Shadows (16 page)

‘No!’ Eve cried. She jerked away, horrible images suddenly flooding her mind – the lipstick melting, the paper burning, the demon turning to smoke. This time the power had felt softer somehow, but Jess lay motionless on the bed.

Oh my God, what did I do to her?
Eve thought frantically.

She stared at her best friend’s face. No burn marks. No turning to smoke. She took a deep breath and studied Jess more carefully. Yes, Jess was lying still. But she wasn’t completely motionless. Her chest rose and fell with slow, steady breaths. She wasn’t in the middle of a nightmare any more. It looked like she was sleeping peacefully. Her face was smooth, not contorted with wrinkle-creating terror. Her lips were slightly parted, not opened for a scream of agony.

‘It’s OK. She’s OK,’ Eve said aloud, needing reassurance. Her power-flood and the sight of Jess so still had left her trembling.
I guess my woo-woo doesn’t hurt humans
, she thought.
Thank God
.

Eve got up and pulled the book on the Deepdene Witch out of her tote. She hadn’t had a chance to look at it. Jess had needed distraction tonight, not more spookiness. But Eve needed facts, and it wasn’t like she was feeling sleepy any more. She sat cross-legged on the bed. She’d read for a while and keep watch over Jess, she decided. She grabbed the remote and clicked off the TV. Jess didn’t need it now.

Wonder if Luke had fun on his so-important date
, she thought as she opened the book. Then she felt guilty. Maybe she had been leaning on him too much. Yes, he had promised her he’d help her figure out what was
going on with her powers. And he had. Eve wouldn’t have this book or the other books and papers from inside the gargoyle if it wasn’t for Luke. He’d never said he wouldn’t leave her side. She couldn’t expect him to give up his whole life for her. But she couldn’t help feeling hurt.
You really barely know him
, she reminded herself.

Eve flipped open
The Life of the Witch of Deepdene
. It wasn’t very thick, maybe a hundred pages, and although the dark-green cover was worn, the book didn’t look as if it had been read very often, if at all. She ran her finger down the table of contents –
Wherein the Witch Majicks a Cow
;
Wherein the Witch Hexes Her Neighbour’s Son
;
Wherein the Witch Communes with the Dark One
;
Wherein the Witch Charms a Stranger
;
Wherein the Witch Takes a Familiar
.

The Dark One. That sounded like a demon. Eve flipped to the chapter and started skimming. She didn’t find anything useful. Not unless she wanted to make a bargain with the Dark One to heal a pig. And she had a hard time believing that her great-great-great-grandmother had really done that, anyway.

Eve continued reading, checking on Jess every few pages. There was nothing about demons or about the witch being able to send fire from her fingers. She
wondered if Luke had gotten any translating done that night. He’d said he would, but maybe he’d been too busy with Bet.

She really hoped there was something about how to destroy demons in the material Luke had. She’d managed to kill one by accident. And she’d cleared a path through the demonic shadows so they could run through the churchyard. But those things had felt as if they had just
happened
, not as if she had done them on purpose. She didn’t know for sure how she could do either thing again.

Eve wanted to completely understand her power, and to be able to absolutely control it. Next time she faced down a demon, she wanted to be prepared.

The next evening Jess slid the straightening iron through Eve’s dark curls, turning them into a shining curtain. She’d decided it would be fun to have Eve go stick-straight for the party. ‘With your hair like this, the blue of your eyes pops even more,’ Jess commented.

‘Thanks for playing salon tonight,’ Eve said.

‘Playing? This is my new job!’ Jess told her.

‘You’ve decided to leave high school for beauty school?’ Eve asked. She ran her fingers down her sleek,
sleek hair. ‘You do great work, but that seems a little—’

‘No, that’s not what I meant,’ Jess interrupted. ‘You have a new job – Deepdene Witch. My new job is making sure you look fabulous while doing it!’

Eve laughed, but her laughter quickly faded. It wasn’t much fun being the Deepdene Witch. She really might be all that stood between her friends and family – and everyone in town – and madness-by-demon. Without her, they could all lose their souls and end up insane. Or dead.

Jess tapped into her telefriendic powers. ‘You look amazing and you’re going to have fun tonight. You’re not going to think about demons unless one crashes Mal’s party. Promise? You and I and Luke will think about them as hard as possible once we’re done having a little fun.’

Eve nodded. ‘Promise.’

In bio that day, Luke had actually volunteered to stay home and work on the translating. She’d thought he was feeling a little guilty for not meeting up with her on Thursday. And she’d felt a little guilty for making him feel guilty. She’d told him that a few hours off wouldn’t make a big difference, even though he still hadn’t found anything that would help them defeat the demons. It felt good to know he’d be at the party if Eve
needed backup with the Jess situation. Make that the entire Deepdene situation.

‘OK, you get dressed. I have to use my special powers on myself,’ Jess said. She picked up a silver eyeliner.

Eve zipped herself into her silk halter dress, the ocean-blue one with the draped panels, and slid on her Jimmy Choos. She’d managed to convince her mother that she deserved another chance, and now had a pair of bronze silk Jimmies with four-and-a-half-inch heels and a cluster of jewels – all in shades of blue – on the toes. ‘I love these shoes. They make me feel so hot. And so tall.’

Her phone buzzed and she checked the text message. ‘Jenna wants to know if she should wear her hair up or down.’

‘If I had a swan neck like hers I’d definitely show it off,’ Jess answered.

‘Agreed.’ Eve texted back their advice while Jess pulled on her favourite fringed boots. ‘You’re tall and hot too,’ Eve pronounced as Jess did an approval-twirl in front of her.

‘We’re going to annihilate this party,’ Jess said, just as the doorbell rang. ‘That’s got to be Luke.’

‘I’m a little surprised he wanted to walk over to the party with us, player that he is.’ Eve picked up her clutch.

‘A player’s not going to show up at a party with a date. Much too restrictive.’ Jess studied herself in the mirror, then added a little shimmer spray to her shoulders. She turned to Eve. ‘I declare us perfection. You’re going to make Mal drool. Let’s go.’

By the time Eve reached the front door she was regretting her Jimmy Choos. No, that wasn’t true. Regret and Jimmies didn’t go together. But she was wishing she’d worn her fab new shoes around the house for a few days. Breaking them in on the night of the party – not really smart. Or at all comfortable.

Still, Luke’s eyes did widen just a tad as he took in Eve and Jess in full-on party mode, and Eve felt a little tug of satisfaction. Based on Luke’s reaction, she really
was
going to make Mal drool!

Jess ran her fingers through Luke’s hair, mussing it artistically. ‘Now you’re worthy of accompanying us. Those jeans – good choice. They show off your cute little butt.’

Eve laughed. Luke looked both embarrassed and pleased as he changed the subject to Eve’s shoes. ‘Can you even walk in those?’

‘These shoes are not
for
walking!’ Eve told him as they headed off.

Luke looked baffled.

‘They’re to look pretty,’ Jess explained patiently. ‘And in Jimmy Choos, you don’t just look pretty. You look
gorgeous
.’

‘I got through a little more translating before I headed over,’ Luke said as soon as they were out of earshot of the house. ‘It was a breakdown of types of demons. It turns out the soul-sucker and his crew are just part of a bigger group.’

Eve couldn’t choke back a small gasp.

‘But they’re the only ones in Deepdene,’ Luke continued. ‘At least, I think they are. All the things that have been going on with people here match the soul-sucking master demon and his minions. The nightmares, the shadows, the insanity. Basically stealing someone’s soul makes them insane.’

Jess gave a shiver. And not one of the happy ones. ‘Don’t worry,’ Luke said. ‘Other than the height of your heels, neither of you is showing signs of insanity.’

Why was he walking so fast? Did he
have
to walk so fast? Eve could feel the skin rubbing off the back of her left heel. ‘What else?’ she asked, hoping for some info she could use, and some distraction from the pain.

‘Our particular master demon has the power to control machinery,’ Luke answered.

‘So do I,’ Jess said. ‘Well, I might have to repeat
Driver’s Ed. But other than that, I’m a pro. I can talk on the phone, IM on the computer and text on my cell, just about all at the same time.’

‘Nothing I read mentioned how skilled demons are at texting,’ Luke teased.

‘So, machinery … what else?’ Eve asked, trying to calculate how many layers of skin her shoe had removed from the back of her heel and how many layers she had left before blood stained the beautiful bronze satin.

‘Crows,’ Luke said. ‘Crows are supposed to be attracted to our master demon. And that’s it, so far. But I still have about half the stuff we found to work through.’

‘How lucky are we to be living in Deepdene now? The soul-sucker and his demon minions only come here every hundred years. We could have missed them,’ Jess joked darkly.

There goes another layer of skin
, Eve thought. She moved a little closer to Jess. ‘Do you have a Band-Aid?’ she murmured, not wanting Luke to hear – and then mock.

Jess took one from her bag and stealthily passed it to Eve.

As soon as I get to Mal’s I’ll be fine
, Eve thought,
gritting her teeth against the pain.
I’ll slap on the Band-Aid, and I’ll be able to dance all night
. But it was a lot of steps to Mal’s.

‘What’s wrong with you?’ Luke asked.

‘Nothing,’ Eve answered.

‘You’re making faces.’ He scrunched his face into an
I’m in excruciating pain
expression.

Eve stopped and jerked off her shoe. ‘I’m getting a blister,’ she confessed. ‘I just need to stick this on it.’ She teetered as she leaned down to apply the Band-Aid. Luke caught her arm to keep her steady.

‘That’s nasty,’ he said, frowning at her foot. ‘That happened just since we left Jess’s?’

‘Yes,’ Eve replied, wishing she could somehow get her foot high enough to blow on it. The blister was stinging.

‘I don’t think I ever truly understood what “fashion victim” means until now,’ Luke joked.

‘I’m fine,’ Eve told him. She started to pull away, but standing on one four-and-a-half-inch heel wasn’t easy. She needed Luke to keep balanced as she slid her foot back into the shoe.

‘You don’t look fine.’ He shook his head. ‘This is about half a step above foot-binding.’

‘It’s a little rubbed spot. The shoes aren’t broken in
yet. So how was your date with Bet last night?’ she asked, trying to change the subject.

Luke swept his hair off his face with his free hand. ‘It was good. Uh, fun. We had fun.’

Eve and Jess exchanged a look. ‘It sounds like there is a “but” coming,’ Jess commented as they continued towards Mal’s.

‘Definitely,’ Eve agreed. ‘You had fun, but …’ she prompted.

‘You’re girls,’ Luke said as they started walking again.

‘He’s so observant,’ Jess teased.

‘If you go out with someone once, what do you think? I mean, do you automatically think that you’ll keep going out?’ Luke asked.

‘Most girls, no. Bet, yes,’ Eve said. ‘You should know that you are now Bet’s boyfriend, at least in
her
mind.’

‘But I didn’t—’

‘Doesn’t matter,’ Jess told him. ‘Bet’s a girl who’s never boyfriendless. She broke up with Matt about a week ago. She needs her fix.’

‘So, am I going to have to say something to her? Actually tell her I’m not her boyfriend, even though she has no reason to think I am?’ Luke sounded a little agitated.

‘Hmm. First let me ask you: How do you feel about tears?’ Eve said.

Luke groaned as they turned up Mal’s driveway. ‘Did Mal invite her, do you know?’

‘Everybody’s going to be here,’ Jess told him.

Eve gave Luke a playful nudge with her elbow. ‘That means
all
your girlfriends.’

‘Luke! You’re here! Great!’ Bet came rushing towards them. ‘I missed you so much!’

‘It’s hard being a stud, isn’t it?’ Eve managed to get in before Bet dragged him away.

‘Wow, she’s got it bad,’ Jess laughed.

‘For
Luke
? She’s insane,’ Eve said, rolling her eyes. ‘Although in those jeans …’

‘I know. Hot,’ Jess said. Eve nodded, grinning.

‘Come on, I can’t wait to see inside. I’m so jealous you already did.’ Jess dragged Eve into Mal’s house. ‘I told Luke everyone was going to be here, but I hadn’t realized that meant
everyone
.’ She gestured to the crowd.

Eve wondered if she’d have even realized there wasn’t any furniture in the massive living room if she hadn’t already been in the house. There were so many people it was hard to see anything else. She tried to spot Mal, but it was hopeless.

Shanna rushed over. ‘Jess, Seth Schneider alert.’

‘I’m so glad I look good. OK, what’s my approach?’ Jess asked her friends.

‘You’ve known him for ever.’ Eve spoke loudly into Jess’s ear so she could be heard over the music.

‘That’s the problem,’ Jess answered. ‘I don’t think Seth has quite realized I’m a woman now. Somehow I got frozen in his brain as a little kid. He thinks he’s a junior, and I’m still ten.’

‘Striptease?’ Shanna suggested. ‘Or do you think Mal has a pole you can dance round?’

‘Are you drunk?’ Jess asked.

‘Not yet.’ Shanna winked. ‘I’m hoping somebody brought a little something. There’s a likely suspect …’ She nodded towards James Frankel. ‘I’m on it.’ She headed towards him.

‘Let’s go somewhere a little quieter to Seth-plot,’ Eve suggested. They swung by the kitchen – as usual it was a party hot spot – grabbed a couple of diet sodas and headed for the pool. They found two reclining deck chairs out of range of the splashing water. Every few minutes someone jumped in the pool with their clothes on. Or was pushed.