Demons (Eirik Book 1)
Page 4
“I didn’t have a choice. Someone had to dampen the ruckus you were causing in there, Banshee. I heard you all the way from class.”
I made a face. “No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did. My Heimdall genes don’t lie.”
Hayden’s obsession with Norse mythology drove me nuts. She claimed her mother was a descendant of the Norse god Heimdall, and if the mighty Heimdall could hear grass grow all the way from his lofty home in Asgard, she could hear anything. Then there was Odin and his all-seeing eye, Thor and his magical hammer… I’d heard it all before the movies.
I wasn’t big on mythology, but fictitious Thor and Loki were too hot to miss. Hayden had dragged me to see The Avengers. By the end of the movie, I’d become a fan. Even though Thor was hot, I was more Team Loki. I was a strong believer in Witches supporting each other, like the Witches Guild (WG)—the outdated organization Grams had staunchly supported over covens. Or maybe it was Loki’s attitude I loved. The man kicked ass with style.
“Heimdall’s what?” I faked ignorance to tick her off and get her off my scent. I had completely forgotten to cast a dampening spell.
“Don’t even try it. For such a powerful Witch, your spells suck.”
“Yeah, let’s go with that,” I murmured and started toward the class.
“Oh no. You didn’t, did you?” Hayden asked from behind me. “Seriously, Celestia!”
I stopped. “A man needed saving, Hayden, and Mr. Dupree had already delayed me. So, yeah, I just locked the damn door and got busy. Besides, I knew you’d take care of things if it became an issue.” I gave her a toothy grin.
She sighed. “You take too many chances. What was it this time?”
“A guy in the bayou was about to be shredded by gators. Or rather he would have been according to my vision, but I got there just in time.”
Her green eyes widened. She really had the most gorgeous eyes ever. I call them eclipse eyes—blue with a fiery ring around the black iris. No, she was gorgeous, period—from her flawless brown skin and curly hair with natural blonde highlights to eyes that changed color with her mood.
We were both Creole, my ancestry more French mixed with Native American. She was the real deal, a blend of every race that made the Creole culture so unique. She’d gotten her coloring from her Haitian father, high cheekbones from her Native American grandfather, unusual eyes from some unknown relative in her gene pool, and everything else from her Irish mother. While I was pretty enough by most standards, guys didn’t act stupid around me like they did around Hayden.
“You hate gators,” she said. “No wonder you look wigged out.”
“Oh gee, thanks. And FYI, meanie, they are just as scary in the AP,” I retorted, using the abbreviation for astral plane. “Come on. I’m sure the class is almost over.”
“Does it matter? You’ve already flunked the test,” she said matter-of-factly, falling in step with me. “Teachers know students guess Cs.”
“Next time, I’ll go for Bs.”
“It’s not funny. I promised you’d ace calculus, and I hate to be wrong.”
Hayden was good at two things—math and computers. No, make that three things. She was amazing with spells. It was like fate decided she should have everything—brains and beauty—and left little for everyone else. If I weren’t a more powerful Witch than she, I’d be so envious of her. Still, there were perks to having her as my best friend.
First, she was an unaligned Witch, like me. That meant we didn’t belong to any coven. The Witches at school were aligned and did a lot of things together. Partying. Hanging out. Studying at school or spells. Grams never believed in covens, and thankfully neither did Hayden’s mom. Second, she was an amazing tutor. I’d aced math throughout high school and was now taking calculus in my senior year because of Hayden. And third, she was an amazing friend.
“Did you finish your test before you came to my rescue?” I asked.
“Yep. It was easy.”
“Show off.”
She scoffed at the idea. “Stating a fact is not showing off. At least I’m not determined to save the world like some people. You do know that adversity creates character.”
“Yeah, boatman would have been gator chow,” I shot back. “Not just be missing a limb.” I couldn’t bring myself to tell her about Mom. No one, except Dad, knew what she’d told me ten years ago. Grams died right after Hayden and her mother arrived in town, but never confided in them. It was kind of weird how fast she’d clicked with Tammy when she’d never trusted other Witches.
“Come on. I’m going to beg Mr. Dupree to let me retake the test, or you could beguile him into doing it. Your mojo never fails to impress.” The bell rang. “Damn! Can you wait for me and give me a ride home? Dad promised we’d fix my car over the weekend, but forgot to get the parts, so it’s still in our driveway with the hood partially open, and I hate to wait for Zack to finish practice.” My cousin Zack went to Windfall High School, which was down the road from my school.
Hayden shrugged. “I can wait. I’ll tell Mom we’ll be late getting to the shop. Better put on those”—she indicated my glasses with a nod—“if you want to keep your contacts story straight.”
I glanced at the case. “Nah. I’m sure I didn’t fool him. Remind me again when I left these at your place?”
“Not at my place. Downstairs at TC last week. I meant to give them to you and kept forgetting.”
Students poured out of the classrooms. As usual, discussion shifted to what people had done over the weekend. It was the same every Monday. They discussed movies, parties, and hookups, but only whispered about spells or coven business. Most of the students in covens hung out with their coven sisters and brothers. Solitary practitioners like me were considered weird. I didn’t care. I had Tammy and Hayden, and my cousin Zack, though he’d rather die than admit he had the gift.
A few smiled and nodded. Or should I say a few smiled at me and nodded at Hayden. She intimidated people. I used to think she did because she was beautiful, but I realized it was the frosty look she gave people. Needless to say, people just assumed she was stuck-up.
She wasn’t. She was the sweetest and kindest person I knew. She and her mother had been through a lot of crap, so she was naturally wary of people. When they first moved to Windfall during our freshman year, Giselle had tried to recruit her to join her entourage, which would have led to joining their coven, but Hayden had gravitated toward me.
Giselle, Rosette La Fontaine, and Corrine Raquet walked past, saw us, and laughed as though sharing a private joke at our expense. I made a face, but Hayden didn’t even glance at them. She was good at ignoring people.
We entered the class to find Mr. Dupree flipping through test papers. “Was it worth it?” he asked without looking up.
I wondered if I could bullshit my way out of this and fake ignorance. Fat chance of that happening. I sucked at lying. “Yes. Can I finish the test? Maybe redo the ones I skipped?”
“No, but you can work on this.” He pulled out stapled papers from inside his folder and slid it across the desk. “Bring it back on Wednesday.”
I flipped through the papers. “Wednesday? There are five pages…” I caught Hayden shaking her head and backed away from Mr. Dupree’s desk. “Thanks, Mr. Dupree. Wednesday it is.”
“And Miss Devereaux?” he called, and I glanced back. “If you don’t learn to control them, they’ll control you.”
Cryptic, but spoken like someone who had no idea how my visions worked. They were unpredictable and often involved someone seriously hurt or dying. I couldn’t put them aside for later just because I was in the middle of a class. If someone needed me, I had to help. We headed to our lockers, grabbed our backpacks, and went toward the school entrance.
~*~
Music swelled and ebbed along the hallways as students disappeared into the rooms for dance, drama, music, and audio tech club. We didn’t have sports teams like Windfall High, but we had amazing performing arts programs.
I was undecided between Loyola and the Uptown—Tulane. My grades, however, hadn’t impressed their admissions offices enough to offer me an academic scholarship. I was an above average student because of my “other activities.” However, being the only daughter of a popular police chief, who might one day run for a higher office, had its perks. College admission was all about what you can offer the school these days.
Outside school, students with no activities rushed to their cars, bikes, or scooters while some headed to the nearby city bus stop. Our charter school wasn’t in the public school system, so no free bus rides. I guess the parents who started the school wanted us tucked away from prying eyes.
“Yo, Celestia,” Phil called. He and Ethan and two other guys were throwing a Frisbee on the east side lawn at the front of the school. He was in music and audio tech club and had dreams of becoming a music producer someday.
I stopped and shaded my eyes with my hands to look at him.
“Sorry for giving you a hard time in class,” he said, his eyes lingering on Hayden. Most guys often did that—talked to me while checking her out.
I shrugged. “It’s no biggie.”
“You guys want to hang out?” he asked, leaving the game and approaching us. Ethan threw the Frisbee to one of the other guys and followed him. Hayden groaned softly beside me. “You know, watch us play some music?”
“Sorry, we have work,” I said.
“How about Friday? Screech is playing over at Red Barn, but I’m deejaying after their performance. My debut.”
“It’ll be bangin’,” Ethan added, trying to be hip.
It would be fun to hang out. I glanced at Hayden, but she was staring straight ahead, her face tense. “We kind of have plans, but if we get done early, we’ll be there.”
“Cool,” Phil said and high-fived Ethan.
“You owe me a dance, Celestia Devereaux,” Ethan said and winked at me. Ethan wasn’t the hottest guy around here, but he had gorgeous blond hair and beautiful green eyes. The problem was he followed Phil like a puppy dog. I had a problem with followers.
“We are not going out with them, are we?” Hayden asked. She made it sound like I’d agreed to date a toad.
“No, silly. You and I are going to Red Barn on Friday, and they’ll just happen to be there. I like Screech and you like their music. You missed them last time they were in town, but not this time.” I grabbed her arm. “The lead singer is Zack’s friend, so we’ll get backstage passes. He also happens to be hot. The drummer is not bad-looking either.” I grinned when she scowled and pulled out her car keys. We’d reached her red Subaru. I slid between her and the door, effectively stopping her from opening it. “You need to go out more, Hayden Ferrand.”
“Oh, please. I don’t.”
“Do, too. I blackmail Zack into taking me along whenever you use working at the shop as an excuse not to go with me. I want my bestie with me next Friday or you are out of my coven.”
“You don’t have a coven.”
“Do too, and you are in it.”
She sighed. “You need to study more spells. You’re turning eighteen in a few months, and you’re far from ready.”
I rolled my eyes and moved around the car to the passenger seat. Grams had taken Tammy, Hayden’s mother, under her wings when they’d arrived in town and instructed her to continue teaching me before she died.
“So? Is eighteen the magic age?” I asked once we were inside the car.
“Yes, because you’ll leave home for college, and I can’t go with you. I mean, my mother can’t go with you.” She started the car and eased out of the parking lot.
“Okay. First, magic is not everything. So yeah, your mom is not following me to college. Second, you’re not going to college?”
“Nope. Been there, done that,” she murmured then threw me a look I couldn’t explain before glaring at the students crossing the street. She pressed on the horn. “Move it, slow pokes. I hate when they bury their noses in their cell phones and completely ignore the world.”
Okay, she was in one of her moods. She really hated socializing. “You know it was only a suggestion. No need to mow down the entire school because of it.”
She threw me an annoyed look. “What are you talking about?”
“Going out Friday night. We don’t have to.”
“Oh, that. I don’t mind. Mom would like to see me go out more. I just don’t want to hang out with those clowns.” She stepped on the gas as we left the school behind and headed toward Windfall High.
“Then it’s on. So what did you mean by been there, done that when I mentioned college?” I peered at her. “You are seventeen, right? Because I’m not seeing gray hair or wrinkles on you.”
She laughed. “Very funny. Remember I told you my father was a professor?”
“Yes.”
“I’d sit in his classes when I was young and get bored out of my skull. I came to the conclusion that college is not for me. Mom needs me to help run the store.”
“Does she know?”
“Oh yeah. She’s not happy about it, but she respects my choice.”
“Damn, I wish she could talk to my dad. He has lofty ideas about my future. Can you imagine him without me? He’d be lost. Probably live on pizza and beer and do laundry once a month.” He just wanted me far away at some fancy college in case Mom returned.
“I’m sure he will be fine. He is a competent officer.”
“Competent?” I turned to face her. “He is an awesome chief. Since he took over, the department has become internationally accredited and crime has dropped exponentially.” Hayden started to laugh. “Shut up! I’m his number one fan. He came up with cop camps for kids, the Booz ’N Cruise & You Lose program for teen drivers, and this summer…” The car swayed as she lost control because she was laughing so hard. “This summer, Movies in the Park is reopening. Yay! My best memories are of me and Dad stuffing our faces at those outdoor movies.”
“Dad and me,” she corrected.
I stuck my tongue at her and faced forward. “Competent, my ass. He’s the best chief Windfall has ever had.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty cool. Some kids were vandalizing our shop, and Mom talked to him. The next thing we knew, he had officers patrolling the block and a camera installed. Stopped the pimply-faced snots.”
Hayden indicated and turned onto the street that ran in front of Windfall High School. Buses were pulling away from the curb, their progress reduced to a crawl because of the sheer number of students also leaving in their cars.
I couldn’t imagine attending this school. It was huge, and I’d be lost and miserable. Junior high had been awkward and hard. I’d attended public school, Riverside Junior High School. Between bodily changes, interest from boys, and visions I couldn’t do anything about prompting hysterical calls to Grams, I would not have made it without Zack.
I recognized a few people from Riverside and smiled. No returned smiles. From the stares, followed by whispers and more stares, they’d heard about me being a Witch. Yeah, whatever. I hadn’t embraced my gifts until graduation from junior high when Giselle had texted a picture of me tranced with a caption under it. A Witch or a druggie? Bitch. So I’d come out. I was a proud Witch now.
Hayden parked closer to the football field, and we got out. The scrimmage was in full swing. We sat on the lowest bench of the bleachers and waited. My phone dinged, and I looked at the message. Dad.
“Dad,” I told Hayden when she glanced my way. I moved away from her and speed-dialed Dad’s number. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hey, kiddo. Is Zack bringing you home, or should I send Davies?”
Officer Davies had been my unofficial driver s
ince Grams died and Dad became the police chief. I watched my cousin showboating. He must have seen Hayden. He was so into her it wasn’t funny. “Hayden is. We stopped by Zack’s school to tell him I’m catching a ride with her.”
“Is pizza okay for dinner?”
“Fine. I’m working at Tammy’s until seven. Can we fix my car sometime this week? Please?”
“Once I get the spare parts.”
I groaned. “We’re planning on going out on Friday and I need my car, Dad. We could check the shop in Slidell.”
“Going where? I have a conference in New Orleans on Friday and Saturday and won’t be home until Sunday.”
Yes! With him out of town, I wouldn’t worry about his officers shadowing me. “Hayden and I were thinking about going to Red Barn. Is that okay?”
“Depends on who you are going with.”
I rolled my eyes. “Really, Dad? Hayden and I can take care of ourselves. And Zack will probably be there.”
“Okay. Curfew is midnight.”
That was easy. Too easy. I frowned at Hayden talking to a couple. She was laughing. Hayden wasn’t the type to smile at strangers, let alone laugh. “No more Davies tailing me, Dad. You promised.”
Silence, then a long sigh that said he’d planned to do exactly that. Davies had cop written all over him. “Everyone knows him, and he completely screwed up my evening last time.”
“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll find the youngest officer, and no one will suspect he is not a teenager.”
The last time the department had a new recruit was ten years ago. All the officers were old and married. At least Davies was nice.
“That’s okay, Dad. I’m okay with Davies. Talk to you later.”
I hung up and went back to join Hayden. The couple she had been talking to was walking away. The guy looked back and nodded, and my jaw dropped.
He was gorgeous with tattoos on his neck and arms, a Goth necklace and studs, and the most amazing violet eyes I’d ever seen on a man or woman. All I saw of the girl was her back, but they both wore black pants, hooded dusters that reached their ankles, and fingerless gloves. I guess Halloween came early—or they were on their way to a Comic Con.