I narrowed my eyes as him. “Isn’t that something a person would say who was trying to fool the other?”
He laughed, bent down, kissed me. “You know it isn’t me.” His lips skimmed against mine when he spoke. He kissed me again. Reaching for my book bag, he slipped it off my shoulder. I let him. I was too mesmerized by his kiss to stop him, or even care. He lifted his head and locked his gaze on mine. “Trust your instincts, Milayna. You know it isn’t me or you wouldn’t have told me.” He gave me a little tug. “C’mon. Chemistry waits for no one.”
We walked into the building, and Chay stopped so fast that I walked past him and had to double back to see what was wrong. “They’re here,” he said.
My adrenaline spiked, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention. “Who?” I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see a group of demi-demons or the hounds of Hell.
“The hobgoblins. They’re watching.”
I chuckled and started walking toward class. “I know. They’ve been here every day this week. They hide behind the ceiling tiles.”
He turned and glared at me. “You didn’t tell me?”
“What difference does it make? Besides, I thought you already knew. Why? What do you think it means?”
“Nothing good. They’re watching someone. I’d say it’s you, but considering what you told me last night, it could be any one of us.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him.
A chill ran through me. If Chay was right and they weren’t watching me, then my dream could be a premonition. We had a snitch in our group. That was worse than someone changing outright. Now we’d be suspicious of each other. It could break the group apart.
That afternoon when I got home from school, the two hobgoblins, Scarface and Friendly, were waiting for me in my backyard. I sat on the swing on the back deck, watching them run around the yard, singing. Considering they were minions from Hell, I wasn’t sure what they had to sing about. But they were.
I saw Chay jump the back fence and smiled. The red imps ran over to him, asking their usual question.
“Play with us?”
“Nope.” He kept walking with barely a glance at the short, red goblins. He jogged up the deck steps and sat next to me on the swing. We swayed softly, waiting for the goblins to run out of energy. It could be minutes or hours, but eventually, they’d grow tired of the game and tell us why they were there.
“I figured I’d be seeing you,” I said and scooted next to him.
He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. “I’ve been watching them. Have they talked yet?”
“Nah, they’ve been singing.”
He laughed. “Singing? About what?”
“I have no idea. It’s in a different language.” I shrugged. “Don’t really want to know, either.”
“Probably not.” Chay moved his fingertips in circles over my shoulder, sending shots of white-hot electricity through my arms and straight to my lungs, which were quickly becoming incapable of taking a normal breath.
“Milayna,” one hobgoblin sang in its shrill voice. “Did you have fun at school today?”
“Not particularly. Did you?”
“Yes.” It swung its arms back and forth like a kid. It was so cute just then. It looked like a stuffed animal—like one of those Troll dolls. I wanted to rip its head off, it made me so mad.
“Good.”
“Don’t you want to know why we were there?” Scarface asked with a wicked smile.
“I know why. You like to watch.” I picked at an invisible piece of lint on my jeans.
His smile widened, his fat lips thinning across his face. “But you don’t know who.”
I tilted my head to the side and looked at him. “Yes I do,” I said as if it should be obvious.
“It’s coming for you tonight, tonight, tonight,” Friendly chanted.
“Really? What is it? Tell me what the big occasion is so I know what to wear.” My heart sunk like an albatross was attached to it. What next? They’d proven they could cause mischief, life-or-death situations. What did they consider a big occasion if shooting at a woman at a convenience store is just a game? I knew I certainly didn’t want to be around to see it.
“We’ll never tell,” he said with a self-satisfied smile before they disappeared with a pop and plume of white smoke.
***
At nine o’clock, I heard glass shatter. I walked to the front door and flipped on the porch light. Nothing. I flipped the switch again. Nothing. And I knew the demi-demons were there.
At five after nine, Chay jumped the fence and let himself into the house.
“What took you so long?” I looked at him with a hand on my hip.
He leaned down and kissed me. “I was putting on my lip balm and brushing my teeth.”
“You always do that just before a fight?” I teased.
“No, I always do that just before I do this,” he murmured before kissing me again.
“Let’s get this over with,” I said.
“I hate this part,” Jen and Muriel said at the same time, walking into the room from the kitchen.