Bianca wasn’t supposed to be “working” tonight. Tonight, she was just supposed to help June at what would undoubtedly be an awkward party near the cave that Ayers High students sometimes used. Still, Bianca had stashed a packet of esfand incense in her purse and wore a new evil eye chain she’d bought online. June could keep her other one. She had a feeling her best friend would need it.

She parked her truck near the trailhead and followed the music down the path that led to the Appalachian Trail throughway. “The Cave” was an open secret in Ayers, and the Park Service turned a blind eye to the teens partying there so long as they picked up after themselves and lit fires only in the wetter months. After all, many of the park rangers had grown up here, doing the exact same thing they were doing now.

The gathering reeked of beer. Bianca wrinkled her nose, glad she’d brought her own Cokes. To her, beer tasted the way dishwater smelled. There wasn’t any point in pretending that she liked it.

She recognized pretty much everyone at the party. There was Shivani, holding court from where she was perched on a rock and regaling a group of girls with some stupid, shallow story (probably). Shepherd was by the tree line trying to do a keg stand, his Afro squashed on the mini keg. And there was Foster, sitting next to Kinsley Wheeler on a split log in front of the firepit. Bianca’s eyebrows flew to the top of her forehead. Have they no shame?

June’s “bookie assistant,” Liam, had his arm around her as they stood under a giant pine. Bianca tried not to feel territorial about it. Liam had an Ayers High Swim hoodie on, and June wore a sweater with miraculously zero sports teams on it.

“Bianca!” June called out.

“Hey,” Bianca said.

“Hey, Bianca,” Liam replied. Bianca liked Liam. He was nice and polite. But she would always like June more, and she considered her friend “on loan” to this boy, even though they were both going to Ayers College and would probably be married one day. “Hey, do you have a cousin here?” he asked. “I thought I saw someone who looked like you.”

Bianca stilled. There were very few, if any, other Iranians in Ayers. She shook her head at Liam. “Nope, don’t think so.”

Liam just nodded. Then he kept nodding, as if bopping his head to the music. The silence that followed was awkward.

“Want a Coke?” Bianca asked, breaking the silence.

“What kind?” June asked.

“I got Coke, Sprite, ginger ale, and a diet.”

“Gimme a Sprite. Thanks.”

Bianca handed it over and they cracked open their cans, surveying the scene. Liam excused himself to go talk to his friends on the swim team, another reason he would always be a tad suspicious to Bianca. Why did he have so many friends? Surely no one was that likable.

“So,” Bianca said, taking a sip.

“So,” June said, doing the same.

“Some party, huh.”

“We’re seniors. This is what seniors do now,” June said sagely.

“So cool,” Bianca answered flatly.

“Yup,” June agreed.

“Why am I here again?” Bianca asked.

“Because you love me,” June explained. “And I didn’t want to come without my bestie.”

“Right. That.”

And then someone screamed.

It took Bianca a second to understand what was happening. One moment, she was chatting with her friend, and the next a stream of classmates ran toward them like a stampede, everyone sprinting to the parking lot.

She and June had hightailed it to their cars like the rest of the party, figuring it would be better to run first and ask questions later. “Cops?” Bianca asked, breathless.

“I don’t think so,” June replied.

Bianca’s ring suddenly seared — red-hot, just like it had with the djinn and the ghul. The same voice screamed again. Bianca sprinted back to the trailhead, trying to get closer.

“Bianca?” June shouted from the crowded lot. “Where did you go?”

“You go on!” Bianca called, her body filling with dread. Here? Right now? But it made sense. This was a party full of young, vibrant people. If she needed a human meat puppet, this was the first place she’d go too.

The path was empty now. She picked her way back to the party scene, where discarded cups and cans lay scattered on top of the pine needles. The rangers would not be pleased.

“NO!” a voice cried.

The voice sounded familiar but was too distraught to place. Bianca took a deep breath and took off her new necklace. She started swinging it in front of her like a lasso. Clutching her packet of esfand incense, she made her way closer to the cave and gasped. There stood a tall, fiery being bent over someone crouched on the ground.

“No,” the person moaned.

And that’s when Bianca recognized him. It was Steve Rosenberg.

She got out her phone.