A Glow of Stars & Dusk by Eve L. Mitchell

“I don’t knowwhy you’re still being childish,” Sam told me as we drove back to Slate.

“I told you, do not speak to me.” I was internally fuming, and when I saw Zel roll his eyes, I lost my temper. “You left me in the house with my mum and dad and wiped their memories! You left me with my mum and dad, who had no clue why I was in the house or that I had been having tea and shortbread with them and a demon!”

“You shouldn’t drive if you are excitable,” Sam commented.

“I swear to God, demon, I will mutilate your corpse.” I glared at the road in front of me and tried to pretend I was alone.

“He sent Chaz in,” Zel muttered.

“I sent Chaz in,” Sam told me with what looked like a grateful look to Zel.

“You sent Chaz in?” My glare shifted from the road to him. “You sent Chaz in?”

“Why is she repeating our words?” Zel murmured to Chaz.

“You sent another demon into my home to wipe my mum and dad’s memories when you had been in the house and you could have done it, if it had to be done at all!” I was very conscious of the fact that I was shouting.

“I do not know what you are protesting, woman!” Sam grumbled. “Is it that I didn’t wipe them or that Chaz did?”

“You’re a complete moron,” I seethed.

“I do not know what a moron is.” Sam took a deep breath, and I saw his fists clench on his lap. “They are not hurt, we got what we needed, and I think you protest just for the sake of speaking.”

He had my full attention again, and I ignored Zel’s grumblings about driving us off the road. “You think I’m overreacting?” I asked him incredulously.

“You should be happy we know what we’re dealing with.” Sam turned his attention out the passenger side window. “A Druid bound you when you were still in the womb, probably unintentionally. We need to find his bones.”

“I am not digging up Hamish MacDonald.” My screech pierced my own eardrums.

“Let us all be silent for a moment,” Chaz spoke softly. “Tensions are high, and maybe we could have dealt with things better.” He ignored Sam’s irritated look. “The others are at your village drinking establishment, with your friend Ruairidh. Let us go there and plan the next step.”

I said nothing as the van descended once more into a tense silence. It wasn’t until I was on the back country roads heading to Slate that my brain registered what Chaz had said. “Wait, what?”

Chaz’s eyes snapped open when I spoke, and Zel turned his attention from the dark road to me. “What is it, Star?” Chaz asked me.

“Ruairidh is drinking with Ros, Der and Pen?”

“Yes, for some time now,” Chaz answered with an easy smile.

“How do you know?” I asked him as my eyes narrowed. “I swear to God, if you say telepathy, I’m getting out.”

The three of them exchanged what I could only describe as an awkward look. That was it, I had enough. I swerved to the verge, and then I was out of the van, marching away from them.

“Witch!” I heard Sam shout after me.

He could go back to hell. They all could.

“Star.”

I walked on hurriedly, trying to ignore Chaz as he caught up to me. “Star, please wait.”

“Why are you the only one who is nice to me?” I demanded.

“We lack in our manners, it is true.” Chaz nodded beside me. “It is very dark to be walking on these roads, Star.”

“I’m not getting back in the van until someone tells me everything.” I shoved my hands in my jacket pockets as we walked. Of course it was freaking freezing, and I was regretting my rash decision already.

“I will deal with her, brother.”

“Oh fuck off,” I barked at Sam as Chaz hesitated and then left us.

“You have very strong language for a woman,” Sam said with a slight smile.

“Do women not swear in hell?” I snapped peevishly at him, trying my best to ignore his playful grin.

“You always surprise me when you swear,” he carried on. “You are so delicate, it feels wrong when you do it.”

“I’m hardly a porcelain doll.”

“I don’t know what that is,” he told me as he put his hands in his navy jacket. “Are you angry that I did not wipe their memories? Or is it more?”

“Yes.”

I could see his mouth hook in his signature smirk. “Yes to both, the memories or the more?”

“All of it,” I cried. “I’m so confused. I’m angry. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, and you tell me nothing.”

“We are demons. You are required to do a spell, and I need your blood to do it.”

“You’re useless,” I muttered. “Give me Chaz back, he would make more sense.”

“My brother is not for you.” Sam gave me a heated look, and I swear to the holy angels, my jaw dropped.

“Are you jealous?”

“You’re impossible,” Sam groaned. “The spell was cast by one of your ancestors, on one of my...lords. Only one of your bloodline can cast the spell.”

He seemed to hesitate over the terminology, and I turned to him, as he had my full attention now. “Lords?” My head tilted as I considered him. “Or master?”

“I have no master, witch,” Sam scoffed as we walked on. I was aware that the van was following. I didn’t want to have a hissy fit about the fact Zel was driving my van, but it was irritating me.

“If you have no master, then why are you following orders?” I asked him shrewdly.

“It’s an exchange. Of sorts.”

“Huh.” I stopped on the dark road and looked over my shoulder. I knew that demon had driven my van. “I didn’t say he could drive.”

“You left it in the middle of the road, it was hardly safe.”

“Why did you leave them like that?” I asked quietly. “What was the point of the charade if you could have spelled Mum anyway?”

“She would not have remembered had we not allowed it to be a natural recollection.” Sam looked over his shoulder at the van too. “If I had tried to erase them, I could have damaged them, I am not...subtle…with my ministrations.” Sam held his hands up to me. “I have a heavy hand.”

“Chaz is more delicate?” I squinted at him in the brightness of the headlights. “Is that what you’re saying to me?”

“Something like that.” Sam turned his head to hide his amusement, and I fought my own smile at Sam admitting he wasn’t good at everything.

“What does the spell do?”

“Lifts a curse,” Sam answered as he looked back at me.

“If it’s a curse, there must be a reason why they were cursed.”

“It’s not for us to decide whether they deserved it or not.” Sam’s stare was back to being cool as he looked at me.

“Who is it?”

“You wouldn’t know them.”

“Ha. Ha ha,” I deadpanned. “You’re hilarious.”

“We can talk more with the others, I could make us travel, but if you prefer, I think you may want your van back from Zel, he is likely to crash it.” Sam looked to the van.

“Is he not a good driver?” I asked worriedly as we both turned back to the van.

“I think this is his first time,” Sam answered as he started to walk back to the others, ignoring my squawk of alarm, and then he looked back at me with a wicked grin. “But I think he would crash it anyway,” he said with a laugh.

“Why?” I was almost jogging back to the van now.

“He just doesn’t like you.”

“You’re all dicks,” I grumbled as I pulled open the driver’s door. “You.” I scowled at Zel. “Out.”

As I got back in the van, ignoring Zel’s shit-eating grin, I sorted my jacket as I put my seat belt on. “Are you telepathic?” I asked softly.

“Yes,” Chaz answered.

Placing my hand down beside my thigh so they couldn’t see it, I crossed my fingers. “Can you read my thoughts?”

“No.”

“Now answer honestly.” I held Chaz’s stare. “Chaz, don’t lie to me.”

“Not all the time,” Sam said calmly.

“You complete fucking wankers.” I shook my head angrily as I started the van. “I mean it. Fucking wankers.”

We drove the rest of the way in silence. As I fumed internally, I thought of the complete carnage Sam had left when he walked out of my mum and dad’s house. Mum and Dad had been staring at me and each other in confusion. Mum kept looking at the four teacups and back at me. I hadn’t been able to say anything at all, too stunned that Sam had just walked out and left me to handle the situation.

As I was trying to explain that I had been there having lunch with them, Chaz had walked in, completely calm and assured. Dad had yelled for us to run while he dealt with the intruder, and Chaz had simply done his sleep mojo trick on him. Dad had dropped like a stone into his armchair, while Mum picked up the teapot, ready to launch herself at the demon, who stood over a foot taller than her.

Chaz had whispered something, and it had taken all my reflexive skills, which weren’t much, to catch the teapot from smashing to the floor as Mum too fell backwards.

Five minutes later, I had tidied away the tray, the china and the shortbread as Chaz wiped my mum and dad. Even the term wiped freaked me out. They freaked me out. All of them, one of them, none of them. I couldn’t breathe right when I was with them. I had moments of normality, like this afternoon with Chaz and Ruairidh’s jeans, and then they brought me back, screaming, to reality. The reality was that they were demons. They had scary powers, and they fought with flaming weapons, not a euphemism, actual weapons of flame.

I was so in over my head that I was no longer drowning, I was merely bobbing along the rapid rivers of madness, face down, waiting to go under and never resurface. I felt the tear drip onto the back of my hand, and I hastily wiped it away. I could feel Sam’s stare, heavy with unspoken words. Judgement more like. “I don’t want to talk to you,” I said quietly.

Sam didn’t answer, he merely turned his head and looked out into the darkness. A light rain started to fall, and my mind was genuinely taken off my inner turmoil as I had to concentrate on the road.

When we reached Slate, Zel was out of the van before I had even stopped. He still had his new clothes on, and I had been momentarily distracted by Chaz earlier when he had come into my parents’ house with dark jeans, a normal black T-shirt and a simple zipped hoodie. He was slower to leave the van, and I saw Sam look at him once before Sam left the van too.

“Your jeans are better,” I joked lightly.

“They are.” Chaz smiled softly. Reaching forward, he tugged my bun and detangled my hair from the hair bobble. “Can I borrow?”

I frowned as I turned in the seat and watched him gather his long brown hair. Within moments, he had a fashionable man bun. “Holy shit, Chaz, you look like that guy on the internet, what’s his name…Brock something…Hurn!” I shouted as it came to me. “No, I don’t think that’s it, but anyway you look hot, I mean not hot, just um…like him.” Kill me now.

“I don’t know if that’s a compliment.” He smiled teasingly. “But I’ll take it as one.”

“Chaz, witch, now,” Sam barked brusquely.

Rolling my eyes at Chaz, I got out of the van. Sam cast his eye over us both once before he turned and entered Abby’s. Zel grinned at me with malicious glee before he followed his master like the lapdog he was.

“I don’t like Zel,” I confided in Chaz as we walked together.

“I think he knows.” Chaz chuckled. “He is a good brother, you should be nicer to him.”

“Why? He is nothing but horrible to me.” I fluffed my hair up just before we entered the village pub. “Can I swap him out for Ros? Or Der?”

“Not Pen?” Chaz teased as he held the door open for me.

“No, he sees too much,” I said, surprised at my own insight.

Chaz rumbled with laughter as he followed inside. “He does indeed.”

The usual silence met my entrance. The fact that six demons were in their precious pub was irrelevant. The fact that their local witch was in it, scandalous. I tossed my hair over my shoulder as I made my way to the bar.

“Star.” Abby looked at the men before her like she had won the lottery and then realised she only got five numbers instead of six, and I was the prize for runner up. “You’re back.”

“Still stating the obvious, I see,” I quipped as I plopped my arse onto a bar stool. “Cider and blackcurrant.”

“Pint?”

“Absolutely, I’ll take a shot of McCallan to wash it down.” My smile bared my teeth, and she turned away from me. I looked to the table where Ruairidh was playing cards with Pen, Der and Ros. I shook my head, I wasn’t even going there. My stare caught and held Sam’s, who stood beside me and was not hiding his amusement at my obvious level of pissed-offedness.

“A pint of beer and a whisky chaser?” he asked with a grin.

“Cider, I don’t like beer.”

“Fair enough.” He shook his head with a slight chuckle as he picked up his own pint and walked over to the table his fellow demons were at.

“You sitting at the bar then?” Abby asked me with a pout.

“Nope, I’m currently floating high above it, pissing on your parade.”

“Jesus, you’re such a bitch, Star.” She went to pour my whisky, and I stuck my tongue out at her.

“I think I’ll be over there,” Chaz murmured as he too left me.

Typical. Six demons and a witch walk into a bar...I snorted as I took a drink. If there was a punchline, I knew the joke would be on me.

“Your whisky,” Abby snarked as she placed it in front of me.

I nodded and downed it, slamming the shot off the bar. “Again.”

“Hey, Starbar, what’s going on?” Ruairidh was beside me. “You know you’re a useless drunk.”

“Yip, I’m not good at anything, am I?” I said as I nodded to Abby as she placed the refilled glass in front of me, and I downed the next shot.

“Your boyfriend isn’t saying much,” Ruairidh said with a glance over his shoulder before he leaned on the bar.

“Shocking.” I took a hearty swallow of my cider and blackcurrant.

“You’re in a mood, huh?” Ruairidh asked me.

“Nope. I’m just dandy.”

“Oh.” He nodded as he looked at Abby. “Make it doubles, Abs.”

“Doubles?” I asked him curiously.

“You said dandy.” Ruairidh grinned at me. “That means you’re fucking pissed as hell; I’m buckling in for the ride.”

Despite myself, I laughed and flung my arms around my best friend. “I missed you,” I whispered into his neck as he engulfed me in his familiar hug.

“You saw me yesterday and earlier today,” Ruairidh laughed as he stood back, and I saw him cast a guilty look to Abby.

The look soured my mood. “I’m gonna go sit with”—I looked at the demons—“them.”

I stood and made my way slowly over to the others. An old timer mumbled as I passed him, and in retaliation I hissed at him. Superstitious arseholes, all of them.

“Your natural likeability is overflowing, it seems,” Zel wisecracked.

“Blow me.”

“We need a moment,” Ruairidh said as he came over. He bent slightly and took my arm. “Come.”

Before I could protest, I was pulled to my feet and dragged behind my best friend into the darkness, outside.