Unbroken Vows

by Christine Pope

  Still frowning, Rosemary did as he asked — mostly because she couldn’t think of what else to do — and climbed into the passenger seat. A moment later, they were headed out of the parking lot and toward the downtown area of Greencastle. Since it was dark already and she didn’t know the town very well, she couldn’t quite keep track of where they were going, except that they left the suburbs and in less than five minutes, Caleb had pulled up to the curb on a side street and parked.

  “Come on.”

  She followed him to a brick building that seemed to have a hardware store — now closed for the evening — on the ground floor. Around the back was a set of stairs that led up to Caleb’s loft, which, after they entered the place, she realized was quite large, with about the same footprint as the store below. The floor was gleaming hardwood, as he’d said, the walls exposed brick. One side had been partially enclosed, presumably to house the bedroom and bathroom. Otherwise, though, the entire enormous space was open, with a conversation group of a couch and some chairs clustered around a coffee table on one side, and a dining area on the other. The dining room table was covered with trays of sandwiches and bowls of chips and other kinds of party food, while a smaller table set up against the wall had a large metal bucket filled with beer bottles and a cluster of large, two-liter-size wine bottles sitting on it.

  “You set all this up before you came and got me?” Rosemary asked.

  “Yes. I figured I wouldn’t have time after the game.” He went over and pulled off the cellophane that had been protecting the sandwich trays, then went to the refrigerator and got out a tub of salsa and dumped it into a waiting bowl. Apparently, her dubious expression was obvious even though the loft wasn’t all that well lit, because he chuckled and said, “It’s no big deal. Just your average Friday night post-game party.”

  “With a bunch of demons.”

  “Part-demons,” Caleb corrected her. “And it’s not like we’re the majority here. Most of my friends are just normal people. You’ll see.”

  She didn’t try to comment, mainly because someone knocked at the door then, and Sean and Kevin came in. They weren’t alone this time, though, but had a couple of girls with them, girls who were laughing and hanging on them in a way that seemed to signal they’d started partying a bit earlier.

  Caleb introduced them as Tiffany and Shellie, and they both smiled and said they were happy to meet her. However, Rosemary couldn’t quite miss the way they looked her up and down and then glanced back at each other, eyebrows lifted as if in astonishment that the sublime Caleb Lockwood would waltz back into town with someone so obviously ordinary at his side.

  “I’ll just go put my coat and purse on the bed,” she said, and he nodded.

  “Sure — bedroom’s through that door.”

  She probably could have figured that out for herself; it wasn’t as though there were many doors in the place. Still, it felt strange to walk into the room and realize this was where Caleb slept, his true bedroom, unlike the room in his rented house in Eagle Rock. It was a very spare space, with a platform bed and a dresser, and three walls painted pale gray, a striking contrast to the exposed brick of the wall behind the bed. No pictures, nothing to show he had any connection to the space at all except as a place to lay his head.

  Rosemary unbuttoned her coat and then set her purse down on the bed, which was covered in a dark gray duvet. After laying her coat on top of her purse, she hesitated for a moment. Should she look around, try to see if she could find anything of any use in one of the drawers? But no, that was probably a bad idea, just because someone else could come in here at any moment. Besides, she got the feeling that Caleb wasn’t so sloppy as to leave anything incriminating in a place where it could be easily found. The Greencastle demons had been hiding secrets for generations, and they weren’t about to make that kind of beginner’s mistake.

  Doing her best to adjust her expression so she appeared happy to be there and unconcerned about anything in particular, she left the bedroom and headed over to the dining area where the refreshments were laid out. More people had appeared while she was putting her coat and purse away, and now there were at least two dozen partygoers filling the space. Since she’d already met the majority of the younger generation of part-demons, it wasn’t too hard to pick them out in the crowd. They were mingling and chatting as if they completely belonged here…which she supposed they did. This was their hometown, after all, no matter what their heritage might be.

  In fact, Tiffany was hanging on Sean’s arm, giggling as he appeared to regale the people clustered around him with some sort of amusing anecdote. Rosemary couldn’t hear what he was saying — someone had cranked up the music, and Kanye West was currently blasting out of the speakers. She tried not to wince; the artist on tap wouldn’t have been her first choice, or probably even her thirtieth, but she knew her musical tastes didn’t jibe with that of a lot of other people her age.

  “They’re probably going to get engaged soon,” came Caleb’s voice at her ear, and she startled a bit before turning to face him.

  “Sean and Tiffany?”

  He nodded, and then handed her a plastic cup half filled with what looked like red wine. “I figured you’d rather have wine than beer,” he said.

  A good guess, since even though she drank both, Rosemary tended to prefer wine. “Thanks,” she replied as she took the cup from him. Might as well act polite and as if there was nothing strange about her presence there; she could tell that several people were watching them, obviously curious about the newcomer from California. While it might have been emotionally satisfying to toss the wine in Caleb’s face and announce to everyone exactly what he was, she doubted her current audience would be too receptive to such a far-fetched tale. Either they’d laugh and think she must have been drinking all during the game, or they’d be on the phone to the local mental hospital, inquiring about a seventy-two-hour psych hold. She sipped the wine, which was mediocre at best. Still, she thought she could use a drink right about then, so she wasn’t going to be choosy. “Does Tiffany know about Sean?”

  Caleb didn’t bother to ask Rosemary what she meant by that particular question. “Of course not.”

  “Don’t you think that’s a little dishonest?”

  His shoulders lifted, and he sipped from the cup of beer he held. “What you don’t know can’t hurt you, right?”

  She thought about the moment of truth she’d extracted from Caleb’s mother, of how the other woman had confessed she’d married Daniel Lockwood for his money. But even though their marriage certainly hadn’t been a love match, Mrs. Lockwood didn’t know the truth about her husband, even after decades of being together. The woman might have been mercenary, but one would think she still deserved to know what Daniel Lockwood actually was.

  Before Rosemary could reply, Caleb went on, “We can’t take that risk. And I think if you went and took an informal survey of all the wives” — he didn’t bother to specify which wives, but she knew who he meant — “then they’d all say they were perfectly happy with their lives and didn’t find anything lacking in their relationships.”

  “It’s still lying,” she pointed out, and his mouth twitched.

  “Useful omission of information,” he countered, then swallowed some more beer. He looked around at the people gathered in the loft, something that looked almost like pride flickering across his even features. “You’re at a party, Rosemary. Relax and mingle. Have a good time. You do know what that is, don’t you?”

  “Of course,” she snapped, even as she had to inwardly admit that she’d never been much of a party animal. Possibly, that was because she’d always felt herself to be so different from everyone around her, and so was always worried that she might say the wrong thing or make the kind of misstep that would take years to recover from. It had just been easier to spend time with her family rather than try to get involved in a social scene she really didn’t understand.

  “Good,” he said, dark eyes dancing. “Then prove
it.”

  He sauntered off to the group where Sean and Tiffany and several of the other quarter-demons were gathered, and soon was involved in their conversation. Feeling nettled, Rosemary headed over to the refreshment table and grabbed some chips. In general, she tried to avoid junk food, but at least snacking gave her a reason to be loitering near the refreshment table, and hopefully not look too awkward at the same time.

  A few minutes passed. Then a woman around her own age, pretty and with light brown hair cut into a cute long bob, approached her, looking diffident.

  “You’re friends with Caleb?” the woman asked.

  “Yes,” Rosemary said. “I’m Rosemary — I met Caleb in California.”

  Something about the woman’s expression relaxed slightly. “Oh, that’s why I didn’t recognize you. I’m Becca — I went to high school with Caleb.”

  “And everyone else here, I assume,” Rosemary remarked.

  A chuckle. “Just about. Small town, you know.”

  “I’m starting to figure it out.”

  Becca paused there, then sent Rosemary a sideways glance. “I suppose Greencastle must feel really different from Hollywood.”

  That comment made Rosemary give the other woman a reluctant smile. “I don’t know much about Hollywood. I live about thirty miles inland from there.”

  “Oh,” Becca said, looking a little confused. “I guess I just assumed you must have met Caleb on a movie set or something. That’s where he was working, right?”

  “On a Netflix show, I think.” Rosemary hesitated for a moment, wondering how much information she should offer. But apparently people in Greencastle knew that Caleb had been working in the film and television industry, so she guessed it wasn’t that big a deal to elaborate a little. “Actually, he was sort of between gigs when we met. He came into my bookstore.”

  “You own a bookstore?” Becca asked, her expression now almost impressed.

  Rosemary thought she’d better disabuse her party companion of any notions of being some kind of mini-mogul or something. “Well, I own it with my sisters,” she explained. “It’s small, but we’re proud of it. Anyway, that’s how I met Caleb. I’ve never set foot on a movie set in my life.”

  “Oh.” An embarrassed little smile, and Becca went on, “I suppose it’s kind of silly to think that just because you’re from California you work in the movie industry.” Her gaze strayed to Caleb as she said, “We were all sort of surprised when we found out Caleb was working behind the scenes and not in front of the camera.”

  Since Rosemary had thought basically the same thing — well, back before she knew what he actually was — she couldn’t fault the residents of Greencastle for making that kind of assumption. “He does look like an actor, I suppose,” she said, her tone noncommittal.

  “And you’re….” Becca’s words trailed off there, but Rosemary had a feeling she knew what the woman was asking.

  “We’re friends. He asked me to come back for a visit, so I said sure.” What a lie. Still, she couldn’t exactly tell Becca that she’d been coaxed here by the possibility of learning the truth about her biological father, who might just be a half-demon. Figuring her bare-bones story could use a little embellishment, she added, “It was probably the last chance for me to take some time off work before the end of the year, since it gets so crazy in retail around the holidays.” Rosemary paused and added, “So, what do you do?”

  “Oh, I’m a loan officer at the bank,” Becca replied. “So, I guess you could say I work for Caleb’s dad.”

  Talk about the boss from Hell…literally. However, nothing in Becca’s expression seemed to indicate that she was unhappy with her job, so Rosemary guessed she’d better keep that particular observation to herself. Something about the way Becca talked about Caleb prompted her to ask, “And you and Caleb…?”

  The loft wasn’t all that well lit, but a flush was still obvious along Becca’s cheekbones. “Oh, we went out our senior year of high school. It wasn’t a big deal. Even then, he was talking about wanting to leave, wanting to get into the movie industry, but no one really thought he was serious. But he majored in film studies and did some independent projects after he graduated, and then earlier this year he went off to California. I don’t know what finally made him leave after all that time.”

  Rosemary did — Project Demon Hunters wrapped, and the demons sent their golden boy off to get his hands on the footage. However, she couldn’t tell Becca any of that, obviously. “It’s been a while since graduation, though. What was he doing in the meantime?”

  “Working at the bank. He minored in finance, so his dad gave him a job. But I could tell he wasn’t all that into it.” She shrugged, and reached for a chip and lowered it into the bowl of onion dip that waited nearby. “Maybe he was just saving up until he had enough to support himself for a while in California. I don’t know for sure — I didn’t ask.”

  “So, you two didn’t…?”

  “We didn’t date after high school, if that’s what you mean.” Becca’s expression grew almost wistful, and once again she glanced in Caleb’s direction. “I went to school out of state, and when I got back, well, I could tell he was fine with being friends but didn’t want anything else. Which was okay. I mean, we were working together for a while. It would have been weird.”

  Not as weird as it would have been if you’d found out the truth about him, Rosemary thought then as she helped herself to a few more chips. As far as she was concerned, Becca had definitely dodged a bullet. “I suppose so,” she agreed, then sipped some more wine.

  “Are you in town long?”

  “No,” Rosemary replied, wondering if she was shooting herself in the foot by being so emphatic. But then, she’d already done her best to reassure herself that she’d be able to leave once the test results came in. If something changed and she was forced to remain here past the weekend, well, she’d come up with a story to explain her actions. “Just for the weekend, I think.”

  Becca looked a little puzzled by that revelation, as if she couldn’t quite figure out why someone would travel a few thousand miles to only spend a couple of days at their destination. But then she seemed to shrug, and said, “Well, have fun while you’re here. Greencastle is a good town.”

  “I plan to.”

  Another lie, but Becca seemed to accept the words at face value. She offered a comment about several points of interest worth visiting, and then wandered off to join a group of people who were laughing and talking over by one of the windows. Not the group Caleb was in; Rosemary noticed that right away. Most of the partygoers were standing around and eating and drinking and talking, but a small group over by the table that held an iPad and an expensive-looking bluetooth speaker system had decided to start dancing. No one seemed to be paying any attention to her, and she was just fine with that.

  In a way, though, it felt strange to stand there and observe the doings of the party without being involved in them, as if she was some kind of alien observer sent from a distant planet to watch the doings of these humans and take notes on them. Which was kind of silly, actually, because six of those partygoers weren’t even human, or at least, not completely so.

  She noticed a balcony outside one of the windows, although no one was currently occupying it. Pretending to be interested in what she might find out there, Rosemary wandered in that direction, then went outdoors. The chilly night air hit her immediately, and she began to think that maybe coming out on the balcony hadn’t been such a good idea.

  But she forgot her discomfort in the next moment as she realized that a set of metal steps headed upward from the far end of the balcony, sort of like a permanent fire escape. There wasn’t anything above them but the roof, and yet she still felt compelled to go take a peek.

  No one was paying any attention, so she went over to the steps, took firm hold of the handrails to either side, and began to haul herself up. She didn’t know exactly why she felt compelled to go up there, except that she thought it might be fun
to get a glimpse of Greencastle from that vantage point — and maybe, just maybe, the demons would have relaxed their guard a bit, and she could take the opportunity to get herself the hell out of there.

  The roof was wide and flat, and completely open to the night sky. Up there, the air was even colder, but Rosemary hugged her arms against herself as she walked to the edge that overlooked the main street. A few vehicles were moving about, some forty feet below, but otherwise, Greencastle looked pretty damn sleepy on this particular Friday night. No clouds obscured the stars, and she tilted her face to gaze up at them, big and bright, looking as though she could just extend a hand and touch them.

  Not that she would bother to try. She had other things to expend her energy on.

  Reaching out with that sixth sense — or special ability, or whatever you wanted to call it — she thought of Will’s house, of the well-worn but oh, so comfortable couch in his living room. She imagined herself sitting on that sofa, leaning back against Will’s arm as they snuggled and watched TV. It all felt so real…and yet, she knew it wasn’t. She could imagine such a scene, but she couldn’t send herself back there. The demons were still clearly keeping watch.

  “Like the view?”

  Rosemary turned and saw Caleb move away from the ladder/steps and come toward her. Doing her best to swallow her disappointment, she responded, “There’s not much to see, really. But I saw the steps and wanted to check out what was up here.”

  He paused next to her and stared out over the town. “When it’s warmer, I bring a telescope up here sometimes. The roof is great for that. But no, if you were looking for bright lights, big city, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

  It was in her mind to tell him that it was his fault she was here at all, but she pushed the retort away. To be fair, she’d come to Greencastle on her own volition; it wasn’t as though Caleb had thrown her over his shoulder and hauled her bodily to his hometown.

  “I s-suppose so,” she said, teeth chattering a little in the chill wind.