Fever (15 page)

Briony lay on top of the stone table Luke had described. Her arms and legs were flung out. And she was pale, pale as skimmed milk. Lifeless.
She’s been drained of blood
, Eve realized.

Luke reached out and ran two fingers down Briony’s cheek. It was cold; as cold as the slab of stone she lay on. He could hardly comprehend that she was the girl he’d gone out with, laughed with, even kissed once. He remembered how warm her lips had felt during the quick moment they were against his.

‘I don’t want to get used to seeing dead bodies,’ Eve said softly, and Luke knew she was thinking of how they’d watched the life drain out of Payne on the night they fought the wargs.

‘You won’t,’ Jess said. ‘None of us will. It’s not something that could ever become ordinary.’

‘Will you take the sword?’ Luke asked her. ‘It’s under the table.’

‘Why aren’t you going to—’ Jess began.

He answered by sweeping Briony’s body into his arms. As he cradled her against his chest, he felt her coldness begin to fill him. Eve put her hand on his arm, and that spot of warmth helped; it felt as if it could keep him calm.

‘How will we explain this?’ Eve asked after a moment.

‘I don’t know. But we can’t leave her down here. She might never be found,’ Luke answered. He couldn’t deal with the idea of Briony’s body abandoned in this old, sad graveyard that no one ever visited.

‘Of course we can’t,’ Eve agreed.

Luke walked directly up into the church, Eve and Jess following him in silence, as if they were part of a funeral procession. If they were caught by the guards, so be it. He wasn’t going to try to push Briony’s body through the gap into the mausoleum. The thought of it repulsed him.

As he carried Briony past the altar, he said a silent prayer for her. He’d known that there was a chance they wouldn’t find Amunnic’s victims before the demon drained them. But he’d known it in his head. He realized that in his heart, he’d been deluding himself. He’d been so sure they would be able to kill Amunnic before he took a life.

The same way he’d been promising himself that they would kill the demon before his father or anyone else died from the plague. But this wasn’t some movie. It wasn’t a Hardy Boys mystery. There was no reason to believe the good guys would triumph. Briony’s death proved that.

‘Luke,’ Eve said softly when they reached the church’s main doors. ‘There could be a guard out there. We need to figure out what we’re going to say.’

She was right. All he’d been thinking about was getting Briony out of that horrible place. She’d looked like a human sacrifice laid out on that stone table. Forget
looked like
. That’s exactly what she’d been. A human sacrificed to keep a demon alive.

‘Well, I do live in the rectory,’ Luke said. ‘I guess we could have been going over there to get some of my stuff – since my dad’s been moved to the plague ward and everything.’

‘And you wanted to come into the church. You wanted a quiet place to think about your dad.’

‘We all did,’ Jess added, helping to fabricate the story. ‘The guard must not have noticed us come in. We didn’t even see a guard.’

‘And Briony— We just found her in the church like this,’ Luke said. ‘That part’s actually pretty much true.’

‘I’ll call an ambulance,’ Eve said. Luke pushed open the door. Jess caught it and held it for him as he carried Briony’s body outside. Gently he laid her down on the grass to the side of the church.
Now she can see the stars at least
, he thought, even though that was nonsensical. Briony couldn’t see anything, and never would again.

Rapid footfalls thudded towards them. ‘No one’s allowed in this area,’ a guard in a hazmat suit called to them. ‘And it’s after curfew. You three should all be at home.’

Luke stepped to the side, allowing the guard to see Briony’s body. ‘We found her in the church. I’m the minister’s son. I came to get some stuff from the rectory, then we decided to stop in the church for a minute.’ He gulped. ‘She was on the floor.’ The lies came tumbling out with an ease that surprised him.

‘We already called an ambulance,’ Eve added.

‘Get away from her. Right now!’ the guard ordered. ‘Most likely she’s a plague victim and you have no protection. Go over to the sidewalk and put on masks.’ He handed out three mouth masks, like the ones Eve’s mother had given her.

Luke hated to leave Briony with a stranger, but he had no choice. He, Eve and Jess followed the guard’s instructions, slipping on the masks as they stood and waited for the ambulance.

‘Second time tonight,’ Jess said as the ambulance’s flashing blue light appeared down the street. ‘It feels like we just called them for Sean.’ She sat down on the kerb, shoulders slumped with exhaustion.

‘We pretty much did,’ Eve answered. ‘Get ready to be questioned. There’s a police cruiser too.’

The second time Luke went through the story, it didn’t come out so easily. When he told the police they’d found Briony’s body in the church, it was almost like he was back in the crypt, finding her again, feeling her stiffness and coldness as he lifted her into his arms. His voice broke, and he had to pause and swallow hard a couple of times before he could continue. Jess began to cry as he spoke, and Eve wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as if she was afraid she was about to shatter.

‘I have enough for now,’ the cop said when Luke had given him the basic details. ‘I want to get you three home. It’s after curfew. Your parents are going to be looking for you.’ He opened the back door to the cruiser, and Luke, Eve and Jess climbed in.

There was no way they’d be able to sneak back out later that night. Which meant Amunnic would have all those hours to feed uninterrupted. The realization sickened Luke. Would the demon drain another victim dry before dawn?

Jess, you look like fresh death
. Eve had to clench her teeth together to keep those horrible words from spilling out when she arrived at Jess’s house the next morning. Against her pale, pale face, Jess’s blush and lipstick looked as bright and garish as clown make-up, and her eyes had none of their usual brightness or sparkle.

‘Where’s Luke?’ Jess asked. ‘We need to get to work.’

‘We do,’ Eve agreed. ‘And we will. He just thought maybe we needed a little girl time first. I know seeing Seth was so horrible.’

Jess nodded. ‘Finding Briony too. Is Luke OK? Are you?’

‘As OK as we can be,’ Eve answered.

‘I need some juice,’ Jess said. ‘I don’t really feel like eating, but my throat is all dry. Want some? Or wait – it’s a hot chocolate day, isn’t it?’

‘It’s a hot chocolate week,’ Eve told her, and they headed for the kitchen.

‘Oh my God, Peter. It’s not even ten-thirty and you’re eating ice cream?’ Jess exclaimed. Her younger brother sat at the table eating Cherry Garcia straight out of the carton.

‘Have to,’ Peter said. ‘What if the power goes out again?’ He continued stuffing the ice cream into his mouth.

‘Whatever.’ Jess went over to the pantry, which contained pretty much every kind of snack food ever invented, and pulled out a can of Abuelita Mexican chocolate. Yum. Hot chocolate was the best thing when you were upset. But Mexican hot chocolate, all cinnamony and dark, was the best thing
ever
.

‘Hot chocolate? When it’s already ninety degrees out? And you act like I’m the crazy one.’ Peter gave an exaggerated shake of his head.

Eve sat down next to him. Glossy travel brochures were piled in the centre of the table. Their mothers had decided to plan a double family vacation for that summer. It was months away, but they thought everybody needed something happy to think about with all the awful things that had been happening in Deepdene.

‘Peter!’ Jess’s mom appeared in the doorway. ‘Need your help.’ Her voice was still thick with sleep. She flapped her hand at him. ‘Store. Now.’

‘Fine, fine.’ Peter grabbed his ice cream and spoon and ambled out of the kitchen, pausing to give Eve a noogie on the top of her head.

‘Oh, wait!’ Jess called. ‘Mom, you forgot your purse. You’re not going to get far without the car keys.’

Mrs Meredith walked back into the kitchen, a little unsteadily. ‘Oh, yes.’ It was sitting on the counter about a foot away from where she was standing, but she didn’t seem to see it. Eve picked it up and handed it to her. Mrs Meredith closed her fist around the strap instead of looping it over her shoulder, then left the room without saying goodbye.

‘I hope my mom’s not getting sick too,’ Jess said. ‘She’s acting a little weird, don’t you think?’

Eve agreed, but she didn’t want to freak Jess out. It had been bad enough when Seth came down with the plague. ‘Maybe a little,’ she said, keeping her voice casual. ‘But she probably hasn’t been getting enough sleep. I know my mom hasn’t. She’s pulling insane hours at the clinic, but when she’s home, she can’t relax at all. She just paces around.’

Jess put milk in a saucepan to heat. ‘So, how’s it going having Luke at your house all the time. Is it—’

The doorbell rang, interrupting her. ‘I’m here,’ Luke called. ‘Should I just come in?’

‘Sure. We’re in the kitchen,’ Jess replied.

‘Tell you later,’ Eve answered. Her gaze snagged on one of the brochures. ‘This would be awesome,’ she told Jess. ‘Villa in Praiano. Breathtaking view of the Amalfi coast. Terrace. Private beach. Pizza oven. And you know we could convince our parents to let us take at least a weekend in Paris.’

‘Wow, it’s genetic,’ Luke said, ignoring the fact that Eve was ignoring him. ‘I just left your moms at Eve’s house doing exactly the same thing. They seemed to be leaning towards Argentina, though. Something about the wineries.’

‘Huh?’ Eve asked.

‘Just now?’ Jess said, brow furrowing.

‘Yeah. They told me they’d decided to spend a half an hour planning a vacation, with no talking about the plague allowed. Seemed like a good idea,’ he answered.

‘But …’ Jess started.

‘It wasn’t Jess’s mom. She just left,’ Eve said.

‘I know Jess’s mother,’ Luke argued. ‘It was …’ His words trailed off.

Eve felt the blood drain from her face. ‘Jess’s mom couldn’t be in two places at once.’

Jess grabbed the phone and dialled. ‘Hi, Mrs Evergold,’ she said, voice shaky. ‘Is my mom there? I need to talk to her for a sec.’

Eve and Luke didn’t take their eyes off Jess as she continued talking. ‘Mom, did you know you left your purse on the kitchen counter?’ Jess listened for a minute. ‘Oh, OK. See you in a while, then.’

She put down the phone and stared into space for a moment.

‘Jess?’ Eve pressed.

‘My mom said she didn’t bother to take her purse. She just stopped in at your place when she was doing her morning jog. She always jogs when she’s stressed out,’ Jess said in a monotone. ‘She sounded totally normal. She even said, “Bye, sweetie-pie,” at the end. That’s what she does every time we talk on the phone.’

Eve flashed on how strange Mrs Meredith had seemed in the kitchen a few minutes ago. She hadn’t said goodbye. And she’d picked up her purse as if she’d never even held one before. ‘I can’t believe it. Amunnic was right here in the kitchen with us.’

‘But why?’ Luke said. ‘He just took on the appearance of Jess’s mother in order to walk around for a minute and then leave? Why didn’t he attack?’

Jess’s eyes widened with horror. ‘Peter. He took Peter with him!’

Eve’s blood ran cold. It was true. The demon had Jess’s little brother!

Eve, Jess and Luke ran out of the house. ‘Peter!’ Luke shouted. Jess and Luke were shouting Peter’s name too, and Luke could hear Jess’s voice shaking with fear.

‘How long ago did Amunnic leave with him?’ Luke asked as they hurried down to the sidewalk.

‘Not even five minutes,’ Eve said. ‘Maybe only two.’ She scanned the street. A hazmat-suited person was cordoning off the house on the other side of the Christies’, but other than that no one else was in sight.

‘Even if it was just two minutes, they’re gone. And we have no idea where!’ Jess cried.

‘They didn’t take the car,’ Eve pointed out. ‘Let’s just go to the end of the block at least and see if we can spot them.’ Luke took off running almost before the words were out of her mouth, with Eve and Jess only a few steps behind.

But Medway Lane was deserted. There wasn’t even another CDC agent in sight.

‘It’s going to kill Peter!’ Jess screamed. ‘It’s going to kill him!’

Luke gave Jess a hug. He could tell she needed one. He could feel tremors running through her frame. ‘It’s not. We have time, remember?’ Luke didn’t mention that they had time because Amunnic would be slowly drinking Peter’s blood. ‘We’re going to find him.’

Jess pulled away. ‘How? We have no idea where he is.’

‘We were close last night,’ Luke reminded her. ‘Amunnic had been in the crypt. We wouldn’t have found Briony there otherwise.’

‘How does that help us now?’ Jess’s voice was nearly a shriek. Luke could tell she was teetering on the edge of all-out hysteria.

‘It eliminates one place, for starters,’ Eve told her. ‘And we already eliminated the power plant. We just have to figure out the other spots that Amunnic might use to take his victims.’ Too late, she wished she hadn’t used the word victim. But that’s what Peter and the others were, and Eve, Jess and Luke all knew it.

‘Amunnic has a lot of people now. That means he needs space,’ Luke said.

‘Mr Dokey said
you
knew where the bowl was,’ Eve reminded him.

‘Right. That means it has to be a place he knows I know, a place I’d think of,’ Luke answered.
So where? Where, where, where?
‘I’m such an idiot!’ he exclaimed as the answer came to him. ‘I’m in Mr Dokey’s history class. He’d been showing us stuff he brought back from Egypt just before he got sick, and he kept teasing us, saying he was saving something really cool for last. He was talking about the bowl! Has to be! I don’t know why I thought he was telling me the bowl was at the church.’

‘The bowl’s at the school!’ Eve cried. ‘And that’s where Amunnic has been taking everyone he grabs. The closed school. The big, now
empty
school. It makes total sense.’