Read Demons (Eirik Book 1) for Free Online Page A

with that,” I murmured and started toward the class.
    “Oh no. You didn’t, did you?” Hayden asked from behind me. “Seriously, Celestia!”
    I stopped. “A man needed saving, Hayden, and Mr. Dupree had already delayed me. So, yeah, I just locked the damn door and got busy. Besides, I knew you’d take care of things if it became an issue.” I gave her a toothy grin.
    She sighed. “You take too many chances. What was it this time?”
    “A guy in the bayou was about to be shredded by gators. Or rather he would have been according to my vision, but I got there just in time.”
    Her green eyes widened. She really had the most gorgeous eyes ever. I call them eclipse eyes—blue with a fiery ring around the black iris. No, she was gorgeous, period—from her flawless brown skin and curly hair with natural blonde highlights to eyes that changed color with her mood.
    We were both Creole, my ancestry more French mixed with Native American. She was the real deal, a blend of every race that made the Creole culture so unique. She’d gotten her coloring from her Haitian father, high cheekbones from her Native American grandfather, unusual eyes from some unknown relative in her gene pool, and everything else from her Irish mother. While I was pretty enough by most standards, guys didn’t act stupid around me like they did around Hayden.
    “You hate gators,” she said. “No wonder you look wigged out.”
    “Oh gee, thanks. And FYI, meanie, they are just as scary in the AP,” I retorted, using the abbreviation for astral plane. “Come on. I’m sure the class is almost over.”
    “Does it matter? You’ve already flunked the test,” she said matter-of-factly, falling in step with me. “Teachers know students guess Cs.”
    “Next time, I’ll go for Bs.”
    “It’s not funny. I promised you’d ace calculus, and I hate to be wrong.”
    Hayden was good at two things—math and computers. No, make that three things. She was amazing with spells. It was like fate decided she should have everything—brains and beauty—and left little for everyone else. If I weren’t a more powerful Witch than she, I’d be so envious of her. Still, there were perks to having her as my best friend.
    First, she was an unaligned Witch, like me. That meant we didn’t belong to any coven. The Witches at school were aligned and did a lot of things together. Partying. Hanging out. Studying at school or spells. Grams never believed in covens, and thankfully neither did Hayden’s mom. Second, she was an amazing tutor. I’d aced math throughout high school and was now taking calculus in my senior year because of Hayden. And third, she was an amazing friend.
    “Did you finish your test before you came to my rescue?” I asked.
    “Yep. It was easy.”
    “Show off.”
    She scoffed at the idea. “Stating a fact is not showing off. At least I’m not determined to save the world like some people. You do know that adversity creates character.”
    “Yeah, boatman would have been gator chow,” I shot back. “Not just be missing a limb.” I couldn’t bring myself to tell her about Mom. No one, except Dad, knew what she’d told me ten years ago. Grams died right after Hayden and her mother arrived in town, but never confided in them. It was kind of weird how fast she’d clicked with Tammy when she’d never trusted other Witches.
    “Come on. I’m going to beg Mr. Dupree to let me retake the test, or you could beguile him into doing it. Your mojo never fails to impress.” The bell rang. “Damn! Can you wait for me and give me a ride home? Dad promised we’d fix my car over the weekend, but forgot to get the parts, so it’s still in our driveway with the hood partially open, and I hate to wait for Zack to finish practice.” My cousin Zack went to Windfall High School, which was down the road from my school.
    Hayden shrugged. “I can wait. I’ll tell Mom we’ll be late getting to the shop. Better put on those”—she indicated my