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Why were they suddenly being so nice?
    â€œIt can be so tough when it doesn’t run in the family,” Mrs. Stern said sympathetically. “I’m sorry to hear it didn’t go well—but at least you’re here now, among friends. Are you hungry?”
    â€œStarved,” Lukas said, and a moment later Celestecame in carrying a tray bearing a full meal for him. Mrs. Stern must’ve compelled it from all the way in the kitchen. A nice trick, but I wondered if she only did it to show me she’d compel Celeste anytime she wanted.
    â€œThanks, C,” Lukas told Celeste, which almost made me smile. At least
he
was no longer compelling her around.
    He sat beside Natalie and dug in. “Oh man, this is so good.”
    â€œAnatole is a treasure,” Mr. Stern agreed.
    â€œIs that not the best soup you ever tasted?” Mrs. Stern asked, a slight grin on her face. It was so sudden and charming, coming from her. “I told Anatole he should sell the recipe, and you should’ve seen his face. He was scandalized.”
    Lukas laughed and slurped another spoonful, while the Sterns chatted away, clearly trying to make him comfortable. Natalie and I gaped at each other. What had brought on this change? Did they only hate girls?
    â€œWhere’s Simon?” Lukas asked, around a bite of soufflé.
    â€œThey’ve made him head of the Knell,” I answered.
    Lukas set his fork down. “Bennett’s gone, his parents are back, and Simon’s the head of the Knell? I was only gone for four days.”
    â€œToo long,” Natalie murmured.
    Lukas paused a moment before going back to his meal. “I don’t suppose there’s seconds?”
    â€œThere’s dessert,” Mrs. Stern said, nodding toward Celeste carrying a cake on a silver platter.
    â€œChristmas cake,” Mr. Stern explained as Celeste laid aplate before each of us. It was a brownish cake with nuts and raisins and hard white frosting. “We were stationed in England for many years when the children were younger.”
    â€œStationed by the Knell?” I asked. “They actually post people places?”
    â€œWe volunteered,” Mrs. Stern answered. “They were having a run on ghasts. John no longer has his powers, but he’s a wonderful tactician, and the children and I make—
made
—a good team.”
    This was news to me. Bennett had fought ghasts with his mom and sister? Maybe that partly explained his devotion to them. You couldn’t get closer than battling evil ghosts together.
    Mrs. Stern got a far-off look in her eyes, and for a moment I wondered if she was going to cry. Then she folded her napkin tightly, as though she could control her emotions just as neatly.
    I stared at my plate; maybe I should cut them some slack. Mr. Stern had lost his powers for love—and he and Mrs. Stern both lost their daughter to Neos. They were cold and difficult, but they were also hurting.
    â€œAnyway.” Mr. Stern cleared his throat, possibly not wanting to dwell on the past. “They make this cake. You bake it in October and don’t eat it until now.”
    â€œLike a Twinkie experiment,” Lukas said, prodding his cake with his fork. “Except this is definitely decaying.”
    â€œDare you,” I said to him.
    â€œMaybe they shouldn’t have it,” Mrs. Stern said blandly. “There’s an awful lot of alcohol. They could get a little tipsy.”
    That was all we needed to hear. The three of us each took an enormous bite.
    â€œIt’s weird,” Natalie said, making a face.
    Lukas gazed into the fire. “Tastes like … I don’t know, like nothing I’ve ever tasted.”
    â€œPeat moss,” I suggested. “It tastes like peat moss.”
    â€œI told you they wouldn’t like it.” Mr. Stern gave Mrs. Stern a morose look, and I felt bad I’d made fun of his cake.
    Lukas swallowed his second bite.