I made sure the blankets had her all covered up, and kissed her hair, and then crouched down beside Mouse and put my arms around him.
“Thank you, boy,” I said. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
He leaned against me, tail wagging, and snuggled his huge head into my ribs. I petted him some more. “I have to go soon. But I need you to keep her safe. The Carpenters, too. Okay?”
He chuffed and snuggled a little closer.
“Missed you too, boy,” I said, rubbing his ears. “I just need a little time to figure this out. To figure out what comes next.”
Had I decided that I was going to be a dad to Maggie now? I examined myself and realized that indeed I had. When did that happen? And why hadn’t anyone kept me in the loop?
It had happened, I thought, the moment I had seen her, talked to her.
Oh my God.
That was terrifying.
And. . exciting?
All things considered, I wasn’t sure I could put a lot of trust in my emotions at the moment. But one thing was certain.
If I wanted to keep my word to my daughter, I’d have to come back. That meant staying alive tomorrow.
I got up, gave Mouse a final round of petting and scratching, and padded quietly from the room into the upstairs hallway. The lights in the other rooms were out-except for the one in Michael and Charity’s room. A light burned there. The door was slightly open.
And I could see Charity, sitting on the edge of the bed in flannel pajamas, a tall blond woman with an excellent physique, whose hair was threading through with silver in style as she aged. Her tearstained face was miserable, as she spoke, presumably, to her husband, seated on the bed beside her. I couldn’t see him from there.
Obviously Michael had intended that talk to take place in private.
I turned away from it and went back down the stairs. I sat down on the bottom steps and tried to clear my head.
A few minutes later, Charity came down the stairs and sat down next to me. I made room.
“Where’s Michael?” I asked.
“Praying over the children,” she answered. “He always does that before he leaves. In case. .”
“Yeah,” I said.
“You know,” Charity said, “I had intended to punch you in the nose, twice, the moment I saw you again. Once to make it bleed, once to break it.”
“Oh?”
“Mmm-hmm. The first time for trying to kill yourself. The second for using my daughter to do it.”
“You, uh. You know about that? How?”
“I watch. I listen. Her reaction to reports of your death was. . too much. It took time, but I eventually worked out why she was so furious at herself.”
“You can hit me right now, if you think it would help,” I said.
“No,” she said tiredly. “I just wanted to tell you something.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded. “Kids need their father to come home safe, Harry. Make sure it happens.”
“I’ll bring him back to you or die trying. I promise.”
Charity glanced at me and then shook her head with a weary smile. “I wasn’t talking about Michael, Harry. I meant you.” She glanced back up the stairs, toward Maggie’s room. “That child has lost everyone she’s ever loved. Did you notice how close she stays to Mouse? Without him, I wonder if she’d be functioning at all. If anything should happen to you. .”
“Ah,” I said quietly.
“Maggie doesn’t need to feel that pain again. Don’t let her down.”
I chewed on my lip and nodded with my watery eyes closed. “Right.”
“And. . please remember that Michael has children who need him, too. Please.”
“I’ll bring him back or die trying,” I repeated.
Charity exhaled a shaky breath, and then touched my shoulder gently. “Thank you. God be with you and bring you home safe, Harry. Both of you.”
Thirty-three
At three thirty a.m., we rolled up to the evil lair in a soccer mom’s minivan with a MY KID IS AN HONOR STUDENT AT. . bumper sticker on the back. It is worth noting that by the standards of my life, this was not a terribly incongruous entrance.
Michael regarded the slaughterhouse for a moment after he had killed the ignition and said, “This is a bad place.”
“Yeah,” I said. I rubbed at the small of my back. I’d gotten a few hours’ worth of sleep before we’d left, on the futon mattress on the floor beneath Maggie’s bed. Mouse had been happy to snuggle up to me. The lummox likes to pretend he’s still a tiny puppy that will fit on my lap if he tries hard enough, and I’d been too tired to argue with him. As a result, I’d had to practice defensive sleeping, and it had left my back a little twitchy.
On the upside, even the modest amount of sleep I’d gotten had done wonders to restore me, or at least the power of the Winter mantle. I felt practically normal, broken arm, gunshot wound, and all.
Michael was dressed in his old mail, which he had kept clean and scoured free of rust despite his retirement. He wore body armor beneath it. He’d put his big white cloak with its bright red cross on the left breast over it.
“You sure you couldn’t just put something black on?” I asked him. “You’re going to clash with all the bad-guy robbery wear.”
“That’s the idea,” Michael said.
“You don’t get it, man,” I said. “This building we’re going to hit belongs to John Marcone. We’re supposed to go in without taking down their electronic systems. That means there will be cameras and pictures. The blindest security tech in the world could identify you-and your guardian angels won’t protect you from Marcone’s people.”
Michael shook his head. “It won’t come to that.”
“You say that,” I said, “but you don’t know what Marcone is like.”
“Perhaps,” he said. “But I do know what the Almighty is like, Harry. And He wouldn’t give me the strength to do this only to have it result in harm to my family.”
I grimaced. “Seems to me it would be polite of you to take a couple of prudent steps-like wearing dark clothes and a mask-so that the Almighty wouldn’t need to go out of His way to arrange things for you.”
He barked out a quick laugh and gave me a rueful smile. “So you have been listening to me, all this time.” He shook his head. “Nicodemus and his ilk operate in the shadows, in secret. The Swords aren’t meant for that. I have nothing to hide.”
“Hey,” I said, letting my voice be annoyed, “as shadowy ilk myself, I think I resent that statement.”
Michael snorted. “You destroy buildings, fight monsters openly in the streets of the city, work with the police, show up in newspapers, advertise in the phone book, and ride zombie dinosaurs down Michigan Avenue, and think that you work in the shadows? Be reasonable.”
“I will if you will,” I said. “At least wear a ski mask.”
“No,” Michael said calmly. “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Trust Him, Harry.”
“Probably not in the cards,” I said.
His smile widened. “Then trust me.”
I threw up my hands. “Fine. Whatever. Are you sure your people can find someplace safe to keep the Grail if we get it back? Because apparently they go out and use the Coins to get snacks out of the vending machine, the things go back into circulation so fast.”
“Part of the nature of the Coins is to be in circulation, as you put it,” Michael said. “They can only be contained for so long. The Grail is a different proposition entirely. They’ll keep it safe.”
“And you know the rules I have to play by, right?” I asked.
“You have to help Nicodemus recover the Grail,” he said. “After that, you can go weapons free.”
“Right. And you’ll respect that?”
“I will do what is right,” Michael said.
I licked my lips. “Yeah, but. . could you maybe put off doing what is right until we get clear of Mab’s restrictions?”
“All things considered,” Michael said, “no. I’m not taking chances.”
Translation: He wasn’t going to do anything-or not do anything-that might screw up Uriel’s grace, no matter what.