My Heart be Damned (25 page)

“Okay, take as many as can fit in your locker. Once you’re done with those, I’ll switch them with a new stack. Look, I know I don’t need to remind you of how serious this is.”

“Of course not.”

“Good.” He pulled into my school’s car park and jumped out the moment he yanked up the handbrake. Grabbing about eight books at random, he piled them on top of each other and handed them to me with a huge smile. To anyone else, these huge books would have weighed a
tonne
.

“Gee. More homework.”

“Don’t you just love your job?”

I shot him a dirty look and began to walk away, balancing the books as I went.

“Hey,
Amerie
,” he called.

“What now, Marshall?” I didn’t turn around.

“I’ll pick you up from school if you want. I mean, just so that we quicken things up or whatever. Maybe John will let you leave early if you get there early.”

I grinned, happy I hadn’t turned around. “Thanks, but no thanks, Marshall. Step-monster is coming to get me. Some step-mother-she-wishes, daughter bonding crap. But I’ll see you at The Hut later.”

He didn’t answer, and when I finally turned around, he’d already climbed back into his car and reversed out of the space. With an ear-piercing skid against the tarmac, he took off, drawing mass amounts of attention to himself and me. What an ass.

“Why is he always around?” Sam asked, appearing beside me. He tossed his car keys from hand to hand. “Want some help with those?”

I looked down at the title of the first book I was holding. Tales of Beheading. I shook my head, not wanting to explain why my books had titles like that.

“Yeah, so why is he always around?” Sam asked again.

“He’s my friend, Sam,” I said, exasperated. I hitched up the books and walked towards the school, surrounded by the usual hustle and bustle of the ‘back after the weekend’ vibe.

“Oh, well, I was just wondering.”

“You enjoy Saturday?” I said, changing the subject. We stopped outside of my locker where, hopefully, I could stash all of these books.

“Yeah, it was alright. No one really got my outfit, though. Seriously, why would you guys not know who Spock is?”

I laughed. “Oh, Sam. Don’t worry about it, mate. You see anyone there you liked? Hook up with any girls? Or guys. Whatever the weather.”

A high-pitched voice yelling, “Think fast!” drowned out his response. A rugby ball came hurtling through the air
─
right at me. Like aimed right at me. I shifted the books to one hand and grabbed the incoming ball with the other, quickly moving it under my armpit so that I could hold my stack of books without dropping them. There were a few seconds of silence, and then everyone burst into applause.

“Wow!” Sam exclaimed, his whole face lighting up. “That was some catch!”

I shrugged and gestured for him to take the ball. Just as he reached out, someone darted in front of him and yanked the ball out from under my arm.

Sarah.

“Sorry about that,” she said, panting slightly. “I was throwing it at Rob behind you.”

Yeah, sure. “No worries. No harm done.”

“Hmm. Yeah. Lucky that, right? Any normal person and it would have knocked everything straight out of their hands.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, not getting her meaning. “Yeah. Lucky, I guess. Or just good reflexes. We all know how I just excel right past you in all things sport.”

She forced a sweet smile. “For now. Well, see you in history!” She spun around and her elbow caught underneath the bottom book I was holding, knocking everything off balance. They tumbled to the floor in a messy heap, some sliding
meters
down the hall.

I glared at Sarah, my whole body seething. “You did that on purpose.”

“No, I didn’t! Why would I do that,
Amerie
? And anyway, because of all your amazing excelling, shouldn’t you have been able to handle that no problem?” Gracefully, she bent down and picked up the nearest book to her, handing it back to me. “
Here.
Take your...” Her gaze focused in on the title, and she giggled. “Take your weird demon book. You know, worshipping the devil isn’t going to bring your mother back. Even if you sacrifice goats or whatever.”

The second witch in their trio appeared. I could never remember her damn name. All I could focus on was her nose, which was the size of a country.

“
Amerie
worships the devil?” she repeated, loudly.

My ears began to ring as more and more people circled in. Sam had begun to collect my books, but I could see the confusion on his face as he read each title. How the hell was I going to explain this?

“Yes, I worship the devil,” I said, imitating Sarah’s voice. “Of course I don’t worship the devil! You’re a flipping imbecile, Sarah. Get a life and get out of mine.”

“Then what’s with all the voodoo books?”

Sam struggled to keep all of my books balanced, but he waddled over anyway. “Sarah, make up your mind. Either she’s worshipping the devil, or she’s practicing voodoo. Which one is it?”

A few people snickered around us. I had never been more appreciative of Sam than I was at that particular moment. I could wipe the floor with Sarah without moving more than my big toe, but here, in the battlefield that was school, she was the hunter, and I was the prey. It was nice to have someone watching my back against her.

“Well, I don’t know,” she said, shooting Sam an evil look. “I’m not into all this supernatural crap. Either way, it’s creepy and weird. Just like her. So, I guess it makes sense.”

“The books are for a history assignment I’m doing for a makeup essay I failed earlier. Okay? Happy?” I snapped. “I’m looking into the paranormal beliefs that people in the Middle Ages took on to explain sickness they couldn’t cure. Pick up a text book for once in your life, why don’t you.” I turned away from her and unlocked my locker. Then I grabbed the books from Sam and shoved them inside, slamming it shut. People had started to disperse;
realizing
there wasn’t going to be an actual fight, but the seeds of a
rumor
had already been planted. By lunchtime, there would be at least ten different retellings of our encounter. My popularity was probably at a whole new low. Just what I needed. Thank you, Marshall.

“You wanna get to class?” Sam asked, gesturing to the stairs with his head.

I nodded. “Sure as hell don’t wanna stick around here.”

“Don’t go sacrificing any of the horses for one of your spells!” Sarah called after us. “You freak.”

“Don’t worry about her,” Sam muttered as we trudged up the stairs. “She’s bitter because you’re prettier than her.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Sam. Doesn’t matter, though. People will probably side with Sarah, and decide I’m a freak who sacrifices animals for whatever reason. As if I could become any more unpopular.”

“You’re not unpopular,” Sam argued. “Okay, you’re not popular, but people don’t avoid talking to you. You don’t smell, or have boils all over your face, or have hair you could fry stuff in.”

“No. I’m just the devil worshipping freak,” I countered. We stopped outside of my classroom. “Look, thanks for having my back, Sam. It’s not your fault, but I’m just gonna wallow in
self-pity
for a couple classes. See you at lunch?”

He nodded. “Sure.”

I shouldered the door open and plodded to my desk, fully prepared to write the longest note in the history of notes to Mercy when, she sat down beside me. I grabbed a pen out of my bag and began tapping it on the edge of my desk. Oh, Sarah was definitely going to pay. I ground my teeth together, and in my hand, the pen snapped.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Priorities

“You want us to what?” Chuck demanded.

I cocked my head to the side, giving him an ‘I told you so’ look as the school librarian hushed us. It was lunchtime, and much to my friends’ dismay, we were in the library, right at the back, with three of the books stacked in the middle of our table.

“Research,” I answered simply. “We need to research.”

“I wasn’t aware I was the Hunter.” Chuck folded his arms like a sullen child.

“I’m not happy about this either,” I said. “Like I have the time to be doing all this extra reading. You know, I’m only one girl. I have to travel far to get here and back each day. And I have shifts at The Hut. And Hunting duties, as well as training. And my dad is planning all these bonding activities without my knowledge and springing them on me. Oh, let’s not forget the mass amounts of homework I need to catch up on so I can pass the year with a decent mark. Somewhere, in between all that madness, I need to find time to, you know, survive. Eat. Bathe. Watch reruns of Family Guy.”

“Okay, okay,” Chuck muttered. “I get your point. You’re Miss Busy-bee.”

“You should probably find time to do your nails too,” Mercy said, grabbing my hand. “When was the last time you had a manicure?”

“
Erm
, about fifty Damned ago.”

She shrugged and leaned back in her seat. “Well, I’m okay with the whole research thing. You know me. I like to read. Pass me a book and I’m your girl.”

I smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Mercy.”

“Yeah. Thanks for making me look bad,” Chuck said. He groaned and stretched, reminding me of a lazy cat waking up from a nap in front of a fire. “Okay, so we’re looking for something called the Coat of
Tarham
? Can’t you just Google it?”

“This is one of the keys for the ritual Chuck. You can’t Google it. It’s probably thousands of years old.”

Mercy laughed. “Well, Google does have everything.”

“I’m going to try,” Chuck decided. He pulled out his phone and began to type into a search browser. We waited quietly until he swore and shoved the phone back in his pocket. “Okay, maybe it’s not on Google. It kept bringing up fur coat sellers.”

“I told you,” I said, shooting him a glare my mother would have been proud of. “So, pick a book and get looking. And don’t try to find an index and look that way. These books are old. Like, really old. It could be mixed in anywhere.”

“Okay, we get the point,” Chuck said. “Read carefully and thoroughly.
Geesh
. Ever thought of becoming a teacher? You’d do well in the
patronizing
department.”

I ignored him. “Thanks, guys. And remember not to tell Sam. I don’t want him involved in all of this.”

“Where is he anyway?” Mercy asked, opening her book at a random page and screwing up her face. “
Ew
. There’s a picture of some fungus looking thing. Great. I’m gonna get nightmares from this, aren’t I?”

“I told Sam to meet us in the canteen. With any hope, he won’t think to look here, and Sarah will pounce on him and start trying to convince him that I’m evil.” I grabbed the remaining book, which also happened to be the biggest.

“Oh, yeah, I heard that
rumor
. Pretty ironic if you think about it,” Mercy said. “You know, because you fight evil and they think you are evil...”

“Yes, I got it, thanks.”

“I didn’t,” Chuck admitted. “I’m still stuck on the world ending. So,
erm
, if we fail and they find it first, then these monsters are just going to roam around and make us all their bitches?”

“Basically. They’ll probably eat a lot of you, too.”

“Eat?” Mercy and Chuck repeated together.

“Oh, did I not tell you? The Damned have to feed on human souls in order to stay up here permanently. They don’t need many. Maybe like one a year. The rest of the time, they can sustain their host on normal food. I have no idea how many these new kinds of Damned will need to feed on. In any case, they can’t feed on their host’s soul.”

Chuck paled, and Mercy slumped in her chair.

“Too much for you?” I asked, grinning.

“It’s not funny,” Mercy mumbled. “I want to go back to thinking you were on drugs, thanks. Or just plain old not believing you. Damn these books that show you’re not crazy.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Chuck said.

“I’d take the drugs over this any day,” I said, ducking my head. “Guess we all want what we can’t have.”

With all the drama at school, I’d completely forgotten about my dreaded shopping trip with Cindy, until I’d walked out of the school entrance, to find her beast car pulled right up front, along with all the other parents collecting their children. Back in my first year of high school, Mum had dropped off and collected me every day, until I decided I was cool enough to catch the bus. I regretted that decision now.

“Hi!” Cindy beamed as I climbed into the passenger seat, slamming the door behind me. “How was school? I brought you a little snack in case you were hungry.”

I narrowed my eyes. It was, as if, she was too perfect to be true. She handed me a clear sandwich bag filled with cookies. They were still warm.

“What about Daniel?” I asked as she pulled away from the school.

“He didn’t want to come, but it’s no matter. We’ll have fun. Just us girls.” She turned and smiled at me. It was somewhat creepy, so I shoved a cookie into my mouth to give myself an excuse not to talk to her.

Cindy made small talk with me for the majority of the journey. She drove at a snail’s pace and followed the Highway Code down to every single rule. She was like the world’s best citizen or something. Finally, we arrived. It wasn’t a brand named supermarket - it was one I’d never heard of and was absolutely gigantic. The kind of place that sold a bit of everything. Furniture, food, cosmetics, clothes, and electronics – you name it. If she turned out to be anything like my mum when it came down to food shopping, we were going to be here a while.

“I’m just going to get a trolley,” she said, locking the car and strutting off, high heels clicking on the tarmac.

I leaned back against the car, arms folded, face straight. I didn’t enjoy food shopping at the best of times, but food shopping with Cindy? This was going to be so much fun.

When Cindy found a trolley, we crossed the car park to the large escalators – the ones you could fit trolleys on, and about a hundred people too. Cindy hummed as the conveyor belt took us up to the first floor. Trying to ignore her, I gazed around, my eyes fixing on a man coming towards us on the other side. I knew without a doubt what he was.

Panic washed through me, and I rubbed my neck. He wasn’t an assassin that much was clear. It wasn’t until he went past me that he caught onto my scent. Our eyes locked, and I silently pleaded that he might keep moving, to forget about attacking me in front of the step-monster.

We reached the top and Cindy took off through some double doors. I hesitated, staring back down the escalators. I couldn’t just let him walk right past me. What if he hurt someone? What the hell was he even doing here anyway? I yanked open my bag, and peered down at my Blessed dagger.

Cindy popped her head around the door. “What’s the hold up? This food isn’t going to buy itself!”

“I,
er
, I need to pee.”

“Oh. The toilets are in here.”

I groaned and stomped in after her. The place was at least four stories high, and from where I stood, I could look up and see what was on the other floors without difficulty. First floor was groceries. Cindy hadn’t stopped walking to gawk like a crazy person, so I hurried along behind her, hoping she was leading me to the toilets.

She was.

“You go ahead,” I said. “I’ll find you. I had curry for lunch, and I don’t trust my stomach. Don’t wanna keep you.”

Cindy looked disgusted. “Oh. Okay. Well, if you need me to buy some peppermint tea, you let me know.”

Ew
. I nodded anyway and ducked into the toilet, counted to ten and ran straight back out again. He was waiting for me at the entrance to the car park, arms folded, leaning back against the
stone wall
. I skidded to a halt when I reached him, grabbing my dagger out of my bag, and sliding the strap across my chest.

“Hunter,” he snarled, stepping forward. His brown hair flopped down in his eyes, and he blew it away easily.

“I just have one question,” I said, tensing.

“You want to know how I’m going to kill you?” He grinned, and I rolled my eyes.

“
Er
, no. I just want to know why you’re shopping here. Run out of guy-liner?”

“Guy what?”

Gaining the upper hand, I jumped forward and punched him. He blocked too late. I pushed his hand away, punching him again. He ducked to the side and sent a kick my way, which I blocked. I slammed my fist into the side of his head and followed it through with a roundhouse kick. He flew backwards into a car, setting off the alarm.

“You’re not even trying,” I said, tightening my grip on the dagger and walking towards him.

He groaned and rolled off the front of the car, his chest heaving. He threw a clumsy punch at my face, which I easily pushed away. He tried again. With one hand, I grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back, and pulled him into me so that I could easily plunge the dagger into his stomach.

The body slumped against my chest, and making sure the coast was clear, I yanked the dagger out and gently laid him on the ground. I couldn’t just leave him here for someone to find until he woke up. With a sigh, I shoved my dagger back in my bag and grabbed both of his hands to drag him out of the car park. I found a spot behind some of the dumpsters. My work here was done.

I took my time coming up the escalator, not particularly keen on joining Cindy for some ‘bonding’, and when I reached the double doors, I was surprised to find her waiting there with a half filled trolley. Her eyes brightened when she saw me, and then the brightness faded into sorrow. Oh, crap.

“Where have you been?” she demanded. “You’ve been gone ages! Did you try to leave? Did you think I wouldn’t notice? That I wouldn’t mind? We’re supposed to be in this together,
Amerie
. You think that it’s easy on me to take on a man with two teenage kids who want nothing to do with me? I’m trying here, I really am.”

I held my hands up, backing up a few paces. “What the hell? I went to the toilet and then I couldn’t find my phone, so I went back to the car to look through the window and check it hadn’t dropped out.” The lie came easy for once.

“For twenty minutes?” She raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

I glanced down at my watch. Crap – she was right. Wow, time sure did fly when you were fighting for your life. “Bad stomach and obsessive phone searching?”

“Just...just don’t. Don’t lie to me. If you don’t want to tell me the truth, then fine.”

We lapsed into silence. I swung back on my heels and clapped my hands together, staring into space. From the corner of my eye, I could see that she was glaring at me, but I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of arguing with her.