The Hunt by Amy Meredith Page A

together, doing anything that was fun. But what with Ms Taylor’s body being discovered yesterday and Kyle’s death, Deepdene was mostly shut down. People were doing only what was necessary – popping to the grocery store, the drugstore, places like that. Hardly anyone was going out to eat or to the movies or do anything else social. They were too shaken up, too afraid to leave their homes.
    ‘You look nice,’ her mom said. She raised one eyebrow. ‘So nice I’m starting to worry about the next AmEx bill.’
    ‘I didn’t go too crazy this month,’ Eve reassured her. She ran her fingers over the delicate heather-grey wool of her new sweater. She hadn’t been able to resist it when she’d spotted it while window-shopping on Main Street. The way it criss-crossed in front made the fabric drape perfectly.
    ‘Just as long as you don’t spend so much time shopping that you let your grades slip. You’ve got to keep your focus on—’
    ‘Getting the grades to get into college,’ Eve finished with a little sigh. Since she’d started high school a fewmonths ago, Eve and her mom had had this conversation many times. She flipped on the radio, hoping her mom would take the hint that they didn’t need to have the college talk again. It seemed to work. Her mother started humming along instead of lecturing.
    Eve’s lips twitched as she wondered how her mom would react if Eve told her it wasn’t the shopping that was taking up her studying time. It was the demons.
    This demon is going to be so much easier to deal with than Mal was , Eve thought. It was at least part dog, for starters. It wouldn’t be as clever and devious, would it? Eve flexed her fingers. Whatever the doggie brought, she felt ready to face it. She was more in control of her powers than she’d been the last time she’d had to kill a demon.
    Don’t get too cocky , she warned herself. Y ou’re still talking demon. And at least two people are already dead .
    Her stomach soured. People were already dead. She knew Jess and Luke would want to be with her for the fight, but they didn’t have her power. She couldn’t imagine her world without Jess. Jess had been there for almost every important moment of Eve’s entire life, and vice versa.
    And Luke … They hadn’t been friends all that longat all, but she didn’t even want to think about the aching hole that would be left inside her if anything happened to him. Don’t think about it then , she told herself. Think about something good .
    The first thing that popped into Eve’s head was Luke again. But this time, Luke and luuurve. Had Jess been right about him? Did he have the hots for Eve?
    When she thought about it, it did seem as if lately Luke had been looking at her a little more. But maybe that was just because the Deepdene Witch was going to have to jump into action again, and he was worried about her.
    He’d held her in his arms outside the office yesterday. But that hadn’t been about Eve. Not really. It was about giving comfort to someone who was scared and shocked. And it had weirded them both out a little.
    Still, remembering the moment sent a rush of warmth through Eve’s body. She’d wanted to hold on to him for ever. Was that just because of being scared and shocked? You’re not trying to decide if you like him; you’re trying to decide if he likes you , she told herself. Within about a week of meeting Luke, Eve had known she was never going to like like him. He was a player, and falling for a player could only lead to a broken heart.
    But if he luuurves you, he wouldn’t be a player any more , a little voice whispered in her head, a little voice that sounded annoyingly like Jess in know-it-all mode.
    ‘Players don’t fall in love,’ Eve said aloud.
    ‘What?’ her mother asked.
    ‘Nothing,’ Eve answered. She was sure her mother would think luuurve would be a major distraction from doing everything that needed to be done to get into a good college.
    They turned onto Margery