Bright summer sun beat down on Eve’s head as she leaned back on her hands. She looked very relaxed, and she also felt very relaxed about everything. She definitely felt fine about the murderer who was approaching her. She didn’t look at Ezra and Jon, because, again, she was very relaxed and confident that their plan would succeed.

Kyle, who was approaching, stared straight at her. He didn’t blink at all, or squint in the sunlight. That would've been super weird and off-putting if Eve wasn’t so damn relaxed about it all. Sometimes people didn’t blink. That was fine and normal, and not extremely creepy.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jon and Ezra walking toward her. A tiny bit of the tension dropped from her shoulders. Jon strode with his tote bag like he was on a mission to find the last heirloom tomatoes at the farmer’s market, while Ezra cradled his like he was hiding the last heirloom tomatoes from a horde of flavor-starved almond moms. Eve could just see a thin, double trail of salt behind them.

Kyle didn’t look at them. It would have made sense for anyone to at least glance at two people walking near them. But Kyle ignored them and took a couple of extra large steps that changed his course. He was now set to pass Jon and Ezra before they reached him with the salt line.

Kyle grinned at Eve, and that was fine, actually. So what if he completely avoided their trap, as if he had prior knowledge of it? That was fine with Eve. She cleared her throat and crossed her legs and arms. Then she recrossed them, and then she frowned and grabbed the edge of the fountain wall and pressed her feet hard against the stone path.

“I heard you were looking for me,” Kyle said, as he got into speaking range.

Eve shrugged and leaned back. “You look familiar, and I thought if I saw you again, it might help me remember.” She looked at him, eyes squinted in a critical glare, and grimaced. “Ugh, gross. I was right, you look exactly like a hard-boiled egg.”

Kyle winced and took a step back, almost as if something had pushed him.

“Hold on, give me your hand.” Eve held out her right hand, rings shining on her fingers. Kyle stepped closer, eyebrows scrunched, and stretched out his hand. Eve guessed he wasn’t used to other people telling him what to do. He wasn’t looking at her hand, only at her face, so Eve had a great view of his face when his skin touched her silver rings.

Kyle yanked his hand back and bared his teeth. He looked at the shiny red burn on the side of his hand, and then at Eve’s hand. He glowered at her, rage clear in the hard set of his eyes and his clenched jaw.

Eve lifted her chin as her pulse beat fast in her ears. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Did a mosquito bite you?”

He looked at her for a long moment, and Eve fought to keep her breathing even and slow. She felt a rising panic in her chest, an urge to kick twitching in her legs. Ezra’s fears that he would eat them or drag them to Hell were sounding a little more likely with Kyle looming over her.

“Silver, huh?” he said. “Isn’t that a little dangerous for your friend?”

Eve glanced at Ezra, standing with Jon in the shade of a picnic pavilion. They were both watching, but staying put. Kyle smirked, and she wanted to smack it off his face.

“I don’t know why that would be,” she said in her coldest voice. “But my friends will be fine.” The panic was giving way to a rush of anger at this dumb fuck-boy and his stupid face. Anger was better than fear, anyway. Fear made Eve feel like Kyle was winning, like giving him power over her. And Eve would be damned, maybe literally, before she gave him anything.

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Kyle looked at her in a way that would be calculating, if he was only smart enough to calculate. He hummed and leaned closer. “How’s your investigation going?” he asked. “Have you been able to help the police locate Chelsea’s killer yet?” He looked over at Jon and Ezra and waved.

Eve didn’t look to see their reaction. “Wouldn’t you like to know, freak?” She crossed her arms and glared at him. “Why don’t you fuck off now?”

Kyle grimaced and began to sweat. “You were the one looking for me,” he said.

“Yeah, so I could tell you to fuck off. Bye.” Stalking around him in a wide arc, Eve left him standing by the fountain and headed for Ezra and Jon. She kicked at the salt line as she passed it, heart pounding in her chest so hard she almost felt sick.

The guys were loitering under the picnic pavilion still, trying to hide from the sun and Kyle. Ezra was flushed and sweating, and even Jon had taken off his leather jacket. They looked over her shoulders at Kyle.

“Is he still there?” Eve asked.

“He’s leaving now,” Jon said, then frowned. “Sorry we couldn’t get him; he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to do.”

“Yeah,” murmured Ezra. He was still looking behind Eve, his eyes unfocused but moving as he followed something with his gaze. It looked too much like Kyle-fever for Eve’s comfort.

“Hey,” she said, voice pointed like a stick. Ezra blinked and looked at her, then his eyes drifted back to Kyle. “Quit looking at him. You’re not going to fall for that.”

Sucking in a breath, he staggered back and leaned against a post. He looked at Eve again, eyes clear. “Sorry, I don’t know why…” he said. He looked down at his clenched fists.

“It’s alright,” Jon said, rubbing Ezra’s upper arm.

“I mean, it’s not, but it’s also not your fault,” Eve said. “What I want to know is how he got to you without even talking to you.” She narrowed her eyes. “I thought his hypnosis was short-range, but maybe he just needs to see you?”

Ezra looked up and shook his head. “No idea, but I’m a little afraid to keep testing him. He looked like he was going to eat you.”

Eve glared at the ground and dug the toe of her shoe into the concrete slab. “Don’t worry, I’ll fucking kill him if he tries anything again.”

Jon pumped his fist in the air, eyes and smile wide. “Yeah, let’s kill him!” It was the most excited declaration of intent to commit murder Eve had ever heard.

Ezra breathed out a laugh. “Don’t shout that in public.” He straightened and shook his head, smiling.

Eve sat on the nearest picnic bench and leaned her elbows on her knees. “But how did he know?” She sucked on her teeth. “He knew we were testing him. He looked so smug I wanted to stab him. How did he know?”

“I didn’t tell him,” Jon and Ezra protested at the same time. They looked at each other and back at Eve.

“I’m sure neither of you did,” she said, “at least not consciously. And if one of you did,” she continued, “it wouldn’t be your fault.” Jon nodded and Ezra took a deep breath. “We’ll have to be more subtle next time.”

Ezra laughed nervously. “Yeah, we should plan more for the next test. It’s a shame we didn’t learn anything from this one.”

Eve tipped her head to one side. “Maybe we did. He touched my rings.” She leaned her back against the table and held up her hand. Spreading her fingers wide, she stared at the shiny metal.

Jon smacked his fist into his other hand. “That was what made him so mad, he got burned by the silver.”

Ezra pulled his notepad from a pocket and flipped through it. “He’s probably a demon or vampire then.”

“And he didn’t even glance at the salt.” Jon hummed and frowned.

“He definitely didn’t count it,” Eve said.

“So maybe not a vampire,” Ezra said as he read his notes. “We’re leaning more towards a demon, then. We should test Kyle with that in mind to confirm it.”

“We’ll need supplies.” Jon crossed his arms, still looking serious. “Holy water for one. Crucifixes or iron, too.”

“Where do you even get holy water?” Eve asked.

“We can stop by St. Jude’s and get some water blessed,” Jon chirped. Eve had almost forgotten that Jon and Father Thomas were besties from seminary, or whatever. Well that would be helpful, having a priest who would give them holy water on demand.

“Ah,” said Ezra, eloquently. Eve rolled her eyes.