Fever Read online

  One of the victims screamed, a long, high sound that a human shouldn’t have been able to produce. Terror jolted through Eve. Instinctively she opened herself to the power around her. The lights dimmed as she sucked the electrical current into her, just as she had in the power plant.

  Amunnic calmly stepped towards her, and Eve realized that with the power rushing into her body, she was momentarily unable to move. The demon raised one foot, and used it to grind Eve’s right hand into the floor. He kept his weight there, pinning her, then used his free foot to kick her in the head. For a moment red squiggles filled her field of vision. Then everything went dark.

  Chapter Twelve

  Eve felt something cold and rough under her cheek. She opened her eyes, and saw the cement floor of the school basement. Her head felt like it was throbbing in sync with her heartbeat as a memory rush reminded her what had happened. Amunnic had kicked her in the temple, and she’d passed out.

  She tried to scramble up – but a wave of nausea had her sitting back down.

  ‘He got us all,’ she heard someone say.

  Luke! Eve turned towards his voice and saw him tied to a chair along with the others. Joy and fear battled inside her: joy that he was alive, right there in front of her, fear that she wouldn’t be able to save him – any of them. ‘Where is he?’ Eve cried.

  ‘He left as soon as he got Peter set up again,’ Luke answered. ‘I heard the door lock behind us.’

  Eve whipped her head towards Peter, taking in the fact that his bandage and tourniquet were gone and his blood was again flowing into the ceramic bowl. ‘Don’t worry, Peter. It’s OK. I’m getting you out of here.’

  Peter’s eyes didn’t move from the door. ‘Its eyes were red. Red.’ He’s in deeper shock than before, Eve realized. They all were. Leo’s face was completely blank. Cathy had her eyes squeezed shut and was repeating ‘not real’ over and over. Elisha’s whimpers had turned to small animal-like squeaks of pure fear. Rose – Rose was still slumped on the floor. Jess too. The demon hadn’t bothered to tie her up.

  ‘Not much time before he’s back, I don’t think,’ Luke said.

  His voice – his beautiful Luke-is-alive voice – spurred Eve into action. The fire fizzing through her veins reminded her that she had recharged. That moment when she’d been absorbing the energy had given him the chance to knock her out, but it had also filled her with new strength and power. She felt like a nuclear weapon.

  Eve crawled over to Jess and gently, so, so gently, shook her by the shoulder. Jess gave a little moan, and her eyelids fluttered briefly, but didn’t open all the way. Eve could feel that heat coming off her. She had a fever. She had it … the plague. That’s probably why Amunnic hadn’t bothered to tie her up. He probably had no interest in her since the plague had made her blood undrinkable.

  An image of her friend’s beautiful face ravaged by necrosis filled Eve’s mind. You’re killing the demon, she reminded herself. No demon, no need for the plague warning, no harm to Jess. She’d get better – she had to.

  ‘Was lightning coming out of your hands?’ Peter asked, in almost the same tone as he’d asked where he was.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Eve told him.

  ‘The lighting came from the other thing,’ Dave said. ‘What the hell was it? It … it morphed. Its skin …’ His words trailed off.

  ‘We can talk about all of this when we’re out of here,’ Eve said. She figured she could probably zap the door lock hard enough to break it. But first she had to get everyone untied. She started with Luke.

  ‘I can’t believe I fell for that call,’ he said as she worked on the knots around his wrists. ‘How stupid was that? I’d barely walked out the front door when Amunnic grabbed me and smashed me over the head with something. Rock, maybe. Next thing I know, I’m tied up down here. I should never have gone.’

  ‘It wasn’t stupid. It was your dad. You thought it was your dad,’ Eve answered. ‘Of course you went.’

  ‘Is Jess OK?’ Peter asked, as if he’d just realized his sister was on the floor.

  It was like his voice suddenly pulled Jess back to consciousness. ‘Peter?’ She slowly sat up. Her brow furrowed. ‘You OK?’

  Peter looked down at the bowl filling with his blood, and in a complete Peter move he actually grinned. ‘I’m good,’ he told his sister. ‘That was one impressive combo you threw at that thing.’ Eve could tell it took him a huge amount of effort to put on the show for Jess.

  ‘But you forgot the “Hi-yah!”’ Luke commented, gently teasing.

  ‘I did!’ Jess exclaimed. ‘Crucial part.’ She raised her hand to brush her hair away from her face, and froze. ‘Look,’ she finally said, turning her palm towards Eve. A dark, greasy spot of necrosis had bloomed near the centre of her hand. Tears flooded Jess’s eyes.

  ‘No, no, it’s a good thing,’ Eve told her. ‘He’ll leave you alone now.’

  Jess nodded.

  ‘So how long was I knocked out? How much time until we think he comes back?’ Eve asked.

  ‘You were only out maybe five minutes, I think,’ Dave said.

  ‘It won’t be long until it’s back,’ Cathy put in. ‘It never is. You’ve got to get us out of here!’

  ‘On it!’ Eve freed Luke’s hands, and he immediately began working on the rope that held his feet to the chair. Jess had managed to slide over in front of Peter and was working on his ties, even though her hands were shaking almost uncontrollably.

  Eve moved over next to her to help. ‘Dave, do you think you’re strong enough to carry Rose when everyone’s untied?’ she asked. ‘There’s no way she can walk.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, I can do that,’ Dave answered.

  ‘He’s going to come back before you have us all free,’ Leo predicted. He didn’t sound concerned. That’s how deep his shock and fright went. He was completely numbed out.

  ‘I can help Jess,’ Luke said. ‘Can the others make it on their own?’

  ‘Doubtful. At least not Leo and Cathy. Have you guys even had any food or water?’ Eve asked Dave.

  ‘He has this bucket he lets us drink out of, and Cathy told me he brings food once a day,’ Dave answered.

  ‘So it might take two trips to get everyone out once I blow the lock on the door,’ Eve answered, trying to sound calm. ‘Since we have a lot of people who need help.’

  ‘Too late,’ Leo said. ‘I hear him.’

  Eve listened for a moment, and heard a shuffling, scraping sound coming from the direction of the door.

  ‘Maybe I can be a decoy,’ Luke said, fast and low, as he finished untying himself. ‘As soon as the door opens, I can make a run for it. Maybe Amunnic will chase me, and the rest of you could escape while I keep him busy.’ Of course Luke would come up with a plan that put him in the most danger. Eve felt a rush of respect for him.

  ‘Amunnic. You know that thing’s name?’ Peter sounded very confused.

  ‘Long story,’ Jess said.

  ‘Back to the plan. If anyone’s going to act like a decoy, it’s going to be me,’ Eve declared. She was the Deepdene Witch. A demon in her town was ultimately her responsibility.

  ‘I should be the decoy,’ Jess insisted. ‘I’m faster than either of you. I’m in cheerleader-slash-kung-fu-student shape.’

  ‘On a usual day, yes, yes you are,’ Eve told her. ‘But today—’

  The sound of a creaky door swinging open interrupted her. Eve let herself fall back to the ground. It would give her an advantage if Amunnic thought she was still out. Jess followed her lead, lying back down too.

  Luke had decided to act like he was still tied up. Through slitted eyes, Eve had seen him get back in the chair and lightly wrap the rope around his wrists.

  Amunnic moved closer to Peter, and Peter let out a yip of panic. The demon ignored him. He slid the bowl from below Peter’s arm to a spot underneath Luke’s. Eve saw a long, wickedly sharp claw slide out of one of the demon’s thin fingers.

  Not going to happen, Eve thought. S
he quietly sprang to her feet. Amunnic must have caught the motion in his peripheral vision. He whirled to face her, red eyes glistening.

  Eve flung out her hands, and her bolts flew out of her fingers as fast as arrows. Amunnic quickly bent his long, thin, rubbery body into a backbend, the top of his head brushing the floor behind him, allowing Eve’s lightning to zing over him.

  Almost as fast as one of her bolts, Amunnic straightened up. He whipped out one of his impossibly long arms and caught her by the throat. Eve jammed her hands into his stomach and shoved her power directly into him.

  The demon howled and tightened his grip. Eve began to choke, but kept hurling her volcanic power into him. The scent of burning flesh filled the room.

  Amunnic squeezed harder. She could feel that hideous claw of his pierce her skin, and a moment later, blood began to run down her neck. It felt as if her power was flowing out with it.

  Eve ground her teeth together, willing volt after volt into Amunnic. Suddenly his grip loosened. His eyes rolled up in his head, and he began to morph, his face and body bulging and contracting as they took on new appearances. For a fraction of a second, he looked like Jess’s mother, then Luke’s father. His body contorted again, and grey-and-white fur sprouted over his face.

  The cat! Eve realized. He took on the form of the cat!

  Faster and faster he cycled through his many faces, all the faces he’d used over the centuries. Eve recognized the homeless man, Mr Enslow, Phillip and her English teacher. How many times had she walked past the demon without recognizing him? All these people he’d disguised himself as so he could capture her friends and bring them down here.

  Amunnic’s faces changed even more rapidly, too fast for Eve’s eyes to register more than a blur. Then with a whomp he ignited and let go of her. Flames covered every inch of his long body. Eve threw herself away from the searing heat.

  And then it was over. The flames went out as quickly as they’d started. When they did, all that was left of Amunnic was a pile of coarse black ash on the floor.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Eve looked down at Jess as she lay on the stretcher, waiting to be loaded into an ambulance. ‘And the fun never stops,’ Jess joked weakly.

  ‘Never,’ Luke agreed from his spot close to Eve’s side.

  Jess held her palm up to them, so they could see again that the spot of necrosis was gone. The puncture wounds on Amunnic’s other victims had almost disappeared too, leaving only small pink marks behind after the demon turned to ash.

  An EMT worker in a hazmat suit walked over to them. ‘Lucky you forgot your cellphone in your locker,’ she said to Luke. ‘If you two hadn’t come looking for it … well, it might have gone really differently for the other kids.’

  Luke had improvised a story about needing his cell and realizing it was in his school locker. He said Eve had come with him to retrieve it and they’d heard moaning in the basement and gone down to check it out.

  Dave had jumped in and said that they’d been partying down there, then they’d all gotten sick and ended up too weak to leave. He almost seemed to believe the story himself. Why wouldn’t he? It was a lot less scary that the truth – that a demon had been drinking his blood.

  ‘You’re going to be fine,’ another EMT worker said as he joined the group by Jess’s stretcher. ‘I was just on the radio with the plague centre. The new antibiotics seem to be working – and fast. The most recent victims are even asking to go home.’

  ‘Hear that, Jess?’ Eve asked. ‘You’re going to be fine.’

  ‘Already am, thanks to you,’ Jess answered. She grinned. ‘I guess you’ll keep coming to kung fu with me,’ she said.

  ‘You know it,’ Eve answered.

  ‘Am I invited?’ Luke asked.

  ‘Mmm. Maybe. If you’re nice,’ Eve told him.

  ‘Luke’s always nice,’ Jess said pointedly as the EMTs began to roll her stretcher towards the ambulance.

  ‘I can’t wait to go over to the courthouse and see my dad. The real one,’ Luke told Eve.

  ‘I bet,’ she answered. ‘I just have one thing I need to do here. Will you stay with me?’

  ‘The always-nice Luke Thompson? Of course,’ he replied.

  Eve led the way back down to the basement. ‘I don’t feel safe with this just lying around.’ She touched the pile of ash with the very tip of her shoe.

  Luke walked over to the bowl and picked it up. ‘Let’s put him back in here,’ he suggested. ‘This kept him trapped for hundreds of years.’

  Eve nodded. She knelt down beside Amunnic’s remains. Luke knelt beside her, holding the bowl sideways. ‘I think this might be a situation where a credit card will actually work,’ she said. She pulled her AmEx out of her purse and used it to scoop the ashes into the bowl.

  When all that was left on the floor was a greasy scorch mark, Luke slid the bowl’s lid in place. He started to stand, but Eve put her hand on his arm. ‘I’m so glad you’re OK.’ Those words didn’t come close to expressing how she felt, how relieved and just joyful she was that Luke was alive and by her side.

  ‘I’m glad you’re OK too,’ he answered. He reached out and cupped her cheek with his hand. ‘You’re pretty awesome, you know that?’

  Then they were kissing. With no thought, no awkwardness, no ‘Is this really a good idea?’. Just perfection. Perfect perfection.

  And no cat-demon to interrupt.

  ‘Has Peter asked you anything about seeing me use my zap?’ Eve asked Jess. They stood in front of the portal the next afternoon, waiting for Luke. They’d decided sending Amunnic’s ashes back to hell was the safest way to deal with them.

  Jess shook her head. ‘I think he wants to forget the whole thing ever happened. He hasn’t said anything about the demon either. Actually nobody said anything when we were all waiting to get picked up from the hospital, except Cathy, and she’s pretty much convinced herself she had some fever hallucination. I think it helped that the puncture marks closed up right away.’

  ‘Sorry I’m late,’ Luke called as he hurried over to them. ‘My dad wanted to go out to lunch. Recovering from the plague has given him an insane appetite.’ Happiness radiated off Luke. Eve could feel it flowing into her. ‘We ran into Mr Dokey,’ he added. ‘I never thought I’d see him alive, but he was wolfing down pizza at Piscatelli’s. It’s freaky how good he looks. It’s like his skin regenerated itself. It still looks a little grey and he’s definitely skinnier, but that’s it.’

  ‘I’m appreciating the skills of that priest who put the curse on Amunnic more and more,’ Jess said, rubbing the spot on her hand where the necrosis had been. ‘It’s amazing how all the symptoms of the plague disappeared. I’m a little tired, but that’s all.’

  ‘Not too tired to go out with Seth tonight,’ Eve teased.

  ‘Never,’ Jess answered.

  ‘I knew he’d understand why you freaked when you first saw him with the necrosis,’ Luke commented.

  ‘He more than understood. He actually apologized for looking so repulsive,’ Jess exclaimed.

  ‘I’m having to do that all the time – and I didn’t even get the plague,’ Luke joked. His expression turned serious as he took the bowl out of his backpack. He’d kept it in the church overnight. Eve and Luke had agreed that was the safest place.

  ‘I’m not sure how to open the portal,’ Eve said. ‘I guess I’ll just experiment. And hope that nothing is crouched on the other side waiting to come out.’

  ‘I’ve got my hi-yah ready,’ Jess assured her.

  ‘And I have the sword.’ Luke tapped his back. ‘Just in case.’

  ‘Then we’re all good. Nothing will get by the Trio of Terror,’ Eve said. She knelt down in front of the arch and touched the opening with the fingertips of both hands. The golden tapestry appeared, sparkling and glinting in the mild March sunlight.

  It’s made of energy, she thought. And she could absorb energy. She’d learned that.

  Eve opened herself to the energy of the tapest
ry and felt the power at her core brighten with the infusion. She didn’t want to destroy the block, just make a little hole. She moved her hands lightly over a section at the bottom of the tapestry, until the threads in that piece loosened, became translucent, and disappeared. Eve heard a soft sucking sound from the other side that made her mouth taste metallic. ‘It should go through now,’ she said, without lifting her hands away.

  Luke knelt beside her and pushed the bowl containing Amunnic’s ashes through the portal. It hovered for a moment, then began to fall, disappearing as it did.

  As soon as she saw the bowl vanish, Eve released power through her fingertips, the golden waves repairing the tapestry. The hole closed in moments, but Eve kept sending her power out, enjoying the warm surge, urging more threads to form, creating another layer of protection over the portal’s opening, another layer between the demons who lived on the other side and all the people she loved on this one.

  It wasn’t until she heard a soft cough behind – one that hadn’t sounded like it came from Luke or Jess – that she pulled her hands away. She stood and turned, anxious about her power being observed.

  Callum and Alanna stood a few metres away, their expressions solemn. Why was the Order here? Eve walked over to them, Jess and Luke on either side of her. In spite of her surprise, she realized there was a question that she wanted an answer to. Maybe the Order would know …

  ‘So many people from so many places could have bought that bowl at the marketplace in Egypt,’ Eve said to Callum. ‘It can’t be a coincidence it ended up in Deepdene, can it?’

  The lines around his mouth deepened as he prepared to answer. ‘Even with the portal closed, Deepdene will attract darkness.’

  ‘Demons, you mean,’ Eve said.

  ‘Yes,’ Callum said simply. ‘Although the door is closed at this moment, they can sense it has been opened recently. Lord Medway created something that can never be completely destroyed when he made the portal.’

  ‘So we can expect more, even with the portal blocked?’ Luke asked.