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Shouting filled the room—and to my shock, Dad tackled Mrs. Swiller just as the crossbow fired. Jake, Misty and Candace shoved the Devil to the floor and Sam shoved me against the wall.
The bolt slammed into the far wall, where the Devil had been standing, still quivering when I looked over at it.
Dad hauled Mrs. Swiller to her feet, yanked the crossbow out of her hands. “What the hell are you thinking, Irene? Shooting that weapon in a room full of innocents—”
“You know better, Raleigh. How can you defend that abomination? After it attacked your own daughter?”
“What happened ten years ago was the abomination.”
“It was self-preservation! They were invading, feeling entitled. And with that spell, allowing them to walk among us unnoticed, they were no longer confined to Hyattown. You would have done the same, had you known.”
For the second time in two months I saw Dad’s almost unheard of anger spark. “Never lump me in with your pack of fanatics. Good people died in that fire—”
“People helping them!” She pointed at the Devil, her normally disciplined voice spiraling to a screech. She had no idea more than one monster stood in the room with her. “You cannot let them back in. We have to keep them from destroying—”
“I have lived in this town my entire life, Irene. And I knew nothing about them, until last month. So your talk of them taking over is the same narrow-minded rhetoric I’ve heard for years, about anyone who is different.”
I wanted to applaud. Dad has always been my hero, but I have never been more proud of him. Of course, it was going to make study period a living hell.
I’d get over it.
“You—how—” Mrs. Swiller sputtered. I don’t think—nope, I’ve never seen her like this. I almost respected her after I’d found out about the secret computer in her office. This blew any chance of that turning into actual respect.
Dad took her arm, led her to the doorway. “I am taking you back up, and we will not say anything about this.”
“But—”
“My daughter is involved now, as well as her friends. And I will protect them, by whatever means necessary. Is that clear enough for you?”
“Wow,” Misty whispered. She stood next to me, sky-blue eyes wide as she watched the school tyrant brought down by my mild, smiling dad. “He is beyond cool.”
“Yeah.” I kept seeing new sides of Dad. I wondered what surprise he would spring on me next. “Let’s get out of here.” I had reached my monster-face-to-face saturation level.
I ducked under Sam’s arm, refusing to look at him. Misty took my hand, and we followed Dad and Mrs. Swiller out.
For the first time in my life, I had a real best friend. A “let’s eat ice cream because you need to” friend. I never in a million years expected it to be Ms. Popular, head of the populars. Even more surprising, she turned out to be nice. Genuinely nice.
So much had changed in such a short time my head still spins thinking about it. Now Mrs. Swiller turning vigilante just added to the strange.
Even with the head spinning, the monsters, the constant and not always pleasant surprises, I wouldn’t change a minute. Well, not most of them.
Sam stopped us at the edge of the boardwalk.
“Is that true, Alex? What your dad said about you being involved?”
I turned to face him, braced for his anger when I answered. The sight of him bare chested, backlit by the glow of candles, nearly lodged my heart in my throat. I swallowed, determined not to let it distract me.
“Every word.”
“You can’t—”
“Stop.” I pulled free of Misty’s grip and limped over to him. “When you left, you gave up any right to tell me what to do. Not that you’d have it if you’d stayed.” I wanted to touch him, so badly, to break through the invisible wall that stood between us. “This is my town, and I will uncover the secrets that hurt so many people. Those secrets touched my family, and I won’t let it hurt them.”
He stared at me, like he’d never seen me before. Frankly, I was surprised by the words that came out of my mouth. I guess the new confidence didn’t leave town with Sam.
Before I could say something stupid and ruin it, I spun away from him and limped down the street, Misty following after me. “I don’t know who I admire more now,” she said. “You, or your dad.”
“I didn’t—”
“Oh, yes, you did. I have never seen Sam speechless.”
“Oh.” I didn’t want to be smug, but oh, I was. Sam had ruled my life for so long, it was almost freeing to be able to say my piece and walk away.
Don’t get me wrong—I am still stupid in love with him, but I’d learned over the last month that I would still breathe, function, even live, without his constant presence.
Another miracle.
We climbed up the ladder, and crawled out behind the McGinty house. It was cold, but clear. I loved late fall, and wouldn’t mind the walk home. Especially since Misty was with me.
Walking fast, just short of actually running, we got out of the overgrown yard. I breathed easier once we hit the sidewalk. I would never feel comfortable there, no matter how much time passed.
I looked over at Misty. “You want to do some work on the English project?”
“Oh, yeah—love to,” she said. I laughed, knowing how much she struggled to get through the book. “I didn’t mean—I know how hard you worked on the notes—”
“Stop digging the hole, Misty.”
“Okay.” She grinned at me. “I am grateful that you’ve done most of the work.”
“Good to know.”
I enjoyed her still surprising, sharp wit. I never expected to find someone my age who got my brand of sarcasm.
“Hey,” Misty said. “I have an idea—and I won’t be offended if it horrifies you. Being a tomboy and all.”
“Right—what’s the idea?”
“We could have a sleepover.” I halted, staring at her. No one had ever invited me to a sleepover. Never mind having one of my own. “What? Too weird?”
“No—I just...”
It was Misty’s turn to stare. “You’ve never been to a sleepover, have you?” I shook my head, feeling heat flare across my cheeks. “That clinches it—you’re about to experience your first, genuine, girly sleepover. No pink required,” she said, smiling.
“Thank goodness. You know I don’t—”
“Do pink. Yeah—sorry about making you wear the robe. I don’t think I ever apologized.”
“Don’t worry about it. That was before you knew—”
Bright light flashed behind us. We both turned around—and I registered the car coming straight at us just before it jumped the sidewalk.
I grabbed Misty and pushed her into the bushes, falling in after her. The side of the car brushed the bushes as it roared past, inches from my feet.
I jerked my legs up and held my breath, listening for the car to come back and finish its attempt to run us down—because that was not an “oops, I’m texting and didn’t see you” blunder.
That car was aiming for us.
My heart stopped pounding against my ribs as the engine faded, and silence ruled the night.
Misty groaned next to me. I was right there with her. At least the bushes didn’t have thorns. Just thick, painful-to-land-on branches.
I crawled backward, my body screaming at the abuse. Misty followed me, dirt on her face, small twigs caught in her waist length blonde hair. Her beautiful sweater was torn, and streaks of green marked her pants. I was pretty sure I looked about as beat up. I sure felt like I’d thrown myself into unyielding bushes.
“Are you okay?”
Misty pushed hair out of her face. “I could be worse. Thanks for the push.”
I managed a smile. “Anytime.”
Both of us limping now, we made it back to my house without another incident. Misty leaned against my MG, rubbing her elbow. “Ouch, that’s going to leave a mark—hey, what’s that?”
She reached toward the front windshield. I saw what she was going for, flapping against the glass in the cold breeze blowing off the nearby ocean. A folded piece of paper. After handing it over to me, she hugged herself.
I took a shaky breath, opened the note. Scrawled across it in block letters was a message, and a threat.
STOP INVESTIGATING THE FIRE.
LET THE DEAD LIE.
“So,” Misty said, reading the note over my shoulder. “I guess that car jumping the sidewalk wasn’t an accident.”
I nodded, my fingers shaking against the paper.
Sometimes I really hated being right.