Demonosity (18 page)

“C
ass, wake up.” Reuben was nudging her, and Cassidy shot up in her chair as she fumbled for the knife she’d started carrying in her purse, before suddenly realizing that she didn’t have to fight anything, she’d merely fallen asleep in her Health class.
And was that drool on the desk?
The only consolation was that Travis had been called to the office about something, so he wasn’t there to witness her little nap.

Of course, in her defense, she hadn’t exactly gotten a lot of sleep lately. The last week had been a blur of waking up early to train with Thomas, following Celeste, learning her lines, and spending far too much time on the Internet reading about deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms. Thankfully, her father’s clot hadn’t broken off and traveled to his lungs, and even better, all of his tests had been negative, which meant the doctors were confident the clot was an isolated occurrence triggered by his operation, and they had discharged him after two days.

That had been a huge relief, and the weight that had been pressing down on Cassidy’s shoulders was lifted when she could see for herself that he really was okay. In fact, apart from the long compression stockings that he now had to wear and the extra medication he had to take, there was no sign anything had been wrong with him.

At the sound of the bell, everyone jumped to their feet, and, as usual, Cassidy headed straight to Celeste’s locker and discreetly waited for the senior to finish her after-school ritual of lip gloss refreshing and hair fluffing. Things had definitely been a lot easier since Cassidy had spoken to her, and while they weren’t exactly friends, she was no longer on the receiving end of Celeste’s death glares. Which was good, because there had been two more demon attacks since that day at the mall, and the idea of not following her every move wasn’t viable. At least for the last two attacks Thomas had been with her, and while he had been gruff and abrupt, he hadn’t said anything about the weird moment in her bedroom.

There was no rehearsal today, and so she and Nash followed Celeste out to the parking lot. Celeste had almost reached her SUV when she suddenly turned around. In the blink of an eye Nash had slammed himself up against a nearby tree so it would look as if Cassidy was the only one there. She gave Celeste a little half wave, which the senior ignored as she turned and got into her SUV.

“That was way too close,” Nash panted as he stepped away from the tree. Today he was wearing a pair of tuxedo pants, his Dr. Martens, and a tattered Smiths T-shirt. “Every time she sees me near her, she thinks it’s more proof of our animal magnetism.”

“‘My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words of that tongue’s utterance, yet I know the sound,’” Cassidy idly quoted, to Nash’s complete surprise. “Art thou not Nash the hottie that I cannot have?”

“Okay, I’m not sure whether to be impressed that you’ve started learning your lines, or terrified that I’ll never sleep again because of the imagery,” Nash retorted.

“Sorry. My dad’s getting so bored that he insisted we start learning my lines. I guess some of it must’ve stuck,” she said as they got into Nash’s car, and Cassidy reached for her cell phone to check whether Celeste had tweeted about her plans for the afternoon.

“Says here that she’s going for a coffee from Haz Beans.”

“Well, someone should tell her that she’s heading in the wrong direction,” Nash said as he swung left onto a leafy street and followed the SUV into a nursing home parking lot. The home was a sprawling place, set out on a large grassy slope, with a small creek running along the bottom. Thankfully, Celeste seemed too involved with parking her SUV to notice them, and once she had finally maneuvered the large vehicle into a spot, they watched her drape a striped uniform over her arm.

Cassidy rubbed her eyes, and even Nash looked bewildered. “What should we do now? I mean, it’s one thing to trail after her at school and at the mall, but I’m not sure we can sneak into a nursing home unnoticed.”

“I think we should just stay here. After all, the grimoire will glow if there are any demons close by, and then you can do your thing,” Nash said as he undid his seat belt and reached for his iPad.

“Good thinking.” Cassidy undid her own seat belt, climbed into the backseat, and got the grimoire out of the sports bag. As normal, the tattoo on her arm tingled every time she touched the book, but she tried to ignore it as best she could as she put the book onto the dashboard so that they could clearly see it. “And I guess in the meantime I could continue learning my lines.”

“Or do homework,” Nash said, as if he were making an outrageous suggestion. “And speaking of work, I forgot to tell you that while you were following Celeste at lunchtime, I saw Travis in the library. He was working his way through a fairly hefty medical journal. I must say I was pretty impressed.”

“He was probably looking up more deep vein thrombosis stuff,” Cassidy said as she adjusted the seat so she would have more room to stretch her legs. “This whole thing has really freaked him out. I guess it’s reminded him of his own dad.” A smile tugged at her lips as she recalled just how upset Travis had been. No wonder he was such a good actor when he wore his emotions so close to the surface. “Actually, he’s still really eager to come around and meet my parents, but I keep putting it off.”

“Well, I can understand, since it will be hard for him to live up to my awesomeness.” Nash grinned, which promptly earned him a slap on the arm.

“Actually, it’s because I don’t know if my dad would be up for it.”

“Cass, your dad is up for anything that stops him from remembering he can’t go play tennis and do all the other things he normally does,” Nash reminded her. “Just ask him. Have you even told him about Travis?”

“No.” She shook her head. “It seemed too frivolous when he’s had so much going on. Though I guess you’re right,” Cassidy grudgingly agreed, since her dad, who was normally superactive, was going stir-crazy. It had been the whole reason he’d had the knee operation in the first place.

“I’m always right,” Nash assured her, and they then spent the next hour waiting for Celeste. Nash was having some kind of genius argument on a science forum on his cell phone, and Cassidy was looking at photographs of Travis on hers; it wasn’t until the engine on Celeste’s SUV started up that they even realized she had finished her shift.

Thankfully, the grimoire still wasn’t glowing, so they followed Celeste home. Once she was safely inside, Nash headed to Cassidy’s house and arranged to meet her in the morning, after she had trained with Thomas, so that they could follow Celeste to school.

There was no sign of her mom when she walked in, but her dad was in the kitchen cutting up vegetables, his crutches resting on the bench next to him.

“This is your idea of taking it easy?” she quizzed as she hugged him.

“Doctor’s orders. I’m allowed to put as much weight on it as I can,” he said, tossing a carrot stick at her. Cassidy immediately popped it into her mouth and nodded for him to go sit down while she took over.

“Fine. But in exchange, you can tell me how your day was.”

“You really are bored, aren’t you?” Cassidy asked as he grabbed his crutches and swung his way over to the long bench that sat under the bay window at the end of the kitchen.

“Pretty much. And unless your teenage angst can keep me entertained, I will need to resort to daytime television.”

“Well, my day was pretty normal. Classes, hanging out with Nash.” Following Celeste Gilbert to make sure she didn’t get attacked by demons.

“Well, you sure are smiling a lot for someone who had such a regular day.”

“No, I’m not,” she protested, just as her cell phone beeped. She discreetly checked the screen and saw it was from Travis.

Is it wrong that I want there to be a rehearsal every afternoon. Miss you ~ T

“Ah, and now you’re doing it again,” her dad suddenly announced. “So you’ve either just had a text to say that you’ve won a lifetime supply of Diet Coke, or something’s going on.”

Cassidy flushed as she tried to bite back her smile, but it was impossible. Besides, while she never talked to her mom about anything, she’d always shared everything with her dad. Even the disaster that had been Reuben. “Okay, fine. The thing is, there’s this guy. His name is Travis, and he’s new to school, and, well, he’s perfect. Mom will love him because he’s in the school play. He was going to be Romeo but asked to be Tybalt instead, because he found it a more interesting role. Anyway, he’s a sublime actor, and he’s going to bring the house down with his performance.”

“Ah, so you’ve been dazzled.”

“No.” She quickly shook her head. “I mean, yes, he’s dazzling as well, but he’s more than that,” she added, as she thought of how great he had been the day after she’d found out about her dad’s blood clot. “I can’t explain it, but he really seems to
see me.
Does that sound dumb?”

For a moment her dad didn’t say anything before he shook his head. “No, my beautiful girl, it doesn’t sound dumb. It sounds like he’s someone whom I might like.”

Suddenly, Cassidy felt shy. “Actually, he’d really like to meet you.”

“He would?” her father asked in surprise. “I didn’t think teenage boys did things like that—Nash being the exception, of course.”

“Yes, well, Travis isn’t exactly your average teenage boy.” Cassidy found herself toying with the carnelian necklace as the memory of their kiss flashed into her mind. When she realized that her dad was still looking at her, she quickly coughed. “So, perhaps he could come over sometime?”

“I’ll have to check my schedule, but apart from being waited on hand and foot by my daughter, I’m pretty sure that I can free up some time. What about next Sunday?”

“Time for what?” her mom asked as she walked into the kitchen wearing yet another neat suit and carrying an armful of folders. Her stern face caused Cassidy and her dad to giggle, leaving Cassidy feeling better than she had in weeks.

“C
oncentrate,” Thomas barked on Monday morning as Cassidy lunged at his apparition. However, before she could reach him, he stepped back and frowned. “More.”

“I am doing more,” Cassidy wailed. Sweat beaded on her collarbone as the feeble morning sun pushed through the heavy canopy overhead and she felt the fatigue of the last few weeks take over. She put down her sword and folded her arms. “Thomas, please, I need a break. Do you ever stop to think of how much I’m juggling here? As well as following Celeste everywhere—and I mean
everywhere
—I’ve got my schoolwork, my dad . . .”
Not to mention my boyfriend, who’s coming to meet my family next Sunday.

For a moment Thomas was still, an odd expression on his face. Cassidy found herself thrusting her hands behind her back in case she was overcome with the strange temptation to touch his face once again. Then she braced herself for whatever lecture he was going to give her. But Thomas just studied his hands for a moment before looking back up, his expression almost soft.

“I heard your father has been unwell,” he said. “I imagine it must have been troubling for you.”

“You know about my dad?” she asked, surprised since she hadn’t told him about the blood clot and he had certainly never asked. Then she remembered he and his fellow guardians of the Black Rose liked to keep tabs on her. She shot him a hopeful glance. “So does this mean that I can have a day off from training?”

“Will your arm stay on if a demon slices through it with a rune-strengthened sword?” Thomas inquired in a pleasant voice.

“Er, I don’t think so.” Cassidy shook her head, not quite sure what he was getting at.

“Then, no. You cannot have a day off from training. Today we are learning how to avoid having your body parts cut off. Now lift up your sword in the high stance that I taught you.” Then he paused for a moment as emotion flickered across his face. “But I am truly sorry that your father was unwell.
Now you can begin. . . .”

Despite his momentary kindness, Thomas was true to his word, and the training session hadn’t been easy. By the time the bell rang at the end of the day, Cassidy was still feeling the effects of it every time she moved. But there was no way she was missing the rehearsal, since she was longing to see Travis. She hadn’t seen him since she had invited him to come meet her dad, but they’d had numerous text messages about it over the weekend. And any chance she’d had of seeing him at lunchtime vanished when Celeste had decided that it would be fun for her and her friends to sneak out for a hamburger, forcing Cassidy and Nash to follow them.

“Are you sure you don’t just want to sit at the back of the auditorium?” Cassidy asked as Nash strode along next to her, his long jacket flying out behind him and making him look more like a highwayman than a student. A group of girls stopped and sighed, but as usual he was oblivious to their admiration.

“As much fun as the wonders of high school dramatics sound, I would much rather be in the library doing something useful. And speaking of useful, I had an idea. I know you normally take the grimoire with you to give you a heads-up on any nearby demons, but I figured that since you’re probably not actually going to have it with you while you’re rehearsing, it makes more sense for me to have it, and then I can come and tell you,” he said. Then he suddenly added, “And I must admit that there was a section in there that I wanted to cross-reference with a book I found on the Knights Templar.”

“Of course there is.” Cassidy resisted the urge to laugh as she reached into her sports bag, pulled out the book, and handed it to him. “But you’re right, it does make more sense for you to keep an eye on it.”

Then she realized that Nash’s fan club was still hovering behind them, looking at them and the book with interest. Cassidy abruptly spun around and shot them a burning glare, then was surprised to see that the girls immediately scampered away. Perhaps all the time she’d spent with Thomas was starting to pay off.

“Hey, neat trick.” Nash nodded his head in approval, then put the grimoire into his own satchel and promised to meet her when the rehearsals were over. Once he was gone, she walked into the auditorium and casually made her way to where Celeste was arguing with Benjie Western over something. Cassidy silently sat down near them so she could keep an eye on Celeste without being intrusive.

There was no sign of Travis, and Cassidy felt a twinge of disappointment go racing through her. She sent him a quick text message, but when there was no answer, she reluctantly put her cell phone away and looked over to where Celeste was now glaring at a ratty-looking bed that was in one corner of the stage. It was obviously meant to be where the death scene was to take place, and Celeste was shaking her head.

“If you think that I’m going to lie down on that thing, you are very much mistaken,” Celeste informed them as she marched over to the large shopping bag that was sitting next to her purse and pulled out a crisp cotton sheet.

“Celeste, no. It’s meant to be in a tomb. You can’t have an Egyptian cotton sheet on it,” Reuben said, joining the conversation, but Celeste ignored them as she meticulously spread the sheet over the bed.

“He’s right,” another senior who was working in props added. “We were going to paint the bed gray to make it look like stone. And wow, how do you know how to make a bed like that? It looks like something a nurse would do.”

Suddenly, Celeste stopped tucking in the sheet as more people gathered around.

“That’s because they’re hospital corners.” Rachel, who had been meant to be Celeste’s understudy, suddenly appeared, her eyes sharp and beady like a raven searching for food. “Since when do you even know how to make a bed like that?”

Cassidy knew the answer to that. It was because of the volunteering she did in the nursing home; however, for some reason Celeste seemed at a loss for words.

Which was weird because normally it was impossible to shut her up. Why would she care that people knew she was volunteering at a nursing home?

“Seriously,” Rachel continued. “Don’t you have three maids at home? What’s going on, Celeste? Is there something you’re not telling us?”

Cassidy widened her eyes. Unless, of course, Celeste wasn’t volunteering. What if she had a part-time job there? Suddenly, her hesitance made a lot more sense. And without stopping to question why, Cassidy coughed.

“I taught her.”

“What?” Rachel spun around and looked at Cassidy like she was something that the dog had brought in. “Why would you teach her that?”

“We were rehearsing lines, and I was playing the Nurse. I guess I got carried away and started making the bed, and Celeste wanted to know how I did it. Any more mysteries that you would like me to solve for you, Sherlock?”

However, before Rachel could reply, Mrs. Davis clapped her hands, and Reuben was forced to hurry away and retrieve his clipboard. Celeste didn’t say anything as she walked past Cassidy, but that was probably good, because Cassidy still had no idea why she had bothered to help her out. She was fairly sure that even Thomas wouldn’t have expected her to be quite so vigilant in her guardianship duties.

“Right,” Mrs. Davis began. “We have a lot to get through, so no interruptions, please—”

“Sorry I’m late, did I miss anything?” Travis suddenly appeared on the stage from behind the curtains, wearing black jeans and a dark shirt. As soon as he spoke the entire cast and crew erupted in laughter, and even Mrs. Davis joined in. A boyish grin escaped his lips. “Okay, so I’ve got no idea what’s so funny, but let’s hope I don’t do it on the first night, since this isn’t meant to be a comedy.”

“It’s fine, Travis, just sit down,” Mrs. Davis said in an indulgent voice as she nodded to a spot nearby. He obediently sat down and stretched out his long denim-clad legs as Mrs. Davis went over the scenes they were going to practice. But Cassidy, who was behind Travis, hardly heard a word as she found herself staring at the back of his head, marveling at how the curls fell just above his shirt.

Finally, the cast split up into groups to practice their lines and staging. Cassidy saw Celeste heading for the restroom and she knew she should follow her, but when Travis gravitated toward her, she couldn’t bring herself to leave.

“Hey, you’re here,” he said, his voice low and gravelly and his gaze hot and steamy.

“H-hey,” Cassidy squeaked in delight before inwardly groaning at her lack of coolness. But Travis hardly seemed to notice as he threaded his fingers through hers as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “I didn’t think you were coming.”

“I know. I totally lost track of time. I was in the library working on something. Thanks for texting me, or I would’ve been even later,” he said. Then he pulled her forward and kissed her.

Cassidy’s stomach fluttered as the kiss deepened and her hands tentatively reached up toward his chest, but before they could get there, Travis suddenly captured her hands in his and broke away.

“I-is everything okay?” she asked, her heart still pounding as she tried to adjust to the sensation of no longer kissing him.

“Yeah. It’s just, well, it’s a little bit crowded here,” he said in a rueful voice, and Cassidy realized that he hadn’t pulled away because he didn’t want to kiss her, but more because he did. She blushed while relishing the feel of her hands in his.

“So my dad’s really looking forward to meeting you on Sunday.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting him. And your mom,” he added. “And actually, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you—” Then he suddenly broke off and nodded over to the door of the auditorium. For a moment Cassidy was too lost even to realize what he was doing, but she reluctantly turned around to see Nash urgently waving at her.

“Just ignore him,” Cassidy advised as she tightened her grip on his hand, but instead he politely untangled his fingers and shook his head.

“And have your best friend hate me? I’m many things, but crazy isn’t one of them,” he assured her, his dark eyes locking into hers. “Besides, I’m supposed to be doing a read-through of the first act.”

“Okay.” Cassidy sighed with happiness as she watched Travis walk over to where the other Capulets were horsing around. He nodded at Nash on his way past, but it wasn’t until he’d gone that she hurried over to where Nash was standing, his alabaster brow knitted and serious.

“This had better be amazing, because Travis was just about to tell me something, and he said it was important,” she informed him in a tart voice.

“Not exactly amazing. More like disastrous.” Nash held his satchel up to her so that she could see the grimoire. It was glowing like a beacon in the middle of a storm. “Where’s Celeste?”

“She went to the restroom,” Cassidy croaked as she and Nash hurried over toward the girls’ room door, just in time to see Celeste emerge, her lip gloss freshly applied and her hair looking perky; she didn’t look at all like she’d been attacked by a demon. Relief raced through Cassidy. Not that Celeste seemed to notice; instead, all her attention was on Nash.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere, Nash. Now, despite my disappointment that you didn’t audition, there is still something you can do for me. I was hoping that you could give me some insight into what Verona was really like when the play takes place.”

“He would love to,” Cassidy said, while giving Nash an apologetic look as fear racked through her. There was definitely a demon somewhere in the school, so should she go and look for it, or should she stay with Celeste? The decision was especially tough, considering the brutal speech Thomas had given her.

“Yes, but Cassidy, what about that
other
thing we were going to do?” he asked in a tight voice, his face pale. Not that she could blame him. Twice now he’d been hurt by the demons, and despite his assurance that he was fine, she was sure those attacks were still on his mind.

“Well.” Cassidy forced herself to make a decision. “I could always go and look for the
other thing
. And if I need help with it, I could call you. Yes?”

“Yes, but what if—”

“I’ll be careful. I promise,” she said, and she reached for his satchel so that she could take the grimoire with her. Celeste was staring at her as if she was crazy, but that was probably better than her knowing the truth. Then, when Nash didn’t offer any immediate objections, she hurried off before he could change his mind.

Cassidy slipped out into the first restroom she could find so that she could awkwardly put on the heavy mail before pulling her large black coat over it all, making her seem about three feet wide. Not exactly a great look.

Still, it was better to be safe than sorry, and she headed outside, jogging around the grounds to make sure they were clear. There was no sign of any demons out there, so next she began to search the school, floor by floor. However, by the time she reached the top level, the grimoire had almost stopped glowing altogether. She studied the dull leather cover in confusion. Did that mean the demon had left? Or did it mean that—

Her sports bag fell to the floor as she fumbled for her cell phone.