At my door, Gavin turned to me. “I’m so sorry our date turned out so sucky.”

  I shook my head. “Thank you for coming to my rescue.”

  He reached up and gently moved my hair off my shoulder. “How could I not?”

  He watched my face, probably as intently as I watched his. He let go of my hand and placed his on my waist. Gazing at my mouth, he leaned closer.

  And then headlights lit up his face.

  Gavin squinted, and I looked over to see Dad’s car pull up. I didn’t want to back away from Gavin, but thought Dad might not like the lack of space between us. I put my hands on my hips as I took a step back, grimacing at Gavin.

  “Guess that’s your dad.”

  “Yeah.”

  Mara opened her car door but didn’t look up at us.

  “Well, I hope we can do this again. You know, without the bad part.”

  I smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

  “See you tomorrow,” Gavin said.

  I so wanted him to kiss me. “Goodnight.”

  He reached over and gave my hand a quick squeeze, then made his way off the porch.

  Mara marched up the walk in a huff. Dad opened his car door, eyes narrowed at Gavin. As Gavin headed down the front path, he gave Dad a nod. Dad nodded back with a tight-lipped smile.

  Mara rushed past him, past me, and grunted when she realized the door was locked. Her keys jingled as she finally got them in the lock. She burst into the house, slamming the door behind her. Gavin gave me a small wave before sliding into his car and driving away. Dad watched me as he came toward the house.

  “Hi, Dad.” I hadn’t told him I was going on a date, of course. I looked down at myself and realized my skirt was torn. It must have happened during the attack. Dad couldn’t see that. He’d get the wrong idea. And there’s no way he’d let me out of the house again if I told him about what had happened with Brent. I turned swiftly and ran into the house.

  After I jogged to my room to throw on some sweatpants, I heard Dad on the stairs. He knocked, but on Mara’s door, not mine.

  “Mara, honey, talk to me.”

  I opened my door, leaning against the frame with my arms wrapped around my middle. Dad glanced at me, looking exhausted and agitated. He knocked on Mara’s door again. “Come on, Mara. It couldn’t have been that bad.”

  Mara’s door swung open. “I’m not going to talk to that woman again. I get that you want me to talk to someone, but Dr. Klein is a hack. She doesn’t know squat about anything. All she does is sit there and ask me questions to piss me off. She’s just robbing you of your hard-earned money, Dad.”

  Dad ran a hand through his hair. “All right. I think it’s too soon to judge. I think you should give her another chance. Let’s just get some rest and talk about it when we’ve had a good night’s sleep.”

  Mara rolled her eyes and shut her door.

  “Goodnight, Mara,” Dad called through the door.

  Her reply was a muffled, “Night.”

  I leaned my head against my doorframe. Dad put his hands on his hips and faced me. “I don’t really have it in me to get into it with you too, Zadie. But you could have told me you were going out with a boy tonight.”

  I bit my lip. He had enough to worry about right now. There was no way I could even begin to explain what had happened to me. This called for some major down-playing.

  “It was just a movie, Dad.”

  He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “You think it’s just a movie. But to a father of teenage girls, it’s a coronary.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  I shielded my eyes from the sun as I marched out to the hockey field where the homecoming parade floats were being put together. On the football field adjacent to us, the varsity team practiced and a handful of students chilled in the bleachers. Naomi spotted me and waved me over to her float. Long strands of something shiny and gold hung from between her teeth as she smiled at me.

  “You found me,” she said after spitting out the gold strands.

  “Yeah,” I bit my lip. “I went to the library but you weren’t there, obviously. I feel really bad about leaving you hanging all the time.”

  She regarded me for a moment, then offered a small smile. “No, it’s not your fault. I mean, it’s family stuff, right?”

  “Yeah.” For once, it wasn’t a lie. “What is all this?” I pushed aside an enormous Styrofoam ball with my foot. It rolled into a can of blue paint and bounced back to me.

  “I told you I was on the float committee. I, uh, guess you weren’t listening. Anyway, this float has some kind of underwater theme. But with glitter. I don’t know, I just do what I’m told.”

  “Okay.”

  “Do you want to help me paint some balls blue?” She waggled her brows.

  I batted my lashes at her. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  “They’re supposed to be bubbles,” she explained as she handed me a paintbrush.

  “Are you the only one working on this float?”

  “Well, Wesley has wrestling practice so he’s coming late. And Shay’s probably off somewhere toking one up. So it’s just you and me, sweetheart.”

  “Groovy.”

  We took our supplies to a large piece of cardboard laid out on the grass. I painted one half of my ball but couldn’t figure out how to hold it in order to paint the other half. Naomi saw me struggling and let out a giggle.

  “Oh,” she said, her eyes all at once wide. “Guess what I heard.”

  “What?”

  “You know Brent?” she said, and my fingers clenched my paintbrush. “I heard he got jumped. Some gang beat him up and broke a bottle over his head or something. Heard he’s got a patch over his eye. Might even lose it.”

  I swallowed hard. “No way.”

  “Well, that’s what one of Tasha’s friends said, so I don’t know how much of it is true. Guess we’ll find out if Brent comes back to school with a patch over his eye.”

  I painted over the same spot. “Guess so.”

  I felt a pang of remorse for possibly doing permanent damage to Brent’s eye, but then I remembered his hands on me. How the Reaper may have made him do those things. I shuddered and pushed the thought away.

  “So tell me something, if you don’t mind me being nosy—which you shouldn’t since we’re best friends and all.” Naomi continued to paint as she spoke. “I’ve seen you talking to Chase in the halls once or twice. Anything going on there I should know about?”

  I froze. I guessed warding her off in the hall hadn’t been enough. “No. Nothing.”

  “For reals?”

  “Totally for reals. You’re imagining things.”

  She turned to me and studied my eyes. “If you say so. Kinda like how I’m imagining you have blue on your face?”

  “I do? Where?”

  Naomi swiped her brush over my nose. “Right there.”

  My jaw dropped. “I can’t believe you just did that.” I rubbed a finger over my nose. “Ew, it’s so sticky.”

  Naomi laughed as I tried to scrape the paint off with my finger.

  “I think it looks cute,” Gavin said from behind me. “Goes well with your hair.”

  I straightened, swiping at my nose and hoping desperately that I got all the blue off. “Hey, Gavin. How long have you been standing there?” My shoulders tensed. There was something about the way his face was pulled down that made me think he’d heard us talking about Chase.

  “Why?” he asked.

  I felt like he was challenging me. I swiped at my nose as a last attempt to get it paint-free. “No reason.”

  “Did you come to help?” Naomi asked him. “Because if you didn’t, you need to stop distracting my worker bee.”

  “Sorry, I’m sort of supposed to be helping Danny.”

  He pointed to the float next to Naomi’s, a mere ten feet away. Danny was hammering something, and not doing a very good job of it. I had a feeling the structure he was whacking on the flatbed was supposed to be a humongous, three-dimensional peace sign, but it was lopsided and asymmetrical. Had Naomi signed up for the homecoming committee because of Danny? I glanced at her. She was suddenly very interested in her blue ball. Maybe she had told me about this, too, but I was just such a bad friend I hadn’t paid attention.

  “I just wondered what you were doing tomorrow after school,” Gavin said. “I’ve got Attack of the 50 Foot Woman on DVD and thought you’d like to come over and watch it.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at the image of Gavin and me cuddling on his couch in the dark. The problem was, I had plans after school the next day. My smile faltered. I glanced at Naomi. I couldn’t read her face, but she was watching me for my response. I hadn’t spent any free time with her lately. I hadn’t even told her about my date with Gavin, so she’d probably hate me if I accepted his invitation. Which I couldn’t.

  “That sounds great,” I said, then wrinkled my nose. “But I can’t. Family plans.” At least I could keep my lies consistent.

  Naomi gave me a sympathetic smile, easing my tension somewhat.

  “Oh. All right. I understand.” Gavin stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. Sunlight caught his lashes, giving the illusion that his eyes were shimmering. “Another time, then?”

  “Definitely.” My heart ached a bit, wondering if that time would ever come.

  “By the way,” he said, inching forward, “you left your cardigan in my car. It’s in my locker if you want to come get it.”

  Naomi stopped painting and dropped her hand. Her eyes practically tore into me. Crap. Now she knew I’d lied to her.

  “Um, yeah,” I said to Gavin, avoiding Naomi’s glare. “After I help out here.”

  Laughter carried on the wind. I turned to see Emily and the lemmings standing by Danny’s float, holding armfuls of brightly colored crepe paper. Though I was never particularly happy to see Emily, I’d been relieved to hear she was better and back at school. A mass of uniforms plodded by us. Football practice was over. I recognized the blond mop of Luke’s hair as he stopped next to Emily.

  I was too far away to hear what they said, but Emily laughed and pushed Luke’s arm, then flipped her platinum hair over her shoulder. Nice to know she was back to her old self. Gavin spoke, but I barely caught what he said. My attention focused on Mara instead. What are you up to, Mara? She stood by herself, between Naomi’s float and the bleachers, glaring at Luke and Emily.

  I watched her, frowning, as a coldness gleamed in her eye. This couldn’t be good. A chill brushed over my spine. A strong wind gusted, my hair flying in every direction around my face. There was a slight vibration in the atmosphere, like thunder had just rumbled somewhere far away.

  Beside me, Naomi sucked in a sharp breath. She pointed. “Look out!”

  A scream pierced the air.

  The giant peace sign on Danny’s float creaked and wobbled. I watched in horror as one of the larger pieces of wood split in a jagged line with a loud crack. Danny jumped off the flat bed as the top half of the peace sign split apart, tipping precariously over the side of the float. Wood splintered down around Danny as he rolled away. Panicked, Gavin, Naomi, and I raced toward him. With great speed, Gavin grabbed Danny by the waist and pulled him away from the float, hauling him to his feet.

  The float creaked again. It was as if the structure atop it was falling in slow motion. The lemmings screamed and scrambled back as Nicole bumped into Emily, and they both went down in a tangle of perfectly tanned limbs. The top half of the peace sign ripped free, slicing toward the ground. A jagged two-by-four plunged toward the ground like a spear, sticking into the dirt inches from Emily’s head. Even I had to gasp. Her eyes were wide, her face twisted with fear.

  Luke turned and covered his head, but a large plank of wood caught him in the back, knocking him down. Please stop this. Please! I stood behind Gavin, my hands on his arms. We stared as the last bits of wood rained over them. Silence fell.

  “Oh my God!” Naomi said, her hand over her mouth.

  My eyes wide, I turned toward Mara. My heart jumped when I found she stood about ten feet closer than she had a moment ago. She was breathing hard, her hands clenched into fists. I could just make out her shadow behind her on the grass. It was a solid black form, as perfect as if she stood in front of a backlit screen. It subtly shifted, as if Mara had turned. Only Mara was standing still. My breath caught. The shadow dissipated to the muted gray of a normal shadow. I shuddered and turned back to the scene of the non-accident.

  Luke jabbed a finger into Danny’s chest. “You almost killed me with your lame-ass construction. You don’t even take Shop, do you?”

  “Back off, Luke,” Gavin warned, stepping between Luke and Danny.

  “Or what?” Luke shouted.

  Emily rushed forward and grabbed his arm. “Don’t bother, Luke. They’re not worth it.”

  Luke glared at Danny a moment longer before he allowed Emily to pull him away, the lemmings scrabbling behind them to keep up.

  “You sure you’re okay?” Gavin asked Danny.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. But my float’s a goner.”

  As they examined the disaster that was Danny’s float, I looked back toward Mara. But she was gone.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The next day, I headed to Lilura’s house after school. I still hadn’t finished my Lit paper—and Naomi had been kind of cold to me all day—but things were getting out of control. It was time for some answers.

  Sable bounced along the sidewalk in front of me, guiding me while I thought about Mara. I hadn’t confronted her about the float incident. I was terrified of her answer. After the incident with Brent, and after seeing the shadow that had morphed behind Mara, I was convinced that Chase was right about a Reaper controlling her.

  I was so lost in thought, I almost tripped when Sable came to a sudden stop. She looked behind me and meowed, her tail twitching as she wove between my legs, arching against my in-seams. Then she curled around to sit in front of me and sniffed the air.

  “What is it?” I glanced behind me; there was no one in sight. Not even a passing car. “You smell a mouse or something? Come on. I’m sure Lilura will feed you when you get home.”

  A few minutes later, Sable bounded up the porch steps ahead of me. The screen door was unlocked, so I pushed it open. The cat slipped in ahead of me and curled up underneath what I was beginning to recognize as “my chair” at the table. A steaming tea cup and an open book sat at my place. I dropped into the chair and took an obligatory sip of tea before making a face and pushing it aside. While Lilura fumbled around in the kitchen, I read the page in front of me.

  Both faeries and witches are believed to create faery rings. Faery rings are circles of inedible mushrooms that grow in grassy areas of North America and Europe. Also called “hag tracks” in Britain, they are believed to be created by witches' dancing feet. According to folklore, faery rings are magical circles in which witches or faeries meet to sing and dance at night.

  In the margin of the text, scrawled in pen, were the words: “possible portal to Reaper dimension?” Well, that couldn’t be good. I sat back and thought about it. The way I figured it, Lilura either wanted to find a way to close the portal, or she thought we might need to go through it to stop a Reaper. The latter idea made my blood run cold.

  The front door opened, and I looked up in time to see Chase step into the room holding a small plastic shopping bag. I offered him a smile, but he didn’t return it. Instead, he set the bag on the table, sat down next to me, and studied my face. I didn’t know what to make of it.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “So I heard something today.”

  Nice hello. “What did you hear?” I asked.

  “That you’ve been hanging out with Gavin Murray.”

  I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Well, we’re sort of seeing each other.”

  I didn’t know what I expected, but his next words weren’t it.

  “What about Mara?”

  “What do you mean? Are you asking me if she’s seeing someone?” Something twisted in my gut. “She’s busy trying to kill her ex-boyfriend at the moment, so my guess is no.”

  He rubbed his chin, then tapped his fingers on the table. “It’s just that if you’re spending all your free time with Gavin, who’ll be watching Mara? I mean, optimally it would be better to keep an eye on her all the time. But we can’t make you skip school, and training here is pretty important. On the other hand, going out on dates when you could be with Mara? Don’t you think that’s an unwise move?”

  I opened my mouth, but I really didn’t know what to say. I suddenly felt like he and Lilura were asking way too much of me. “Am I really expected to watch her every waking hour? Like … like a babysitter or something? I’m not watching her now. Maybe instead of sitting here getting a lecture, I should go home and do that.”

  Chase wiped a hand down his face and shook his head. Lilura picked that moment to join us. She eyed us suspiciously. In her hands were a glass of water and a feather. I rolled my eyes at the water. I had tried so many times to change the stupid color, and it never worked. And really, how was that supposed to help me stop a Reaper, anyway? The feather, though, was new. I wondered what it was for.

  “Is that my tea?” she asked.

  Chase grunted a response and pushed the bag toward her. I wrinkled my nose, wishing the store had been out of stock of her tea supply. Lilura patted the bag fondly, then turned her attention my way.

  “Can I ask you a question, Lilura?” I asked.

  “Shoot.”

  “The night when I, you know, brought my sister back? I said some kind of spell or something. Words came out of my mouth. Words I didn’t understand.”

  Lilura nodded. “I figured as much.”

  “Well, why the chant? I mean, I can make things happen without even opening my mouth, right?”

  “It’s a bit complicated to explain. Incantation and invocation are more commonly used by witches to call upon spirits and other entities of magic—both natural and supernatural—to help influence an enchantment, curse, or spell. It is not necessary for Vila to chant, but it gives their magic a boost from external sources, so to speak. It can be used for spells that are more difficult and require more power.”