The Dark Divine
Page 41

That was it. I had to talk to Jude. No more dancing around the subject. No more treating it like nothing. I had to know what had happened between the two of them. How could I truly fix Daniel--how could I help him--if I didn't know what plagued his conscience?
Now if only T could get Jude alone. April's car was in the driveway, but it took them a good half hour to even start inching toward it. I squashed the blanket around my ears to block the sounds of their kissing. April made this little purring noise every time they came up for air. I must have nodded off because the glow-in-the-dark hands on my watch said it was nearly midnight when I heard April's car finally pull out of the driveway. Jude was about to go into the house when I called his name.
He wheeled around. "Grace, how long have you been there?" He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Not long." I scrunched the blanket closer around my shoulders to hide the pink splotches creeping up my neck. "I was just walking back from the MacArthurs'. I was babysitting."
"Oh." He looked at the blanket. "You okay?"
"I need to ask you ..."I stepped closer. "I need to ask you about Daniel." He jangled his keys in his hand. "What about him?"
"I need to know what happened between you two. Why you hate him so much." Jude grunted. "So you do care about that?" There was a hint of satisfaction in his voice. "It's about time."
"I've asked you a dozen times. You're the one who won't talk." I stepped up on the porch. "I care, Jude. I've always cared about you."
"Not as much as you care about him."
"How can you say that? You're my brother."
"If you cared so much about me, then how did Daniel get that coat?"
"His coat?"
"That coat he was wearing earlier today. The red-and-black North Face. How did he get it?"
"I... I gave it to him." I didn't understand why that coat was important. And then I remembered. "It was yours, wasn't it?" Jude didn't answer.
"I'm sorry." I dropped the blanket at my feet. "I didn't realize. That night I got stranded on Markham, Daniel came along and fixed the car. I gave him the coat in return. He really needed it. He's been through so many bad things--it just felt like something small I could do to help."
"Yeah, well, bad things happen to bad people. Didn't you think about that? They get what they deserve."
A shiver ran through me. "What about Maryanne Duke? She never did anything bad in her life, and she still froze to death on her porch. Something still mauled her body." Jude jerked his head up. "Something? Try someone. You're so blind you don't even see it, Grace. You're letting Daniel walk all over you--just like Dad."
"We're helping him. He needs us--all of us."
"He's using you. He's using you both. I saw him with you that night on Markham. Do you really think it was a coincidence that he just happened along? April told me what you've done for him." His eyes narrowed as he looked at the fallen blanket around my ankles. "And I can only imagine what you've done with him."
"Jude!" What a hypocrite. "You don't even know what you're talking about."
"Don't I? Daniel will do anything to get what he wants." Jude glared at me. "Tell me, whose idea was it to help him get back into your art class? Whose idea was it to invite him to Thanksgiving dinner?"
"Mine. They were my ideas."
"Were they really? Think about it, Grace. Daniel didn't somehow plant those ideas in your head?
Subtly suggest how you could help him?"
I paused. "None of that matters. He's not manipulating me, and he's not manipulating Dad."
"Ha!" Jude smirked. "How do you think Daniel even got into Holy Trinity? Who do you think brought him back here? He's got Dad under his spell ... and for all you know, Daniel's the one who stole James. He sure did find him easily, don't you think? It's just the kind of thing someone like him would do. Pretend to find a baby so people will think he's a hero."
"He wasn't pretending. I was with him. He found him so easily because of his abilities. ..." Jude fell into the swing. His eyes wide. His mouth open.
Did I say too much?
"So you know," Jude rubbed his hand across his scars. "You know what he is?" "Yes."
"What did he tell you?"
I wasn't sure how to answer. Daniel hadn't asked me to keep it a secret. He'd know better than that with me. But still, how much could I say if I wasn't sure Jude was just baiting me for answers?
But I had to be honest if I wanted Jude to be the same. "Daniel is an Urbat. His people were created to light demons. He's a Hound of Heaven."
"Urbat? Hound of Heaven?" Jude laughed. It sounded like a harsh, high growl. "Look it up, Grace. Daniel's screwed you over good."
"No, he hasn't. He's lost and frightened and he needs us. I can help him be a hero." I hadn't thought it before I said it. But I realized that's what I had to do--that was my role in all of this. "1
can show him that he can use his abilities to help people. They're a blessing; that's what he told me."
Jude shot up from the swing. "Then that monster is a bar as well as a thief and a murderer."
"Murderer?" I backed away and almost fell off the porch. "I don't believe you. You're jealous of him. You're jealous of the way Dad believed him over you. You can't stand that Dad and I want him to be a part of this family again. You're even making crazy accusations against me. How can I believe anything you have to say?"
"Then you ask him," Jude said. "Go ask your precious Daniel about the night he tried to take that coat from me. Ask him what he did with all the money he stole. Ask him what really happened to those stained-glass windows in the parish. Ask him what he really is." Jude slammed the swing into the wall. "You ask him what it felt like when he left me for dead."
"What?" I stumbled backward and caught myself with the railing. It felt like the wind had been knocked right out of my chest. "No ..."
He lunged off the porch and ran down the driveway.
"Jude!" I shouted after him. But he didn't stop. He kept on running--so fast I couldn't follow--until he disappeared into the night.