Unbound (47 page)

“Yea.”

 
I was silent for a good ten minutes. “They know where I live,” I said quietly. “The demons know my address.” Hunter stuck his head between the front seats and licked the side of my face. I turned and pet him. “I love you, boy.”

“What about me?” Ethan asked with a smile.

“I guess you’re alright.” I smiled back.

 
Ethan reached over and took my hand. “It’s gonna be ok.”

“Is it? How many more people are gonna get hurt before this is over?” Ethan didn’t say anything. “I just don’t get it. If some powerful demon wants me, why don’t they just come after me? Why send the Pricolici?”

“I don’t know, Annie.” He squeezed my hand before taking it back so he could call Julia. I didn’t say anything until we reached the barn. I couldn’t get the vision of those awful yellow eyes out of my head. Ethan said he was going to take Hunter for a walk around the barn and look for any signs of Pricolici while I exercised then brushed the horses. I finished brushing Mystery and moved on to Neptune when Ethan and Hunter came back into the barn.

“Don’t worry, everything’s fine,” Ethan reassured me.

“Good.”

“Need any help?”

“Uh, only if you want.” I held out the brush and Ethan took it.

“What about Hunter?” He looked down at my dog.

“The doors are all closed, so we can unleash him.” I unclipped his leash but he remained close to my side as I got another brush and headed to Henry’s stall. Laney and Amanda showed up a little after five. They quickly brushed their horses and the three of us helped Penny lock up for the night so we could all walk out together. I was happy to see that the Devil’s Shoestring I hid in the barn was still in place.

“You going home?” Laney asked on the way to our cars.

“Yea. I have bombs to make,” I said with a wink.

“What?”

“I’ll explain later. Want to come help?”

“As much as I’d love to help you with your pyro-addiction, I can’t. Josh is coming over for dinner.”

“How cute,” I teased

“Nah, I guess,” Laney said without any enthusiasm.

“You don’t sound too happy about it.”

We stopped walking, having reached our cars. “Things are getting boring,” she confessed. “Oh well though, he’s a good guy.” She opened her door.

“He is,” I agreed. “And don’t hate the boring. I’d do anything for a little boring right now,” I said as I opened the back passenger side door of the X-Terra for Hunter to jump in. “I’ll call you later.”

“You’re right. Goodnight Annie.”

***

Julia and Sam were sitting in a navy blue Chevy Malibu across the street from my house. Ethan said his dad must have left work early because that was his car. It surprised me, for some reason, that David drove such a normal car. I guess I expected an undercover, demon-hunter, Order leader to drive something sleek, black and fast. I also imagined there to be secret compartments to hide weapons in; I’d be really disappointed if that turned out to not be true. Julia waved when we drove past and Sam purposely looked the other direction. Deciding it would be polite, I invited them in for dinner.

“Your house is really pretty,” Julia said once we were inside.

“Thanks.” I shrugged off my coat and tossed it over the back of a chair in the kitchen.
 
I introduced Sam and Julia to my dad before the four of us went up to my room.
 
“Sorry, it’s kind of a mess,” I said as I pushed a pile of laundry off my desk chair. I’d been slacking on the cleaning since other things took precedence over ironed and folded laundry right now. Ethan and I sat down next to each other near the head of my bed, Julia sat at the foot and Sam took the chair. I told them about the yellow-eyed Pricolici and my idea for the Vesta ‘bombs’.

I was twirling the last piece of spaghetti around my fork when Ethan, Sam and Julia all got a text message at the same time. They looked at their phones and then at each other; they all had the same this-is-so-not-good look on their faces. I jumped up and said that Hunter needed to go out. Ethan, Sam and Julia followed me to the deck.

“What’s going on?” I asked as soon as I closed the sliding glass door.

“We’ve been summoned,” Julia said bleakly.

“You’ve been what?” I asked, feeling a little panicky.

“Summoned,” Ethan said and took my hand. “By the higher-ups in the Order. They summon hunters when something big is going down and they need help.”

“But something big is going on.” I looked into Ethan’s eyes. “Here.”

Ethan pulled me closer. “I’m not leaving you, Anora.” His eyes locked with mine. He meant it.

“But you have to,” Sam interjected.

“I don’t have to do anything,” Ethan said, still not looking away from me.

“Like your dad will let you stay.”

Ethan turned to Sam. “He has no control over me.”

“Did you forget you’re a member of the Order?” Sam was getting angry. “You have a responsibility to us.”

“I’m not leaving,” Ethan said with finality.

“You have to,” Sam said just as stubbornly.

“Sam,” Julia put her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Drop it. Ethan’s staying; Anora needs him.”

“Whatever,” Sam said and stormed off towards her car.

“Anora, I’m sorry for her,” Julia said sincerely.

“It’s ok,” I sighed.

“Well, I guess we should go say bye to your family so it doesn’t look any weirder.” Julia smiled slightly. We headed back in, Julia and Ethan grabbed their coats and said thanks and good night. Ethan needed to go home and talk to his dad but he promised he’d be back before it got too late. He gave me a quick kiss goodbye and disappeared out the door. I helped Dad clean up the dishes before going up to my room. Feeling paranoid I cracked my window and lit the sage smudge stick. I was so tired but I couldn’t possibly fall asleep not knowing what was going on with Ethan. What if he really couldn’t stay? I didn’t want to think about it so I busied myself making my Vesta bombs.

An hour later and I was wishing for a Pricolici to show up just so I could test my creation. Carefully, I packed them up and put them in the closet. I showered and put on my PJ’s. I felt like there was something more I should be doing but I couldn’t think of anything. Not wanting to sit still, I spent the next forty minutes cleaning my room.

Finally, I lay down next to Hunter and turned on
Buffy
. Not even five minutes later Mom burst through the door.

“Are you burning incense again?”

There was no point in lying; my room reeked of sage. “Yes.”

“What did I tell you?”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

Mom leaned against the doorframe. “Then why did you do it?”

“I had to.”

“Why would you have to?”

“I’ve told you before; there are spirits in the house.”

“Anora, stop being so ridiculous. There are no such things as spirits and even if there were, there are none in this house! Do you really want to do this again?”

A weird sense of hurt and rage formed in my chest. I wanted so much to tell Mom everything and to have her comfort me, to tell me I will figure everything out and it will be ok. But that wasn’t gonna happen. I’ve tried before, with the ghosts, and she refused to listen. “You never believe me, but it’s true!”

Mom looked at the TV. “Anora,” she said calmly. “You watch too many shows like this.” She waved her hand towards the screen. “It puts ideas in your head.”

“Don’t you think that maybe I like shows like this because I can relate?”

Mom just shook her head. “You’re under my roof. If you don’t like the rules, then find somewhere else to live.” I knew she didn’t mean it and that it was supposed to be a threat to make me listen, but I said,

“Maybe I will!” anyway.

“Put the incense out. Goodnight Anora.” Mom turned and walked down the hall. The door slammed shut, startling some anger out of me. I took a deep breath to relax; I didn’t want my telekinesis to go totally out of control.

“It would be so much easier if they knew,” I told Hunter, who moved so he could lick my face and nuzzle his head in my lap. “I love you boy.” I hugged him and lay back down.

Around ten-thirty Ethan snuck back into my room. He told me that David, Sam, Julia and even Isaac had to leave and he was definitely staying but that was really all I caught of that conversation. Being wrapped in his arms was so comforting that I quickly fell asleep.

***

Finally
, I thought as Laney, Josh and I walked to the parking lot after school the next day. I wasn’t as tired as before but I was ready to go home. My heart fluttered and I smiled as soon as I saw Ethan leaning against the black X-Terra. He took my bags from me and tossed them in the back seat.

“So you guys are still coming tonight, right?” Josh asked sounding hopeful.

I looked at Ethan, prepared to tell them ‘no’ but before I could open my mouth Ethan said, “Yea, we need to have some fun.” His hand settled on my waist.

“Great!” Josh said. Laney looked just has excited. “I thought we could get something to eat first and then go to the game. Maybe even go out after.”

“Sounds fun,” I said and I meant it. It had been a long time since I’d actually gone out and done anything that didn’t involve the paranormal.

“Want to meet at my house around five-thirty?” Laney asked.

“Yea.” I looked at Ethan to make sure that was alright.

“See you guys then,” he told them and turned to open the door for me. Right as I put my foot in the car I saw Harrison walking along side a few guys from the football team. He looked up and I waved. He jogged over.

“Hey Ethan,” he said with a nod. “What’s up Annie?”

“Oh, nothing. I just wanted to tell you that we’re going to watch your game tonight.”

He looked almost disappointed. “Oh.”

“Ok,” I said slowly, a little confused. “Maybe we won’t go.”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, laughing. “I guess I was expecting some cool demon news.”

“There’s nothing cool about demons, Har.”

He just shrugged.

“Isn’t Jenny a cheerleader for Marcellus?” I asked him.

Harrison’s blue eyes went blank. “Who?”

“Jenny. The cute little blonde you dated a while ago?” I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, yea,” Harrison said but he didn’t seem like he remembered. “I think so.”

“Whatever. Good luck tonight!”

“Thanks.” He still looked confused. He shook his head and rejoined the team. Ethan and I got into the SUV.

“So, any news from your family?” I asked somewhat apprehensively. I felt guilty for Ethan staying with me, pointless I know, but it was how I felt.

“Yea. It’s nothing they can’t handle. A big CEO hired the Order to clear an office of poltergeists,” he said causally.

“People know about the Order?” I was surprised.

“Not too many. It’s usually they know someone how knows someone who knows someone that’s heard of us. We don’t get asked like this that much anymore, so it’s a big deal I guess.”

“And a lot of money,” I added.

“Oh yea.”

“Sorry I made you miss out on that,” I said quietly. Ethan put his hand on my leg.

“I don’t care about that, Anora. I want to keep you safe. I promised myself I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.” He gave my leg a squeeze and smiled.

I put my hand on his and looked out the window, thinking about how lucky I was to have Ethan.

***

We got to Laney’s just at five-thirty. She and Josh were watching some kiddie movie with Annabelle. Excited to see me, she ran over for a hug.

“Hey Bells!” I kneeled down to her level. She ran her hands over my curls.

“I like your hair,” she said quietly.