Shadows

by Amy Meredith

  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.

  ‘Defin
itely,’ 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.

  Eve kept an eye out for Mal, but so far she hadn’t seen him even once. Not that it was easy to find anyone. The entire high school was here, along with some of the kids who went to school in the city and only came back to the Hamptons for the weekends. Plus their friends. Eve had never seen so many people at an off-season party before. Everyone is as interested in the rock god’s mansion as I was, she thought. She just hoped they weren’t all as interested in Mal! Not that she was afraid of a little competition. She had Jess as her personal stylist, and she looked awesome!

  ‘So, Seth …’ Jess stretched out her legs and crossed her ankles.

  ‘Get in here, Eve!’ Matt, Bet’s most recent ex, yelled from the pool.

  ‘Maybe later,’ Eve called back. She crossed her ankles too, mostly so she could admire her shoes. ‘I’ve seen Luke hanging out with Seth and Andy Fowler in the cafeteria at school,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘So I figure we can use Luke to get you to Seth. If Seth sees Luke acting like you’re a viable girl, I’m betting Seth will realize you’re not anywhere close to ten any more.’

  Eve and Jess bumped fists. ‘You think Luke will do it?’ Jess asked.

  ‘He’ll be so happy to be rescued from Bet that he’ll do anything we want,’ Eve promised.

  But first they had to find him. Luke wasn’t at the billiards table Mal had had installed since Eve’s visit. He wasn’t playing Twister. James brought Twister to every party, and at some point started trying to talk people into turning it into the strip version. It never worked, but regular Twister was usually a big hit.

  Luke wasn’t playing Texas Hold ’Em in the kitchen. He wasn’t dancing. He wasn’t on one of the first-floor landings or in line for one of the bathrooms.

  ‘Hey, Kyle,’ Eve called, spotting her lab partner. ‘Have you seen Luke around?’

  Kyle grinned. ‘Haven’t seen Luke. Haven’t seen Bet.’ He pressed one finger to his lips. ‘I wonder what they could possibly be doing?’

  Eve rolled her eyes. ‘An hour ago he was hoping she wouldn’t be here tonight.’

  Jess laughed. ‘Luke’s a bad, bad boy.’

  ‘Seriously,’ Eve agreed. ‘He could give the demons some competition.’

  Chapter Sixteen

  ‘Forget this. I’m going to make my signature daiquiris,’ Jess said after five more minutes of Luke-hunting. ‘Want one? I bet Shanna’s found something I can use to give them a little kick.’

  ‘Of course I want,’ Eve said. Jess’s mint daiquiris were to die for.

  As her friend headed over to the bar that had been set up near the billiards table, Eve wandered back outside. She wanted to find Mal at least for a minute and tell him how great the party was. Make that she wanted to find Mal – period. And she wanted to find that bad, bad boy Luke. Eve knew that Jess still wanted him to assist with showing Seth how all-grown-up she was, although Eve was confident her friend could handle that on her own.

  She stopped to talk to Jane Santini, Graham Miller and Rowan Hadel. They were deconstructing last week’s episode of Fringe. Eve wasn’t that into the show. Although she thought maybe she should start watching it more. Her life had gotten as bizarre as anything on Fringe. Maybe it could give her a few pointers for dealing.

  A deep growl ripped her attention away from the conversation. She whipped her head towards the sound, willing her power to flip on in case she had to do some demon-zapping – and saw Kyle joke-growling at Graham’s sister, Madison. False alarm! At least on the demon front. Kyle charged, sending them both flying into the pool. He came up laughing; Madison came up looking angry enough to growl herself.

  ‘He is about to die,’ Graham commented.

  ‘I’m going to get something to drink,’ Eve told the group. She felt like they should be able to hear her heart pounding, but none of them seemed to notice that anything was wrong. As Eve headed for another bar set up to the left of the diving board, she caught sight of Bet slipping out of the pool house. She paused for a moment, taking out a comb and getting every strand of her asymmetrical bob in place, then continued into the house.

  Huh. Eve took a Fresca from the bartender, but kept glancing at the pool house. If she was right—

  Yep. Here came Luke out of the pool house, looking like he could use a comb – and an iron – himself. Hadn’t he been listening to what she and Jess had told him about Bet? She attached herself to pretty much any guy she was around for more than a minute. Eve had tried to convince her that she didn’t need a boyfriend to be happy, but Bet never seemed to believe it. Eve sighed. She’d thought that Luke was going to put a stop to Bet’s delusion that he was her boyfriend. Instead, he had gone and done Eve-didn’t-want-to-know-what with her in the pool house.

  Which was cruel. It was. He shouldn’t be messing around with Bet when he had no interest – no real interest – in her. And Eve plan
ned to tell him so. She set her drink down on one of the little mosaic-topped patio tables and strode towards Luke. Who was looking way too pleased with himself.

  ‘Excuse me,’ she said, skirting around a couple who had decided to make out by the poolside – probably because the pool house had been occupied. She kept her eyes locked on Luke. He wasn’t going to get away from her.

  But she should’ve been watching her step instead. One of Eve’s high heels got caught between two of the patio paving stones. She tried to take a step, her foot stayed where it was … and ouch!

  Eve gasped as a sharp pain shot through her ankle. Her foot was stuck in place, and she was falling sideways. Towards the pool.

  Eve shut her eyes, preparing to hit the water – or the hard patio. But instead of falling down, she felt herself suddenly swept up into the air. Surprised, she opened her eyes and saw Mal’s face mere inches from hers. It took her a second to realize that Mal had caught her and stopped her fall.

  He didn’t put her down. Instead he carried her towards the house. Eve decided to just enjoy, and wrapped her arms around his neck. She smiled at Luke as Mal walked past him. Luke gave a pointed look at Eve’s shoes. She knew he was thinking they were ridiculous. But she didn’t care what he thought about anything. At least not right now. She was busy thinking about how much fun it was to have her own knight in shining armour. Actually, Mal was wearing a very nice button-down shirt, which was even better, because if he’d been wearing armour it wouldn’t have been nearly as comfortable to be cradled against his chest. His warm, broad chest.

  Mal gracefully manoeuvred her inside and through the crowded rooms, ignoring the grins and catcalls they were getting, then carried her up the stairs and into a small study. His parents had added some furniture there too, including an antique French sofa. Gently he lowered Eve down onto it.

  Eve felt self-conscious now that she was all alone with him. ‘Thanks, um …’ She scoured her brain trying to remember another ‘Mal’ name from the list she’d looked at online. ‘Malik.’