to change.”
“I bet he was hopeful that would change when she got pregnant,” Redmond countered. “He’s not the Neanderthal type, but if she chose to change her career he wouldn’t offer up a word of argument.”
“She won’t do that ... and he knows it,” I offered. “He loves her for what she is. He didn’t marry her with the expectation of changing her. They’re fine.” I meant it. My eyes were plaintive when they locked with Braden’s somber face. “You need to call him. Then we need to search this house from top to bottom before heading to the next on our list. We have to keep looking. If they’re all like this ... .” I couldn’t finish the statement.
“We don’t know that anyone died here,” Braden reminded me as he dug in his pocket for his phone. “We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. It won’t do anyone any good.”
He was right. Still, I couldn’t shake the growing fear that clung to me like a shadow on a sunny day. “We can’t stay here. We have to keep moving. Put Griffin on the hospitals. There’s a chance, if we move fast enough, that we can stop one of these attacks before it happens.”
That’s all I could think about now.
“Okay.” Braden was sympathetic as he squeezed my shoulder. We both knew what it was like to deal with decimated families. Neither of us wanted that. “I’ll make the call. You guys conduct the search. We’ll hit every address until we’re certain.”
He was trying, but the words didn’t make me feel better. I couldn’t escape the feeling that we were already too late.
Far, far too late.
Fifteen
We checked every house. We went into every bedroom, bathroom and closet in those houses. They were all empty.
Some of the houses were messy, like the first. Others were desolate and quiet, not a thing out of place. Those houses were even more disturbing for some reason.
“My father is assigning reapers to watch all the houses in case someone comes back,” Braden offered as we parked in front of Grimlock Manor later that evening. We’d separated at reaper headquarters, Redmond returning to work and Paris gathering her son before they joined us for dinner.
“That’s good,” I offered. “Maybe we’ll luck out and one of them will come back.”
“But you don’t think that’s going to happen, do you?”
I shook my head. “I think they’re either dead or ... something else has happened to them.”
“Like what?”
That was the question. “I don’t know. I want to talk to Cillian, maybe attack that library your father has upstairs after dinner. There must be something in there about revenants.”
Braden was quiet, so I shifted my eyes to him and almost laughed at his downtrodden expression.
“What?”
“That just doesn’t sound like the sort of evening I had in mind,” he said.
“Oh, yeah?” It had been a long and terrible day, and yet I was feeling playful. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I thought we would steal some extra cupcakes from Aisling’s cake bar and have them in the big tub for starters. There’s nothing better than bubbles ... cupcakes ... and you.”
It was a sweet sentiment. “Maybe we can do one hour in the library and then do the cupcake and bath thing after,” I suggested.
“Oh, are we compromising?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I agree to your terms.” He leaned over and planted a kiss on me before resting his forehead against mine. He looked as exhausted as I felt. We all hoped we would be able to find some survivors. With each house we hit, with each empty room, those hopes faded. Now we were all numb.
“I’m kind of excited for Paris to see your house,” I said, pulling back to stare into his eyes. “She’ll enjoy it ... and I want to meet her son.”
“Alvis?” Braden’s lips quirked. “I like kids. I’m sure Alvis will fit right in. As for Paris, I find her interesting.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Like your brother finds her interesting?”
He chuckled. “No. I only find you interesting that way.” He poked my side, causing me to squirm. “I’m more intrigued about this magical friend of hers. If she was involved in that whole Covenant College thing ... well ... they say there were some mighty powerful forces involved in the razing of that school.”
He might have better information than me, I thought. He was closer to the action. I’d researched the downfall of the college, but information was difficult to come by. Maybe he knew more than I did.
“What did you hear?”
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and leaned back in his seat. “There were a lot of rumors. I mean ... a lot. Some people believe what happened at the college was because of aliens.”
It took everything I had not to roll my eyes. “We both know that’s not true.”
“No, but that doesn’t mean the paranormal ideas were any easier to swallow. For starters, there are a lot of people who believe witches hypnotized farmers to yank down the buildings and then plant grass over them. There are others who believe the buildings were sucked into the ground, like a hellmouth opened up or something.”
“What do you believe?”
He worked his jaw. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “Paris’s assertion that a god was involved makes a lot of sense. I saw the photos. One day the college looked like a normal campus. There were buildings … and students … and tons of frat parties where you just know nubile young women had been partying in skimpy clothes two days before.”
I flicked his ear. “Keep on track.”
His grin was charming and made me feel as if I was the only one in the world for which it was intended. He had a way of making me go warm all over, and this was one of those times.
He sobered after a moment. “The photos of what happened that following day were ... I don’t know how to describe them. All the buildings were gone. It wasn’t like a natural disaster. There weren’t shells of buildings left behind ... or broken glass on the ground ... or even abandoned parking lots. The entire space was covered with rolling hills, trees and even an endangered bird habitat.”
I tilted my head, considering. “An endangered bird habitat? How does that happen?”
“I have no idea. I don’t remember the name of the bird they found. I only know it was endangered, which meant they couldn’t have re-built the school even if they wanted to. There are federal protections in place over the bird.”
Oddly, that made sense. “That had to be the god. I wish I knew which one it was.”
“Do you know all of them?”
“I’ve researched a few. I don’t know that anyone knows all of them.” I rubbed my palms over my jeans as I considered our quandary. “I don’t really blame Paris fo
r not trusting us with her friend’s secret. She hasn’t exactly seen us at our best and ... well ... she’s loyal. I hope she’ll trust us enough to introduce her friend at some point.”
“I don’t know. Her friend sounds scary.”
I laughed at his serious expression. “People might say the same about your sister.”
“And they would be right.” He slid his arm around my neck and tugged me close enough that we stared into each other’s eyes. “I almost wish we hadn’t invited Paris for dinner. Then we could raid the kitchen, steal all Aisling’s cupcakes and hide in my bedroom all night. That sounds better than putting up with my family for five hours.”
“It won’t be five hours.”
“It will feel like five hours.”
He wasn’t wrong about that. “We’ll survive.”
“Yeah.” He gave me another kiss. “Besides, there’s nothing better than cupcakes.”
“Your dad is going to do a beignet bar for me one day. Those are better than cupcakes.”
“Oh, you’re cute.” He tapped the end of my nose. “Beignets are good, but cupcakes are better.”
That sounded like a challenge. “I guess I’ll have to cook beignets for you.”
His eyes sparked. “I could live with that.”
I wasn’t the domestic sort, but I could live with it, too. “I guess we have a plan for whenever this is over.”
He was serious again as he smoothed my hair. “We do. As for all of this ... we’ll figure it out.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I don’t see that we have a choice.”
PARIS WAS DELIGHTED FROM THE second she walked through the front door. She couldn’t stop exclaiming over the fancy tile, ornate crown moldings and the out-of-control decorations that practically screamed the Grimlocks were a family with endless money at their disposal.
“This place is amazing,” Paris enthused as I led her toward the drink cart.
Alvis wasn’t what I expected. He was blond, had huge cheeks and bright blue eyes. He looked nothing like his mother.
“Hello.” Redmond, who was sitting on the floor in front of Lily’s carrier, abandoned her and switched his attention to the toddler. “You must be Alvis.”
The boy wasn’t exactly shy, but his eyes were full of suspicion when they landed on Redmond. “No,” he announced, extending a finger in Redmond’s direction. His reaction was enough to have everyone laughing.
“He figured you out, Redmond,” Aisling offered. She looked to be in a good mood, her skin practically glowing, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d done something to her father’s car. She always looked her best when she got to torture one of her male relatives.
“Don’t listen to her,” Redmond said to Alvis. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I happen to be tons of fun.”
Alvis narrowed his eyes. “No,” he repeated.
Paris looked embarrassed by her son’s reaction. “I’m sorry. That’s his favorite word. He only knows ten of them and that’s the one he lets loose the most.”
“Don’t worry.” Aisling smiled kindly at the boy as she planted herself on the settee. “I expect Lily will be the same way when she starts talking.”
“I expect Lily’s favorite word is going to be ‘mine,’” Cormack countered, grinning at the little boy as Alvis’s gaze switched to him. “Hey, buddy. If you come over here, I have some licorice.”
Braden made an exaggerated face. “That’s the offer of perverts the world over, Dad. You can’t say things like that.”
Cormack balked. “I didn’t mean ... .” He trailed off. “Huh. Now that you mention it, that probably wasn’t the right thing to say.”
“Oh, you think?”
Cormack made a big show of ignoring Braden and focusing on Alvis. “Sorry about that, buddy. You’re a cute little thing, huh?”
“He doesn’t look like you,” Redmond announced. He almost looked disappointed. “Is that what your husband looks like?”
“Not that much.” Paris was rueful. “I was blond when I was a kid. I’m guessing his hair will darken as he ages.”
“I think he’s cute as a blond.” Aisling smiled at the boy, who had been glued to his mother’s side until he finally focused on her. Then, out of nowhere, he took a step in her direction. The smile he graced her with was adorable.
“Oh, he likes you.” Paris beamed at her son as she watched him toddle toward Aisling. “It usually takes him an hour or so to warm up to new people, but he already likes you.”
If Aisling was surprised, she didn’t show it. Instead, she waited for him to get close and then hoisted him up on the settee so he could get comfortable next to her. “Just wait for the cupcake bar,” she enthused. “You’ll get so sugared up people will mistake you for a Tasmanian devil.”
“Not everyone thinks that’s a good thing, Aisling,” Cormack noted.
“It’s fine.” Paris waved off the comment and turned her full attention to Lily. “This must be your baby.” She smiled at Aisling before kneeling next to the infant. “I guess those Grimlock genes are too strong to be overruled, huh?”
Cormack chuckled. “They’re fairly strong. Aisling was a cute baby, and Lily looks just like her.”
“Wrong.” Braden appeared on my left and handed me a drink. “Lily looks like me. I’m the handsomest and she’s the prettiest, so it only makes sense that she’s taking after me.”
Cillian and Redmond snorted in unison.
“Please.” Redmond rolled his eyes. “If she looks like anyone, she looks like me.”
“She definitely doesn’t look like me,” Griffin offered as he strolled into the room and headed straight for his wife.
“That won’t hold up in court,” Aisling teased as she accepted his kiss.
“I guess I’ll have to keep both of you then.” Griffin shifted his eyes to Alvis and smirked as the toddler openly stared at his wife. “Who is this?”
“Paris’s son,” Braden volunteered. “She’s Izzy’s new co-worker.”
“Ah.” Griffin grinned and nodded at Paris before focusing on Alvis, who was completely enamored with Aisling. “It looks as if I have some competition for your affections, baby.”
“Usually I would say you have nothing to worry about, but he’s pretty cute.” Aisling smiled at him before sobering. “What about you guys? Did you find anything?”
I shook my head. “Every house was empty. Some of them looked as if a fight had gone down inside. Others ... they were quiet and abandoned.”
“We don’t know that anything happened to anyone yet,” Cormack cautioned. “It’s possible the mess you saw is because one of the returnees melted down when he couldn’t find what he was looking for.”
That was a nice thought, but I didn’t believe it for a second. “We found blood in one of the houses.”
“Yes, but not enough to suggest that whoever was inside is dead. We can’t jump to conclusions.”
“No, but we’d better come up with feasible hunches,” Aisling argued. “We need to be sure that these revenants aren’t somehow infecting people. This could be the zombies all over again. We don’t want to take on an army of the undead.”
Cormack rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “Here we go.”
Aisling ignored the sarcasm. “I don’t want to remind you of the obvious, but I was the only one who believed in the zombies, and things were pretty much out of control before you guys finally came around to my way of thinking. We don’t want that to happen again.”
“But you don’t want to remind us of the obvious,” Redmond drawled, amused. “We’ve already told you that we’re sorry, Ais. You’re intellectually superior to us in every way.”
“We should’ve believed in the zombies,” Braden said. “Can you please forgive us?”
The little show made me laugh. I knew it would be even worse if Cillian and Aidan were present. Speaking of them, … . “Where is everybody else?”
“Jerry and Aidan had tuxedo
fittings,” Cormack volunteered. “They’re coming, but won’t be here for dinner. I’ve been instructed by Aidan to make sure I save him at least five cupcakes. Jerry insists they’re both on diets to make sure they fit into their tuxes for the big day, but Aidan promised death if he missed the cupcakes, so ... .”
“So you’ll save cupcakes for him,” I surmised.
“I already set some aside in the kitchen. Aidan’s favorite color is blue, and there was a peach one with rainbow waves or something on it that I know Jerry will love. I also put another ten in a safe place so they both have plenty to choose from when they arrive.”
And there it was again. He was more than father of the year. He was father of the millennium. He doted on each child in a specific way. He would know that Aidan was feeling smothered by wedding plans and want to soothe those frazzled nerves as much as possible. Sure, Cormack’s idea of soothing was food — which I wasn’t a fan of endorsing — but he did his very best by each child. I couldn’t help but marvel at how he always managed to carry it off.
“What’s a cupcake bar?” Paris asked.
“Oh, you’re in for a treat,” Aisling enthused as she poked Alvis’s stomach, causing him to giggle. “It’s basically a mountain of cupcakes in every color. And there are so many things to put on the cupcakes you won’t be able to stop with just one.”
“Cake!” Alvis clapped his hands, causing everyone to laugh.
“It looks like he learned a new word,” Redmond noted.
Paris smiled fondly at her son. “He’ll probably be bouncing off the walls when it’s time to go to bed tonight, but one sugar buzz won’t hurt him.”
She had a rude awakening in her future if she thought it would be just the one sugar buzz, but I kept that to myself.
THE CUPCAKE BAR WAS INDEED a big hit. Cormack asked about Paris’s husband — his name was Heath and he was on the west side of the state closing up their old home because they’d sold it and would be closing in a few days. Paris was clearly in love with the father of her child. Redmond feigned bitter disappointment for a bit, but ultimately let it go.
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