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“Thank you. For coming with me tonight. For helping us.” I took a breath that shook a little on the way in. “It means a lot to me.”
Henner’s smile grew, the corners of his eyes creasing. “I was happy to.” Then he cocked his head to the side. “Now that I think about it, this is the most exciting date I’ve ever been on!”
“Well, darn it, me too!” I said with a laugh as Cain grunted something in the back of my mind. I just ignored it.
“Though, I’m worried that after this,” Henner continued. “I’m really going to have to step up from my ‘dinner and a movie’ plans.”
“Are you kidding?” I laughed sagging back into the soft leather upholstery, my head turned to face him. “After all the hubbub, dinner and a show sounds like the cat’s meow.”
He reached out and squeezed my hand without taking his eyes off the road. “It’s a date, then.”
Ugh.Cain said, effectively plugging his fingers in his ears and closing his eyes.Can you at least take the ring off? I don’t really want to be here for this.
I rolled my eyes, but slipped the heavy class ring off my finger and into my pocket.
The miles rolled by outside the windows, illuminated by the soft circles of the headlights, and I thought to myself how everything had turned out pretty darn swell.
On the way back to Haven Hollow, I called Sophia Erepto to let her know I had the idol, and I told her what had gone down with her uncle’s people.
“I’ll take care of it,” she said brusquely, cutting me off mid sentence. “Just bring the idol to me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said to the dial tone, ‘cause she’d already hung up.
Henner gave me a worried look. “Do you want me to go with you?”
His concern chased away some of the ice talking to Sophia had left me with. “No thanks, doll. I’ll handle this part. But maybe I could take you out tomorrow night. Show my appreciation.”
Henner’s face eased into a smile. “Sounds like a date.”
We were both smiling when he dropped me off at Cain’s house, and I hurried to clean up and change into something a little more business like. My hair had gotten pretty mussed too, what with the scuffle. One of my knuckles had split, which I hadn’t even noticed until about ten minutes ago. I slipped Cain’s ring back on and was out the door.
***
Erepto Manor was a whole lot spookier when it was dark out, and not full of people. I was dragging when I got myself out of the car and made my way up the drive. It was a bit of a drive from town, and I was tired enough that I was glad I’d have Cain with me to keep me awake on the drive back.
In spite of the hour, the door opened before I’d even had a chance to knock, or ring the bell pull, or whatever you did to get inside a fancy house. An older woman in a stark black dress nodded to me and informed me that ‘Madame Erepto’ was taking a late supper out in the garden.
I got lost twice, but finally managed to get out to the courtyard, where I found Sophia seated at a white wrought-iron table, sipping a glass of wine.
The area was gorgeous, I had to hand it to her. Green and quiet, and all lit by soft lights that twinkled in the dark like fireflies. It was the only part of the house that seemed to have any personality.
It was a sculpture garden, full of marble statues, like someone had robbed a wing of a museum. Dozens of pale bodies peeking out from between carefully arranged flowers and stones. Some of them had been in place long enough to even have moss creeping up their stark white legs. Ivy crowned one statue, having crawled up the crisp folds of her pleated chemise.
My shoes scuffed on the white pebbles of the pathway, and Sophia turned her head just enough to acknowledge my presence.
“Do you have the idol?”
The way she said the words gave me the heebie jeebies, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. It wasn’t really a question.
I fumbled the golden statue out of my purse, and the second Sophia Erepto’s eyes locked onto it, they started to glow faintly in the dark. Pale green, like fox fire.
I placed it into her hands and took a couple steps back, subtly I hoped, but really, I just wanted to be out of arm’s reach and didn’t care if I was being rude or not. Even Cain was lying low, not wanting to draw her attention.
I was worrying for nothing. Once the gold touched her hands, I might as well have faded away entirely for how much attention Sophia paid me. Dark red lips curled up into a pleased smile. Her fingers smoothed over every curve, tracing the delicate lines of the statue woman’s face and every turn of the snakes wound around her. I looked away, feeling a little uncomfortable.
“And my grandmother?”
After so long being ignored, the question startled me. “Ah, the summoning has been ended. She’s moved on.”
