as he winked at the girl sitting on the opposite side of his table.
“There are politicians’ kids here. Sports stars, pop stars, supermodels and, you name it, I’m sure that there is at least one kid here who has a parent in the movie biz. Much like you, I guess, since your dad is the top director these days and only does a few movies. And then you have me…” She grimaced and took a bite of her yogurt.
“So what do your parents do?” I raised a brow, more curious by the minute.
“My dad’s a Demon.”
It was a day for lots of blinking. “A demon? As in he’s demonic and worships the devil or whatever the crap they do? He has superpowers and you can turn into some scary chick with horns and a tail?”
That produced a laugh from my new friend. “No. Not that kind of demon. He’s the drummer for Demon’s Wings…”
I’m sure she would have said more, but my scream stopped her. “Holy crap!” I turned in my chair and grabbed her by the shoulders. “You are LUCY THORNTON!”
It was Lucy’s turn to blink, but she didn’t get as far as opening her mouth again before a firm hand touched my shoulder and my head snapped up. “Release her. Now.”
My eyes nearly bulged out of my head as I got a closer look at the man standing over me. If you’ve seen bodybuilders in suits, then you might begin to understand what the beast of a man who was staring down at me with cold, emotionless eyes right then looked like. His hair was cut short, as if he were in the military. His eyes darkened and narrowed on me as if I planned on chopping Lucy’s head off and scooping out her insides to do some kind of voodoo spell on the entire school. Veins bulged out of his neck, disappearing into the collar of his shirt and suit jacket.
“Um… Okay. Okay. Sorry.” I lifted my hands, leaving them there in an ‘I surrender’ stance.
Lucy grimaced. “It’s okay, Marcus. Kin was just really excited. She wasn’t going to murder me.”
“You sure you’re okay?” Marcus kept his eyes on me while he directed his question to Lucy.
“Yes. I’m fine. If I need you, I will scream. Don’t worry.”
After another tense moment Marcus backed away and then disappeared as if he had a secret passage to hide in. I hadn’t seen him coming, but it was obvious he had to have been watching Lucy like a hawk. To hide my discomfort, I picked up a chicken strip with my fingers and dunked it into the container of ranch dressing I’d snatched from the salad bar. “Sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry.” Lucy pushed her tray away, her appetite apparently gone now. “Anyway, that’s why I’m the oddball here. This place has the best security in the country. There’s a team of security guards patrolling the grounds and halls at all times. But my dad, he won’t let me leave the house without Marcus. And because of my Aunt Em, the school has accepted him as my shadow.”
I chewed my bite of chicken before wiping my fingers and mouth. “I’m sure he has his reasons.”
She nodded solemnly. “Yeah. He has plenty.”
I took another bite of my chicken as I watched her face cloud over with what must have been bad memories. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized who Lucy was when I’d first seen her. The girl was talked about in the rock world like she was royalty and, as the daughter of a Demon, she pretty much was.
I had gotten interested in Demon’s Wings music when I was eleven. Caleb was a huge rock fan and it’d rubbed off on me. It was around that time that I’d heard something bad had happened to a few members of the band because of some crazy fan. I’d tried to find out what it had been about, but there had been very few stories on it. Someone’s PR must have been working overtime to make sure that the tabloids hadn’t gone bonkers with the full story.
I wondered if that was why Lucy’s parents were so overprotective, or if it had been something completely different. But I didn’t feel like I could ask. I liked her and didn’t want to pry. If she wanted to tell me, then she would.
My new friend was quiet for the rest of the meal. I finished up my lunch and we walked together to toss our trash. As