Page 112 of Bent Out of Shade
I frowned, wondering if something had happened to Eli’s mom, when it hit me. “You mean my parents?”
“Yeah.” She shrugged, looking down at her feet. “What they were like and what exactly happened to them and stuff?”
“Absolutely.”
I spent the next two hours answering all her questions and sharing memories like when a squirrel got stuck in our house and my dad turned into a crazed man opening walls to find the squeaking, or my mom calmly dished dirt out of a potted plant as dessert one night and started eating, keeping a completely straight face and not letting on that the soil was cake.
“You think this angel, Dumah, killed them?” Sadie was curled up against my side on the sofa.
“It’s the most logical explanation, but I keep getting stuck on the fact that he doesn’t want to leave Gehenna.” I yawned.
“The estrie could have lied.”
“She could have, but she had no reason to.”
My daughter stood up, stretching. “You’ll figure it out. Get some rest now. Sorry I kept you up.”
“I’m not.”
“Yeah, I’m not either.” She kissed the top of my head and left.
I didn’t even hear her get to the top of the stairs because I crashed hard.
I woke up in an unfamiliar room and panicked, sure that I’d been kidnapped and attacked again. Then I realized it was just my newly painted living room. The curtains had been drawn tight and a blanket was draped over me. I relaxed against the sofa pillows.
The room was actually a very comforting shade of purple even in the dim light.
Sadie wandered in wearing pajamas and eating a bowl of cereal. “Good morning. Feel better?”
“Much.” I flicked on a standing lamp.
She sat down beside me and held out her spoon. “Want some?”
I shook my head. “How long was I out?”
“Hours. It’s Monday morning.” She slurped down the milk.
“And school is now optional?”
“Pro D.” Ah. Her teachers were taking the day for professional workshops. She made a face. “I’ve got a history paper to finish.”
“Any more training sessions set up? Does Nav plan to check if you can null vamp magic?”
“I couldn’t on demons,” she said glumly.
“That doesn’t mean you’re doomed to fail with a vampire.”
She pressed a hand to my forehead. “You’re giving me permission to go all Buffy?”
I smacked it away. “No, I still want you to run first, but I was damn lucky the vamp who kidnapped me didn’t go after you, and if that ever happens, then I want peace of mind that my baby girl stands a chance of getting away.”
Sadie plucked out the lone flake sticking to the bowl and ate it. “Wouldn’t they be dead? Like dead dead? Take away a vamp’s magic and what’s holding them together?”
“That’s what I want to find out. Demons initially created vampires. If estrie magic still runs in their blood and fuels their reanimation, maybe you can’t kill them outright, but what about their strength and speed? At the very least, if a vampire was an Ohrist in life, you’d be able to null those powers.”
Sadie placed the bowl on the coffee table. “It’s like a Jenga game.”
“Holy shit, kid. You’re brilliant.” I tossed aside the blanket and raced up the stairs to my bedroom. “And put the bowl in the dishwasher,” I called out.
