The Hunt by Amy Meredith Read Free Book Online Page A

and somebody warn me if Trench comes this way,’ Luke said, half joking, halfserious. ‘We have the wood-smoke smell, a death that doesn’t match any known animals, even though it looks like an animal attack … anything else?’
    Eve considered the question for a moment, then shook her head.
    ‘So first up we need to figure out what we’re dealing with. That means research,’ Luke said. ‘I still haven’t finished translating all the papers we found in the church. I should have kept working on it, but once Mal was dealt with I let it slide.’
    Reverend Simon, who’d been Deepdene Church’s minister before Luke’s dad, had given clues in his journal about where the papers with information vital to destroying Malphas could be found.
    ‘Do you think those papers would even have anything about other demons?’ Jess asked. ‘Reverend Simon only wrote about a master demon that would return every hundred years – and that was Malphas.’
    ‘The papers were from all over, some of them written centuries ago,’ Luke replied. ‘I didn’t find anything in the parts I read that seemed to be about a different kind of demon, but who knows what other information could be in them? If the men who wroteabout Malphas knew about other demons, it makes sense they’d include the info.’
    ‘There’s also the Internet,’ Eve said. She shifted her body towards Luke so that she couldn’t see the graveyard. ‘That’s where you found out about the first Deepdene Witch, Luke.’ Eve’s brow furrowed. ‘Sometimes I still can’t believe I’m her descendant.’ She shook her head. ‘So, research this weekend?’
    ‘Dyeah,’ Jess said. It was one of the first words they’d come up with together, a combo of ‘duh’ and ‘yeah’.
    ‘Dyeah,’ Luke agreed.
    ‘You don’t even know what you’re saying,’ Jess accused him. ‘Dyeah’ was part of Eve and Jess’s bestfriend vocab, and outsiders didn’t speak that language.
    ‘Duh, yeah, I do,’ Luke answered. ‘It doesn’t exactly require a code breaker to understand you two.’
    Eve knew that was true. The words weren’t even supposed to be code. They were just shorthand, or words for things that should already have words but didn’t. Luke was the first person to ever jump in and start using the words too, like they belonged to him as well. I guess demon hunting together creates a bond that’s almost like the one between BFFs , she decided.
    ‘When we meet up, you should get in some more practice time on your powers,’ Luke told Eve. ‘You were awesome that night against Mal, but—’
    ‘But I’m not exactly in control.’
    ‘Yeah. Ask my jacket,’ Luke joked.
    ‘That night I was so scared and angry.’ She didn’t mention the strange attraction to Mal that had almost overcome her, even after she’d realized he was a demon. That wasn’t something she wanted to share with anyone. It was too strange, too unsettling. ‘And the power just came out. Whoosh.’
    ‘I know you can learn to pull the trigger whenever you need to, no matter how you’re feeling. You just need to practise,’ Luke said.
    ‘Until then, I always know how to make you mad,’ Jess added. ‘I can help you practise by borrowing your lip gloss.’ She looked over at Luke. ‘FYI, that always makes her go mental, in case you need her powers fast.’
    ‘Good to know, even though I only wear lip gloss on special occasions,’ Luke said.
    ‘Until we deal with this new demon – if it even is a demon – I’m going to need you to stay close,’ Eve told Luke. ‘No one makes me as mad as fast as you do, lipstick or not.’
    ‘Not a problem. Whenever you need me to enrage you, I’ll be there,’ Luke promised. His tone was light, but his green eyes were serious. She really could count on him. She knew that in her gut.
    ‘Me too,’ Jess said.
    ‘You two are the best,’ Eve told them. ‘The absolute best.’
    ‘True,’ Luke answered. ‘Also, I figure that the safest place to be