Orion and Rowan both chuckle, but Wylder and Sebastian are much too focused to fool around.
“Be careful, everyone.” Sebastian is a serious guy by nature, but tonight he’s even more intense than usual. I suppose after how badly things went for him the last time he braced for a confrontation, it’s understandable.
The hair at the back of my neck prickles as I take in our group. I was used to Asher and I being the only two people in our world, but over the past month, Orion, Rowan, Sebastian, and Wylder have become important to me.
It’s weird, synchronizing the Poppy I was before with the Poppy I am now. It’s not like I’m two separate people, but those two identities are very different.
The me I am now falls somewhere in between.
I hug Orion. “Good luck.”
He gives me a tight squeeze. “Watch your back, Popstar.”
I ease back and raise my fist to knuckle-bump Rowan and Sebastian. “If you run into any trouble, just send up a flare or call us and we’ll come running.”
“That goes both ways.” Sebastian gestures for Rowan and Orion to get moving. “Both groups check in every half hour, starting now.”
I open the app on my phone and set a timer. “Got it.”
When the other group is gone, we strike off. Asher positions himself on my right, and Wylder takes my left.
Emberwood Fall Festival… bring it.
Wow, everything is the same and, at the same time, nothing is. Mom used to drag us here every year, insisting we try every booth, sample every flavor of pie and tart, dance to every fiddle tune.
Lily would beg for face paint, and Violet would pocket sample candy and line up for baked goods, putting her Costco sample skills to use.
Now they’re gone. My sisters. My father. And though my mother is back in my life, it’ll never be the same. Especially whenI’m standing here with a demon-tracking compass in my pocket and a mission that feels too big for my shoulders.
But grief doesn’t get to win tonight.
“Ready?” Wylder’s voice cuts through my emotional spiral and brings things back into focus.
I shove the sentiment down where it belongs, and pull the enchanted compass out of my pocket. “Hell yeah, let’s do this.”
I hand the tracker to Wylder, and he regards the face of the brass compass. “Rowan says, when demon energy is nearby, the silver will darken and pull toward the source like iron to a magnet.”
“So we just wander around looking creepy until this thing goes full Mordor?” Asher asks.
Wylder shrugs. “Essentially.”
“Cool, cool. Love a vague plan.”
I loop my arm through Asher’s, anticipation and anxiety surging through my system, urging me to keep moving. “Come on, boys. Let’s blend.”
We merge into the crowd, boots crunching through scattered leaves. The fairground buzzes with life. Sugar-high children shriek near the pumpkin patch. Couples share candied apples, holding out their sticky fingers. The music from a southern rock band drifts over from the stage.
My gaze is drawn toward the lanterns shaped like owls and foxes dangling from tree branches, their glow shifting between orange and gold.
It’s beautiful. Familiar.
But underneath it all, something hums wrong.
I lean to the side to study the compass. Wylder is shielding it with his palm, but I can see the silver face swirling lazily, unbothered. Nothing yet.
“Mulled cider, anyone?” Asher gestures toward a stand draped in a red-and-white checkered cloth.
Wylder looks like he’s about to object, but I’m already moving. “Absolutely.”
