by Jus Accardo
I flipped my phone to vibrate—Mom had a thing about the cell ringing in the middle of a job—and hammered on the door. A moment later, an elderly woman appeared.
“Are you from the pound?”
“The pound?”
Lukas stood tall and squared his shoulders. “We’re here to slay your dem—”
I slapped my hand over his mouth.
A man stepped up behind her. “Yeah, Mom. These are the animal control people. I called them, remember? About Mr. Winkie? He’s very sick…”
Mr. Winkie? Mom had assigned me to exorcize a demon named Mr. Winkie? That was just insulting…
The old woman frowned, then nodded and smoothed a hand over her snow-white hair. She held the door open, expression sad, and said, “Oh, yes. Please see that he doesn’t suffer? He was my husband’s dog…”
The man gently nudged the old woman aside and waved us in. “Thank you for coming so quickly. My father’s dog is—we think it has—rabies.” The man gave me several awkward winks that I guessed were code for My mother doesn’t know the doggie is possessed, can we keep it that way?
I took the hint and glanced over at the woman. “I’m so sorry about your dog. We’ll make sure he doesn’t feel a thing.”
She nodded and hobbled from the hall into the kitchen.
“My cousin suggested I call you. She said you helped her once with—” he swallowed and leaned forward, peanut butter laced breath puffing out across my face, “—a ghost.”
Since we obviously didn’t advertise our supernatural cases, most of our Otherworlder clients came to us through referral. Luckily, my family had been doing this a long time so there was no shortage of them—which was a good thing.
“Where is—” I took a deep breath and forced the words out, “Mr. Winkie?”
The man pointed down the hall.
Setting down my bag, I pulled out the Fairy Dust. Next came an empty spray bottle, which I handed to the man. “Fill this halfway with warm water. Not hot, not cold.”
He nodded and dashed from the room as a horrible wail split the air.
If I had to guess, Mr. Winkie wasn’t happy to see us.
Lastly, I pulled a set of spongy earplugs from a small satin pouch. Normally, I would have flipped on my iPod and cranked up the volume. I usually went with Beethoven for exorcisms, Bach for ghosts, and Sick Puppies for information digs. But since I’d rushed this morning, the player was still sitting on my nightstand.
The man returned with the water and pointed to the door at the end of the hall. “It’s in the last room on the left.”
“I have to warn you that the chances of saving the dog are slim.” It was much harder—nearly impossible—to salvage a possessed animal compared to a human. People had more to hold on to. Families, friends, material things… Animal minds were simpler and therefore far more frail. It sucked, but barely one in ten animal possessions had a happy ending. “How long has he been this way?”
The man hesitated, then looked back toward the door. “My father died a few weeks ago. We noticed a change shortly after.” He looked uncomfortable, fiddling with the coins in his right front pocket. “It’s—it’s okay if you can’t save him. The dog will just remind her of Dad anyway. Make things harder, ya know?”
Wow. What a humanitarian. I turned away from him and looked to Lukas. He wasn’t going to be fascinated with this in a few minutes. Motioning for him to follow, I started toward the room. When we came to the door, I put the ear plugs in and said, “You’re gonna want to cover your ears.”
I turned the knob and pushed it open. Disaster. That was the only word that came to mind. A twin-sized mattress laid overturned and shredded in the far corner of the room, springs poking obscenely through the top. The curtains hung in tatters, their edges blackened and smoldering. I took a step forward and something crunched beneath my feet. Glass. On the far side of the room, a full-length antique mirror laid in pieces on the floor.
Playtime was over.
Pulling the vial of Fairy Dust from my pocket, I tipped it into the spray bottle full of water. It fizzed and sizzled for a moment before turning the appropriate shade of violet. Cap tightly back in place, I looked around the room.
Nothing.
“Are you sure it’s in here?” Lukas scanned the room with a disappointed expression. He let his hands slip from his ears and took another step inside. When nothing jumped out at him, he picked up the edge of the mattress and peered underneath.
I took a deep breath and tried not to gag. “Smell that? Sulfur. It’s in here.”
As if on cue, a low growl rose from the wreckage. A moment later, in a puff of inky black smoke, the dog popped into view. Squat legs and tall, pointy ears, the dog was beige and white with a stubby tail.
A corgi. The demon had possessed a corgi.
“Here puppy, puppy,” I said, waving the spray bottle. “Time to go home.” Pressing the lever down, the quartz mixture spritzed toward the dog. Winkie was fast, though. He snarled and leapt out of the stream with time to spare. “Dammit!”
In a beige and white blur, the corgi streaked across the room. When I caught sight of him again, he was crouched on top of a small wooden dresser by the door.
“Absum ex meus os potissimus abyssus.” Spray bottle ready, I took a step forward.
The dog jumped from the dresser and shot across to the other side of the room.
“Stand still or I’m going to neuter you!”
He responded by letting out a hair curling growl—and disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
“It’s gone!” Lukas breathed, darting to where the dog had vanished. He nudged a pile of sheets with the toe of his shoe.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” I tossed my bag to him. Holding the bottle out, I pressed the handle and started spinning in a circle, blanketing everything in a wash of water. “Per putus sal salis of orbis terrarum, EGO transporto vos tergum ut diabolus regnum.”
Another growl. Then a very undog-like yelp.
“Absum ex meus os potissimus abyssus.”
With a hiss, Winkie reappeared on the ruined mattress, lips pulled back to reveal several rows of black, razor teeth. Hackles up, it charged.
I didn’t have time to react. One minute it was on the mattress, the next it was flying through the air—straight at my head.
With more force than you’d think possible, the little demon dog hit me, sending us both to the ground. The spray bottle flew from my hand and rolled out of reach, skittering to a stop when it hit the wall. I was on my back, the dog perched on my chest, just staring. Neither of us moved.
“What should I do?” Lukas whispered. There was a hint of panic in his voice.
“Whatever you do, stay calm.”
The dog cocked its head back and forth, probably trying to decide what part of me to chomp first. A finger or chunk of shoulder. Maybe a tasty nose.
I had no desire to find out, because really, I liked my nose fine right where it was. Slowly, I extended my arm in the direction the bottle had bounced. “Try to kick the spray bottle over.
Lukas took a step to the right. The dog’s head swiveled at a wholly unnatural angle and it growled.
“Okay—bad idea.”
Mr. Winkie must have agreed, because he chose that moment to shoot forward…
And drool on me.
Warm drops of thick, foul smelling slime trailed down my cheek and neck as the thing’s ragged tongue covered my face.
“Oh my God! Get it off! Get it off!” Last year, I’d been bitten by a demon dog and it had been like losing a limb—but this was a thousand times worse. Its saliva was sticky and smelled like rotting fish. After a few attempts, I managed to push the dog off and stumble to my feet.
In a black plume, the dog disappeared. A moment later, he popped up crouched on the ground by the door, stubby tail whipping back and forth. It stretched forward, toes flexing and backside waving in the air, and gave a playful arf.
Lukas dropped my bag to the floor. “Did
that thing just—”
I looked down the front of my shirt and cringed. Covered in slime. Fantastic. I’d have to rock slime-chic the rest of the day because I wouldn’t have enough time to run home and change.
“Where did the demon go?”
I sighed. The smell of sulfur was already fading. “It’s gone.” Craptastic was an understatement. Today was shaping up to be an epic fail.
I probably shouldn’t have taken the client’s money—I hadn’t actually exorcized the demon since it’d left on its own—but the way I saw it, I’d ruined a good shirt since demon drool stained worse than cooking grease. That had to count for something, right? And I had chased it away, after all…
Digging into my pocket, I pulled out my cell to flip the sound back on. When I unlocked it, I saw there were five new texts and two missed calls. All from Garrett.
Fan-frigging-tastic.
Chapter Fifteen
“Where were you this morning?” Garrett came up behind me as the lunch bell rang. “I was late waiting for you.” He stared at the stain on my shirt. “What happened?”
I slammed the door of my locker. “I told you I probably wasn’t going to make it. And why would you wait for me?”
Glaring at Lukas, he said, “I see you still have your shadow.”
Shadow? Since when did Garrett give a damn who I hung with?
He shrugged and stuffed both hands into his pockets. “Whatever. Can we get a few minutes of stalker-free time? I need to talk to you.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. Right now.”
Five minutes wouldn’t hurt, right? What could possibly happen in five teeny tiny minutes? I turned to Lukas. “You remember where we sat yesterday?”
He nodded once, but never took his eyes from Garrett. Garrett, in turn, glared at him.
“Mind giving us a sec? I’ll meet you in there.”
The second bell rang as Lukas reluctantly headed for the cafeteria. I waited for him to disappear around the corner before turning to Garrett and asking, “Okay, what’s the emerg—”
Without warning, he zoomed in and pressed his lips against mine. I did my best not to gag at the taste of Newports and orange soda, and pushed him away immediately.
“—ency…” I finished, blinking. “What the hell was that?”
A sly smile—the Garrett Girl Charmer, it had been famously dubbed around school. “A kiss.”
“Obviously, but why did it land on my lips?”
“That’s what I need to talk to you about. Us.”
This was not happening. “What are you talking about? We’re not even friends!”
“I think we’d be good together.” He leaned in again, breath tickling my cheek. “I want you to be with me.”
Back pressed against the locker, I sucked in a quick breath. I could face down an entire nest of rampaging harpies, but the idea of brushing off the sudden amorous advances of a sort of friend made me almost pee my pants. Where was the balance in that?
“Aren’t you, like, dating Holly Gillman?”
“I quit her this morning,” he said, voice dark and sweet. He grabbed my hand, thumb stroking circles just below my wrist. His palms were clammy and calloused and scratched my skin in a way that gave me sick chills. “I’ve heard the talk. I know you don’t date—”
“You’ve heard the talk? What talk?”
“The guys—they talk. I told them they were wrong, that you weren’t an icy bitch—”
“Icy bitch?” I didn’t know what pissed me off more. The fact that, apparently, my lack of interest in climbing into the back seat of Harry High Schooler’s Chevy to let him shove his tongue down my throat classified me as icy, or that they’d taken the time to discuss it at length.
“It’s okay. I set them all straight. I told them we’d hooked up.”
Oh. This kept getting better and better. Now I wasn’t just an icy bitch—I was an icy whore.
“I’ve always thought you were a hottie—I just didn’t realize until yesterday how much I wanted us to hook up.” He brushed a strand of hair from my face and tucked it behind my ear. “I know you’re rockin’ the big ‘V.’ It’s cool. I wanna be your first.”
I was usually pretty level headed. A smidge impulsive, but calm in a crisis. At that moment, though, coherent thought ditched. Garrett’s fingers brushing my skin in a so not platonic way turned the bagel I’d scarfed during English to lead in my stomach. I wondered how turned on he was going to be when I yakked all over the front of his shirt.
A bubbling knot of panic formed and the words flew from my mouth before I could stop them. “Sorry. You’re not my type.”
Eyes on mine, his lip twitched and he shook his head. Several seconds of silence passed before he snapped. “I don’t believe this shit!” Letting go of my hand, he began stalking back and forth like a rabid animal.
All I could do was stare because the whole scene was surreal. “Where is this coming from anyway? Since when are you crushing on me? I mean why…” He hadn’t realized until yesterday how much he’d wanted us to hook up… Duh!
Vida. She’d touched Garrett yesterday at lunch. Hit him with her nookie ray or something.
“Wait! I get it now. This is a misunderstanding. You don’t really—”
“Don’t tell me how I feel!” He stopped and whirled on me. Striking out, he slammed the wall next to my head, fist passing so close, it sent my hair fluttering.
To our right, a dangerous growl filled the air and the stench of sulfur drifted down the hall.
Seriously? Today was approaching cataclysm, and I hadn’t even had lunch yet.
Garrett spun around. “What the hell is that?”
“Where is it?” I pushed him away. Mom would kill me if the damn demon doggie I let get away from me started munching on students.
“What is it?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” I slipped to the left, putting some distance between us. God only knew what Mr. Happy Hands would try to grab next. I had no interest in finding out.
Soft plinks filled the air—nails tapping against the tile floor if I had to guess—stopping a few feet away. The growling came again, followed by a foul-smelling breeze. Wonderful. Apparently, in addition to Garrett, I had a demon dog stalker.
Garrett jumped back, flattening himself against the lockers as the blood drained from his face. I held my breath, wishing I hadn’t left my bag—with all my supplies—in the locker. If the thing materialized, I could grab it, but otherwise, I was flying blind. When Garrett didn’t move, the growling faded, along with the smell.
I scanned the hall one last time before accepting the inevitable. He was gone. Hopefully for good this time. “I’m going to lunch.”
“Wait.” Garrett reached for me, but I dodged him.
“No way. We’re not having this conversation right now. Or ever. Trust me—you’ll thank me for this later.”
“I think I love you!”
“No you don’t,” I called over my shoulder, hurrying away from him. Ten steps, give or take. That’s what it took for me to walk from Garrett to the cafeteria. When I rounded the corner, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Pandemonium.
I stepped across the threshold and ducked just in time to avoid a rogue carton of chocolate milk. It smashed into the wall behind me and exploded, sending liquid chocolate missiles in every direction before falling at my feet.
“You slept with him, didn’t you, you whore!” Simone Mills screamed as she launched herself across the table at Kelly Kline—her best friend. The two collapsed to a chorus of enraged screams as the rest of their table ignored them. Simone, being the larger of the two, wound her hand around a chunk of Kelly’s long brown hair and yanked hard. The smaller girl let out a scream loud enough to wake the dead as a portion of the hair pulled free. I reached the girls, pulling them apart just as Simone geared up for another go.
Just beyond them, Jack Harding and Mark Gotten exchanged blows as the crowd around them cheere
d. Mark was clearly winning, having grounded Jack. There was blood trickling from under his nose, and his lip was already starting to swell. To their right, the new math teacher Mr. Hipsey watched the fight with hungry eyes. It was like he was doing all he could not to dive in and join the beat down.
“Jessie!”
It surprised me to see Kendra in the corner next to our normal table. As I walked in, she pointed to the floor underneath it where, tucked in a ball, Lukas was huddled and looking like a raw nerve about to explode.
I raced across the room, dodging flying objects as I went, and skidded to a stop in front of her. “Kendra?”
“I think there’s something wrong with your cousin!” She leaned a little closer, arms folded. “The Seven Deadly Sins, Jessie? Really? You kind of left that part out!”
Cassidy must have told her. I felt guilty, but now wasn’t the time for apologies. “What happened?”
She jumped back as two of the guys from chorus—I couldn’t remember their names—rolled across the floor kicking each other and screaming. “He started shaking, mumbled something about leaving, and poof. Everyone went apeshit. He crawled under there and hasn’t moved.”
“Craps.” I dropped to my knees and grabbed his hands. When he lifted his head, his eyes were blood red. “Lukas, listen to me. You need to calm down.”
Kendra knelt beside me. “Which one is he?”
I gestured to the chaos. “Isn’t it obvious? He’s Wrath—sorta.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Sorta? Do I even want to know what that means?”
“Probably not.”
“And yesterday. The chick that came over to the table. I bet my family’s spell book that was Lust. Am I right?”
I rolled my eyes. Kendra was smart and always there when you needed her, but holy crap was she easily distracted. “I promise I’ll fill you in—for real—later on. Right now, we kinda have a small issue to deal with…”
She blinked, then frowned. “Oh. Right—sorry. What can I do to help?”