“You’re well on your way to being Mrs. Nose-picker McEllory,” Thomas says. I glare at him and Ric laughs, too. Connie swats at Thomas. James McEllory. I still couldn’t believe he passed.
Connie drags me toward the three-sided mirror and I can see myself in every direction. It does look good. It hits in all the right places. I don’t even look like me.
I totally want it.
“You’re going to buy it, right?” she whispers in my ear.
I nod slowly, taking in the dress. “Can we get silver shoes?” I ask.
Connie smiles and squeals a little. Sometimes I wonder why she wasn’t born first. She’s better at everything—even at dressing me.
We buy a pair of silver shoes with straps that layer across the top before we walk Ric to the entrance of Hollister. The smell of the perfume is so strong from outside.
“I don’t know how you work in there,” Thomas says.
“A thirty percent discount, that’s how,” Ric says back. He pulls me into a hug. “Hang out after I’m off? Our last night of freedom.”
“Definitely.”
He pulls me to arm’s length and looks at my sister. “Our baby girl is all grown up and going to the ball.”
I slap his arm and he sighs heavily before leaving us to go to work.
The three of us stand there for a moment before I announce, “I need coffee.”
Oh, sweet coffee. I toss in some sugar and add milk until the coffee turns light. It’s only noon and we are done.
Thomas and Connie are ahead talking about something when he pauses and stops in the middle of the food court.
“Do you guys smell that?” Thomas asks. I sniff the air, but it’s only the smell of burned cheese, bad Chinese food, and body odor. At first. Then it’s stronger, rotten.
“Sulfur,” I whisper. Thomas nods. I sniff the air again—it’s faint, masked among all the other scents of Nons, but there.
“If there’s a demon around we have to find it,” Connie says.
Thomas nods. “Yeah. Let’s split up and see if we see anything.” He swipes a handful of salt packets off the counter. Some woman next to him gives him a weird look as he hands us each some. I take it even though I already have some in my necklace. Gran would be proud.
We split up like we’re the Scooby gang, going in three different directions and searching for clues, such as black dust trailing behind Nons like bread crumbs, or stronger whiffs of the sulfur/rotting-eggs smell. Neither are things that Nons notice; the dust looks like dirt to the normal eye, and Nons pass the smell off as a whiff of sewage.
Find the trail, sniff out the demon, and get rid of him. Should be easy with hundreds of Nons walking around the mall. We shouldn’t do magic here since we’re underage, but extenuating circumstances, right? No time to find an adult witch, or call in reinforcements.
I start on the west end doorways of the food court, where the court branches off into the larger hallway of strip shops. I run a finger along the base of the floors, ignoring the weird looks from other Nons. No dust.
“It didn’t come in this way.”
I look up and Carter’s walking toward me. I wipe my hands together as I stand. I have to gulp down my emotions at the sight of him, mostly because I’m not sure if I’m happy or just curious or something more than those combined. His arms are crossed over his chest when he stops in front of me.
“It came in through the back door of Sears. Took over an employee.”
“Let me guess, you were tracking it.”
He shrugs. “A stalker has to do something in his off time.”
I grab my shoes and dress off the floor. “What’s the employee look like?”
Carter moves faster to catch up with me. “Well, he’ll be the one with bright-green eyes, for a start.”
“Sure, let’s just walk through the mall and scan a few hundred Nons for lime-colored eyes. Piece of cake.” Some girl gives me a weird look when she moves past us in the crowd of people. They think that’s weird because they have no idea.
“It possessed a Non boy—short brown hair, eyeliner,” Carter says.
“Eyeliner?” Sears employees are getting edgy.
Carter shrugs. I shake my head and wave over at Connie and Thomas from across the food court. “It’s little sister,” Carter says. “That your brother?”
“Boyfriend.”
“You have a boyfriend?” he asks, this weird note in his voice.
“Hers,” I say. “You’re a poor excuse for a stalker.” He looks a little relieved, and my stomach churns. I really need to ask him about yesterday. Connie raises an eyebrow when she gets near enough to see Carter and I shake my head slightly. Do not start a scene, Con.
“Carter, Thomas,” I say, introducing them.
They do that weird guy-nod thing.
“I saw the demon. He’s taken on Non form,” Carter says.
“Where did he go?” Thomas asks.
“If I were a demon, I’d go where no one could see me,” I say.
“Which is?” Connie asks.
“They’re at the movie theater,” a voice calls to us. The voice is fuzzy white noise, and we all turn, on guard. It’s a demon with mauve skin and round green eyes. Nons walk right past it, not even seeing it in the crowd. We probably look like we’re staring at the air. Sometimes demons can be invisible, but this is a new level of strange, talking to a demon in the middle of a food court.
Carter takes a step forward, but the mauve demon shakes its head.
“You should probably hurry,” it says with a smile before it disappears. We’re all quiet for half a second. I have never in my life seen a demon talk to a witch, let alone help one. Or three. This day is weird.
Thomas is on his phone in the next second, calling the Enforcers. This got too weird for us alone. While he talks, Carter gives me a look. He wants to go after the demon.
“We can’t,” I whisper.
“Aren’t you about to be an Enforcer? Why do we have to wait for them?” he asks.
I look at my sister, who stares at us intently. Even Thomas sends us looks while he answers questions and explains things on the phone. This is crazy. A demon just told us about another demon. Totally a trap. Or something. We should not go after it.
Thomas hangs up the phone just as Carter says, “I’m going.”
The four of us exchange looks and then, in a beat, we all take off in a run toward the theater. Nons jump out our way as we zoom past them. The crinkle of the black plastic over my dress flaps against me as we move. The corner of the shoebox jabs into my calf before Carter pulls me to a stop. He and Thomas start moving around the space to set up the glamour. Anyone who looks would only see an empty, open space, not three teenagers killing a demon.
The four of us surround the entrance of the theater. The guy—full-out decked in eyeliner, a black shirt and silver earrings in his nose, with flashing emerald eyes—stands before us, talking to a girl. His eyes turn brown again, just for a second. The Non is still alive, so that’s good. But the demon’s lips are close to her neck. One bite anywhere, one taste of her blood, is all it takes. They have no control. Once its saliva is part of her, it will paralyze her, contaminate her, and kill her. Or worse. Nons are the weakest prey, too trusting. Demons have a lot of uses for Nons. If they’re bored, they like to play. They like to eat. They like to make more demons. They just like to feel powerful. One bite and the outcome can end in too many unsettling ways.
“Glamour is set,” Carter whispers to us.
Connie walks up to the demon boy, and he turns his head away from the Non. She’s a pro at this distraction game. One glance at her, one sniff of her essence, and the demon totally forgets about the girl. She walks away, offended and a little confused. Whatever she could’ve offered, Connie’s is better. The blood of a witch is sweet and the essence, well, it’s why demons are public enemy number one. It’s our power over them.