I clutched it to my chest. My mind was already racing, and I didn’t like what I was figuring out. “Me neither.”
His eyes darted behind me. “Also, there’s holy water in that slushie machine. Did you know?”
He turned and faded away, back into the shadows.
* * *
Holy water.
I stared at the slushie machine, horror spreading over me. Real horror, not the kind you get from clowns in scary makeup or ghouls jumping out at you in the Tunnel of Terror. The kind that comes from betrayal.
I thought about grabbing that ice every day, dumping the blood over it, carrying it to Mephit …
I ran toward the carousel. The summer night was hot, and the air was thick. I heard the merry-go-round, even at this distance, spraying tinny melodies up into the sky. When I was halfway there, a figure stepped out of the shadows, blocking my way. I screamed.
“Lulu,” a rough voice said. It was Lucas. We were on the midway, between the Crossbow Shoot and the High Striker, the strongman tower that Otto used to operate. He’d been replaced by a shady guy with a huge mallet. Every once in a while he’d slam the mallet down, the bell would ring, and the crowd would cheer weakly. I wanted to tell him the point was to let customers have a chance, but there was no time.
“Your stepfather has been feeding Mephit holy water.” I grabbed Lucas by the hand and towed him toward the carousel. “I don’t know how long he’s been doing it. Mephit’s a demon—he’s been poisoning him.”
“Lulu,” Lucas said, spinning me to face him. “Forget about that.”
“I’m not going to forget about it! Mephit’s like—he’s like family! And your stepfather is trying to get me to sign the carnival over to him—”
“Lulu.” His gaze was intent. “I love you.”
That did stop me. “What?”
“I love you. I’ve loved you since we first met.”
He pulled me close to him. The sounds of the carnival surrounded us, the shouts from the midway and the big tent, the clashing music. The night was hot, and our bodies melded into each other. His hands slid up my back.
“Lulu,” he whispered. “Tell me you love me.”
I blinked. I’d never liked a boy as much, and I loved talking to him and the way he made me laugh, but …
But he looked dazed. Unfocused. Like he’d walked into a tree. I narrowed my eyes.
“What’s wrong with you, Lucas?” I demanded. “Are you drunk?”
He shook his head. “Walter tried to convince me to help him. He could tell I wasn’t buying it, and he gave me … something.”
“What was it?”
“Not what he thought it was. There were two bottles on the table, and I switched them when he turned away for a moment. I think he meant to knock me out…”
I recognized his moony look then. “Love potion. It was love potion from the Tunnel.”
He rubbed his eyes. “It tasted like strawberry bubble gum. I pretended to be unconscious until he left the trailer. He must have already known that if he got rid of Mephit he wouldn’t need your signature…”
“Oh my God.” I pushed free of Lucas and stalked toward the carousel. He followed, calling my name.
A bunch of other people were shouting as well, mostly angry people who thought I was jumping ahead of them in line. Some kids were crying, too. Maybe they thought I’d take their painted horses. Maybe Lucas’s wild eyes were freaking them out.
I dived for the central cylinder of the ride and threw open the door. Lucas was still calling my name. I jumped inside, and he jumped after me, yanking the door shut behind us.
“Lulu,” he gasped, as I hurried down the stairs. “Look, I don’t want to be part of my stepfather’s plans. I’d never hurt you like that.”
“Go somewhere and lie down. Sober up.” I’d never had a weirder evening. We reached the ledge and I looked down. Mephit was lying in a curled ball at the bottom of the pit. Terror seized my heart.
“Mephit!” I shouted. “Mephit!”
He raised his head slowly. His blue eyes were washed out, almost to pale white. Poor Mephit. He’d been poisoned, and I’d inadvertently been helping the poisoner. If anything happened to him, I’d never forgive myself.
I dropped to my knees. “Mephit. You have to get the holy water out of your system. You have to throw up.”
Mephit made a glum noise and put his head back down.
“You can’t just tell a demon to throw up,” Lucas said, sounding almost normal. “I don’t think that’s something they can do on command.”
I glared at him.
“Lulu,” he said, gently. “My love. I’d spare you this if I could.”
Mephit groaned as if in pain. I eyed Lucas speculatively, then stuck out my hand. “Help me up.”
He did. I fell against his chest, not accidentally. His eyes softened.
“Do you love me?” I asked.
“I adore you.”
Mephit definitely groaned this time, a sound of complete disgust.
I shut my eyes and hoped I would be forgiven for what I was about to do. “Kiss me. Kiss me, Lucas.”
Lucas pulled me toward him and kissed me. “I love you,” he said, between dotting kisses along my cheekbone. “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. I love your crazy clothes, and your rainbow hair, and the way you make me laugh, and the way you smell like roses…”
Mephit made a horrible urping, yowling sound. I broke away from Lucas just as Mephit threw up what looked like glowing golden syrup all over the floor of the pit.
“That’s disgusting,” Lucas said.
“Do I really smell like roses?” I asked him, intrigued, as Mephit eyed the gold stuff with suspicion. The blue color was already returning to his eyes, and the bare patches where his fur had seemed to rub away were growing back in.
“Lulu…” Lucas’s eyes widened. “I think it’s starting to wear off.”
I giggled. It might have been a touch of hysteria, given that I was trapped between a boy who was high on love potion and a vomiting demon.
“Oh, hell. What did I say to you?” Lucas demanded, grabbing fistfuls of his own hair. “Lulu, what?”
“Just that you loved me, and—Mephit!”
I screamed the last bit, because Mephit had burst out of his pit. In all the years I’d known him, he’d never used his bat wings. He used them now, sailing over the ledge and hurtling up the stairwell, a determined look on his face.
“Oh, no!” I took after the demon at a run, but he was really moving. He burst out of the carousel, knocking the door off its hinges, and sailed between the painted horses.
Lucas and I careered after him as the ticket takers screamed. The carnival was oddly empty. Walter must have shut things down while we were underneath the carousel. The midway was deserted as we tore after Mephit, who was flying straight for the hall of mirrors.
“Stop!” Lucas yelled. Maybe he thought Mephit was going to eat someone. Maybe Mephit was going to eat someone.
People were gathering … other carnival workers, drawn by our shouting and the sight of a demon sailing through the air. Mephit dived inside the museum.
I hesitated at the entrance. I heard Mephit inside, growling, and another noise, too—a hissing that chilled my bones. Seconds later, Lucas appeared at my side; he’d paused to grab up the strongman’s mallet and was carrying it in his right hand.
“I’ll go in.” He looked grimly determined. “You stay out here.”
“I thought the potion was wearing off?”
Before Lucas could reply, there was the sound of shattering glass. He bolted into the hall, and I went after him.
Funhouse versions of ourselves loomed on both sides as we dashed for the heart of the mirrors. When we burst in, we found Mephit and Azatoth facing off in the dead center of the central square. Neither of them cast reflections in the huge mirrors that lined all four walls, but Lucas and I did. For a moment I thought I caught a glimpse of my dad in one of the mirrors, but then again, I thought I saw my dad all the time. Mirrors don’t always tell the truth. That was why I hated it in here.