Scout gently pulled her to him. “It’s okay. We don’t have to talk about it.”
Raven hugged him tightly, reminding him of Catherine. Scout squeezed back.
“I’m sorry,” she said as they started walking again. “Thanks for not pushing it. All I want to do is help you guys get that little girl back and then get the hell away from this place. I just wish I could get Kessie out of this mess when we leave.”
“Is it okay to assume you were pretty tight with Kessie?”
Raven punched Scout in the arm. “She was there for me when my sister died. We did everything together after that and took care of each other. I’d do anything for her and I know she’d do the same.”
“Even now?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re playing for the other team, Raven. Might be different if she found out.”
They turned the corner and crossed the street to the eatery where Hunter and Ginger bumped into Patrick earlier. The place was closed and Scout doubted their ability to find anything new. That wasn’t the purpose for their night stalking anyway. They were just out stretching their legs. Hunter and Ginger were doing the real work in the daylight. Scout and Raven were waiting for when Catherine was found and everything went down. Then they would be needed.
Raven led Scout to another street where a fire lit the sky. Dark smoke drifted upward in one long chain. A group of kids gathered by the blaze like demons of different shapes and sizes, summoning midnight. Raven and Scout worked around the side of a nearby house and climbed its fence to pull themselves up on the roof for stealthier observation.
Below in the street, teenagers were busy throwing whatever they could find into the growing bonfire. Small kids danced around, picking up smaller objects, gleefully tossing them at the inferno’s edges. Four boys swung a couch and counted to three. The couch landed inside the flames, launching sparks into the heavens. Burning embers fell on the boys, who quickly scattered amid laughing echoes.
Scout found a place to sit in the shadows of the roof’s fireplace and Raven huddled next to him. The fire alleviated the nasty odor that hung around the large city like flies around an open sewer. The smell also reminded him of the last big fire, the one that claimed all his possessions.
“What are they doing?” Scout asked.
“Burning stuff and trying to keep warm, I guess.”
“So this is what city kids do for fun.”
“It beats staying indoors and staring at the walls.”
Scout watched the progression below. “At least there won’t be any trash left when they’re done. They should have fire parties on every block until this place is cleaned up.”
Raven craned her neck for a better look at something and Scout followed her line of sight to a group of kids seated on the ground below. Scout thought he recognized a girl as she stood and left the others.
Raven waved Scout to follow and they crept, making scratchy noises scooting across the rough shingles to the edge where they had gained access.
“Who is it?” Scout whispered.
“Kessie.”
Kessie opened the gate to the backyard. Scout figured she was probably going to the bathroom. Raven scrambled over the side of the house to the fence below.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to talk to her.”
“You can’t. She’s one of them. You’re not thinking straight.”
“She’s my best friend. She’d never cross me, no matter what. I just want to talk to her, okay?”
“You’re going to mess up everything and blow our cover. Kessie is not like you. She’s still under Chase’s influence.”
Raven shook her head. “Just stay here. It will be all right. Trust me.” She dropped without a sound before Scout could argue his point anymore.
Scout swore under his breath and crawled to the other edge of the roof overlooking the back. He saw Kessie doing her business by a bush. He felt guilty for spying on her like that, but his girlfriend was about to walk right into the fire, and Scout wanted to be ready to pull her out before she got torched.
Raven’s cheery voice rose from below. “Hey, what’s going on over there? Are you watering the lawn?”
Kessie hustled getting her pants up. “Raven! Is that really you? How did you…? When did you…? Come give me a hug, girl.”
“Are you going to wash your hands first?” Raven laughed. Kessie ran up to her and the two embraced.
“What have you been doing all this time?” Kessie asked. “Did they actually let you go?”
“Yep, they weren’t going to hold me forever. What could they do? Then I had to wait for the snow to melt before I could make it back.”
“Did that bitch survive? What was her name? Mandy?”
“Molly. She did. They found her after that blizzard finally stopped. I told them they didn’t have a prayer of coming here and causing trouble. Not with the numbers we got.”
“That’s the truth,” Kessie said. She dropped her arms and stepped back from Raven. “Is that the truth?”
Raven approached her friend, but Kessie held up a hand. “Some weird stuff went down when that bitch ran off,” Kessie said. “That little girl isn’t exactly a little girl. Did you know that?”
Raven snorted. “The kids back at that town think she has magical powers. What a bunch of bull, right?”
Scout leaned back and shook his head, suddenly fearing that he and the rest of them trusted Raven too soon. No, he told himself. Her fear of Chase was real. Raven was real.
“Yeah, did you know about Chase?” Kessie asked.
“What about him?”
The silence spread out between them. Scout couldn’t take it anymore. He crawled back to the low spot over the fence. The red dancing glow out in the street appeared like a backdrop from hell. Scout hit the ground, silently making his way to the corner of the house.
“You can’t be serious,” Raven was saying. “Why would you?”
“You were gone and I had to make a choice. As long as we’re living in hell, I might as well be on the demon’s side.”
“Demon,” Raven said. She shivered and stuffed her hands in the pockets of her coat. “I didn’t come back here for that. I’m not interested in that kind of stuff anymore.”
“Why did you come back?”
“This is my home. I wanted to see you.”
“Chase said you’d be different if you came back. He said I’d notice it. He was right.”
“I don’t care what Chase says!”
A tingle crawled up Scout’s back and settled on top of his scalp. The air grew heavy with the surrounding cold. He wished Raven would get away from Kessie before things escalated out of control.
“I’m sorry, but I have to take you to him.”
“What? I don’t want to see him.” Scout heard the fear in his girlfriend’s voice.
“He said you’d say that.” Kessie beckoned the shadows on the opposite side of the house.
Three raggedy boys rushed at Raven, who dropped the first one to reach her with a solid punch across the jaw, but the other two dragged her down quick. Kessie watched quietly.
Scout charged around the corner of the house, but Raven caught sight of him before the others and yelled, “No!” He slid to a stop and rolled behind a thick evergreen tree, with the sweet sticky scent of Christmas filling his nose as his heart hammered in his chest. He’d missed his chance to surprise Kessie and her group while their back was turned. When he peered underneath the boughs, Kessie was staring his direction.
She shrugged and bent next to Raven. “Chase is going to be so happy to see you again. You’re still a part of our crew no matter what you want. We’re not some afterschool club you can just quit.”