Bitter Demons (10 page)

Zara and I walked behind the house and into the woods. I recognized the path toward the ritual area.

“Why are we going this way?” I asked. I tripped on every stray root, but Zara seemed to almost float above it all. Her long white skirt hid her feet, so for all I knew, she might actually have been floating.

“If we’re to test your power, it’s only fair we go to the source of your power.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. The last time I’d pushed myself to the limit of my own power, I’d ended up seriously ill. Even with the new power I’d gotten from the confirmation, I knew I wasn’t any match for the daughter of a powerful priestess.

“Can you feel it yet?”

“What?” I asked.

“Your demon,” she said.

We weren’t quite to the clearing yet, but now that she mentioned it, I could feel it. Or at least, I felt something. When I closed my eyes, my body felt all shivery and alive. It was a subtle change, but now that I concentrated on it, I could definitely feel my power increasing the closer we got to the clearing.

“Is my demon here?” I asked. I touched the necklace at my throat, wondering how all this worked.

“When a Prima dies, and her heir is too young to be initiated, the demon is confined to a statue of solid white marble,” she said. She paused and placed the palm of her hand against my chest. “Your demon is always connected to you here, but it’s nothing like what it will be later.”

Yeah, once he’s inside of me
. I shivered at the thought. I couldn’t let that happen. Ever.

“The statue is close.” Zara closed her eyes and lifted her face toward the sky. “Even I can feel the presence of the demon. It’s interesting. I never would have imagined Peachville’s demon to be so strong. Maybe his long rest has made him more powerful than ever.”

The statue. There were two matching statues. One was here in the clearing, near the steps down to the ritual room, but the other was all the way downtown at the high school. I wanted to ask her about why there was a need for two when there was only one demon, but I didn’t get the chance.

Zara turned to me and smiled. “Let’s try something relatively basic,” she said. “As a warm-up.”

I took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, show me.”

With a giggle, Zara lifted her hands and rose at least five feet off the ground. My original thought that she looked like a fairy seemed extremely appropriate now.

“Levitation is a basic spell,” she said. “All you do is imagine yourself as light as a feather.”

I winced at the word. Feather. I should have been out there searching for Caroline, not playing in the woods with Zara. But I knew I didn’t have a choice. The Order had assigned her to me as a guardian, and making her angry would just make everything worse for me. So, I imagined I was light and feathery.

Nothing happened.

“You’re not even trying,” she said. She floated back down to the ground.

“I’m imagining it, but it’s not working.”

“You’ve got to connect to the power first,” she said. “Your mind has to be extremely focused. Your magic comes from your soul, but it’s your mind that must focus the energy into a single purpose. When you’ve got other thoughts running through you, the spell will be weak. That’s fine for small things like orbs of light and such, but for these tougher spells, you must focus.”

“How?” I asked. “I feel like my mind is always racing in a hundred different directions.”

Zara put her hand on my forehead and slid it down over my eyes. My eyelids closed in obedience.

“Imagine a black space,” she whispered. “Nothingness all around. Then, imagine a single blue butterfly fluttering through the space. Its wings are a brilliant light in the darkness. See the butterfly?”

I nodded.

“Good,” she said. “Imagine the butterfly landing on the floor of that black space. He’s very still, like a statue. Concentrate on the blue of its tiny wings. Breathe in and out, let the power beneath your feet coarse through your entire body, but never lose sight of that butterfly’s wings.”

I took a deep breath in through my nose, feeling the calming rush of air. I let the air out slowly, doing as she said and picturing nothing but the neon wings of a blue butterfly wrapped in nothingness.

“Now put your hands to your side. When you lift them up toward the sky, imagine your body lifting from the ground, completely weightless.”

I let my arms fall to my sides. Without disturbing the rhythm of my breathing, I slowly lifted my palms toward the sky. In my mind, the butterfly was completely still and focused.

Zara squealed and clapped her hands. “You did it! Open your eyes, silly.”

I opened my eyes and gasped. As soon as I realized what I’d done, I brought my hands to my mouth in shock. Unfortunately, I also lost sight of the butterfly.

I tumbled to the ground, banging my shin on a rock as I fell.

Zara dissolved into laughter. She held her hand to me and helped me stand. “Fantastic,” she said. “But don’t ever lose your focus.”

“Thanks for the tip,” I said. I sucked a breath in through clenched teeth and lifted my pants leg. My leg was bleeding slightly, the skin scraped off in a long strip.

“A minor price to pay for what you learned,” she said.

“Can you teach me how to heal this, too?” I said, only half-joking.

She shook her head. “Healing people is not one of my gifts. Trees and plants are much easier, but to be able to heal wounds on a human is a rare and very special gift.”

I thought of Mrs. King’s amazing ability to heal almost any wound if she could get to it fast enough. I never realized just how lucky I was to have someone like that in Peachville. She’d saved my ass more than once.

“Thanks for the butterfly trick,” I said.

“It doesn’t have to be a butterfly,” she said. “Anything would work, but I have a special affection for butterflies.” She gave me a mysterious smile. “Watch this.”

Zara did as before, lifting her hands in the air and floating several feet off the ground. Then, she closed her eyes and placed her palms together in front of her chest, as if she were saying a prayer. A shadowy smoke swirled in the air around her, hiding her slightly from view as it grew thicker. Then, she disappeared.

Or at least I thought she had. Then, inside the smoky darkness, I saw the tiniest movement. I stared in awe. A beautiful blue butterfly like the one I’d been picturing fluttered toward me. It flew around my head, and I turned to follow it with my eyes. I couldn’t believe it. Had Zara just turned into a butterfly right here before my eyes? I had no idea that was possible!

I lost sight of her and walked a few steps deeper into the woods, searching. A soft tap on my shoulder made me jump in surprise. I twirled around, frightened. Zara giggled.

“Was that you?” I asked. My heartbeat sped up at the thought. “Was the butterfly you?”

“Yes,” she said. “Pretty, right?”

“Incredible,” I said. “How did you do it?”

“Shape-shifting is a very advanced form of magic,” she said. “I don’t know that it’s something you should try at your level, but it’s something you might be able to do in the future. Only witches from a very powerful line are capable of shifting.”

“Can you turn into anything you want?”

“No, just the butterfly,” she said. “It’s the same way for most witches.”

“How do you know what to turn into? How did you figure it out?”

“I just knew,” she said. “Every woman in my family can turn into a butterfly. Sometimes they are yellow or red or black, but our family is a butterfly family. It’s the same way with every line. If it’s in your blood to shift, everyone in the line shifts into a similar form.”

“Does my family shift?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “That’s something you’ll have to ask a local witch. Or my mother might know, if you get a chance to ask her.”

I hoped I could shift. That would be so awesome to be able to turn into an animal. Something dainty like a butterfly would be nicer than something like, say, an elephant. I wanted desperately to try it, but Zara was probably right. I was already starting to feel a little bit sick to my stomach from all the magic use today. I didn’t need to push it.

Zara laughed that tinkling delicate laugh of hers, then shifted back into her butterfly form. I smiled and kept my eyes on her as she flew high into the air and all around me. She came close to my face and fluttered so close to me, I was scared to breathe too hard for fear of hurting her.

“Show-off,” I teased.

As if taking my words as a challenge, she dipped low, then circled me. She paused in front of my eyes again, then took off into the woods. I chased her as best I could. A few times, I lost sight of her and had to stop, but she always came back to me, stopping just at eye level long enough to make sure I’d seen her. She took off again, and I ran after her, determined to stay with her this time.

Up ahead, the clearing came into view. She darted toward it. As I stepped onto the circle, I felt the power of the place fill me. Out of breath, I laid down on the flat grass.

“You win,” I said, laughing. “I need a break.”

A flash of movement out of the corner of my eye told me Zara had taken on her human form again. I stared up at the canopy of trees above and wondered if all that fluttering around tired her out. My body relaxed into the ground, and I let myself become a part of it.

So much of my family’s history was tied to this very spot. I wondered if my mother had ever laid like this, back flat against the grass. I pictured what it would have been like if she could have brought me here as a child. Would she have taught me how to do magic? Would she have trained me up for a life in the Order?

Why did she let me go in the first place? And how did she die? Those were the questions I always came back to. I would have given anything to have had her guidance growing up.

A blood-curdling scream broke through my thoughts. I snapped up and turned toward Zara. At first, I couldn’t see what she was screaming about. I stood and rushed toward her.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Then, as I came around beside her, I saw for myself what she’d been screaming about.

It was Caroline.

Just beyond the circle, in a shaded corner of the woods, Caroline lay in a circle of black roses. A long white dress covered her from head to toe. Her body was completely still.

Tears sprang to my eyes. I rushed forward, wanting to hold her. To see if she was still alive.

“No!” Zara shouted. “Don’t!”

I didn’t listen. I crossed the distance in seconds. As I reached for her, a piercing agony struck me. Pain sliced through my hand like a hot knife. I fell to the ground and scrambled backward, holding my injured hand close to my body.

Zara came up behind me and pulled me farther back. “The roses,” she said. “They’re like poison.”

“Is she dead?” I asked. The pain in my hand turned to a dull throbbing. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks. This was my fault.

“No,” she said. “Look.”

I swiped at my eyes and looked at Caroline. Her body trembled slightly, as if she were being electrocuted. I crawled toward the circle, careful not to get too close to the roses.

“Caroline,” I said. “Caroline, can you hear me?”

A whimper escaped her lips. Her eyes fluttered open but didn’t seem to focus on anything. New pain seemed to strike her and her face crumpled in agony. The world around us seemed to spin. I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. Every muscle in my body tensed with the need to get her out of those roses.

“We’ve got to help her,” I said to Zara. “You’re powerful. You’ve got to do something.”

She shook her head, fear plastered all over her pale face. “I can’t,” she said. “It’s too dangerous. The roses may look innocent enough, but they are not entirely of this world. They only grow in the shadow world.”

“Who gives a shit?” I shouted, angry beyond reason. I grasped a clump of grass and ripped it from the ground. “She’s dying, can’t you see that?”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “There’s nothing we can do. The spell that’s holding her is unbreakable. We need to get more help.”

“There’s no time,” I said. “There’s no telling how long she’s been here like this. We can’t just leave her.”

Caroline shouted. Her body convulsed and she curled into a fetal position.

I couldn’t take it. There had to be a way to get her out of there.

“What if I just reach in and grab her really fast?” I said. “It’ll hurt, but it won’t kill me right?”

“You can’t,” Zara said, putting her hand on my shoulder to hold me back. “These roses are a very dark kind of magic.”

Darker than the Order’s use of demons to gain power?
I wanted to shout at her. But it wouldn’t do Caroline any good for us to start shouting at each other. Besides, I needed Zara to be on my side.

“Please,” I said, begging. “You have to know of something we can do to get her out of there.”

“Harper, you have to listen to me,” she said. Her icy blue eyes met mine and held my gaze. “All we can do now is get help. My mother may know what to do. If you try to save her, you’ll only get hurt.”

I took a deep breath and tried to still the raging waters of panic crashing through me. “I’ll stay with her,” I said. “Get help as fast as you can.”

Zara thought this over, probably worried about what I might do if she left me here alone.

“I won’t do anything crazy,” I said. “You’re wasting time worrying about it.”

She nodded. “I just need to get close enough to my mother for her to feel my panic and be able to locate me. I can feel her in town, but if I can get closer, it will be easier for her to find me.”

“Go,” I said.

Zara ran into the woods. I turned my attention back to Caroline. I had to figure out a way to help her. I owed her that much.

It should have been me.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, crawling as close to Caroline as I could get before I felt a dull pain sneak across my flesh. “I didn’t mean for anything to happen to you. If I’d known someone was after me, I never would have let you walk around looking like me.”

Maybe it was the sound of my voice that made her open her eyes. She looked at me and opened her mouth, as if to tell me something. Then, pain sent her into spasms again and she was lost to me.

I screamed and beat my fist against the ground. I lifted my eyes to the sky, as if to beg help from heaven. Something dark moved in the corner of my vision. I snapped my head to the left, searching through the dense trees.

Fear gripped me. What if whoever had done this to Caroline was still here? They would have me completely vulnerable and alone. My lips trembled, and I let out a choked sob. I clapped my hand across my mouth.

Time stood still as I waited to see if some dark foe would descend on me. A shadow slipped behind a nearby tree and my breath stopped. I wanted to disappear, but fear held me prisoner. Magic was no help to me in this state. I could either face my enemy head-on or wait like a scared mouse.

“Who’s there?” I called out. My voice trembled.

The shadow darted between dark spaces. I stood, fighting the dizzy weakness that threatened to overcome me.

“Let Caroline go,” I said, sounding braver than I felt. “If it’s me you want, then let her go.”

I expected a giant crow to come flying from the woods, followed by some horrible witch more powerful than I could ever dream to be. But what emerged from the woods was not a bird at all. It was a shadow demon.

The darkness swirled and changed shapes, but I knew the instant the demon showed himself that he wasn’t here to hurt me. Or Caroline.

The demon crossed over to the row of black roses. Its eyes were onyx circles deep-set inside the smoky black. The way it looked at Caroline, I knew. This was her family’s demon. How had he found her? How was he here without the Prima? Could they be separate from one another?

I couldn’t put a voice to any of my questions. All I could do was watch as the demon sank to the ground beside Caroline’s trembling body.