20

She has been through hell, so believe me when I say, fear her when she looks into a fire and smiles.

— E. CORONA

Two days later, I sat outside Calamity’s, having lunch with Shawn, who was still a little beaten up, and possibly a little sad, but no worse for the wear. Cookie had found his parents, and I wanted to give him the information in person. And to thank him.

“I can’t believe it,” he said, staring down at the paper. “They really did die in a fire.”

“I’m sorry. It was most likely set by the Fosters. They didn’t want to risk the authorities coming after them again.”

“But they did, anyway, right? The authorities?”

“Yes. When it was discovered that you didn’t die in the fire, they suspected it had been set to cover up your abduction. They just had so little to go on, and the Fosters were clearly good at what they did.”

He stared at the pictures Cookie had found of them. Ran his fingers over his mother’s face.

“But you have family. You have an aunt and two uncles and several cousins. I’m sure they’d love to meet you.”

He nodded, not quite ready to take that step. “Their information is in the file?”

“It is. And if you need me to make the initial contact, should you decide to meet them, I’d be happy to.”

“Thanks. I’ll think about it.”

Uncle Bob had found enough evidence to exonerate Veronica Isom. The Fosters may have been psychotic, but they’d kept meticulous records. We were still working on the other children they’d abducted. One was living in Albuquerque. Two more were found at the compound. And countless others were still unaccounted for.

The press had dubbed them the Divine Siblings. Even above the atrocities they’d committed, the fact that they were married siblings was what caught national headlines.

Shawn filled his lungs, closed the file, and took a sip of his iced tea. “This is a nice place.”

“It is. It belonged to my dad before Reyes bought it.”

“So, Reyes.”

I thought he might broach that subject eventually.

“He’s kind of like a brother in a weird, demented kind of way.”

“I agree.”

He wanted a brother. I could sense it. He wanted someone he could talk to. Someone he could confide in like he had the other night. They’d gotten along so well, I felt Reyes would benefit from such a relationship as well.

“Shawn, I have to ask. Why did you give the Fosters an alibi the night Dawn Brooks was taken? You told the police they had been home that night.”

“Because they really were home. But as you can tell, they had a lot of followers who would do anything they told them to.” He dipped his chin and bit down. “Anything.”

I could only wonder what he meant by that. “Why not tell me about the compound?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I grew up out there. Spent my summers there. Those people were like family. They were just… lost.”

“And murderous.”

He nodded. “I didn’t know. Mom —” He cleared his throat. “Eve kept that part private. All I knew was that I loved going out there even though the adults were crazy. That’s what we thought growing up.”

“We?”

“Us kids who were raised at the compound. We always knew something wasn’t quite right there.”

“Did you know the Fosters were brother and sister?”

He froze. Pressed his mouth together. Grew even paler.

Crap. “You know what? Let’s just save that for later.”

He shook his head. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

Apparently he hadn’t seen the paper. I looked down and gave him a moment to deal. But I eventually let my gaze wander up and went back to staring.

Knowing what Shawn was, the product of a union thousands of years ago between an angel and a human, had kept my gaze locked onto him through most of lunch. Like, I couldn’t stop staring. He was a blond version of Reyes. Absolutely beautiful, though not as compelling. Not as… what was the word? Sexy? Exotic? Dripping with sin? But still. The coolness factor sitting across from me rated right up there with pumpkin spiced lattes and Chuck Norris.

Shawn chuckled, probably trying to cover up for the awkward silence of my thousand-yard stare.

“What?” I snapped out of it. “Wow, I’m so sorry, Shawn. It’s just, I didn’t know your kind existed. It’s so cool.”

“Well, in all fairness, I didn’t know your kind existed, either. I mean, have you looked in the mirror?”

“Do I have something in my teeth?” I turned to look at my reflection in the window behind us.

“No, I mean, your light. It’s crazy bright.”

“Yeah, I can’t really see it, though I did force it into a former slave demon from hell so that I could sneak up on a god incognito, and I saw it then. Really bright.”

“Is that how you did it?”

I turned to an elderly man standing beside us, stunned that he’d gotten that close without my feeling his presence. His essence.

Then again, he emanated zero emotion. That wasn’t what I did feel. I felt the staggering power radiating out of him. The waves of energy.

Shawn knew something about the man was different. I felt interest from him. And confusion.

“How I did what?” I arched a brow as arrogantly as I could. “How I snuck up on your bestie and took him out in a matter of minutes?”

Shawn grew alarmed. He glanced over his shoulder, wondering if he should go inside and get Reyes.