ChaPter 2 - Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

10
And then she turned and walked away from Kaleb as
quickly as she could without seeming like she was running.
She hadn’t exactly mentioned that she couldn’t date him,
but that was just because there was no way to say it without
sounding weird. It wasn’t because she harbored a tiny hope of
something more. Really. She smiled to herself. Kaleb wants to
see me again.
A short while later, Mallory had temporarily forced away
thoughts of the beautiful human boy she shouldn’t date and
concentrated on the task at hand: proving to her father that she
was making progress with the semiautomatic.
“You need to get over it, Mals.” Adam didn’t scowl at her,
but the censure was there all the same. “The revolver only has
six rounds. Sometimes six won’t be enough.”
She accepted the gun, but it felt wrong in her hands. It
always felt wrong. The weight of it didn’t comfort her the way
the heavier revolver did.
“They aren’t like humans,” Adam reminded her—
unnecessarily. He’d spent most of her life teaching her how
to defend herself against daimons. She knew that they were
stronger and faster than any human could hope to be. Witches
stood more than a fair chance against them, but Mallory
wasn’t a witch.
She sighted down on her target, inhaled, held her breath,
and squeezed. “Just like taking a picture.”
She’d learned the inverse though: she’d applied firearms