The team worked on jammer and pack drills before the scrimmage, and I wanted to jump in so badly, even though I knew I couldn’t. My legs shook after just a few hockey stops in my isolated corner. I’d earned those shakes fair and square after pushing so hard at tryouts, but I still wanted to beat my thighs with my fists and tell them to get with the program already. But it wouldn’t do me any good to drive myself into unconsciousness again. I forced myself to work on quality, not quantity; at least my technique was good.

Ruthanasia scowled every time she happened to look in my direction, but I didn’t care. The skeptical looks the rest of the team kept shooting me really bothered me, though. “Do people hate me for being here?” I asked during one water break, when Ragnarocker rolled past.

She frowned thoughtfully, wiping sweat from her forehead. “What makes you say that?”

“I’m getting a lot of glares from the masses.”

“Ah.” She shrugged. “Some of the girls think you’re getting special treatment because of whatever you’ve got going with Michael.”

I swallowed the irate retort that rose immediately to my lips. Everyone else’s opinions weren’t her fault. “And you? What do you think?”

She grinned. “I think someone with the balls to keep showing up like you do deserves some respect. Besides, I figure if I butter you up enough, you might eventually teach me those aerial tricks of yours.”

I had to smile back. She was my kind of person; what you saw was exactly what you got. “Keep buttering. I’ll teach you eventually.”

“A girl can dream,” she said. “But for now, this girl is going to get a drink.” And she skated away.

In the scrimmage, Ruthanasia scored a double grand slam while I tried to focus on learning strategy and not on trying to make her spontaneously combust with the power of my mind. After it was over, I asked Michael if he wanted help with all the cones. Darcy and Ruthanasia both looked dismayed when he said yes. I felt bad about Darcy.

“I’ll give you a call later, Darce,” I said. “Maybe we can get together after school tomorrow.”

“All right,” she replied reluctantly. “See you later.”

She trudged out the doors, looking more dejected than she had reason to. Although, maybe she’d been disappointed by more than my failure to hang out with her; she’d been stuck blocking the whole time, and I knew how much she wanted to jam. I felt like a pretty crappy friend after I realized that. I’d been so wrapped up in my own drama that I hadn’t thought about anyone but myself. I’d definitely have to make it up to her.

Everyone else trickled out slowly, like they had no idea I was waiting to get the scoop on demonkind and might explode from the pressure if the delay went on much longer. Finally the doors closed behind Ragnarocker, who called out “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” just as they swung shut.

“I’m not sure there’s anything she wouldn’t do.” I grinned.

“I don’t know firsthand, but I suspect you’re right,” Michael said, walking out to the perimeter of the rink and picking up a cone.

“So.” I glanced around one last time to make sure we were alone. The only person left in the place was the guy behind the snack bar counter, and he was watching bowling on TV. I got bored just thinking about it. “How does one hunt demons, and what do you do with them when you catch them? Besides throwing demon-zapping necklaces at them, I mean.”

He straightened up with another cone in hand and a somewhat dumbfounded expression on his face. “That’s it? Aren’t you going to question my sanity?”

“I’ve had some time to think about this, and I saw what I saw. I can’t deny the physical evidence. That thing burned me. So I’m not saying I totally believe you, but it’s the best explanation I’ve heard so far.”

“Wow.” He sat down right in the middle of the rink. “Okay.”

“Talk.” I dropped down next to him and started taking off my gear. It felt so good to get the pads off my knees, which sported some nice greenish bruises from all the burpees. It was hard to believe that it had been only a day ago; so much had changed since then.

“Well, a Sentinel’s an avatar of balance. Normally we live in the Between—that’s the space between the physical and nonphysical planes. Our job is to preserve the balance between the two. If the universe goes too far out of balance, everything goes kablooie. Seriously. All existence, total annihilation.”

“That’s bad.”

“No kidding.” He flashed a grin at me. “So we keep an eye on things. Like, if one of the Elder Gods emerges from deep space and tries to devour a planet, we intervene, because that would screw up the balance. That’s my job. Occasionally one of the Sentinels gets a little too involved in the physical world. And that throws him out of whack.”

I nodded, stretching out my aching legs. It was too late to avoid muscle pain; I was definitely feeling yesterday’s burpees, but at least I could keep it from getting worse. “Go on.”

“The rules help us to stay in balance while we’re here. I’m still new—only apprentice level—so I’m assigned to an older Sentinel who helps me get used to things like having a body. Which is so weird. Anyway, once a Sentinel gets off-kilter, he starts consuming energy like mad, trying to get back into balance. But that usually just makes it worse. He wants more and more, and he becomes a creature no longer dedicated to protecting the universe but to eating it. A creature of total hunger.”

“A demon.”

He nodded, his face pinched and sad-looking.

“Can you fix them?” I asked.

“Not once they’ve crossed the line. The only thing we can do is take them out. But that comes with its own set of problems.” At my inquiring glance, he said, “I like to fight. I like to move. Having a body, it’s … intoxicating, and I’ve got a lot of power at my fingertips. If I decided to indulge, there wouldn’t be much that could stop me. And demons try to manipulate everyone around them. If they used my desires against me, there’s a decent chance I could end up just like them. If I let them jerk my chain, my balance goes haywire, and poof.”

“Instant demon.” I let out a long breath, toying with my skate. “That sucks.”

“But someone like you, someone who can reach through to the nonphysical, you could do it.” Excitement was clear on his face and in his voice. “I mean, if you wanted to. I could teach you. That’s why I’m here, to find people like you who can reach across the Between.”

“And train us to fight the forces of darkness?”

“Bingo.”

“Well …” I spoke slowly, considering my words. “No offense meant, but I’m not entirely sure I believe all this. It’s a lot to swallow. But I’m still listening.”

“That’s fair.” He held out a hand. “Then I guess I should show you something.”

“You’re going to burn somebody else’s house down, aren’t you?” My hand went to the front of my shirt. I could feel the healing scabs underneath. The burns had gone deep, and it seemed like my body didn’t heal as fast as it used to.

Old Casey would have signed up to fight demons in a heartbeat. Now I knew how fragile life really was. I knew how much I had to lose, and I’d come way too close to losing it already. Either I was wiser now or I was a total coward, but signing up to fight the lava crier didn’t seem like something I should just jump into without thinking it over first.

“Relax. I won’t burn anything. And it’s safe to touch me. I’ll make sure not to …” He waved his hands around vaguely. “Pop you out again.”

“I’m not convinced,” I replied, but I put my hand in his. The contact was tentative at first, but my hair didn’t light on fire and I didn’t get thrust out of my body like I had the last time we’d touched. So I folded my fingers over his and held on tight. He pulled me up to my feet.

“I should put some shoes on. Unless this mysterious sight is in the locker room?”

He snorted. “No.”

We got back on the bike, and he drove past my street, away from the university. It wasn’t a direction I normally went; in fact, I made a point not to go down Washington at all. After about two blocks, the neighborhood quickly disintegrated into Slumville. The last time I’d been down this way was almost two years ago, and I’d stepped on a used syringe and a homeless guy in a cardboard box. Neither were experiences I wanted to repeat. So when Michael pulled into a gas station and turned off the bike, I was less than thrilled. I followed him onto the sidewalk, but I wasn’t happy about it.

“You look nervous,” Michael said, watching my expression but somehow managing to not run into anything while he walked, despite the random bits of trash dotting the sidewalk.

“I don’t come downtown,” I said, barely resisting the urge to hunch over like a frightened little girl. That kind of behavior practically begged for a mugging. “My friend Kyle got robbed near here once. It was a long time ago, but I think the neighborhood has only gotten worse since then.”

“Ah.” He considered this. “Didn’t you say you’ve got a black belt?”

“Yeah, but I’m not stupid. People get hurt in knife fights. I’d rather pass.”

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to stare at me, slowly shaking his head. Bald girls, and especially bald girls with random marker designs on their heads, get used to being stared at pretty fast, but this was different. There was the whole nonhuman thing, for instance.

I stopped and put my hands on my waist, boldly looking back. If he was going to give me the once-over, then I was going to throw it right back into his face. Unfortunately, the plan, while ingenious, kind of backfired. We stared into each other’s eyes. He took a step closer. When his breath wafted into my face, I barely kept from swooning.

“You’re pretty astounding,” he said softly. “Wouldn’t you expect the magic guy with flaming wings to come to your rescue?”

“What do you think I am? A total loser? I’m not.”

“All right,” he said agreeably. “If you say so.” He took a step closer. I had to break the moment before I did something really embarrassing. I still wasn’t sure where we stood or what I thought of him. Was he even allowed to date, or would that just pull him off balance? Whatever that meant. I wasn’t sure, but it was all too easy to get caught up in the fun of flirting with him. Flirting was safe compared to all the other things we’d been talking about.

“Besides,” I said, clearing my throat, “you’d probably end up burning the whole block down, and then where would we be?”

“Standing in the middle of a burned-out street, I guess,” he said, still watching me intently.

“Good point.” I forced myself to turn away and start walking again. “So, what are we going to see, anyway?”

“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Well, that.” Washington Street dead-ended at Jefferson about half a block down, and he pointed at the large brick factory that loomed at the junction. It was one of those buildings that sit way too close to the sidewalk for comfort. If you looked up at the graffiti-covered walls while standing next to it, you were almost guaranteed a nice case of vertigo for your trouble.

“Wow,” I said. “It’s a building.”

“Observant. Very observant.”

“You didn’t really haul me all over town to stare at a building, did you?”

“It’s not just any building, Casey.”

“Oh?” I folded my arms. “Well, enlighten me. Is this a demon in disguise? I expected it to be less … bricky.”

He rolled his eyes, a big dramatic roll that made it entirely obvious how exasperated he was.

“So you can’t see it, then?” he asked.

“See what? What am I supposed to be seeing? It’s a big, ugly building. There’s nothing to see.”

He leaned down, his face looming closer to mine. For a moment, I flashed back to the scene in the alley, to the fire-streaked face of the creepy guy in white—the demon—as he’d tried to violate me with his tongue. But Michael worked for the good guys. I couldn’t see him burning anyone, except maybe by accident.

I looked up at him, wondering if he was going to kiss me again and if I was going to slap him this time. Maybe I wanted to be kissed.…

He opened his mouth and blew gently into my eyes. It didn’t hurt or anything because he did it so softly, but it felt awfully weird. I closed my eyes and took a big gulp of that citrus-tinged air. It smelled so damned good. I had to look away before I made a fool of myself by planting my lips on his and trying to suck all the breath out of his body.

And when I opened my eyes, I was looking at the factory. Or rather, I was looking at the black cloud that hung around it like a cloak, choking the air.

“What the hell is that?” I exclaimed. It came out so loud that a couple of tat-covered guys at the gas station turned to look at me. I forced myself to speak more quietly. “Do you see that?”

I rubbed my eyes, but it was still there.

“I see it,” he said softly. He sounded sad, but I didn’t think it was a good idea to look at him, not while the pull toward him was still so freaking strong. “Now do you understand?”

“Well, no. Actually, I don’t understand at all. It’s …” I squinted at the building. “It’s not smoke. It’s not …” I felt sheepish saying this next part, but I was committed to seeing this through, so I went for it. “It’s not even physical, is it? That black stuff.”

“Nope.” He stared at the building intently. “That’s good. Most people don’t get that so fast.”

“Great,” I said. “I’ll put it on my college applications—‘Has a knack for seeing immaterial shadows.’ And I don’t even practice.”

“It’s nothing you can practice. You’re just more sensitive because of what you’ve been through.”

“What’s that?”

“Near-death experiences have the potential to open people up. Or break them entirely.”

“You seem to know a lot about this,” I said accusingly. “I thought you said you were still an apprentice.”

“We …” He cleared his throat and tried to rub the flush from his cheeks. “My brother made me watch an instructional video.”

“About what? What people say after they look at imaginary clouds?”

“It’s not imaginary,” he said, frowning. “I thought you understood that.”

“Well, duh. I was just joking.”

“But—” He stopped, sighed, and ran a hand through his hair, twisting it into random corkscrews that made him look even more like a model than before, if such a thing was humanly possible. Or inhumanly possible, as the case might be. Either way, it was entirely too distracting. “I don’t want to fight with you, Casey,” he said.

“I don’t want to fight with you either. I’m sorry; I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed here.” I turned to look at the building again, despite the sick feeling it gave me in the pit of my stomach. It was strange; it felt almost like I could taste that cloud of yuck even though I was only looking at it. “Okay, so whatever that thing is, it’s bad juju. I may just be a silly mortal, but even I can tell that.”

“It’s demon-tainted. That building.” He jerked his thumb toward it, turning his face away like he didn’t want to look anymore.

I nodded. It felt pretty surreal to be standing on the sidewalk and talking to a Sentinel about demon-tainted buildings all nonchalant-like, but the only other option was to pee on myself and run away screaming, and that wasn’t much of an option.

“What kind of building is it? I mean, what do they do there?” I asked, looking for a sign. The outside was so generic that it could have been anything: a gun factory, a porn studio, or maybe one of those places where they grow all kinds of drugs under a lot of really bright fluorescent lights. Now that I knew about the demon taint, the building’s lurking façade seemed even more sinister. A guy with a shopping cart walked past on the other side of the street, and I barely stopped myself from shouting a warning, like the building might pounce on him.

I looked up at Michael just in time to catch a pained look on his face. He didn’t say anything.

“Well?” I prodded. “What is it? You’ve got to tell me now. I can take it.”

He sighed.

“It’s a bobblehead factory.”