Almost Demon (The Sigil Cycle) Read Online Free Page A

me a chance. I’m not too horrible.” His smile was warm and disarming in its imperfection, one front tooth protruding slightly in front of the other. 
    I settled back into my chair and for the rest of the period kept my focus on note taking. With fifteen minutes left to the class, and only three spitballs to pull out of my hair, I was relieved to find that I enjoyed listening to Mr. Flynn’s enthusiasm for old books. 
    My gaze wandered to the door. There was no one there but I couldn’t shake off the sense that someone had been staring into the classroom. I rubbed my eyes and checked the clock. Fourteen minutes to freedom. 
    Looking back at the door again, I caught the slow movement of black tendrils creeping in from the spaces along the jambs. I inhaled with an audible gasp.
    “Is everything alright there, Miss Pope?” Mr. Flynn asked.
    The black pillar now clung to the corner of the room and remained motionless. The pain in my hands called me back to myself and I watched as blood erupted from the surface of my palms in the shape of four crescents each. I looked back up and saw that the entity was still there and had taken on a more opaque blackness. The muscles in my neck coiled with tension and I looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the strange creature. 
    Just then, the door slammed open, hitting the wall behind it in the process.
    It was Ian.
    “Hey, sorry I’m late.” He gave Mr. Flynn a meek smile.
    “Fascinating.” Mr. Flynn nodded towards the empty seat to my left. “Just don’t make it a habit.” 
    Ian sidled right in. “Hey,” he said. 
    “Hey.” My mind was spinning between the black spirits and the hottie sitting next to me.
    It had started after the crash. The doctors insisted that the only injury I had sustained was to my leg but they had run the gamut of tests to check for any damage to the brain. 
    I mentioned these “black spots” to my dad as soon as I regained consciousness. There were three of them standing in a row, as if they were waiting for me to wake up. No one refused him but after what seemed like an inordinate amount of MRIs, CT scans and even ultrasounds, the doctors spoke to my dad in hushed tones, spitting our terms like “psychosomatic” and “PTSD.”
    Until now, they hadn’t bothered me much. I passed one every day on my run and saw a few more near the library and bank. This was the first day that I felt they were stalking me. 
    The final bell rang and after a bit of mingling, only a few stragglers were left behind. Allison made it a point to pass by and scratch her long fake acrylic nails against my desk. She winked and said, “Bye, Ian. Catch you later.”
    I tried to check for any signs of the spirit, though nothing in her appearance clued me in. It was possible that it was no longer with her. I hadn’t seen her for the rest of the day, keeping my promise to Charlotte to run out and get some pizza. Then again, it was also possible that I had been hallucinating.
    When Allison was finally out of earshot, Ian let out a sigh and said, “She’s a handful.”
    “Yeah.” I laughed. “That’s an understatement.”
    “You alright? From before, in the hallway. It looked like she was about to give you a hard time.” 
    He offered me his hand as he stood up, but I brushed it away, bracing my hand on the desk and lifting myself out of the chair to take the stress off my back. 
     “I…yeah, I’m fine.” 
    The words came out harsher than I had expected so I made a mental note to stop letting the pain affect my mood.
    “Just making sure.” His smile was a mixture of sly and endearing. “You never know.” 
    We started to head out when Mr. Flynn called out to us. “Are either of you interested in the book club?”
    “Book club?” Ian responded.
    “You know, those pesky things with a back and front and a bunch of pages stuck in the middle.” 
    I smiled at Mr. Flynn’s attempt at a joke.
    “Not my style,” Ian answered. “I’ll catch