Unbroken Vows

by Christine Pope

  “I had no idea you knew how to work on cars,” Rosemary said, impressed that he’d put so much of himself into the Challenger. No wonder he’d never wanted to get rid of it. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

  His head tilted to one side, as though he was seriously considering her question. “I can’t carry a tune to save my life.”

  “I was serious.”

  “So am I. Major tin ear. They had to ask me to not sing in the choir back home in Brookline.”

  She smiled and shook her head, trying to imagine that particular scene. The smile didn’t last very long, though, mostly because her thoughts kept slipping ahead to the coming conversation with her mother.

  Maybe they should have gone to Michael’s first. But no, that wasn’t a good idea. While Michael and Audrey needed to know what was going on, Glynis was the person who really should hear the truth first.

  If it even was the truth. For all Rosemary knew, this was the demons’ real plan — to get her so harrowed up with doubt and worry that she couldn’t function effectively. Why exactly they’d need to mess with her in such a way, she wasn’t sure. If they were lying and she was just a normal person, then one would think she’d be beneath their notice. Michael and Audrey were the ones who really should have been on the demons’ radar, considering the way they’d banished Belial to Hell.

  All of this was beginning to make her head hurt, although she supposed the mild headache that had begun to pulse behind her temples might have more to do with the crappy night’s sleep she’d had the evening before at the DePauw Inn. There wasn’t anything really wrong with the bed, but stewing over whether you were some half-demon’s bastard daughter was enough to screw with anyone’s sleep.

  In less than fifteen minutes, Will was pulling his big muscle car into the driveway of her mother’s Craftsman house in Sierra Madre. The day had stayed cloudy, although there didn’t seem to be any rain in the offing, and the house looked almost brooding under those gray skies, although Rosemary generally thought of it as a cheerful kind of place.

  Then again, her current mood was probably the real reason for the home’s current forbidding aspect.

  They got out of the car and went up to the door. Apparently, Glynis had spied them as they walked up the path, because she opened the door before Rosemary even had a chance to knock.

  “Come in,” she said. “I put a pot of Darjeeling on, since this doesn’t seem like a day for iced tea.”

  “Sounds great,” Rosemary said, forcing a smile. Good thing she’d only had water with breakfast, or she would have been completely tea’d out.

  Her mother gave her a quick glance, as if trying to gauge something of her daughter’s mood. However, she didn’t comment, only went on, “Let’s all go into the living room, and I’ll get that tea.”

  There wasn’t much to do except follow and then sit down on the couch. Glynis offered them cookies to go with their tea, and Will and Rosemary both demurred, saying they were still full from their late breakfast. They waited while she went to fetch the tea, bringing it back on a tray with three cups, the same set with the hand-painted rose sprays that had once belonged to Rosemary’s grandmother.

  After Glynis had poured tea for everyone, she picked up her cup, although she didn’t take a sip. “So…what happened?” she asked.

  “I’m fine,” Rosemary reiterated, just as much to reassure herself as her mother. Although she felt better the more time she spent with Will, she honestly didn’t know whether she truly was all right. But she figured she’d have to accept the contents of those test results and move on, or she’d never have a moment’s peace. “Isabel saw me in Greencastle, right?”

  Her mother nodded. “Yes. Or at least, we assumed that was where you must be. Caleb took you there?”

  “He did. I went voluntarily,” Rosemary added quickly.

  Surprise flashed in Glynis’s eyes. “Why?”

  “Because he had something to tell me. Or rather,” she went on, seeing the question in her mother’s expression, “He had someone he needed me to meet.”

  “Who?”

  The moment had come. Rosemary looked over at Will, and he gave her an encouraging nod. “My father.”

  Her mother’s brows drew together in apparent confusion. “Why would an angel be with the half-demons in Greencastle? I thought you said he was only supposed to observe them and not have any interactions.”

  Yes, that had been John McGuire’s supposed role. Just a convenient lie Gerald Gates had told in his guise as the “angel” who had been tasked with watching the Greencastle demons to make sure they didn’t get too out of hand. It made a plausible excuse for why he’d pretended to be dead for the past ten years, but the whole thing had been a fabrication.

  Maybe.

  “Because he wasn’t an angel,” Rosemary said. “He’s a half-demon named Gerald Gates.”

  A heavy silence fell after she uttered those words. Her mother stared at her, openly perplexed at first, confusion turning to horror as her eyes widened.

  “That’s not possible,” she murmured. Clearing her throat, she went on, “I never — that is, I was always faithful to your father, Rosemary.”

  “I know,” Rosemary replied. “You wouldn’t have known. They — the half-demons — they can shape shift, alter their appearance. You would have thought it was Dad.”

  Glynis’s hand went to her throat. Rosemary wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her mother dumbfounded before, but clearly, she was now. She hated to see her mother so stricken, but she had no idea what she could possibly say to make any of this better.

  “They told you that?” she said at last.

  Rosemary nodded.

  “And you believed them?”

  “No. I mean, I didn’t want to believe them. But…Gerald Gates and I did a paternity test. It came back as a near-perfect match.”

  Her mother’s gaze shifted to Will, who had been quiet through their exchange, as though understanding that this was something they needed to work through together, even if Rosemary had requested his presence. “You believe this?”

  He clasped his hands on his knee and leaned forward slightly, expression earnest. “To be honest? I’m withholding judgment. These part-demons aren’t exactly known for their trustworthiness. I’ll admit that it seems as though they’d have a difficult time faking a paternity test taken at a professional lab, but I suppose it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility, even if I can’t figure out how they could have done it.”

  Glynis absorbed this observation in silence, appearing to think over what Will had just told her. With a hand that shook slightly, she lifted her cup of tea to her lips and took a sip.

  “It’s not as if I want this to be true,” Rosemary burst out. Something in her mother’s lack of a response made her feel guilty, as though she was pushing a theory that no one with any sense could possibly believe. “But it also makes sense. If — if our father was really John McGuire, an angel pretending to be a human being, then why don’t Celeste and Isabel have the same crazy talents I’ve started to show recently? Before a few weeks ago, I think we all would have agreed that we were basically the same kind of psychic. Now, though — ”

  “Yes, now,” her mother cut in, but quietly, in a way that didn’t seem like an interruption. “Why now, Rosemary?”

  “Because my powers didn’t come alive until I was around another part-demon,” she said. “Simple as that. But you haven’t answered my question, Mom. If Izzie and CeeCee are my full sisters, why are my talents so different from theirs?”

  Glynis gave her a weary smile. “You might as well ask why one child in a family plays the violin and another is a tennis star. Everyone has different levels of talents and abilities. Just because you and Celeste and Isabel are sisters doesn’t mean you’re going to be cookie-cutter versions of one another.”

  Rosemary supposed that explanation made sense, and yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that her mother was dancing around the issue because she didn’t want to
acknowledge the horrific possibility that her youngest daughter wasn’t quite what she seemed to be. “Being psychic isn’t the same thing as playing tennis,” she pointed out, and her mother only raised an eyebrow as she took another sip of tea.

  “No, it isn’t,” she replied. “And I realize I have to acknowledge that this is a possibility. So many strange things have happened over the past week that I can’t really pretend they don’t exist. On the other hand, it’s possible these demons are lying to you, for reasons none of us can comprehend. At the end of the day, none of this changes the fact that you’re my daughter and I love you, no matter who your father might have been.”

  What, really, could she say in answer to such a statement? It was much the same thing Will had told her, and yet Rosemary couldn’t help thinking this was still terribly different. Even though he loved her, he was something of an observer in all this; it wasn’t his family being affected. And she realized that it didn’t matter what she said — her mother needed to believe there was some chance that none of what Rosemary had witnessed in Indiana had been true.

  And the horrible thing was, Rosemary couldn’t be sure, either. Not completely.

  “Okay,” she said quietly. “I just — I just didn’t feel as though this was something I could keep from you.”

  “And I would never have expected you to,” her mother responded. She set down her teacup and reached over so she could pat Rosemary on the hand. “I can’t exactly say I’m glad to have heard any of this, but I would have been more upset if you’d kept it all to yourself and I found out later. For the moment, though, I think we should all just be glad that you’re back home and you’re safe.”

  Safe…for now. Rosemary couldn’t help thinking that this was only a pause, that the demons were still planning something she couldn’t foresee. Her second sight had always come and gone at its own whim, or she would have tried to compel it now, done her best to make it tell her what Daniel Lockwood and the rest of them were plotting. But, because she’d made such attempts in the past and had failed miserably, she knew not to even bother. All she could do was hope that the closed book of the future might open itself to her, if only for a moment. Just enough to get a glimpse of what might be coming, and how to prepare herself for it.

  Or failing that, at least brace herself for the inevitable.

  Chapter 12

  Rosemary didn’t want to talk about the conversation that had just transpired at her mother’s house, and so she was quiet as Will pointed the Challenger westward toward Michael’s house. And toward Will’s house as well, although she guessed it would be a few hours before the two of them would be able to take sanctuary there.

  There had been only enough time for Will to send a very brief text, one that said Rosemary was back and that they’d be over in about ten minutes. His phone was assailed by a series of bings almost immediately afterward, but since he was driving, he couldn’t pick it up to take a look at what they all were.

  Not that it really mattered. They’d be hashing out all this at Michael’s house in a few minutes anyway.

  They parked in front and got out of the car. A drop of rain hit Rosemary’s hand as she and Will were walking up to the front door, and she slanted a glance up at the cloudy sky. It did seem a bit darker now than when they’d first set out. Well, the weather didn’t matter all that much. They were going to be safely inside soon enough.

  Extremely soon, since Michael opened the front door before they’d even begun to mount the porch steps. “You’re all right?” he asked, staring at Rosemary. “What happened?”

  “I’m fine, and it’s a long story,” she said.

  He raised an eyebrow but seemed to understand that she was tired, because he moved out of the way so she and Will could step past him into the entry. “Family room,” he said briefly. “Audrey’s waiting for us.”

  “Where’s Fred?” Will asked. Rosemary had been thinking much the same thing; she was surprised that he appeared to be absent.

  Despite the frown that had previously furrowed his brow, Michael grinned. “Oh, he went to visit Rosemary’s bookstore.”

  “He what?” she said, startled by his reply.

  “He went to Sisters We. Said he wanted to check it out. Actually, though,” Michael added, still smiling, “I got the impression that what he really wanted to do was check Isabel out. So to speak.”

  “‘Isabel’?” Rosemary repeated. For some reason, what Michael had just told her didn’t seem to have computed properly. Maybe she was a little more shell-shocked than she’d thought.

  He shrugged. “Why should you and Will be the only ones to make a love connection in the middle of this mess?”

  At last, the import behind his words got through, but she had a feeling he was misreading the situation. “I don’t think Isabel’s really interested in a relationship,” she said.

  “Have you asked her recently?”

  “Well, no, but — ”

  “He’s just teasing you,” Audrey said. She’d been sitting on the couch, but stood up as the trio entered the family room. “Or rather, I don’t think he’s joking about Fred, because I could also tell that he was impressed by Isabel. Still, that’s between the two of them. Can I get you something to drink?”

  “Water is fine,” Rosemary replied, deciding to leave aside the question of Fred Peñasco’s feelings toward her sister for a time when she wasn’t feeling quite so on edge. Actually, a glass of wine would have been great, but she guessed it would be wise to leave the drinking for sometime later in the day after they’d discussed what had happened to her in Greencastle.

  “For me, too,” Will added, and Audrey headed over to the kitchen to get some glasses for them.

  “So,” Michael said as they sat down on the couch. “The demons let you go, just like that?”

  “Apparently,” she replied. “And no, I have no idea why.”

  Michael leaned up against the polished mahogany that framed the doorway and crossed his arms. “Tell me what happened.”

  Rosemary took in a breath, then launched into the story. By that time, she was less than happy to repeat it all over again, but she gamely went through the whole thing once more, from Caleb approaching her at the house to her trip to Greencastle and the paternity test that followed. Partway through this narrative, Audrey came over and handed the two of them their glasses of water, but refrained from comment, as if she knew better than to interrupt Rosemary in the middle of her account.

  When she was done, she leaned against the back of the sofa and took a large swallow of water. “And that’s all I know.”

  “‘All’?” Michael repeated incredulously. “That’s — that’s — ”

  “Kind of mind-blowing,” Audrey finished for him. Her gaze rested on Rosemary, sympathetic and more than a little worried. “Are you doing okay?”

  “About as well as can be expected, I suppose.” She drank some more water and then rested the glass on her knee. “I think I’m maybe a little shell-shocked. And also, like I said, I don’t know if I can believe any of what they told me, or whether it’s all some big con job.”

  “For what purpose, though?” Michael asked then, gray-gold eyes narrowed. “I mean, if it was some sort of ruse to get you to stay with them, it sort of backfired, didn’t it?”

  Rosemary’s shoulders lifted. “I was thinking the same thing. The strange thing was, it felt as though Caleb was doing his best to convince me that I was one of them and so needed to stay in Greencastle, and then…he just sort of gave up, as if he’d decided it wasn’t worth the effort anymore.”

  “That is strange,” Michael said. He scrubbed a hand across his chin, which, as usual, was covered by a few days’ worth of scruff. “You said it was Caleb doing the convincing?”

  “By that point, yes.” Rosemary rubbed a hand over the knee of her jeans; she’d gotten rid of the borrowed sweater, exchanging it for an embroidered jacket, but that was the only part of her outfit she’d changed. “After I saw the results of the
paternity test, I was upset — ”

  “Understandably,” Michael interjected.

  Ignoring this interruption, she went on, “And so I went outside to get some fresh air. Caleb followed me out there, but Daniel Lockwood and Gerald Gates stayed inside the house. He kept trying to persuade me that they were my family and that I needed to stay with them, but I told him that was never going to happen. I reached out with my power and realized they weren’t blocking it anymore. So, I told him goodbye and left, and went to Will’s house.”

  “And no sign of any of them trying to stop you?” Audrey asked, and Rosemary shook her head.

  “Nothing I could detect.” She paused there, doing her best to focus again on the moment when she’d reached out with her extra senses in order to make sure she really was able to get away. There hadn’t been even the smallest twinge to tell her that the demons were blocking her power to teleport. No, it had been smooth sailing. “It was as if they’d suddenly decided it wasn’t worth keeping me there any longer.”

  Michael scratched his chin again, eyes narrowed. “Which in itself is more than a little suspicious, considering all the effort they’d gone to in order to get you to Greencastle and keep you there.”

  “I know.” Something about the whole situation didn’t smell right, but she was damned if she could figure out what the demons were up to this time. “I don’t know what their plan is — even if they have one. Frankly, I’m just glad to be home.”

  “That’s for sure,” Will said, his fingers finding Rosemary’s and holding on tight. His fingers were warm and strong, and she could feel the reassurance and love flowing out of him and into her. Everything seemed better when he was around. “And while I know we need to keep our guard up, there really isn’t much more we can do other than that, right?”

  “It seems that way,” Michael replied, although he didn’t look very hopeful that merely keeping an eye out would be enough to keep Rosemary — or any of the rest of them — safe.