“Do you know why?”
“I wouldn’t expect much happens in San Francisco without her knowing,” he says, sounding distracted. “Her work grants her access to many sources.”
“Sure,” I say. “Maybe somehow she heard the watch was taken. Even the elf said something about his contacts telling him. But it’s weird that she would think thatIcould do it, right? She’s always acted like I’m completely useless.”
“Mm.” Collin’s lips are tightly pressed together.
“Any guesses why she’d believe I could?” I probe.
“A few,” he says, frowning. And before I can continue our game of Twenty Questions, he raises his hand to stopme. “Your mother is dangerous, Alvin. Way more than you think.”
I snort, and raise my eyebrows at him, trying to lighten the mood. “Oh, Iknow, Collin. Trust me.”
His gaze hardens. “No, you don’t. She’s been awful to you, but before you were born, she was something else. She killed people. A lot of people.”
I frown back. “You mean, when she fed?” (Mom always said that killing was more trouble than it was worth when draining humans. Drew too much attention. But maybe she didn’talwaysfeel that way.)
“No. I’m talkingtens ofthousands. In one go. There’s a whole civilization that named their most fearsome demon after her. That was less than a hundred years before she completely destroyed them. Eisheth Zenunim, one of the Four Queens of Hell in Kabbalistic tradition, was based on her legend.” He shakes his head, his jaw tight, frustrated. “I’m meant to be the cleverest thing going. I should have sorted out some way to keep you from her. And now I let her know you have the watch.”
I scrunch my face, trying to square the idea of my superficial, petty mother—whose greatest concern in life is not being embarrassed by me in public—being some kind of epic, unholy terror. It’s hard to accept. She did say she used to be a lot stronger before she had me, that the pregnancy drained her. That she couldn’t change her form for the whole nine months, and even after getting that power back, she remains just a fraction of what she was. (Yetanotherthing that made me a terrible son in her books.) But killing thousands? Engaging in genocide?
Still, when it comes to my mom, I guess anything is possible.
“You think we shouldn’t have told her about where to find that tiara?”
He snorts out a quick, dark laugh. “No. She’d have found it, anyway. We just saved her a couple years, and she’ll still have to fight to get it back.” He presses his shoulder against mine with affection. “Alvin, it’syouI’m worried about.”
The weight of him feels nice, even though I know it’s basically just a hallucination. And now he’s smiling, which feels even nicer, since it shows that he’s not pissed at me or whatever. In fact, he’s even worried about me.
Well, maybe I’m a little worried about me, too.
“So, how did she know I could find you? For that matter, how did the elf know? I mean, if Mom was telling the truth, even the Dragon King with all the resources in the multiverse hasn’t been able to do that!”
“Fair questions, Alvin,” he responds. “Another good one is why did a woman ask you to save her child from the same vampires who were using me? That’s one I’ve been asking myself.”
He’s changing the subject. But, for the moment, I play along, happy to not think about my (possibly legendarily) evil mother for a moment. “Good point. And why’d that happen on the very same day the elf blackmailed me into stealing you?”
Collin nods, thoughtful. “The very same day I was finally going to give the vampires what they wanted…” He purses his lips. “I don’t know the answer to that, Alvin. These aren’t the kinds of questions I’m meant to ask.”
“Of course, the biggest question is why me? Why am I mixed up in this? I’m literallynobody.”
He turns to face me. “Alvin, you’re not nobody! You’re willing to risk your life to save Emma. You’re willing to risk your life to save me. The real world isn’t like in films. True bravery and self-sacrifice is a rare thing altogether.”
“You know what I mean. The reason it’s ‘risking my life’ to do those things is because I have no power. No magic. No actual skills.” Time to get us back on track. I turn my own body toward the Irish boy, so he can see I need to hear the answer. Our knees touch. “Even the elf thought I was too weak. So, why wasn’t my mother surprised I could work with you?”
He looks away and exhales a slow breath. “I can’t read minds, Alvin. I told you.” He stays silent for a beat, and I become afraid that’s all I’m going to get. But then he continues. “But yes, I have an idea why she might have thought you could do that. I’m not sure, though, and I don’t want to say anything until I am.”
Well, that’s a hell of a tease! (And not the first time he’s teased me with something like this.) He can’t realistically expect me to just let that lie there!
“Is it… something bad?”
Collin nods. “You might think so.”
My heart sinks. So itissomething awful. Something I don’t know about myself. Something even worse than being born a monster that wants to suck the life force out of other people, and who will make them like it while he does it.
“As in… I could eventually become an evil, genocidal archdemon like you say my mom used to be?”
I’m dead serious when I say those words, so I’m surprised when he rolls his eyes and straight-up guffaws in response. “No, Alvin. You’ll never beanythinglike her. You’re too good a person.”
