Original Sin

silent halls, hoping no one questioned her. The nice thing about Santa Louisa was that it was a smallish town with small-town mentalities. No metal detectors at the doors, no campus cops, no one particularly concerned about someone walking the halls between classes.

But the downside of a small town was that everyone knew everyone, and Moira was a stranger. Worse, she didn’t know how far the tentacles of Fiona’s coven extended, and people she didn’t know might know her. She was always wary of Fiona’s human spies.

She walked around the halls looking for any sign of witchcraft, or the lingering stench of sulphur that demons left in their wake. Slowly by the lockers, breathing deeply at each narrow vent, seeking the subtle aromas of herbs and plants that might tell her someone was practicing witchcraft-or was hexed. Moira didn’t know if they would be the next victims of the demon or if they were protected from what they’d brought forth. But each person was a possible lead for her to find Fiona.

She’d passed by several lockers that were suspect, but one stood out as if it glowed with a big neon sign: witch.

She glanced around. Heart racing, she took out her pick and popped the lock in less than three seconds, though it felt like three minutes.

It was myrrh that she smelled, fresh and potent. On the inside of the locker was a symbol Moira knew well from her youth-it went with a spell for popularity. As if to reiterate the fact, she found a turquoise charm hanging in the back.

She quickly went through the books. The locker belonged to Ari Blair, student body president. In notebooks were doodles of witchcraft tables, and another notebook was the beginning of her own grimoire.

And there was an address book.

The bell rang; Moira pocketed the address book and shut the locker, walking away with purpose, as if she belonged.

No one stopped her, no one commented. She walked right out of the school, toward where she’d parked Jared’s truck.

Shit!

A sheriff’s car was parked in front of his truck and Hank Santos, Jared’s father, was looking in the windows. Moira turned and walked in the opposite direction. She didn’t know what was going on, but she wasn’t going to waste time finding out-or risk going to prison.

But dammit, she needed a car! Maybe she could just wait a few minutes and he’d be gone.

She found a place on the far side of the main school building where she could stand among the trees and still see Jared’s truck without being exposed. She went through Ari’s address book, hoping there was information she could use to find Fiona or Garret Pennington.

THIRTY

Serena was taking a huge risk showing up at Santa Louisa high school, but Nicole Donovan was hysterical and hysterical witches did stupid things. Like Elizabeth Ellis’s rant this morning to Fiona. Elizabeth was lucky to be alive and breathing. Nicole would be lucky to be alive by the end of the night.

Nicole had third period free, so Serena waited until her students left the classroom before slipping in and locking the door behind her. She’d seen a police car out front. Probably not the sheriff, but Serena didn’t want to take too many chances. Skye McPherson was one of the few people who might be able to identify her-if she looked close enough.

“Ari drove off with Jared Santos!” Nicole exclaimed in a loud whisper. “That can’t be good. We have to find her.”

“That’s why you called and demanded that I come here?”

“Yesterday Ari was on edge, and did you hear that her boyfriend died?”

Serena hadn’t heard, but she acted nonchalant. In truth, she was concerned because the death was unusual. She hadn’t been able to decipher the entire Conoscenza but she knew the Seven behaved differently. Their coven was protected, but what about those they associated with?

Instead, she told Nicole, “That doesn’t concern us.”

“Yes it does! I heard that the sheriff brought Anthony Zaccardi to the morgue with her. Everyone is talking about Chris Kidd’s death. He collapsed, bleeding from both ears. The secretary died in a car crash going seventy miles an hour. The librarian committed suicide! No one knows what is happening, but now people are talking about the cliffs, about Abby, about strange things they’ve seen. We can’t keep this a secret! Someone’s going to find out and-”

Serena laughed. “You think that the average person in Santa Louisa is going to believe that demons are on the loose? And why do you think they had anything to do with those deaths?”

“They had to.”

Serena wasn’t going to fuel Nicole’s panic, though she agreed. No one had successfully brought forth all seven of the Seven Deadly Sins at one time, and when a coven had summoned one of them, it was under tight control, and returned as soon as they completed the ritual. What Fiona had planned was far grander in scale, to not only summon the Seven, but to keep them trapped in the arca instead of sending them back to Hell. The possibilities were endless.

“We have a plan, and we will succeed,” Serena said. “Tonight. Either you’re with us one hundred percent, without hesitation, without doubt, or you’re out.”

And Nicole knew damn well what being out meant.

“It’s on tonight? Where?”

“You’ll know in time. But until then-keep your mouth shut.”

“What if Cooper shows up again?”

“He’ll be there.” Serena smiled. “He’s no longer a threat.”

A knock on the door surprised both of them. “I have to get that,” Nicole said. “It’s open period, and I don’t want any rumors going around. There’re too many as it is.” Nicole walked to the door and unlocked it.

Sheriff Skye McPherson stood there. “Ms. Donovan? Do you have a minute?”

“Is this about Abby? Poor girl.”

“No, it’s about your neighbor, Ned Nichols, if you have a minute.” Skye glanced at Serena and gave a slight, inquisitive nod. Serena responded in kind. She wasn’t going to speak. Some people remembered faces easier, some people remembered voices. And while Serena had changed her appearance back to her usual self, she couldn’t change her voice. Even though it had been more than two months, Serena wasn’t taking any chances.

Nicole shook her head. “I heard about it on the news. It’s so hard to believe that he could do something like that.”

Serena didn’t need to listen to this, nor did she want Skye McPherson to spend too much time studying her. She waved good-bye to Nicole, nodded to the sheriff, and walked out of the classroom as Skye asked Nicole when she’d last seen her neighbor.

The halls were deserted. Serena was thankful she’d never had to suffer through school.

She left the building by the side door, then started down the path to the sidewalk and toward her car.

The crystal in her pocket vibrated and burned so hot she yelped out loud, stunned. She’d almost forgotten she’d brought the blood demon with her.

Something was not right.

Serena slowed her stride, moved off the sidewalk and into the trees that lined the road. She willed herself to be camouflaged, murmuring a concealment spell to surround her. The fog had lifted, but the gray sky cast odd light and dark shadows around her, as if the world were black-and-white.

She pulled out the crystal, holding it carefully between her thumb and forefinger. It was glowing, pulsating. She’d never seen this happen before, and for a brief moment she thought that the demon was about to escape. That wouldn’t be good; he’d be one pissed-off demon. She needed to send him back before that happened. She could do it alone, and was about to begin the incantation when she saw movement from the corner of her eye.