A faint nod, and she sniffled. “Maybe. Anyway, I ran to the highway. A guy gave me a ride back to Globe, and I got in my car and left.”
“Why didn’t you tell Athene what had happened?”
Another sniff. “She wouldn’t have believed me. She hated me.”
True, Athene had acted as if she didn’t have much use for Violet Clarke, but “hate” was a pretty strong word. I didn’t bother to rebuke her, though, reminding myself once again that the girl was barely out of high school and had traveled on her own to a strange place where she didn’t know anyone, only to see her lover murdered right in front of her eyes.
Probably, I should cut her a little slack.
But while her story had answered a few questions, it left a lot open. She was sipping more of her tea, so I decided to leave the issue of Athene’s feelings for Violet behind and move on to a different piece of the puzzle. “Where did you go? Chief Standingbear told me that a gas station attendant had spotted your car heading east on Highway 70.”
Violet was silent for a moment. She still gripped the mug like it was the only thing grounding her in this reality. Then her thin shoulders lifted and she said, “I just needed to get away. I was worried that whatever was stalking Lucien and me would track me back to L.A., so I went in the opposite direction. I hadn’t really gotten my stuff out of the car yet, so I had my bags with me. Except I didn’t have a lot of cash, and I knew if I used my debit card, my parents would figure out where I had gone.”
That explanation seemed logical enough. It made me a little sad, though, thinking of her parents, of how she’d taken off and hadn’t told them where she was going.
How worried they must be. Or maybe not. If they were that involved in their daughter’s life, wouldn’t they have worked a little harder to keep her away from Lucien Dumond?
Why Violet had reached out to me, I didn’t know. Maybe it really was that I was the only person in Globe she knew…and that she also knew I was safe because I’d never had any designs on Lucien.
“You really should call your parents,” I said, but I kept my tone gentle, trying to let her know it was just a suggestion and not something I’d make her do in exchange for my help.
Her fingers tightened on the mug. “I know. But…can I call them in the morning? I just can’t deal right now.”
I knew the feeling. “Sure,” I replied. “You can crash on the couch — that’s all I’ve got, since I use the second bedroom as an office.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” she said, expression immediately brightening. Then she added, the words rushed, as though she’d just realized that she should show some kind of gratitude for my offer, “Thanks, Selena. I really appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem,” I told her, although I had to wonder whether it would turn out to be one.
But no — she’d crash here, and she’d call her parents in the morning, and either they’d come get her, or they’d read her the riot act and tell her she needed to get herself home immediately. Either way, it wasn’t really my problem.
In the meantime, I’d get her a blanket and an extra pillow, and hope she’d have a somewhat restful night’s sleep. The apartment had been recently cleansed and protected, and so I had to believe that no evil dreams would reach her.
“Do you need to get your bags out of your car?” I asked next.
At once, she shook her head. “No. I mean, I’ve got a travel toothbrush and toothpaste in my purse, and I can get the rest of my stuff in the morning. I don’t want to go back down there in the dark.”
I wanted to tell her she’d be perfectly safe, but I could sense she didn’t want to hear it. After what she’d been through, she had every right to be rattled.
So I showed her where the guest bathroom was, and loaned her an old T-shirt to sleep in, and got a blanket and a pillow from the linen closet. Afterward, I escaped into my bedroom and shut the door, and did my own nighttime prep. It was only as I set my phone down on the bedside table after turning off the ringer that I paused.
Calvin really needed to know Violet was okay. Problem was, I knew if I texted him to tell him she was staying at my place, he’d be right over, and the girl needed to rest. He could talk to her in the morning.
I decided to compromise. I picked up the phone and sent a brief text: Violet is safe.
That should be enough. We could sort out the details in the morning.
I put the phone back down and lay back against the pillows. From outside my closed door, I heard the faint whisper of water running, and then the even lighter pad of Violet’s bare feet as she headed back to the living room. Silence after that, and I closed my eyes and released a breath.
But even though I knew I should be trying to sleep, my thoughts couldn’t seem to calm themselves enough for me to reach that state. Something kept picking at the edges of my mind, telling me I’d missed something big.
What, though?
I rolled over on my side and released a breath. The scene down at the river replayed in my mind’s eye. The angry, restless wind which was all that remained of Lucien Dumond. The howl of that disembodied voice.
Vile….
Huge….
My eyes flared open, and I shifted onto my back again as I stared up at the ceiling.
What if Lucien hadn’t been saying “vile,” but had been trying to utter the word “Violet”?
And “Huge”?
Lucien’s younger brother was named Eugene. He’d never been even on the periphery of GLANG, but….
Oh, dear Goddess.
I sat up in bed, alarm shrilling through me. But even as I was reaching down to push back the bedcovers, the door to my bedroom flew open.
Standing in the doorway were two figures, one short and slender, the other tall and bulky. The light in the hallway made a halo of her blonde hair, although I doubted she was an angel.
The taller figure moved into my bedroom.
“Hello, Selena,” said Eugene Dershowitz.
16
Family Ties
We sat in the living room, Eugene and Violet pressed up against each other in a way that told me everything I needed to know about their relationship, while I occupied the easy chair.
Not that there was anything particularly easy about my state of mind right then, although I found myself incongruously relieved that I’d taken to sleeping in loose tank tops and yoga pants after I started cohabiting with Archie, rather than going to bed in a pair of panties and nothing else the way I used to back in L.A.
“You did it,” I said, my tone flat.
“Did your psychic powers tell you that?” Eugene asked with a sneer. He resembled his brother a good deal, although he had a head of thick black hair, very unlike his brother’s shaved pate. Somehow, he managed to be even less attractive than Lucien.
“I don’t need psychic powers to put two and two together,” I said coolly.
Violet sent me an evil little smile. “Eugene has always been really good at hiding his powers. Lucien had no idea that his little brother was actually stronger than he was.”
“And so you decided to murder him so you could inherit everything?”
Eugene shrugged. “‘Murder’ is a very strong word. Let’s just say that I thought it was a good time for my big brother to move on from this life to his next turn on the wheel of existence.”