Page 9 of Devotion

“Yes, please. Help yourselves. Caleb, Noah, I poured you each a glass of red but left them in the kitchen. Let me grab them for you.”

“Sit, Kærasta. Relax. You spent all day on your feet. I can get them.”

He pulled out my chair and waited until I sat down, then went into the kitchen for the wine. Instead of returning with the two glasses, he strode back into the dining room with an envelope in hand. My gut churned at the sight of the very familiar wax seal on the paper.

“What’s that? Another surprise?” Kingston asked around a mouthful of food.

I shook my head. “No. That’s not mine.”

“It’s addressed to Father Gallagher,” Alek announced, holding the piece of pixie mail out to him.

Apprehensive wasn’t the word I’d use to describe what I was feeling, but the thousands of tiny bubbles fluttering around in my stomach weren’t because I was excited by that little piece of parchment either.

“Who’d send you mail, Daddy G? Everyone who likes you is right here.” Kingston shoveled another bite oflasagna into his mouth, distracted by the food and not realizing how seriously both Alek and I were taking this.

“Ravenscroft,” I murmured.

Caleb’s eyes met and held mine as he accepted the letter. Without fanfare, he broke the seal and scanned the contents. “It’s a job offer. Well, summons more like.”

“They want you to take your old post?” Noah guessed.

“No, actually. They want me to run the university.”

Kingston’s fork hit his plate with a clatter. “I’m sorry, what? You mean the university where War tried to kill us all and played us like we were her fucking puppets? That one?”

“Aye. The very same.”

“But you’re not going to take it, right? You’re retired.”

I was surprised that it was Kingston who seemed the most outraged by the request. The rest of us were watching Caleb with wide eyes, though I suspected I already knew which way this was going to go. Because I knew who Caleb was at his very core. He was a man forged by his beliefs. And if Ravenscroft reached out because they were in need, he’d be helpless to resist the impulse to step in and offer aid. That’s simply who he was.

A good man.

“I’m afraid I don’t have much of a choice. If I don’t go, who will? Ravenscroft is more than the place War plotted to end the world, Kingston. I served nearly a quarter of a century as a professor there and saw many alliances forged. Ravenscroft is meant to bring about peace.”

“But . . . what about the baby?” Kingston asked.

Caleb’s eyes found mine. “I’ll be back well before the birth. They want me to be there for the start of the new term.”

“When’s that?” Noah asked before I could.

“The term starts January eighth, but I’ll need to be there well before to make sure everything is ready.”

“When do you have to leave?” I asked, already bracing for the worst.

“Soon. They’re asking me to be on campus by the twenty-sixth.”

“Well, looks like we’re spending the holidays in jolly ol’ England,” Kingston announced.

“You want to come with me?” Caleb asked.

“Can’t let you go off alone. You’re family, padre.”

“I’m not a child who needs looking after,” Caleb retorted.

“We know that, but I think what Kingston is saying is, we need to make sure you’re settled and safe because we care about you,” Noah said.

I took Caleb’s hand. “I need to see it again, with my own eyes. I won’t be able to sleep knowing you’re there without me if I don’t set foot on the grounds and see for myself that it’s not dangerous anymore.”

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