Sweet Evil

by Wendy Higgins

  “Good for him,” she whispered.

  The two plastic baggies were in my other hand, making me agitated. My mind kept returning to the fact that Pharzuph knew I was a virgin, and how liberating it would feel to take one bump of the powder. It was right there, far more tempting to me than alcohol. All I had to do was stick my fingernail in there and— No!

  I had to get rid of it. I asked Kopano to switch places with me. I climbed over his lap as he scooted under, trying not to touch me. I cracked the window a few inches. No cars were behind us on the strip of road. I opened the bag of marijuana first, hands shaking, and tipped the contents out the window.

  “What are you doing?” Blake asked.

  “Getting rid of it,” I said, feeling unusually antsy.

  “That’s perfectly good J!” Blake protested.

  “Sorry.” I dumped the last of it.

  “Front-row seats at the suicide show,” Ginger said. “Lovely.”

  I peered down at the bag of white powder in my hand. I cracked the window again and tipped the corner of the bag. I held my breath as the powder hit the rushing wind, spiraling out into a cloud behind us. I watched the cloud with a pang of yearning, and heard a funny flapping sound. Something spiraled through the air as the last of the powder poured out.

  “Stop the car!” I said. “Something was in the bag!”

  Blake pulled over and we all jumped out, running, using our hypervision to scan the ground.

  “What was it?” Marna asked.

  “I think it was paper.”

  “Yes, I saw it, too,” Kopano affirmed.

  “There!” Ginger ran toward a tree and picked up a strip of paper, holding it out to me. I tugged it open and read to myself. No, no, no. My knees buckled, but I saw Kaidan jogging over and forced myself to stand straight.

  Two vehicles were coming down the road, still a good distance away. We all noticed at the same time and hurried back to the car. I handed the note over the passenger seat to Kaidan as Blake drove off, remembering the words in my mind.

  They’re getting suspicious of us. A lot of rumors. Legionnaire spies will be watching you on New Year’s. You’ll have to work. Remember your training. Ask the others how the spirits communicate.

  Kaidan slammed his hand against the dashboard after he read it.

  “Care to clue us in?” Ginger asked with impatience.

  Kaidan turned, his anxious eyes holding mine. It was time to tell them everything.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  NEW YEAR’S

  It took more than two hours of talking before Patti accepted my claims that I’d be okay, and decided to continue on her trip to New York. She knew the Neph and I would be expected to work on New Year’s, but I’d left out the detail about demon whisperers spying on me. Spirits were a touchy subject.

  The New Year’s party would take place at a fancy hotel in downtown Atlanta. We talked about finding a different party where people we knew wouldn’t be there, but this was supposed to be the biggest party in the area. The more people, the more distractions for the spirits. According to the Neph, demon whisperers were easily distracted. I hoped they were right, because I suffered extreme discomfort about unleashing spirits on a party where my two best friends were going to be.

  Jay had recently landed a job as an assistant to the disc jockey who was doing the music for the party. That was how we got tickets to the biggest bash in town. A local radio station would be there, too. Since Jay was working part of the night, he had to get there early. I drove Veronica. The five Neph would meet us there.

  It wasn’t until we’d pulled into Atlanta that Veronica noticed my nerves. I hunched over the steering wheel with a stomachache. The crowded city streets hurled emotions both rainbow-colored and dark, all of which I heaved away.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Veronica asked, holding her lip gloss wand in midair.

  “Just nervous about the party, I guess.”

  The inside of the hotel was exquisite, not a detail missed. There was a waterfall fountain in the atrium, gorgeous flower arrangements on every table, and plush carpets of vivid designs stretching in all directions. Most people were in the lobby checking into their rooms. Veronica’s curfew was one thirty, so we weren’t staying the night. If something came up and I needed to stay, Jay could take her home. It was likely that the spies expected me to party all night.

  The hotel was buzzing with excitement. Veronica clutched my arm, sporting a bright orange aura of exhilaration, as she looked around. I peered around, too. I was not excited about meeting any dark spirits again. Not at all.

  I hadn’t learned anything new about the demon whisperers during my one night of crash-course training from my father. I guess he didn’t think they’d be a problem for me at the time, and it was still a sensitive subject for me after being haunted. Fortunately, my Neph friends taught me the basics.

  Spirits were limited in their communications because of their lack of physical mass. While their sight was keen, their hearing was dim. They could hear only up close, where the voice vibrations were strongest and they could dip into the person’s mind. Parties with loud music were chaos on their hearing, which was good for us, because they wouldn’t be able to listen to our conversations from a distance. They would be able to hear us only if they swooped down close, and that was also the only way we could hear them. In close proximity, we could open up our minds and speak telepathically with them, like mutual whispering.

  My father assured me no Dukes would be staked out listening. Kaidan was certain his father would spend New Year’s in New York City, which disturbed me, since Patti was there, but I knew she’d go right back to her hotel after the ball dropped. Still, I hated the thought of their breathing the same city air.

  Veronica gripped my arm a little harder as we made our way to the hall with the ballroom.

  “You sure you’re okay?” she asked.

  “To be honest, I don’t feel so good.”

  She stopped walking and made me look at her. “Do you need to go home or get some medicine?”

  “No. I’ll be fine.” I tugged us forward again until we were in the line with the other well-dressed kids, mostly college age. Those twenty-one and over were given neon orange wristbands. Those under twenty-one got huge Xs on their hands with permanent markers. Veronica frowned down at the ugly marks on her pretty hands as we walked in.

  The Xs were going to put a damper on the whole drinking thing. I was sure there’d be ways around it, though I didn’t know what they were. The party wasn’t crowded yet, only at half capacity.

  “Oh, look, there’s Jay!” Veronica dashed straight to the deejay booth and bounced on the balls of her feet. “Excuse me, sir, can I request a song?”

  Jay stood and looked down over the tall barrier. He pulled off his headphones.

  “Wussup? You girls ready to party or what?”

  I put on a closemouthed smile while Veronica let out a little, “Whoot!”

  “I got you guys,” said Jay, putting one side of the headphones against his ear. “This one’s for you, Roni.”

  She hollered when her song came on, and dragged me out to the dance floor, which was too bright and empty for my comfort.

  Jay had done a good thing by putting on the popular song, because more people came up to dance, and the hotel dimmed the lights in the room. Much better.

  When the song ended I fanned myself with my hands and looked around. Standing at the far wall was a stunning group of people who made me drop my arms to my sides. The Neph were here, and they were staring straight through the crowd at me.

  I gave myself one moment to take in the sight of Kaidan. He wore black dress slacks and a royal blue dress shirt, which made his eye color pop, even from a distance. His tie had abstract blue, black, and silver designs. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and a dangling wallet chain was his only nondressy attribute. He wouldn’t avert his eyes from mine, and I flushed warm, wondering whether he’d watched me dancing.

 
“Is that who I think it is?” Veronica had followed my gaze, and I nodded. She wasn’t too thrilled about his being there, considering the wreck I’d become after seeing him at Halloween.

  “I’m gonna get a drink and go talk to Jay,” Veronica said. “You want something?”

  “Can you get me a water, please? I’m just going to run to the bathroom.”

  In the giant, luxury bathroom I tried to scrub the screaming Xs off my hands, but it wasn’t happening. I angled myself at the corner sink, so as not to draw attention to myself. I felt warm bodies come up behind me and saw the twins reflected in the mirror. Ginger pulled something from her slim purse and set it on the sink.

  “Use this,” she said.

  I squirted the gritty stuff on and used my short nails to rub the skin for several minutes. It stung like heck. When I rinsed it off there were barely shadows of the Xs remaining. It would have to be good enough, because my hands were raw. I patted them with a hand towel and noticed both twins had wristbands, even though they were only eighteen. Oh, that was right; they had fake IDs. Marna must have known what was on my mind, because she reached into her deep cleavage and pulled out another wristband, handing the warm thing to me, which I took with my fingertips.

  “Er, thanks.”

  She laughed and took it back, deciding to put it on me herself.

  “When do you think they’ll get here?” I whispered. Girls were coming in and out of the bathroom, but nobody paid us any attention.

  “Don’t worry about that,” Ginger advised me. “Just work as if they’re always there.”

  “Anna,” Marna said quietly, “do you know, when I had to start working at the age of thirteen, I still couldn’t see them?”

  “You don’t have to talk about that,” Ginger said. Marna looked at her.

  “It’s all right. I want to tell her.” She moved closer so I could hear. “When I turned thirteen, after a year of training and everything I’d learned, I still couldn’t see them. So my father sent for the sons of Thamuz to rid me of whatever innocence I had left.”

  “Duke of Murder.” Ginger whispered the three words as if she were contemplating murder herself.

  “He sent Nephilim?” I asked.

  “Yes, but they’re not like us. They’re ruthless. I wasn’t a virgin, but... no guy had ever hurt me like that. Every time I’d scream or cry they’d hit me. I thought they were going to kill me. And then the spirits came, whispering to me while the sons of Thamuz took turns. I think the worst part was not having my own thoughts to myself. I couldn’t not think about what was happening.”

  I broke away from the sisters and hurried into the large handicapped stall, leaning my weight on the handrail. I’d almost gotten sick while Marna told her story. I yanked off some toilet paper and dabbed under my eyes. I’d sworn to myself I wouldn’t be caught crying tonight. It was too dan-gerous.

  The twins followed me into the stall. Ginger pulled the door closed and latched it. Marna stroked my hair and then my cheeks, and I allowed myself one last shudder before pulling it together.

  “I only told you all that so you could be prepared,” Marna said. “They’re going to say things to you, and you have to ignore them. You can’t let them get to you. Keep your cool and try to pretend those voices are just an annoying telly program with the volume too high. They can’t hurt you unless you let them. I let them, and I don’t want you to make the same mistake.”

  My mouth had gone dry. I took the image of sweet thirteen-year-old Marna and tucked it into the back of my mind. Right now, I could not afford to think about anything that would make me want to bawl. Marna hugged me, rubbing the silky material of my dress on my back.

  “So... that girl you were dancing with?” Marna shifted on her heels, not continuing.

  “That’s Veronica,” I said, swiping under my eyes one last time. “Do you see a bond with her and Jay?”

  “No, but they weren’t standing close enough. Come on, let’s go back in.”

  My hands stung as we left the bathroom, a reminder of things to come. Entering the ballroom, Ginger left us to begin working, but Marna stood with me. The demons hadn’t shown yet.

  I was anxious to use Marna’s skill to see what was up with my two friends. We spotted them at the deejay booth. Jay had the earphones around his neck, and he leaned on his forearms to watch Veronica. She was being her usual flirty self, making big hand gestures as she talked.

  Marna crossed her arms, frowning.

  “Uh-oh, what’s wrong?”

  At the sound of my question she snapped out of it, uncrossing her arms and shrugging.

  “Nothing, there’re just a lot more people here now. The bonds can get... fuddled.”

  “So you can’t see anything?”

  “They’re... attracted.” Well, darn, was that it? You didn’t need superhuman bond-seeing capabilities to know they were attracted. I was hoping for something more.

  “We’ll have a drink together later,” she said to me, and with a wink she headed back to her sister. I went to the deejay booth and stood there for a moment, not wanting to interrupt. Jay and Veronica were so absorbed in their talk they didn’t notice me. Jay studied her and she seemed to blossom under his attention. Only attraction? Really?

  Veronica turned, startled to see me, and laughed.

  “Oh, my gosh, this boy is too much.” She reached up to smack at his arm, but he grabbed her hand, and when they looked at each other... badda bing. Pink. A tinge of dark fuchsia swam up between their auras as they slowly pulled their hands apart. Jay and Veronica’s guardian angels regarded each other with a nod, pleased.

  I wanted to cheer, but instead grabbed my water from the ledge, giving myself an excuse to look away. As I sipped, I saw Marna by a table, watching. She smiled at me, but it was more forced than usual. Then the smile fell away and she stiffened.

  I couldn’t see them, but I knew they were there. Right behind me. The whisperers had arrived, bringing with them a feeling of spiders crawling up my back. I gathered my wits and strode away from my two friends and their sweet moment. I’d never felt more separate from them.

  I knew what I had to do. I went straight to the bar.

  As I walked through the crowd, I forced myself not to run, screaming, from the sensation that an ax murderer was stalking behind me. The urge to turn and gauge the danger was strong, but not as strong as my fear of what I’d actually see.

  I got to the bar as a couple was walking away with their drinks. The bartender looked me over, pushing thick blond hair off his forehead. My heart still pounded with unhealthy force.

  “What can I get you?” he asked, leaning on the bar top toward me.

  I pondered the row of beer bottles on display and pointed to a light one. His eyes went to my wristband.

  “You don’t look twenty-one,” he said in a friendly way, popping off the cap.

  “Yeah, I know.” I accepted the cold bottle he offered. Then I fished a bill out of the small black purse flung across my body, resting against my hip.

  I wondered whether the whisperers were watching.

  “Thanks. No change,” I said, handing it over. He took it, but didn’t move away from me.

  I felt like I should make small talk with the bartender. He also appeared to be thinking of something to say.

  “He’s thinking of inviting you to his room.” A deathly chill zipped jaggedly up my spine at the sound of the scratchy voice in my head. Going with my first instinct, I tipped the bottle up and took a long drink of it. Yech. I didn’t like the taste of beer, but at least it didn’t burn like fire. The demon laughed in my ear and it seemed to echo though my skull.

  “He likes the look of your lips on that drink. Do it again.”

  Sick, sick, sick. I wanted to scream at it to get out of my head. I lifted my chin and drank, not stopping until the bottle was empty. The guy stared at me with a red flurry of lust surrounding him. He picked up the empty bottle and chuckled, tossing it in the wastebasket and pulling a new
one from the cooler.

  “That was beautiful,” he said. “Here. This one’s on me. I’m Trevor, by the way.”

  I accepted it and managed not to recoil at the disgusting chatter of the demon in my ear, telling me to keep going as it sidled away from me, over to the bartender, and circled him.

  Normally, two single people flirting was not a bad thing. But this demon wanted me to make Trevor stumble, to make him focus on the physical and ultimately suffer. It wanted the bartender to burn with lust. It wanted him to screw up on his job. The whisperer made something as innocent as flirting feel wrong. I knew it was time for me to say something to Trevor, but my eyes started to sting, threatening tears. Do not get emotional!

  “You’ve got pretty eyes,” Trevor said. “Shiny.”

  The demon chortled. “Romeo needs to work on his pickup lines. Boring.”

  “Thanks, I’m Anna.” I needed to flirt. I lifted the corners of my mouth and moved some hair forward with a flip of my hand. “Are you working here all night?”

  “Yep, until one. Then who knows? Should be plenty to do around town after that.”

  “I’ll bet,” I said.

  Now what? Should I, like, wink at him or something? Flirting with strangers might not have been my forte, but drinking definitely was, and he liked that. I took another long, cold gulp, and relaxed as the first beer hit my system and kicked things into gear. Oh, shoot, I forgot to get the time. I twisted my wrist until the silver watch was in place. Nine twenty.

  A group of people came up to the bar next to me. The bartender took their orders, but he kept glancing back at me. I waved with my fingers in that coy way I’d seen girls do to Jay. I felt dumb, but he grinned and swiped his hair aside, sporting a steady stream of red in his aura.

  I left the bar, wondering what the heck I was going to do now, and walked straight into the grisly shadows of two demon whisperers. Even though I couldn’t feel them, I shivered with revulsion as I rushed through the vapors.

  The party was coming to life now, and the deejay was on the mic, making announcements and getting everyone riled with his electric excitement. I stopped amid the moving bodies, acutely aware of being followed. Over at the deejay booth, Jay scrambled around, organizing things for his boss. I couldn’t see Veronica anywhere.