Pax Demonica by Julie Kenner Read Free Book Online Page B

contrite, frankly, and I wondered what she’d overheard. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! He’s sound asleep—I swear—and I really needed to pee.” Her mouth snapped closed even as her eyes widened with mortification. “I mean the bathroom. I needed to use the bathroom and there was someone in the one on our floor and so I came down here to look for another one and then I heard you guys and—” She ended with a deep shoulder shrug. “I shoulda said something, I know. But—well, anyway. I still need a bathroom, so. . . ?” She trailed off, eyes on Mrs. Micari, who pointed helpfully toward the powder room.
    Allie started sprinting that direction so quickly that I didn’t doubt the story about needing the bathroom. Too bad. I needed her to be my excuse.
    “Hold up there, kid,” I said as I rose and started across the room. “I’m sure the bathroom upstairs is free by now. I’ll go up with you.” I flashed a smile toward Mrs. Micari that I hoped translated as, kids—whatcha gonna do? “We need to have a little chat anyway . . . ”
    “Oh.” She bounced slightly from one foot to the other. “Um, okay. See you later, Mrs. Micari.”
    “ Si ,” responded the woman who was more than just our innkeeper. “Katherine,” she added, the lilt in her voice and slight nod making my name sound like a promise rather than a dismissal.
    I followed Allie up and waited on her bed until she returned from the bathroom. “So, on a scale of one to ten,” she began, “how much trouble am I in?”
    “For the snooping? Five. I’m cutting you a break since it was an unplanned snoop.” I looked pointedly at her brother, whom I’d found asleep underneath a bedspread in front of the television. “For babysitting duty, I’m going with negative three. What if he’d pulled over furniture instead of just a blanket?”
    “I wasn’t planning on being gone that long. Honest. And it’s not like he actually got hurt. I mean look at him,” she added, pointing to the bed where I’d carried him just a few moments before. “Conked out like a little angel.” She smiled wide, revealing two rows of sparkling, newly brushed teeth.
    I sighed, relenting. The kid was alive; the lecture could wait.
    Allie must have picked up on some subtle shift in the temperature of my mood because she plonked down on the bed next to me. “So, a five? Seriously? ‘Cause I can totally live with a five.”
    With effort, I managed not to laugh. “You didn’t set out to snoop, so you get credit for that. But mostly you’re coasting on the fact that I wanted an excuse to avoid Mrs. Micari’s questions.”
    “In other words, snoop again and I’m in trouble.”
    “I have such a smart daughter.” I pushed myself up. “Nap. Or listen to music,” I added before she could protest that she wasn’t the least bit tired. “We’ll go play tourist as soon as Timmy’s up and Stuart’s ready to go.”
    “But Mom—”
    “Don’t ‘But Mom’ me.”
    “—did you kill it? The Thomas Duvall demon. Was that you?”
    “Did you see the security guys walking with the automatic weapons? Do you think I’d be happy in an Italian jail?”
    “Well, sure, I get that. But—it’s just—I mean, he was a demon, right?”
    “I think so,” I admitted, sitting back down again.
    “And he’s dead.” She left the sentence hanging, dangling like bait on a hook. I didn’t nibble. After a moment, she let out an exasperated breath. “If you didn’t kill him, then who did? And what was a demon doing on our flight? I mean, that’s weird, right?”
    “They have to get around somehow,” I said dryly. In truth, I was proud of her. She was asking all the right questions, and she deserved to know as much as I did—even though I knew exactly squat.
    Except I didn’t want to tell her. Not about the altar. Not about the call from her dad. My heart might be bursting with pride from how capable and grown-up my daughter was becoming, but that didn’t mean I