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“I’m so scared, Dani. The revenant and the Order of the Noble Death are one thing, but how are we supposed to fight actual demons? I don’t want this power anymore. I don’t want the responsibility of—”
“Excuse me?” Alice’s voice cuts in. “Did you say demon?”
41
Bree
Shit.
I whirl around, but I know exactly what I’m going to see.
Alice glares at me and Dani with a strange expression on her face, one that jolts me back to a memory of primary school.
The school playing field backed onto Grimdale Wood, and Dani and I were having a picnic and holding up our Tupperware containers of leftovers for the three witches to sniff, when Kelly, Leanne, and Alice stumbled upon us. Kelly and Leanne immediately started laughing and calling us names, but Alice just glared at us with the same expression she’s wearing now, as if she wasdisappointedin us.
“Alice, it’s not what it sounds like…” Dani reaches for her, but Alice jerks away.
“That’s good. Because it sounds like you’re implying that the fire that just broke out in the festival is ademon,which is of course ridiculous.”
“What did you see?” I ask.
“What did I see? What did Isee?” Alice snorts. Her voice goes all high and strange. “I saw a fire. A simple fire with black smoke that might have been put out quickly ifherboyfriend and that insane guy dressed as a Viking hadn’t fanned it by leaping around with swords, and now people are dead and the festival is ruined and…”
Alice wobbles on her feet, screwing her eyes shut. I feel a pang of something – another memory that belongs only to me. I remember cowering all on my own in Grimdale Cemetery, fervently wishing that I didn’t have to see and hear these strange supernatural things. That’s exactly what Alice is feeling now. She wants everything to go back to normal, but it won’t. Because a demon attacked the village today, and some part of her knows it.
“Ithinkthat’s what I saw,” Alice sobs. “Because if I close my eyes, I remember that the fire had horns, and that it didn’t move the way a fire would, and that it spoke in this terrible, rasping voice…but that’s what I saw. A fire. Isn’t it?Isn’t it?”
Dani looks up at me, pleading. And I make a split-second decision. I’m tired of hiding. What’s the point? I am who I am, and this problem is not going to go away because I keep it a secret. I nod to Dani.
“Come and sit down,” Dani says softly. “Bree will explain.”
Alice allows Dani to wrap her arms around her, pulling her down onto the nearest bench…which just so happens to be right where Mary is hovering, sniffing at a cream bun that someone left behind when they fled.
“Mmmmm,” Mary purrs. “I like it when they add a little dollop of jam. It really elevates the flavours, don’t you agree, Lottie? And this one is still warm from the ovennnnnnnarrrgh!Who sat on me?”
Alice slumps on the bench, wrapping her arms around herself. “It’s chilly,” she mutters.
“Watch where you park that ass of yours, dear.” Lottie waggles a finger at Alice.
“You should really educate your friends about proper ghost manners,” Mary huffs, slinking down to the other end of the bench, as far from Alice as she can get while still being within sniffing distance of the cream bun. “Although…if she were to share those caramels she’s hiding in her pocket with the rest of us, I might see my way to forgiving her.”
“Mary would like you to open the bag of caramels in your pocket,” I say.
“What?” Alice’s head snaps up. “What are you talking about?”
“Mary is the ghost of a lady about our age who was hanged as a witch on the village green in 1523. You just sat on her, which is why you felt cold all of a sudden. When people walk through ghosts, it hurts them, so I try not to do it if I can help it. But Mary says she’ll forgive you if you let her sniff your caramels.” I wince as Alice’s mouth drops open. “Ghosts can’t taste things, but they can smell food. It’s one of the few pleasures they have, and Mary especially likes food.”
Alice shoots me a look like she’s not sure whether to burst out laughing or have me committed. But she reaches into her pocket and opens up the white paper bag. The scent of salted caramel fills the air, and Lottie, Mary, and Agnes all bend in to have a sniff. I take the moldavite in my hand, and when Mary reaches into the bag, she pulls out a caramel.
Alice’s eyes widen as the caramel moves through the air in front of her. “I…I can’t believe this. It’s just like…”
“…at Kelly’s house?” I ask. “That was ghosts, too. They were getting revenge for me. I’m sorry if they scared you.”
Pax, the cheeky bugger, leans in and nabs a handful of caramels from the bag. “They taste even better than they smell,” he says to the witches as he pops one in his mouth.
“I curse you that both sides of your pillow should always be warm,” Agnes snaps. “And that every time you experience a hangover, a small child next door will decide to practice the French horn!”
“Can I have one?” Ambrose asks. Pax hands him a caramel and he chews happily. “Oh my, they really are lovely.”
