How to Save Your School From Soul Stealing Demons

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17TH
7:53 AM
AMBROSE'S HOUSE

Renny paces while we wait, and I can't stop fidgeting in my seat on the couch. I know now that Watts'll be okay, but I still can't stop myself from worrying.

"He's gonna try to play it off," Renny whispers, breaking the silence that's fallen between us. I think she's talking about the kiss at first—and I'm about to assure her that there's no way in hell he'd try to play that off—until she continues, "But he's hurt pretty bad. If he tries to help us get to the pendant..."

She doesn't have to say it. He's in no shape for fighting; if Kayla tried to kill him again, she would probably succeed.

"He'll want to help," I say, glancing towards the cracked bathroom door. "And if the dream means what we think it does... then he's supposed to."

She sighs, finally sitting down on the loveseat next to the couch. "I know."

Before we can say anything more, the bathroom door opens with a squeak and Ambrose walks out, followed by a limping Watts. He looks better—his face has more color, and he doesn't seem dazed anymore from the fainting spell—but it's not hard to tell he's still in a lot of pain. His hoodie is zipped up now, dark fabric hiding the evidence of what happened.

"Told you he'd live." Ambrose heads over, sitting in the recliner across from me.

Watts obviously goes over to sit with Ren, a dopey smile spreading on his face as soon as his ass hits the cushion next to her.

"How's it feel?" she asks.

"It... hurts," he admits, with a smile of nonchalance. "But the stitches weren't as bad as I thought. I guess because I had a lot on my mind. A lot to think about."

She flushes, nodding coyly. "Uh-huh."

"You two better give it a rest." Ambrose fails to suppress a smile. "Watts shouldn't be participating in strenuous activity for at least forty-eight hours."

Despite knowing Renny might kick my ass, I can't stop myself from bursting out laughing as her mouth falls open and both of their faces turn red. She launches a pillow at Ambrose as he cracks up, not even seeming to notice when the cushy missile hits his shoulder.

"Ha-ha. Payback is a bitch, 'Brose. Just wait till you hear the jokes I crack the next time you're into someone."

I raise my eyebrows at that. "Meaning you're into Watts?"

She turns to me with a huff, looking back and forth between me and Ambrose as we crack up. "I'm not having this conversation with you two."

"Okay, okay." With a final, tapering string of laughter, Ambrose sits up. "We need to get serious, anyways."

I wish we didn't. I wish we could just sit around and joke like normal teenagers. But unfortunately, he's right. We still have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it. If we're going to stop whatever slaughter is taking place at homecoming, we only have the rest of today, tomorrow, and until six on Saturday.

"So here's what I'm thinking," he says, the traces of amusement leaving his voice. "Tomorrow, we ditch school and bring our weapons to go get the book. We look through it, find what we need from it, and then find Kayla."

It sounds simple enough. But even with weapons, even with whatever help we get from the writings... are we strong enough to take on Joan?

"We could, but... I'm worried Joan has some sort of connection to Sarah's journal." Watts sighs. "It's just a hypothesis, but, I mean... the way she showed up so fast after we got to it... the way she tore it out of my hand... I don't know."