Demons and Kings

Chapter 4

 "You'll never guess who I ran into today!" The chair across from mine screeched harshly across the floor, Carols' loud tone catching not only the attention of the few other students in here with us, but the cantankerous librarians' as well. I shrank back under the older woman's glare and lifted my book in a poor attempt to hide my face until she looked away.

"Shhh!" I hissed.

"Sorry." Carol sat down, thoroughly chastened. But even a scolding wasn't enough to stop her from talking for long. "It was Isis." She whispered, sounding excited. "She's professor Browns new assistant. It was amazing to see Evie. She can read and write ancient Egyptian, and she knows everything there is to know about Egyptian history, not to mention she's totally gorgeous so everyone's fawning over her an-"

"Woah hold on." I stopped her, putting my book down. "When did this happen? I didn't know her fan club was accepting new members." I had only meant to be partially sarcastic, but I ended up sounding more waspish than anything else.

"You shouldn't be so cruel!" Carol scolded me after a moment, and I leaned back in surprise at the bite in her tone. I couldn't remember the last time she had snapped at me like that. "She has been nothing but kind to us, and...and her brother is missing." Stopping, she narrowed her eyes at me. "How would you feel if it were Ryan?"

I chose not to dignify that with an answer.

"What about what happened in the tomb?" I asked. "She was going to kill you, kill us, and now all of a sudden you've turned into her biggest fan? What the hell is wro- "

She interrupted me. "It wasn't real Evie! We were wrong, we were hallucinating, we were scared, and we saw things that weren't there. You need to let it go."

"Let it go?" I echoed in disbelief.

"Yes, let it go! Why are you so sure it was real? What do you have against Isis anyway, what has she really ever actually done to you? Or are you just jealous and acting out?" She glared at me, eyes hard, and waited for my answer. But I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything,

"Moving on," she continued after a moment of tense silence and I let her, happy for the change in subject. She lowered her voice as her cheeks dusted with pink, "Jimmy asked me to the school dance." Her lips had spread into a goofy grin, her eyes going starry. Even with my obvious irritation, I couldn't help but be happy for her. My oblivious little sister was finally catching on. Sensing her hesitance to continue, I moved closer, my own voice dropping conspiratorially.

"And did you say yes?" I asked, curious, and the last vestiges of my anger faded away. Carol never spoke to me about boys. There were days I thought she avoided them like the plague on purpose to spite our mother and her never-ending matchmaking schemes. The cherry color her entire faced turned was all the answer I needed. I mean, the poor boy had been after her for what felt like years. "It's about time." I cackled joyously. "Oh, you're finally growing up, I'm so proud."

I stopped and gasped delightedly, a sudden thought striking me, "Ryan and Rodney are going to have a heart attack when they find out. I can't wait." She laughed along with me, but I could detect the barest hint of nervousness at the thought of our extremely overprotective brothers grilling her date, all sharp eyes, and sharp judgments. She had been a witness to the first, and only time I had ever brought a boy home to 'meet the family' and had laughed at the time as it ended horribly.

He hadn't even made it through the front door, and I spent the rest of the evening receiving a lecture on the vileness of men, the 'they only want one thing' speech if you will. Having the talk with my brothers had honestly been one of the most traumatic experiences I had ever had. I silently hoped Jimmy was made of stronger stuff, and Carol as well if things went south.