Shadows (11 page)

‘What else did it say about this so-called witch?’ Eve asked.

‘Not much more than that,’ Luke told her. ‘It was just a little bit of an article about local legends. But I found
out there’s a whole book on the Demondene W—uh, non-witch woman with powers.’

‘We need that book,’ Eve said.

Luke gave her his
I’m smarter than you
Luke-smirk. ‘Already ordered it from Amazon.’

Eve leaned her head back into Jess’s hands as her friend worked on her hair. It felt good having Jess and Luke here, sitting right next to her, trying to help her figure out her powers – and her hair issues. Luke was still a pain in the butt, but weirdly he had started to seem like a friend. Someone she could trust. Amazing. Almost as amazing as her shooting lightning out of her fingers and turning a guy into smoke.

‘What if he wasn’t a guy?’ Eve burst out. ‘What if he was a demon?’

Jess’s hands froze. But Luke just nodded, as if he’d been expecting her to say that all along.

‘It makes sense, right?’ Eve went on. ‘Belinda and that woman at the church were talking about demons turning to smoke. The guy I zapped turned to smoke. Doesn’t that mean he’s a demon? Or am I wrong?’

‘I don’t think you’re wrong,’ Luke said grimly.

Eve sank back against the cushions, her thoughts whirling. On the one hand, she was hugely relieved. She hadn’t killed a person. She’d killed a demon! But
on the other hand, that meant demons were real. They existed, and they had attacked her.

And that was terrifying.

‘I can’t deal. This is too much,’ she told her friends.

‘You can. You can deal with anything now that your hair looks fabulous again.’ Jess patted Eve’s head and tried to smile.

‘Don’t worry, we’ve got your back,’ Luke said. ‘We’ll make a plan. We need to do more research. About demons and the witch.’

‘The witch,’ Eve repeated.

‘Not that you’re a witch,’ Luke said quickly. ‘I just mean that it’s a good idea to research the witch—’

‘OK, but no more demons or witches tonight,’ Jess cut in. ‘Eve needs a good night’s sleep. Which means, Luke, you’re going home. And I’m calling Katy, Jenna and Shanna to tell them Eve and I won’t be meeting up with them for our usual Friday-night prowl. Then, tomorrow, Eve is having a de-stressing session.’

‘Shopping,’ Eve translated for Luke. It sounded wonderful. Shopping with Jess. Being normal. At least
acting
normal. Eve guessed she’d never really be normal again. If you could zap a demon into a smoke snake, normal wasn’t really something you could be any more.

Luke stood up. ‘I’ll do some more research while you two are managing your stress,’ he said. He climbed down the porch steps.

‘We’ll meet you after that,’ Eve said. ‘You can give us an oral report.’

He stopped, turned, and looked her straight in the eye. ‘We’re really going to figure all this out,’ he promised.

‘But until then, be careful,’ Jess told Eve. ‘You said there were four guys – and you only dusted one of them. If they were all demons, then three of them are still out there!’

‘Pizza delivery for Eve Evergold!’ her father shouted up the stairs.

‘And Jess Meredith!’ Jess called back.

Eve clicked off
Judge Judy
. She and Jess had both found the show soothing. If anyone could kick some demon ass, it was the judge.

They hurried downstairs and followed Eve’s dad into the kitchen. ‘I got pizza and cheese sticks.’ He set a pizza box and a white paper bag on the table, and grinned. Eve’s mom never ordered cheese sticks with pizza. She always said they were the same thing. Well, they sort of were, but they were both good, so what did it matter?

‘I guess this means Mom is working late,’ Eve said. She sat down at the table and took a cheese stick from the bag.

‘Emergency surgery,’ her dad confirmed.

Eve tried to remember the last time they’d all eaten dinner together. It had definitely been more than a week ago. Her father was a financial consultant based in Manhattan, but he had to travel a lot – Eve had once figured out that he flew round the entire world at least twice a year. And her mom’s job wasn’t much better – cardiac surgery couldn’t always wait.

It’s worse for Mal
, Eve thought.
His parents go travelling together, so he doesn’t even have one of them
. Eve’s folks were pretty good at making sure she had at least one parental around. Maybe she had a couple of nights a month on her own, but Jess was always available to keep her company.

‘So what do you two have planned for tonight?’ Eve’s dad asked as he grabbed a slice of the pizza. ‘I know it can’t be hanging out with me.’

‘We’ve decided to watch
Titanic
for the millionth time,’ Eve answered.

‘And cry, and cry, and cry,’ Jess added cheerfully. ‘You can join us if you want.’

‘Uh, I think this is the night I’m going to experiment with the nail gun. I’m curious what will happen if I staple my hand to a board,’ he said, struggling to keep his expression serious.

‘You’ll cry, and cry, and cry,’ Jess told him. She liked joking around with Eve’s dad.

Eve broke a breadstick in half and dunked it into the little container of dipping sauce. ‘Dad, have you ever heard about a witch from around here – a kind of
Deepdene
witch?’ she asked.

She was expecting him to shrug, or talk about ‘crazy occult beliefs’ the way he sometimes did. But instead, he dropped his pizza onto his plate and stared at her.

‘Did someone say something to you at school?’ he demanded, his brow creased. ‘Was someone making fun of you?’

‘What? No,’ Eve said, surprised. ‘One of my friends read a thing about her online.’

‘Oh.’ He looked a little flustered. ‘OK.’

Eve studied her father’s face as he picked up his pizza again.

‘Why would someone make fun of her?’ Jess asked.

‘Yeah, what do I have to do with the Deepdene Witch?’ Eve asked.

Now
her father shrugged, but he was avoiding her gaze.

‘Dad, come on,’ Eve said. ‘I really don’t need any more weirdness right now.’

‘Well … I guess you should know …’ He hesitated,
and Eve’s muscles tensed. Her whole body felt like a spring that had been wound too tight. ‘And I know you tell everything to Jess anyway …’ He didn’t continue.

‘
Dad!
’ Eve exclaimed.

He sighed. ‘OK. Eve, the Deepdene Witch was your great-great-great-grandmother.’

Eve opened her mouth to answer, but her father suddenly waved his hand in the air.

‘No, wait. That’s not right,’ he went on. ‘What I meant to say is that your great-great-great-grandmother was Annabelle Sewall. There were some ignorant people in town who
called
her a witch. Don’t tell your mother I said she was a witch.’ He pointed at Jess. ‘You either. No saying the words
Deepdene Witch
to Eve’s mother.’

Eve closed her mouth again. Her father seemed to think he’d gotten some big thing off his chest, because he gave her a smile and grabbed another cheese stick.

‘Hang on,’ Eve said finally. ‘My great-great-great-grandmother was a witch?’

‘No. Absolutely not. That’s just crazy occult nonsense,’ her dad answered. ‘She was widowed at a very young age, and she chose to live by herself and not marry again. She supported her family by working as a midwife and a healer. So some of the townsfolk
called her a witch. People weren’t always tolerant of independent women back then.’

‘So what else did people say about her?’ Jess asked eagerly.

Eve understood why her dad didn’t believe her great-great-great-grandmother was a witch. Who believed in witches any more? Eve certainly never had. But now that she could shoot fire from her fingers and turn what was probably a demon to dust, she was a lot more open to the possibility.

‘You don’t want to hear all this ancient history.’ Her dad grabbed a slice from the side with double anchovies. He loved them. Eve hated them. So whenever the two of them shared a pizza, they ordered one with everything, but asked that all the anchovies go on one half. The guys down at Piscatelli’s Pizza called it the Evergold Special.

‘Of course we want to hear!’ Eve insisted. Jess nodded madly. ‘I mean, I’m related to a witch.’ She was related to the witch! ‘I want to know everything.’

Her father shook his head. ‘Stop saying that. She wasn’t a witch. She was—’

‘I know, I know. A misunderstood woman,’ Eve interrupted. ‘I just want to know what they said about her back then.’

‘I’ll tell you what I know, which isn’t much,’ her father said. ‘But I mean it. Don’t say anything to your mother. She’s sensitive about it.’

‘Mom?’ Eve would not describe her mother as sensitive about anything.

‘Yes, Mom.’ Her dad stood up and grabbed Cokes from the fridge. ‘Back when she was around your age, some kid heard a story about the Deepdene Witch being one of her ancestors. It got around school. You know how that happens.’

‘I so know,’ Jess said, taking a Coke from Eve’s dad. ‘Once my dad wore these tie-dyed pants – that looked like pyjama bottoms – to the market. Everyone was talking about it the next day at school. Ev-er-y-one.’

‘Imagine that, times a hundred,’ Eve’s father said. ‘Everyone started calling Eve’s mom a witch and some boy left a frog in her locker, that kind of thing. It really hurt her,’ he went on.

Eve raised her eyebrows. Again, hard to imagine.

‘Medical school toughened her up,’ her father explained, reading her expression. ‘But the Deepdene Witch thing was a big deal for her when she was young. She actually lost some friends over it.’

‘I won’t say anything to her,’ Eve promised. Jess pantomimed locking her lips. ‘Just tell us.’

‘OK.’ Her dad took a swig of his soda. ‘Well, Annabelle was very single-minded. The people of Deepdene said she was obsessed.’

‘With what?’ Eve asked.

‘Demons,’ her father said. ‘Your great-great-great-grandmother thought that she was put here to fight demons.’

Eve felt her eyes widen. She looked over at Jess and saw that her friend’s eyes had gone wide too.

‘There is a ban on talking about anything involving the woo-woo until after the shopping,’ Jess announced when Eve met up with her at Java Nation on Main Street the next morning. She pushed an espresso towards Eve. ‘Fuel up. Yesterday I realized that I don’t have anything wearable with an animal print, and
Vogue
says you have to have at least a few animal-print items in your wardrobe this season.’

‘Does python count?’ Eve held up her deep-red Michael Kors faux-python clutch. She was happy to talk about fashion. There would be time to deal with the scary stuff post-shopping.

Jess considered the bag. ‘It counts.’ She slammed back her own espresso. ‘Come on. The stores open in
three. I’m not leaving this street without a fake animal skin for some part of my body.’

‘I’m glad you said fake,’ Eve joked. ‘Otherwise I’d be worried about the cat in the hardware store.’

Jess laughed. ‘Spiffy does have beautiful fur. But she’s safe. A nice animal print – love it! But I’m not wearing anything dead. I’m not the killer type.’

I am
, Eve thought, remembering the lightning from her hands as it hit that guy’s chest. Did it kill him? Did he die when he turned into smoke? Was that a good thing?

‘You’re thinking bad thoughts. I can tell,’ Jess said. She nudged Eve’s cup. ‘Two minutes until the store opens.’

‘Not a problem.’ Eve gulped down her espresso too, then realized that she really didn’t need any additional help feeling jittery. Still, shopping on mega caffeine was still a lot more soothing than facing down demons, she decided.

‘Good girl,’ Jess said as they stood up. She was in extreme mother-hen mode today. Yesterday too, with the smoothies and the hair conditioner.
She’s really worried about me
, Eve thought. She made sure to smile as they headed out into the pale gold sunshine of the September morning. Eve wanted her friend to know she was OK. And, really, she was feeling a lot better. Jess
and Luke were going to help her figure out her powers. And her great-great-great-grandmother was a demon fighter. That meant it was in the blood, so Eve should be a natural!

‘Dibs!’ Jess exclaimed as they strolled past the Theory boutique. She stopped and pointed to an adorable little plaid dress with long sleeves and a short skirt that was made of three big ruffles.

Eve and Jess had a shopping system. They were each allowed to call dibs on three items per trip. Whoever called dibs got to try on the item first and decide if they wanted it before the other one was allowed to touch it. After three dibs, though, it was every girl for herself. And it was against the rules for either of them to buy the same thing, even in different colours.

‘Oh, dibs on that brown-and-white zebra trench too!’ Jess exclaimed as soon as they were inside.

‘That’s two dibs in less than two minutes. And I haven’t used any,’ Eve warned. She wandered over to a rack of jackets. A black and silver one immediately caught her eye. It was a little military and a lot costumey – sort of like something Michael Jackson might have worn back when her mother was a kid. She wondered what Mal would think of it. Actually, she wondered what Mal would think of
her
in it.

Eve tried it on and checked herself out in one of the mirrors. The jacket wasn’t at all her usual style, but she looked pretty rockin’ in it. With a pair of the leather cargo pants, she’d have one badass outfit. It would look amazing on her with flames shooting out of her fingers. She could almost see herself in a magazine spread. Yeah, it would be cool if it could be done with special effects. Shooting flames in real life – well, Eve hadn’t decided yet if that was cool or not. Her powers
had
saved her life yesterday.

‘Bad thoughts again. I can see them!’ Jess scolded as she hurried up to Eve. She already had a shopping bag looped over one wrist. Jess was known for her speed-shopping abilities. Some girls had to try on an outfit a million times and survey their friends before they made a decision. Not Jess. ‘I got a text that there’s a sale at Gucci. I found this great shopping app. We have to go – now! You know how it gets when there’s a sale. We can come back here later.’