And she was apparently modeling for a national jewelry company, doing print and television ads, so I could look forward to seeing her face during commercial breaks of our family TV time. Maybe she’d even haunt me in Tambuku, too, her too-perfect face and body hawking diamond pendants during the bar’s weekly viewing of Paranormal Patrol. Then all my regulars could say, “Hey, isn’t that Lon’s ex-wife? Looks like she’s making a comeback.”

Everyone loves an underdog.

But how could I be anything but encouraging to Jupe? If anyone knew how he felt, being abandoned by her all these years, it was me. I couldn’t deny him a chance for a relationship with her. The Giovannis seemed impressed by her new sober life, and Yvonne might actually be stable and trying.

Even so, there was only so much I could take of her Celebrity Rehab success story. So when everyone decided to move the party outside on the deck, I excused myself and left the house for a couple of hours.

Kar Yee was glad to see me. Bob came over and after I gave them the update on my quest to find Telly, we watched Miracle on 34thStreet on television. Kar Yee was healing up enough to drive. She’d made plans to get out of the city the next day and go upstate to visit an old college friend of ours. I don’t think she knew what to do with herself, since Tambuku wasn’t open. Bob neither. He told us he’d made a couple of appointments that week to do some minor healing on people in his group. I was glad. Seemed to keep his spirits up.

Life almost seemed calm for a couple of days. No winged Æthyric being popping up with news about my mother, no crimes fueled by bionic knacks. Just . . . normality. But two days after Christmas, some magazine bigwig called Lon up to San Francisco for the afternoon to meet with the president of an advertising firm. It was only a two-hour drive, and he’d be back early evening.

Meanwhile, I stayed in with the Giovannis. Rose was showing me how to make something called “black cake” when Yvonne called, wanting to take Jupe to the movies. Rose said she trusted her to spend a few hours alone with her son and thought maybe it would be good for both of them.

Maybe they were right. If Jupe wanted a relationship with her, I couldn’t stop him. I called Lon and told him what was going on. He said it was okay.

So we let him go.

After the movie ended, Yvonne called Rose and said they were stopping by a diner for a bite to eat. So we waited some more. Two hours later, they still hadn’t come back. Rose called her. Several times. No answer. I called Jupe. Texted Jupe. No response. That’s when I started full-on panicking. He’d never, never failed to respond to my texts. Rose couldn’t get a decent cell signal in the house, so she stepped out on the back patio and called the diner while Adella paced the living room.

His life wasn’t in danger. I knew this because the thread that connected us wasn’t visible like it was when he got demon-snatched by Duke Chora on Halloween. I considered sharing this with the Giovannis, but I wasn’t sure how they’d react to knowing he’d tattooed my sigil on his hip, and I didn’t want to get into the sordid events from Halloween. That would only make them more worried.

“I knew better than to trust her,” Adella said, as she paced, volcanic curls jostling beneath the blue-and-white striped scarf she’d tied to keep them off her forehead.

“I’m sure there’s a rational explanation,” I told her. And if the diner couldn’t confirm they were still there, I’d drive out to the Village to find them; I already had my keys in my pocket.

She snorted. “You don’t know my sister very well. Expect the worst, and you won’t be disappointed.”

How the hell I’d put myself in the position to defend Yvonne was beyond me. “You said before that you’d never forgive her. I don’t mean to pry, but I’ve been curious. Was there something she did to you specifically, or . . . ?”

Adella stopped pacing behind the couch. “She slept with my husband fifteen years ago.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I hadn’t even realized she’d been married. Lon and Jupe never mentioned it.

She gave me a tight smile. “We met in college, Samuel and I. It was love at first sight. We’d been married for a year when she came to stay with us. I think she’d been seeing Lon on and off at the time, but this was before she got pregnant with Jupe.” She stopped in front of a black-and-white photo of Jupe, one Lon took when he was a baby. “I, on the other hand, was pregnant. Three months. She seduced Samuel with her knack. He said he couldn’t stop himself. I believed him—you felt what she can do, right?”

“Yes.”

“Now imagine her when she goes all—” She mimicked horns with her fingers. “I confronted her. We fought. It could’ve been the end of it. Samuel and I would’ve pieced our life back together. But she was so angry. Petty. She slept with him again. He killed himself later that night. I lost the baby the next day.”

“Oh, God. Adella, I—”

She shook her head. “Don’t feel sorry for me. I survived—I didn’t let her pull me under. But maybe you understand a little better now. I know Lon probably keeps most of those old stories under his hat. He’s just that way.”

“He tells me some things, but it’s difficult for him to dredge it all up.”

“Oh, I know. I love Lon like a brother, but I think I’d go crazy if I had to live with him, all quiet about everything.”

I gave her a gentle smile. “He’s getting better.”