by Amy Meredith
‘I am a Prince of Hell!’ Mal shouted. ‘I am Malphas, the new ruler of this Earth.’
It felt like Eve had swallowed the sun. All its light. All its yellowy goodness. Her power was a sun inside her. ‘Malphas. That is one stupid name,’ she told Mal calmly. She had no doubt left. She could do this.
Eve let her power fly. The bolts that burst from her fingers looked like molten gold, and they sizzled as they streaked towards Mal. He gave a scream of agony when they pierced his chest. Before the sound faded, all that was left of Mal was smoke – smoke that quickly dissipated, leaving the air crisp and clear. Eve took as deep a breath as she could, filling herself with the cleansing air.
‘It’s over,’ she whispered. ‘I think it’s really over.’
As the last word left her mouth, the floor began to shake. A crash came from behind her. Eve looked over her shoulder and saw that the mantelpiece of the massive fireplace had fallen to the ground.
‘We have to get out of here!’ Luke yelled. ‘Help me with Jess!’
The floor lurched under Eve’s feet as she raced towards her friends. She grabbed Jess’s hand and jerked her out of the way of a beam that had cracked in half, plunging towards them.
Luke took Jess’s other hand, and they ran from the house, pulling Jess along with them.
‘Keep going!’ Eve panted. ‘Get off the property!’
At the end of the driveway they stopped and turned back. Eve stared at the mansion in the moonlight. Pieces of the railing around one of the balconies rotted away in seconds. Bricks began to crumble from the closest chimney. A window fell out of its frame, and through the hole, Eve could see a tall stone arch. The style was gothic and didn’t match the rest of the place.
‘It’s going back …’ Jess whispered, blinking rapidly, coming out of her trance of fear. ‘It’s going back to how it was before Mal and his family moved in. Before they renovated it.’
‘He didn’t have a family,’ Eve said. ‘It was just him and his demons.’
‘But I met his brother at the party,’ Jess said.
‘It was one of the demons. I’m sure of it,’ Eve told her. ‘They can take on different forms – like the forms of the guys who attacked me.’
The perfectly cut grass near the ruins of the mansion sprouted, and tangled weeds sprang up. In seconds, the garden was as wild and unkempt as it had been before the renovation.
‘You did it.’ Jess squeezed Eve’s hand. ‘You destroyed the demons. They’re gone.’
‘I couldn’t have done it without you. I—’ Eve was interrupted by the sound of dozens of birds cawing. Crows streamed out of the dovecote as if released from a prison. They flew off in different directions, black wings glistening silver in the moonlight.
‘I always knew you could do it,’ Luke told her.
‘I almost didn’t! Mal was pure evil,’ Eve said. ‘But I felt so drawn to him. How could I like someone so evil?’
‘Speaking of which – I can’t believe you two thought I was him, the demon.’ Luke shook his head. ‘I’m such a nice boy.’
Eve laughed at the sudden change of subject. ‘Well, you’re a player,’ she said. ‘If you hadn’t gone around kissing anything female you could get your hands on, we wouldn’t have suspected you.’
‘True!’ Jess exclaimed, sounding as relieved as Eve felt to be talking about something so normal. ‘You even kissed Shanna’s mom!’
‘Oh, come on! I did not kiss Shanna’s mother!’ Luke protested.
‘According to a couple of football players you did,’ Eve said.
‘Well, they were lying,’ Luke answered.
Lying, Eve thought. Mal lied about everything, all the time. And suddenly it made sense. ‘I know what happened. Mal started the rumour,’ she explained. ‘He overheard me and Jess talking about how we thought you were the demon—’
Luke let out a theatrical groan.
‘Yeah, I know, I know,’ Eve said. ‘But, anyway, he overheard us. I know he did, because he said something about brooches on boots – which is a comment Jess made in the same conversation.’
‘I like!’ Jess volunteered. ‘But it’s a look only the funky can pull off.’
‘So Mal knew we suspected Luke, and he decided to make sure we believed Luke was the demon by starting the rumour about Luke and Shanna’s mom,’ Eve said. ‘He plays football. He knows those guys. You know how everyone at school loves rumours. Mal knew I’d hear it fast.’
‘That’s just so wrong.’ Luke jammed his hands into his pockets. ‘Shanna’s mom? She’s old enough to be my mother. I would never have kissed her. Yuck.’
‘Sorry,’ Eve murmured. ‘I was so wrong. About everything.’ She didn’t know what else to say; how to even begin to make it up to Luke.
‘Yeah, sorry,’ Jess added.
‘I can see how the mistake could have been made,’ Luke admitted, with a grin. ‘I mean, you were looking for someone who’d kissed a bunch of girls, and I am very attractive. I can hardly keep the females off me. But that’s not a demonic power. It’s pure me.’
They all laughed, standing in front of the ruins of the mansion. It’s over, Eve thought. That’s all that matters. It’s over.
‘Wow,’ Luke said as he, Eve and Jess started down the wooden steps to the beach. It had been transformed. A row of gauzy tents stretched out in front of them. Illuminated from within, the large tents looked like giant stars.
‘Oooh, I see Regis. One point for me!’ Jess called out.
Eve and Jess had a game they played at big Hamptons charity events like this one. They each tried to be the first to spot one of the A-listers who always came, like Regis Philbin, Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Tommy Hilfiger and Martha Stewart. The charity of the night was HEART, the equine ambulance that provided transport for ill or injured horses. Deepdene hosted a ball on the beach every year for the cause.
‘Brad and Angelina, and one, two, three kids. That’s thirteen for me,’ Eve announced. Luke raised his eyebrows. ‘The scoring system is very complex,’ she told him. ‘We’ll try and teach you.’
Fast footsteps came down the steps behind them. Eve tensed, then reminded herself that she was safe. Deepdene was safe.
‘I am going to dance until dawn. Make that noon,’ Megan exclaimed as she caught up to them.
Eve smiled so wide she felt like she’d strained a jaw muscle.
‘Megs, you’re here!’ Jess wrapped her friend in a hug.
‘Of course. It’s a party,’ Megan answered as Eve hugged her too.
She looked so good. She sounded so normal. She’d had a miraculous cure at Ridgewood. All the demon victims had. Within moments of each other, within moments of Mal’s death, they’d all come to themselves, the madness leaving them. Eve had a theory. She thought those brilliant splotches of light Mal had vomited up were the souls he had taken. As soon as they were freed they’d flown back to their owners.
‘Where do we start?’ Luke asked when they reached the bottom of the steps.
‘Let me give you the rundown,’ Jess said. ‘Tent at that end – Jimmy Buffett playing for the old people. Death Cab for Cutie in the tent at the other end. Bet told me she was getting here early to stake out a spot right in front of the stage. She’ll have to slug it out with Rose, though, she’s an insane Cutie fan too. Anyway, good to see them both back to normal. Now, where was I? Items for the silent auction there.’ She pointed. ‘Food there.’ She pointed again. ‘Although someone’s always passing titbits and drinks around.’
‘Me-gan, Me-gan, Me-gan!’ several guys down by the surf chanted.
‘I think I’ll start over there,’ Megan said. ‘See you in the Cutie tent later.’
‘Let’s check out the auction stuff before the band starts playing,’ Jess suggested. ‘I heard there’s a Kim Vo appointment up for grabs.’
Luke raised his eyebrows again. ‘Hair stylist to the stars,’ Eve explained. ‘I’m not going to tell you how much his going rate is. Tonight is not the night for lect
ures,’ she joked. She waved at Belinda, who was dancing between two of the tents, a glow stick in each hand. It’s not that she was really even friends with Belinda. But it was so good to see her. It was so good to see everybody.
‘How did you do it?’ Kyle called out, heading over to them. ‘Seriously, Luke,’ he went on, shaking his head, ‘I am womanless. And you’re here with two of the hottest girls in school. Two.’
‘Just one of us would be an achievement,’ Jess said.
‘True,’ Eve agreed. Like there was anything she wouldn’t do for Luke. She didn’t know if she’d ever be able to make it up to him – for believing he was a demon. He’d forgiven her and Jess, though.
A waiter paused by their group. Eve chose a tiny risotto fritter from the serving platter. When the waiter moved away, she noticed something that made her smile again. She leaned close to Jess. ‘I think Mr Seth Schneider is thinking Luke is a lucky guy too. The way Seth’s looking at you – I think he’s finally figured out you’re not ten,’ she murmured.
Jess gave a gleeful squeal. Eve smiled again. She thought she’d probably smile more tonight than she had in her whole life. The people of her town were all around her. She’d saved them.
But did you really kill Mal? Or just send him back to hell? The question whispered through Eve’s mind. It often did, because if she hadn’t killed him, he might be able to find a way out.
As if her thoughts had conjured it, Eve caught a whiff of wood-smoke. She shivered.
Luke noticed. ‘You cold, Evie?’
Nobody called her Evie except Jess. She liked the way it sounded when Luke said it.
‘I’m fine,’ Eve told him.
It’s not like wood-smoke was this hugely unusual smell. It really wasn’t. In fact, she was pretty sure Calvin Klein had a perfume that smelled a bit like wood-smoke. That smell didn’t mean Mal was nearby. It didn’t even mean that a different demon had arrived in Deepdene.
It really didn’t mean that.
Did it?
Table of Contents
Cover
Title
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
