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A n hour later, Mave, Luke and I sit in their car, parked behind a Dunkin Donuts as the rain beats on the roof. The rush of rain is loud in the car, almost drowning out my thoughts .

“I don’t want to sound unprofessional,” Luke says, “but I don’t know what the fuck is going on with this case .”

“Let’s start at the beginning,” Mave says. “Start with the facts. See where we end up .”

I take a sip from my iced coffee and shiver. On a day like this, something cold isn’t helping. I debate whether to say what I’m thinking. I can’t hold it in. I also can’t tell them the whole truth, though, not yet .

“Start with where you guys came into this,” I say. “How did you find out about these girls ?”

Luke meets my eyes in the rearview mirror. His gaze is chilly . “ Why ?”

“What do you mean, why? It’s a question I have .”

“It’s not a random question, Ash,” Luke says. “Just because we haven’t been to college, don’t assume we’re stupid .”

“Luke,” Mave says .

I lean forward, my knees bumping the leather console between Luke and Mave. “I want to know who I’m working with. And I trust you enough that I’m sitting in your car, so you can untwist your panties, and you can tell me what I want to know .”

“She has a point,” Mave says .

“I am not the one with twisted panties,” Luke says. “This is what we do . For a living. Usually the fact that we risk our lives tracking down demons is enough for people to give us some credit .”

“Since I also bump demons off, I’m not that impressed.” Well, maybe I haven’t done too much of that yet, but I will. “What’s so hard about answering my question ?”

Luke and Mave exchange a look. Then Luke twists in his seat, putting his elbow on the seatback. “There’s a network of Hunters. We all look for weird stuff out there—like this—but sometimes we get a tip from… someone else .”

“And Luke doesn’t want to talk about it with you,” Mave says .

I ask Mave , “ Why ?”

“You don’t need to get mixed up with anything to do with Hunters,” Luke says. “You go on your merry co-ed life, and no one’s ever the wiser that you’ve got gifts now. You don’t want to be in our world, and you definitely don’t want to be special in our world .”

“What are you talking about?” I demand. Calculus is starting to look like a breeze compared to the confusion I’ve felt since these guys breezed into my life .

“Mostly we work solo, but there’s an overarching Council of old, angry men—isn’t there always—and sometimes they send us a mission .”

“Okay…” Ellis has mentioned the Council before. They seem like they should be the good guys .

“So we work for them when they tell us to. Sometimes they call us with something they’ve realized is weird, like what happened here. Then we go out and see if there’s any truth to it.” Luke gives me a meaningful look. “Sometimes, we need a little help .”

“Why didn’t they send a girl psychic out to do my job, then?” I ask. “Since working with me has been so painful for you ?”

Luke pulls a face. “Well… it hasn’t. But also, we’re pretty much chronically short-staffed. Fighting the forces of hell? Not fun. Fighting the forces of bureaucracy in a secret organization with a very limited budget? Not fun either .”

I hold up a hand, thinking about Luke’s record. Since reading that report, I’m always thinking about Luke’s record. Was that night one more mission, gone wrong, or was it something else? “If you work for them, can’t they expunge your criminal record? Don’t they have any pull with the police ?”

“They do,” Luke says shortly. “But my record gives them more pull with me . ”

Mave says, “Does that answer enough of your questions, Ash? I must be honest. The Hunters’ council tends to take an interest in anyone who can be useful. If you truly desire an ordinary life, it would be best if everyone—Nora, your sister’s guys, Luke and I—forgot that there was anything unique about you .”

“And just trust us, ” Luke says. “Come on. We’re trying to do the right things here .”

Every instinct I have tells me to trust Luke and Mave. They don’t read like liars to me .

But that damn police report haunts me , too .

“The campus police are really intense about finding you,” I say. “Can’t they get them to back off you ?”

Luke shakes his head. “We’re pretty much on our own… it’s complicated , Ash .”

“Uncomplicate it for me, then.” I tug on the ends of my hair. “I’m blonde for now, after all .”

Mave says, “We need to talk about why the police interest is so intense. So we have poltergeist activity in the fraternity house …”

“Which we now know to be Claudia and/or Molly,” I say .

“We have the bizarre reaction of the fraternity brothers, their interest in Ash. Professor Boyd,” Luke says .

“They’re involved in some way,” I say. “We just don’t know how .”

“I think we need to get back into the frat house,” Luke says. “I don’t want to wait for the night of the winter formal to find out what’s going on. Do you ?”

“Whatever happened to Rogers?” I ask .

“Catch and release program,” Luke says. “He didn’t tell us anything very helpful after all .”

“But now he must have gone to the police. They’ll be looking for you .”

“It doesn’t matter,” Luke says. “We find the poltergeist. We keep you in the clear so you can go back to school. Then Mave and I vanish again .”

“But the police — ”

“The other Hunters will keep us more-or-less out of trouble,” Luke promises. “Don’t worry about us, Ash. We’ve always been rescued before .”

But despite his words, his tone leaves me feeling worried .