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The anchor on the TV spoke in her clipped monotone. “Police are saying they’re investigating whether foul play was involved in the death of a local psychic in the Salem area. Her body was found in her house yesterday after multiple calls were made to the local police regarding several missed engagements over the past week, including the non-opening of her shop in Historic Salem where she owned a spiritualist business.” A picture of the front of her shop appeared on the TV. We’d magically cleaned up the shop’s broken windows when we’d taken off with the psychic to track down Randy. We didn’t need the local police following us around Salem as we tried to do the work of the Order.

People weren’t aware of the supernatural world living around them. They didn’t know about things like Lidercs and demonic familiars. Sometimes, I wish I didn’t either. Living under a rock wasn’t in my nature though, and since I’d been born into it, I really didn’t have a choice.

“This is good,” Travis said, nodding at the TV, though he looked troubled like the rest of us. “I’m glad they’ll be able to put Madame Serena to rest now. She helped us that night. She deserves to be at peace.”

I blinked at him. It wasn’t as if he’d done a one-eighty since the last fight with Dupre, but he had a few noticeable changes. For one, it didn’t feel like he was searching for reasons to say shit to me anymore. It made it much more relaxing to be around him if not confusing.

Without saying anything, Liam looked back down at his laptop and continued typing away on it. Randy followed my gaze and pushed me toward him. I went willingly. I was going to talk to him, anyway. I’dbeentrying to talk to him, but for whatever reason, the guys just assumed I’d be the one to get through to him when he was ready to listen.

I made sure to come around to the side the familiar was tattooed on him. I was trying to prove a point that it didn’t scare me. He always flinched away, but before he could this time, I grabbed his forearm and sank down into the couch beside him, snuggling into his arm. “Hey,” I said, looking up at him with a big smile.

He stilled, frozen there staring straight ahead.

I poked him in the side. “I was wondering if you wanted to visit me at the shop in between your classes today.” He didn’t say anything, so I just continued. “You are going to class today, right? You said you’d just take a week off before you went back, so I’m just checking.”

Liam shut his laptop and leaned over, placing it on the coffee table in front of him. He sat right back in the same position, not even looking over at me once, or even acknowledging that I was holding on to him. “I am going to class.”

Sweet relief poured through me. “That’s good. I wouldn’t want you falling behind or anything.”

“I’m not falling behind,” he said, pushing his glasses up his nose with disdain. “I’m far ahead of most people, and besides, Gabe’s been getting my work for me.”

The guys dispersed at that, Travis looking at me for longer than usual before retreating to the kitchen. “Hey,” I said, tilting Liam’s chin down to look at me.

When we locked gazes, I didn’t know what to say. His normally brown eyes were even darker than usual. Shadows had crept up under his eyes, making him look sick and tired. I knew he’d been spending too much time on his computer and in the Order books trying to figure a solution, but it looked as if he’d barely slept now. When I walked by his room at night, I’d hear him click-clacking away on his laptop keyboard.

As far as I was concerned, there was no problemyet. So, he had a demonic familiar attached to him. So, what? We didn’t know if it was, or would, do anything to him. With Madame Serena, it had only given her powers she never had before. Liam already had powers, so it wasn’t clear if there would be other affects. The only thing it gave him now was a bad attitude, and I didn’t know if that was because of the familiar or because he had a problem he couldn’t figure out.

He looked away, but I pulled his chin to face me again. “Liam, please,” I said, my voice strong, but also desperate at the same time. I hated this change in him. All I wanted to do was help, but he wouldn’t let me in. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself anymore. We don’t know—”

His jaw tightened. “We don’t know anything. That’s the problem, Norah.” He glared down at my arm wound around his. He’d taken to wearing long sleeve shirts because he couldn’t stand the sight of the serpent on him. If he hadn’t been wearing one, I would’ve been touching the “tattoo”. He closed his eyes and swallowed. “Can you please stop touching me? I know it’s not a big deal to you, but it is to me. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Liam, you act like it’s going to fly off you and eat one of us.”

“And what if it does?” he asked, his voice rising. “He took a chunk out of Dupre that night and I certainly don’t want him to do it to anyone I care about.”

A few of the guys glanced over, so I lowered my voice. “I’ve been thinking,” I said, trying to stay calm for his sake. “You must be able to control it. If it were going to do that, it would’ve done it by now.”

Liam shook his head, his fingers starting to tremble. He rubbed his hands down his pants and stood. I fell to the side of the couch to allow him room and then just stared after him as he shoved his laptop in his bookbag and yelled out that he’d be at the car when we were ready.

I rubbed my chest as I watched him go, and then leaned forward, my elbows on my knees and my hands in my hair. Randy’s voice was the first I heard. He walked up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders, working his thumbs into my taut muscles. “We’ll keep trying.”

I nodded and then stood, heading toward the kitchen to grab the toast and something else to eat before heading over to the shop today. The good news was that we’d opened. The bad news was that with everything else going on, we didn’t have the big opening celebration we’d planned. We also didn’t have regular hours. We didn’t know when the next big thing would happen, so being able to shut the shop down at a moment’s notice came in handy.

“Oh, before I forget.” I stopped mid stride and pulled out the bracelets. Throwing the green one Randy’s way, I smiled. “I made these for us.” I then turned and threw a red one to Travis and a blue one to Gabe. “They’re all-seeing-eye bracelets. They ward off evil spirits.”

Travis caught his in the air and stared down at it. “This is what you said kept you safe when the familiar was looking for a host?”

I nodded once. It was just a working theory, but I was going with it. It was Granny’s special recipe, and I knew she wouldn’t let me down. If they wore those bracelets, nothing evil would come to them. I’d worked extra hard on theirs trying to make them perfect.

I patted my pocket to still feel Liam’s bracelet in there. I had it ready for when the familiar decided to leave, or if Liam figured out a way to get rid of it. I’d miss the tattoo, but I could try to convince Liam to get one of his own. Weirder things had happened. Like, suddenly acquiring a demonic familiar.

“Thanks, Norah,” Gabe said, tugging his on. Somehow, he made it look cool.

Ugh, jocks. I wanted to roll my eyes.

“Will this also help me score some goals in practice?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Not that kind of magic.” I strolled over to him in the kitchen and pinched his butt on the way past him to get my toast. “Not that you need any help.”