since kindergarten. She should love us by association if nothing else!
Kendra looked uncomfortable. “The coven is scared of this chick. Like, terrified. After Mom went to bed last night, I snuck downstairs to peek at the information she’d found. I didn’t understand it all at first. There were like six names—all with birth and death records. And then I found the pictures.”
“All Meredith,” I confirmed.
Kendra nodded. “Back in the eighteen hundreds, she was strong, but nothing too special. What the Elders today would call a mid-level witch. But in 1882, something changed. Suddenly, her magic was off the charts.”
“Changed? What changed?”
“No clue. The Elders don’t know, either. All I know is that they’re terrified of her.”
Whatever it was didn’t really matter. All that concerned me was getting her to free Lukas somehow. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful you told me, but what will they do if they find out?”
Kendra shrugged, then flashed a sad smile. “What can they do—take away my magic? Big deal. I suck at it anyway.”
I grabbed her hand and squeezed tight. “It won’t always be that way. I think, eventually, you’re going to be badass. Just like Cassidy.”
“That’ll be the day.” She sighed and kicked at a stone. “I’d settle for being able to turn soda to beer.”
“It’ll happen, Ken. I have faith.”
“I’m glad one of us does. I can’t help being jealous. My little cousin Mindy has more juice than I do.” She shook her head. “But, anyway. Time to dish. I wanna know more about your tall, dark sin.”
I couldn’t hold back my smile. “Assuming you mean Lukas.”
She nodded enthusiastically and the tip of one of the horns peeked out from under her blonde curls. “What’s he like?”
There was no need to put any amount of thought into my answer. The response came as naturally as breathing. “He’s annoying and stubborn.”
“So, the perfect match for you, then?”
“Smart ass.” I snickered, punching her lightly in the arm. “He’s also sweet, and under all his stuffy grandpa tendencies, he’s actually pretty funny. Oh. And he’s an amazing kisser.”
“OhMyGod!” I knew that’d get a reaction from her, which is why I saved the tidbit of information for maximum effect. She was hopping up and down like a five-year-old at the toy store. “How could you keep that from me? Spill. Right. Now.”
I giggled, caught up in her enthusiasm. The deepest parts of my mind chided me for it. There was no future with Lukas. A relationship from the box was more long distance than I’d be able to handle. But I wanted this moment with my best friend. For as much as I hated normal, I realized it wasn’t as overrated as I’d been making it out to be. Normal could be just as exciting as
“Amen to that, sistah!”
I don’t know what it was, but something told me to turn around. When I did, I saw we weren’t alone. There was someone behind us. Several someones, actually. And they were getting closer with each step. At first I didn’t think anything of it. It was just group of people walking down the road on a pretty fall day. But as they closed in, it was easy to see just how out of place they were. Girls like that would never be walking down the street in The Pit.
Girls like that would never be
Perfect hair and sky-high skirts, these girls were runway wannabes in stripper chic—and I had no doubt that they were following me.
“Hey,” one of them shouted. “Wait up.”
I didn’t stop. Hell, I didn’t even slow down. I leaned close and grabbed Kendra by the arm. “Don’t turn around. We have company.”
“Company?” she squeaked, letting me tug her along.
“Hey,” the same voice snapped. “I’m talking to you.” She rushed forward and grabbed my arm, spinning me around. Kendra came with me by default.
I flashed her my best innocent smile. The one I used on Mom when she caught me nosing through the filing cabinet at the agency. “Me? Sorry. Totally didn’t hear ya. What’s up?”
There were three of them. All blond and of the Bimbo Bitch school of fashion. Any minute now, I expected to see one of those annoying toy doggies pop its head from each designer purse. Where was Smokey—that’s what I’d started calling my demonic doggie stalker—when you actually needed him?
“I really like your jacket,” the tallest one said. She ran perfectly manicured fingers through her long hair. “Can I try it on?”
I balked, sure I hadn’t heard her correctly. A sidelong glance at Kendra revealed she was just as stumped as I was. “You want to try on my leather jacket?”
She offered me a wolf in sheepskin smile. 100 percent predatory. “Please.”
Kendra folded her arms. “You don’t seem like the leather type.” With a dismissive shrug, she started walking again.
I turned and started after her.
Behind us, three sets of heels clinked the ground in unison.
“That was rude,” one of the others said, jumping out in front of me. She had on a tight white t-shirt that said
“Your friend can buy one of her very own. I hear the biker Barbie look is hot right now.” I wrenched free and took a step back.
“There’s no reason to be a bitch about it,” the original one said. “She’s just being a good friend.” Before I had time to blink, her hand whipped out and caught me hard across the cheek.
“Bitch!” Kendra snapped, slapping the girl right back.
I’d been drooled on by zombies, screamed at by banshees—even peed on by weres—but bitch-slapped by a girl wearing hooker heels and too much makeup?
One of them made a swipe for me, but I dodged her and started to run. Luckily, Kendra took the hint and followed. So did the girls. I had to give them credit. To run—much less keep up—while wearing those shoes was impressive.
I got about eight feet before something rammed me from behind. My knees buckled and I collapsed under the weight of one of the girls. “Give—me—that—”
I jammed my elbow up, aim dead on. The girl let out a howl that would have made a banshee proud. She rolled to the side clutching her face and sobbing. Beside me, Kendra was fending off one of the others.
“Cow!” The shortest screamed as she charged. She grabbed me from behind while the third, having grounded Kendra, jerked on the cuff of my right sleeve.
Even if it hadn’t been one of my dad’s old jackets—even if it’d been a tacky pink blue-light special, I wouldn’t have given it to them. Mom had given me the jacket two years ago. It was worn and way too big, but it’d belonged to my dad. It was some small part of him that I got to keep with me on a daily basis. And sure, he was around right now, but when this was all over, all I’d have was a stupid jacket.
The Three Stooges of Bloomingdales were
I jerked my head back and heard a sickening crunch. There was a slight buzz, but no real pain. Hybrid demon spawn kids didn’t get special super powers—but we were a tad more resilient than normal kids. I’d been known to take a little more of a lickin’ and keep on tickin’.
The blonde at my back screamed and let go. The one tugging on the jacket managed to free my right arm and was working on the left. She had the entire thing in her hands except the left sleeve—which was still on my arm. When she realized I wasn’t going to let go, she hit me again. Put her weight into it, too. Her fist grazed my chin as something sharp sliced into my lower lip. A ring.
Hell in a hailstorm. She
