Bitter Demons (3 page)

Once Drake pulled away, I ran back down the front steps and made my way around to the back of the house. I knew there was a slim chance Jackson was still in the barn an hour later, but it was worth a shot. I’d been dying to talk to him all day. Plus, I wanted to see what he knew about the confirmation ritual I’d just gone through. How close did that put me to being Prima? I knew the council couldn’t be trusted to tell me the truth.

The barn door was stuck tight. I yanked it as hard as I could and finally slipped inside. The darkness inside consumed my vision. I couldn’t so much as see the hand in front of my face. Rain water trickled down my back, and I shivered.

“Jackson?”

No response.

I lifted my palm and summoned an orb of dim light. Usually, the orb of light took a decent amount of energy, but tonight, I only had to think it and the orb appeared. It happened so fast, it hardly took any effort at all. I laughed. If this is what it felt like to be one step closer to Prima, I wondered what it would feel like to actually combine with Peachville’s demon. I shook the thought from my head. I would never allow that to happen. No matter how much fun that kind of power might be, it wasn’t worth it.

I held the orb up and looked around. Disappointed, I was just about to turn and walk out when a piece of paper caught my eye. It was stuck to the wall near the door. Jackson’s scratchy handwriting brought a smile to my face.

“Missed you,” the note read. “Meet me in the parking lot tomorrow after practice. I have a surprise for you.”

I held my hand to my heart. My whole body smiled. Jackson had a surprise for me.

Today was my first day back at school, and I woke up excited to get back into my routine. It had been almost an entire week since I’d seen most of my friends. Unfortunately, I was also way behind on my assignments. I hoped the teachers would go easy on me.

I showered and stood wet in front of the mirror. With the corner of my towel, I wiped away the steamed part of the mirror and studied my reflection. The scar on my left shoulder was pink and tender. It was healing slower than I thought it would. There would probably always be a mark where the ritual dagger sunk into my skin, but it was a small price to pay for Jackson’s life. And my own.

I leaned in close to the mirror and paused. Was my face clearer today? I could have sworn I had a pimple on my jawline yesterday, but today it was completely clear and smooth. I ran my hand across my skin and thought it felt awfully soft. I shrugged and wrapped the towel close around my body.

The closet was where I spent the next twenty minutes. I had absolutely nothing cute to wear for an afternoon with Jackson. All I had were my typical jeans and tank tops or t-shirts. I shuffled through the hangers. One black skirt with lace which I thought was super cute, but Brooke didn’t like. She’d told me it was too “emo” and didn’t “fit in” with the cheerleading squad’s idea of good fashion. I had the dress I’d worn to homecoming, which was definitely not school-appropriate.

It was too bad I couldn’t keep a glamour going for hours. I could have any wardrobe I wanted if I could create it from my mind every morning. I wouldn’t even have to spend a dime to look like a celebrity in the latest fashions.

I glanced at the magazine on my bedside table. What if I did have the energy to create my own look for an entire day?

The orb last night had been extremely easy to conjure. I bet it took only a tenth of the energy it normally took. Maybe a glamour would be the same way. Of course, running out of juice in the middle of class and reverting suddenly back to jeans and a t-shirt would be a little embarrassing, but it was almost worth the risk just to look good for Jackson after school. If I had to be home by seven, I wanted to make the most of it.

I opened the magazine and flipped through the pages. I needed to find something cute but not too expensive. Showing up in Gucci boots would be hard to explain. Sure, Lark and Brooke were from families that could afford those kinds of things. A girl with no parents and no job, however, might have a tough time explaining herself.

The perfect outfit jumped out at me as I turned to a page near the middle. My stomach fluttered. Could I really pull this off?

Skinny jeans. A black tunic top that fell slightly off the shoulder. Black boots that came up over the jeans at the bottom. And just for a touch of style – a pair of giant gold hoops. Not too expensive or flamboyant, but definitely sexy and definitely my style.

I quickly dressed in my basic jeans and a long sleeve black t-shirt with my scuffed black boots. Then, I sat down on the floor of my room and placed my hands palm up on my knees. I closed my eyes and invited the energy into my body. Immediately, I could feel the flow of power begin to course through me like a river. It was strong and pulsing. I tapped into that power, like drinking from a fountain.

In my mind’s eye, I imagined myself wearing the outfit from the magazine. I pictured my blonde hair dry and falling in soft curls down my back. For makeup, I pictured just a touch of black eyeliner and soft, glossy lips.

The change took place quickly and without any real effort. I didn’t even need to look in the mirror to know it was perfect. Of course, I looked anyway, just to admire the work and make sure nothing looked strange or out of place. I could feel that I was still tapped into some power river deep in my soul, but it ran in the background of my thoughts and didn’t take much concentration to continue.

I looked like myself, but better.

Hopefully I can keep this up all day and into the afternoon.

If I felt myself about to change back or noticed any imperfection, I could excuse myself to the bathroom and give some excuse about spilling ketchup on my outfit. But something told me I wouldn’t need any kind of excuse. Whatever power the council’s demons had given me, it was strong and constant.

The Shadowford van honked out front. With one last look in the mirror, I grabbed my backpack and headed to school.

“Wow, you look fantastic today,” Lark said as I walked toward our meeting place near the demon statue.

“Cute boots,” Allison said. “Did you go shopping last weekend?”

“There’s definitely something different,” Lark said. “New conditioner?”

“Not exactly,” I said. I raised one eyebrow. I didn’t want to come right out and say that I’d used a glamour. Not with Allison right there.

It took her a second to figure it out. “Oh,” she said, finally realizing what I meant. “Nice.”

“What?” Allison said. “I don’t get it.”

Lark made a move toward the building, ignoring Allison’s comment.

“Aren’t we going to wait for Brooke?” I asked.

Lark turned. “She told us not to wait for her in the mornings anymore,” she said.

“Since when?”

“Since after you went into the hospital.” She shifted the strap of her backpack and nodded her head toward the building. “Come on, let’s go before we miss the bell.”

I jogged to catch up with her. “Wait a second,” I said, matching her pace. “You can’t just drop a bomb like that on me and expect me to forget it. Did something happen? Did you guys get into some kind of argument?”

A guy I didn’t know whistled as he passed by us, looking me up and down. I cringed and shook my head.
That was weird.

“Not an argument, exactly,” she said. We stopped by her locker and she twisted in the combination on the lock. “She’s just different now. You know, ever since she turned eighteen. It’s like she gets initiated into the Order and suddenly she’s too good for us trainees.”

Allison finally caught up with us. She leaned against the locker, slightly out of breath. “Geez, you guys training for a marathon or something?”

Lark rolled her eyes and pulled open her locker door.

“What are you guys talking about, anyway?”

“Brooke,” Lark said.

“Oh.” Allison crinkled her nose. “I don’t get her these days. She’s really been absent, you know? I think it’s all those late-night sessions talking to her boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Man, I really had missed a lot in the week I’d been out.

“The governor’s son,” Lark said. “For years, all Brooke could talk about was how much of a major crush she had on Foster and how she wished he and Tori weren’t together. Then, the second she gets him to fall for her, she dumps him like he’s trash and goes after the governor’s son.”

“It’s like, suddenly she’s all about politics and getting into a good school where she can study foreign affairs or some crap.”

I thought about Brooke’s birthday confession to me that she’d always wanted to work with horses. Sometimes I wondered if being a member of the Order meant giving up everything you wanted out of life. Did Brooke really have a choice about her own future? Or had they decided it for her?

Lark slammed her locker door shut. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “We’ve still got each other, right?”

I smiled at her and nodded. “Of course,” I said. “I don’t plan on changing anytime soon.”

A group of guys I recognized from the basketball team walked by and a few of them said good morning to me. I raised my hand in a slight wave, confused. I’d been in school at Peachville High for months now and those guys had never once said hello to me. Heck, I didn’t even know they knew my name.

“Maybe you’ve already changed,” Lark said.

Her comment stuck with me for the rest of the day. Maybe she was right. I mean, sure, I was wearing different clothes today because of the glamour, but new clothes shouldn’t be making this much difference. Even my teachers were paying more attention to me. A few of them even let me slide on the assignments I’d missed the week before.

In all of my morning classes, I caught several people turning in their seats to look at me. I was kind of a sit-in-the-back kind of girl and most of the time people ignored me. Being part of the Demons cheerleading squad earned me a little bit of popularity, but in class, I tended to blend in. These people had all grown up together and had been in the same class since Kindergarten. I couldn’t compete with that. The novelty of being the new girl wore off weeks ago, and I just became another body to fill the seats.

But today was different.

I felt like a magnet that was attracting all sorts of attention. Teachers called on me for my answers in every class and complimented me for my “astute observations” or my “unique take” on the subject. In the hallway, heads turned as I walked past. It was definitely weird. I even made three extra trips to the bathroom to make sure I didn’t have something weird smothered all over my face or something stuck in my teeth.

Before lunch, I ducked into the girl’s bathroom one more time, just to check. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The glamour was in place. No flaws that I could see, anyway. My hair was more bouncy and full than normal, and of course, the clothes were nicer, but none of that accounted for the drastic change in everyone’s behavior toward me.

It was my eyes that were most different. Normally, they were just a plain chestnut brown. Nothing special. But today, there was something about them. They seemed to sparkle. I leaned closer to the mirror to get a better look.

The brown was infused with golden flecks and my eyes seemed lighter than usual. I couldn’t quite put it into words. It was as if someone had filled me up with some kind of sparkling energy.

And power from their demons.

I shivered. As fun as it was to suddenly be popular, I knew it came at a price. One step closer to being Prima meant one step closer to losing myself. Hadn’t they already changed me enough? Where would I start to draw the line?

And when would it be too late to turn back?

“Today, we’re going to be changing into our gym clothes and sneakers,” Mrs. King announced as soon as we walked into after-school cheerleading practice.

Everyone groaned. Usually, we spent our time working on our magic. It was just as easy to create an orb of light in jeans as it was in shorts and a sports bra.

“Why?” Lark asked, voicing the one question on all our minds.

“We’re going to practice,” Mrs. King said with a smile.

“Cheers?” Allison said, pushing her eyebrows together.

“Yes, cheers,” Brooke said, stepping up beside Mrs. King. “And a new dance routine. We have the most important game of the year coming up against Cypress. Another special town, just like Peachville. We want to look our best.”

“Plus, we have our regional cheerleading competition coming up in just a few weeks,” Mrs. King added. “We’ve come in second place every year for the past three years. I think this year could be our chance to finally win regionals and move on to state.”

“Who keeps beating us?” I whispered to Lark.

“Cypress,” she said. “They’re the closest demon gate to Peachville and have kind of been our rival team for a long time. Their squad is amazing.”

“Do we really have a shot at beating them this year?”

She shrugged and headed into the locker room.

Changing into gym clothes presented a unique problem for me. I had no idea if my clothes would change back to their old, holey selves as soon as I took them off or not. The amount of concentration I’d expended on keeping up my appearance all day was minimal, but I needed a little extra juice in order to make sure the glamour stayed put even when I took the clothes off.

I stood in front of my locker and took a deep, calming breath. I blocked the sound of the girls chattering around me and the sound of their shoes squeaking on the floor. I pulled into myself and tapped into that deep well that ran below the surface of my consciousness. When I felt that I was connected to my own power, I quickly pulled off my clothes and stuffed them into my gym bag. Thankfully, they didn’t change back while they were still in view. It would be a miracle if they stayed the same all the way through practice, though, so I figured I might have to find a quiet place to re-do my entire glamour before I met with Jackson.

Jackson. Just thinking about him made my stomach flutter. I hadn’t seen him around all day even though I looked for him in the halls. I knew he was at school, because I’d seen his bike in the parking lot. I hoped practice wouldn’t run late today. With my new seven o’clock curfew, I wouldn’t have much time at all.

“Earth to Harper.” Brooke snapped her fingers, and I looked up. She tossed my sneakers at me hard. “There’s no time for daydreams. Everyone’s waiting.”

I looked around. She was right. I guess I’d missed everyone heading back into the gym. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

I carried my sneakers with me into the gym and sat down on the bleachers while Mrs. King explained what we were going to do. As soon as I put them on, I realized I had a much bigger part to play in the next routine than anything we’d ever done in the past. I bit my lip. Was I really ready for this?

The way the sneakers worked, it put the memory of the routines into both our minds and our bodies, as if we’d been practicing them for weeks. Unfortunately, wearing the sneakers did not rule out the possibility of messing up. The same way a cheerleader could practice a routine for months, then choke when it came time to perform, a girl wearing the magic sneakers could mess up too. I didn’t like the thought of messing up when I was going to be soaring through the air.

I raised my hand. “Um, Mrs. King?”

“Yes, Harper?”

“I think I might have been given the wrong shoes,” I said. “I thought Brooke was normally at the top of the final pyramid.”

Brooke’s head snapped toward me. I saw the tightness in her jaw, the anger in her eyes. I’d never seen that kind of look from her before.

“No,” Mrs. King said. “You’ve got the right shoes. I decided to give you a more prominent role in the new routine. I think you’re perfect for the top of the pyramid.”

What? Where did this come from? I hadn’t asked for a more prominent role. I didn’t want it. It seemed like everywhere I turned today, someone was pushing me into the spotlight.

I opened my mouth to protest, but Lark put her hand on my arm and shook her head. “Just do it,” she said. “You might as well try it once and see how it goes. Besides, Mom told me about last night. Well, not everything, but she told me you know you’re the Prima Futura and we can stop keeping it a secret. People need to start seeing you as a leader.”

I swallowed nervously. I’d never thought of it that way. Was that what their ritual was all about? To make me more popular and beautiful so that the town would start to see me as their golden child? Somehow, it didn’t feel right. I hadn’t earned any of it.

But to turn down the new position on the team might throw up some red flags. Maybe the Order would begin to question my loyalty. I couldn’t afford for that to happen, so I just smiled and pretended to be excited about the new routine.

Our first run-through went surprisingly well. I was nervous to be up so high in the air, but once I got up there, my body knew exactly what to do.

“Try to look more confident, Harper,” Mrs. King yelled up to me. “You’re going to be fine!”

I steadied myself at the top of the pyramid and lifted my hands into the air with a smile. On cue, the girls below threw me into the air. I tucked and landed safely in their arms, then flipped up onto my feet. The routine was exhilarating. My heart rate soared and I was actually having fun. Just when I started getting into it, though, Brooke bumped into my shoulder.

I cried out and bent over in pain. She’d hit me exactly where the dagger had gone into my skin that night at the old hospital. Mrs. King stopped the music and rushed over.

“What happened?”

I looked up at Brooke’s face. She’d plastered on a look of confusion and sympathy.

“I don’t know,” she said in a voice so sweet it almost didn’t sound like her at all. “Harper went the wrong way on the turn. She bumped right into me.”

I glared at her. What was her problem? If she really cared that much about being on top of the pyramid, she could have it. Damn.

“Maybe I’m not cut out for the lead position,” I said.

“Nonsense,” Mrs. King said, helping me off the court and onto the bleachers. “You looked perfect up there. Maybe there’s something wrong with the memory spell. Let’s run it again without Harper and see how it goes.” She turned to me. “You just take a rest and then you can jump back in on the next run-through.”

There were no more problems with the routine for the rest of the afternoon. After my shoulder stopped throbbing, I ran through the routine with the team three more times without bumping into anyone. I knew it was Brooke that went the wrong way that first time, and it wasn’t a problem with the spell. She’d done it on purpose just to hurt me.

She really had changed.