Shadows by Amy Meredith Page A

book,’ Eve said.
    Luke gave her his I’m smarter than you Luke-smirk. ‘Already ordered it from Amazon.’
    Eve leaned her head back into Jess’s hands as her friend worked on her hair. It felt good having Jess and Luke here, sitting right next to her, trying to help her figure out her powers – and her hair issues. Luke was still a pain in the butt, but weirdly he had started to seem like a friend. Someone she could trust. Amazing. Almost as amazing as her shooting lightning out of her fingers and turning a guy into smoke.
    ‘What if he wasn’t a guy?’ Eve burst out. ‘What if he was a demon?’
    Jess’s hands froze. But Luke just nodded, as if he’d been expecting her to say that all along.
    ‘It makes sense, right?’ Eve went on. ‘Belinda and that woman at the church were talking about demons turning to smoke. The guy I zapped turned to smoke. Doesn’t that mean he’s a demon? Or am I wrong?’
    ‘I don’t think you’re wrong,’ Luke said grimly.
    Eve sank back against the cushions, her thoughts whirling. On the one hand, she was hugely relieved. She hadn’t killed a person. She’d killed a demon! Buton the other hand, that meant demons were real. They existed, and they had attacked her.
    And that was terrifying.
    ‘I can’t deal. This is too much,’ she told her friends.
    ‘You can. You can deal with anything now that your hair looks fabulous again.’ Jess patted Eve’s head and tried to smile.
    ‘Don’t worry, we’ve got your back,’ Luke said. ‘We’ll make a plan. We need to do more research. About demons and the witch.’
    ‘The witch,’ Eve repeated.
    ‘Not that you’re a witch,’ Luke said quickly. ‘I just mean that it’s a good idea to research the witch—’
    ‘OK, but no more demons or witches tonight,’ Jess cut in. ‘Eve needs a good night’s sleep. Which means, Luke, you’re going home. And I’m calling Katy, Jenna and Shanna to tell them Eve and I won’t be meeting up with them for our usual Friday-night prowl. Then, tomorrow, Eve is having a de-stressing session.’
    ‘Shopping,’ Eve translated for Luke. It sounded wonderful. Shopping with Jess. Being normal. At least acting normal. Eve guessed she’d never really be normal again. If you could zap a demon into a smoke snake, normal wasn’t really something you could be any more.
    Luke stood up. ‘I’ll do some more research while you two are managing your stress,’ he said. He climbed down the porch steps.
    ‘We’ll meet you after that,’ Eve said. ‘You can give us an oral report.’
    He stopped, turned, and looked her straight in the eye. ‘We’re really going to figure all this out,’ he promised.
    ‘But until then, be careful,’ Jess told Eve. ‘You said there were four guys – and you only dusted one of them. If they were all demons, then three of them are still out there!’

Chapter Ten
    ‘Pizza delivery for Eve Evergold!’ her father shouted up the stairs.
    ‘And Jess Meredith!’ Jess called back.
    Eve clicked off Judge Judy . She and Jess had both found the show soothing. If anyone could kick some demon ass, it was the judge.
    They hurried downstairs and followed Eve’s dad into the kitchen. ‘I got pizza and cheese sticks.’ He set a pizza box and a white paper bag on the table, and grinned. Eve’s mom never ordered cheese sticks with pizza. She always said they were the same thing. Well, they sort of were, but they were both good, so what did it matter?
    ‘I guess this means Mom is working late,’ Eve said. She sat down at the table and took a cheese stick from the bag.
    ‘Emergency surgery,’ her dad confirmed.
    Eve tried to remember the last time they’d all eaten dinner together. It had definitely been more than a week ago. Her father was a financial consultant based in Manhattan, but he had to travel a lot – Eve had once figured out that he flew round the entire world at least twice a year. And her mom’s job wasn’t much better – cardiac surgery