“Well, if the protector of Lucifer’s coin was around when that text was written, the guy would be pretty old.”
Lincoln purses his lips. “He might not look old. Cryptan didn’t.”
“Yeah, but Cryptan never saw the light of day. Whoever this is, they’ve been running around under the Earth’s sun for a long time.” The solution appears in a flash. “Fish Stick Grandpa.”
“Excuse me?”
“The guy who brought us over to the island in his rowboat. Jeeves. I could have sworn he saw my tail. That might mean he’s working some supernatural mojo like Cryptan. A protector.”
Lincoln taps his chin. “That could work.”
“I bet his name’s not really Jeeves.” I lower my voice. “And I’ll make that like, an official kiss bet.”
“And I won’t be taking that wager.”
“Why not? What are you, afraid?”
“Nice try. What I am is a kiss ahead.” He leans in closer and smirks, the jerk. “And I’m keeping my lead.”
Crap. The “what, are you afraid” routine used to work so easily on Lincoln. Now he’s getting used to all my tricks. I need to up my game.
Lincoln slips the parchment into his jacket pocket. “We should head over to the dock. See what we can find out.”
“I like this plan.”
The class has finally marched just into listening distance again. Lincoln turns to the students and raises his arms. “Class.” Even though my guy isn’t wearing a crown, he still works that regal vibe like a pro. Everyone stops to stare at him. “Use the rest our time to explore the woods and exercise in an unstructured manner.”
Everyone freezes in place. A chorus of gasps fills the air.
Oops.
The cool ginger girl, Harper, steps forward. “We don’t go off the paths. Ever.”
“And why is that?” asks Lincoln.
Harper’s gaze locks with mine. “We have our reasons.”
“Whatever they are, you can tell me.” Lincoln looks totally trustworthy when he says that, mostly because he is.
Harper scans the frightened faces of the other students. “It’s nothing. I shouldn’t have said anything. We’ll go back to our cabins and hang out.”
The group starts to head toward the path. The muscles in my arms and legs clench. I get this overwhelming feeling like an opportunity is passing us by. Harper is clearly a leader of some kind. After all, she’s ordering her peers back to their cabins, and they’re all listening. Plus, it took guts for Harper to talk to me after I mouthed off to Prescott in Jamboree Hall. And even more guts to share that no one wants to step off the official paths.
It doesn’t feel right to let her leave without saying anything. “You mean demons?” I ask. “Are you worried about them?”
The other students scurry off into the woods, but Harper pauses. With careful steps, she closes the distance between us. “What do you know about that?”
“I saw them last night. Flying through the night sky. Hiding in the bushes. Linc— I mean, Mr. Prince saw them as well.”
Harper eyes us both from head to toe. “Who are you two, anyway?”
“That’s not easy to explain,” says Lincoln. “All I can say now is that you’re in serious danger.”
Harper folds her arms over her chest. “And you two came here to save us.”
“We did.” I try to look trustworthy, too. It never works as well for me.
“I’ll need more than that,” says Harper.
Lincoln and I share a long look. I know what the expression on his face means. Should we trust her?
“Harper looks cool.” I shrug. “Besides, we’re running out of time here.”
“True.” Lincoln goes back into prince-mode. “We believe that Prescott has made some kind of pact to release a demon army right here on Hemlock Island.”
“Wow.” Harper rolls her eyes. “You almost had me going there. I mean, this place is creep central. But a demon army? Right.”
I raise my pointer finger. “We also came here looking for a magical book, too.” If we’ve decided to trust her, there’s no point in holding back on the major items.
“Whatever.” Harper flicks her finger between Lincoln and me. “The two of you are crazy. I’m going to Headmaster Prescott and telling him everything.”
Harper starts to turn away, but Lincoln raises his hand palm forward. “Don’t.”
“You can jus—” Harper freezes in place.
I look to Lincoln, my eyes wide with shock. “Did you just put a freezing spell on her?”
“I did. It’s a standard charm we carry with us on demon patrol. You never know when you’ll run across a troublemaker.”
“She’s not causing trouble. She simply has no idea that the after-realms even exist.”
Lincoln sifts through the inner pockets of his jacket. He pulls out what looks like a small seashell. “This charm will clear her memory.”
Lincoln steps toward Harper, and I block his path. “We don’t want her memory cleared. Out of all the students at this school, Harper is the sharpest. She already suspected we were together.”
“It wasn’t that hard.”