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“That is seriously the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard,” I say, wiggling around to get comfortable.
He presses his hand to his chest, mocking being offended. “I tell you your eyes are pretty and all you say is that my compliment is creepy. Wow, that’s cruel.”
“Touching eyes is creepy,” I insist. “Although, I doubt you think so since you have a bunch of eyeballs in your fridge.”
“Hey, I do think that’s creepy,” Easton gives an exaggerated shudder. “If I had my way, Hunter and Holden would keep their science supplies in another fridge, way, way far away from the house. Preferably in another world.”
“Remember that one time they put a jar of demon tongues in there?” Foster says, his face contorted in disgust.
“Wait…” My eyes nearly bulge out of my head. “Demons exist?”
“Um…” Foster trades a look with Easton, who gives a shrug.
“Don’t look at me.” He rolls up the sleeves of his shirt. “You’re the one who said it.”
Foster sighs. “I know.” He looks at me. “Yeah, they exist. But there’s not a lot of them around, so you don’t need to worry.”
“Are there some in this world?” I ask worriedly, acting the opposite of what he told me to do.
“Yeah, but elemental protectors have a sixth sense that lets them know when a demon is present, so demons tend to avoid being near us,” he explains, cranking up the heat.
I still don’t feel any better. I mean… Dem
ons? Demons? “What do they look like?”
“The ones that are here in this world take on a human form,” Easton replies, unscrewing the cap off the eye drops. “But in their true form, they come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Some have scales. Some have slimy skin. It really depends on what kind of demon they are.”
“Gross,” I mumble, causing Easton to chuckle.
“Yeah, definitely gross,” he agrees then wiggles the bottle of eye drops in front of my face. “All right, we’re almost to the school, so it’s time to get those pretty eyes of yours hidden.”
Pretty eyes? Is he for reals?
As if sensing my thoughts, he grins. “Your eyes or gorgeous whether you think so or not.” He holds my eye open with his fingers. “Now hold still.”
I do what he says and then he puts the drops into my eyes. Once my eyes are nice and silvery, looking really freakin’ weird in my opinion, I rest back in the seat and work on finishing my breakfast while taking in my surroundings.
The road we’re driving down is desolate, only a house or two here and there, with mostly trees and spacious fields.
“Is this the town?” I wonder after I’ve finished the last of my waffles.
“Nah. The town’s that way.” Easton nods toward the left. “You can’t see it right now because of the trees and stuff, but even if they weren’t there, it’s hard to see.” He rolls the sleeves of his shirt up. “It’s a really small fucking town.”
“That’s what Max said.” I squint against the sunlight streaming through the clouds. “I want to get a job, but Max said it’d be hard for an out-of-towner to get one.”
“I think you should be okay now that you have powers,” Easton tells me. “When Max said out-of-towners, he actually meant humans.”
I rest my arms on the console. “But humans live here, right? So, how do they work?”
“Most of them work at the factory on the outskirt of town,” Easton explains, combing his fingers through his hair.
“And they never wonder why they don’t get hired elsewhere?” I question skeptically.
“They probably would if it wasn’t for us keeping most of the other shops invisible with magic—they don’t even know most of the places in town exist.” Easton winks at me. “You need to stop thinking like a human. Nothing is simply black and white. In fact, this world is like a damn fucking rainbow with sparkles and everything.”
“I’m starting to realize that, but I’ve also spent most of my life thinking I was human, so it’s sort of hard to break the habit of thinking like one,” I explain then pause. “What I don’t get, though, is how it seems like it’d be so much easier for you guys to just live in your own world. I mean, I know Charlotte said it’s overpopulated, but still, hiding your powers is a pain in the ass. That I understand.”
“It’s not just overpopulation that makes Elemental so unlivable,” Foster says, downshifting as he prepares to make a turn off the highway and onto a paved road that weaves between the trees. “It’s become corrupt because of overpopulation and the increase of elemental protectors of darkness.” He flips on the blinker and turns onto the road. “It’s like that for a lot of worlds, which is why we came here. Although corruption is spreading here, too, like with the hunters.”
