Demon Heart (The Darkworld Series Book 3) (28 page)

I looked across the lake, expecting to see Leo, but no one waited for me on the other side. An ache spread through me. He wasn’t coming.

Ice wrapped around my hands, coating my fingers, the cold biting to the bone. I tried to break my connection to the Darkworld, but as I pushed it away, tendrils of darkness only moved closer, like living shadows. They latched on to my feet and climbed upwards, and coldness spread where they moved, ice-fire that writhed and hissed. Like I wore a robe made up of a thousand snakes, pure white and flexible and insubstantial as mist.

When the flames reached the base of my spine, they flared outwards, and the figure in the lake smiled at me. It rose from the water and stood there, smiling, violet eyes gleaming. The doppelganger.

“You’re back,” I said.

“Yes, Ashlyn,” said my double. “But are you?”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means you’re not entirely here.” She reached out and stroked the shadows spiralling from my fingertips, and I shuddered even though she hadn’t laid a finger on my bare skin. “You poor thing. What have they done to you?”

“Who’s ‘they’?” I said, even though I’d long-since learnt that demons didn’t manipulate my dreams to give me answers.

“Tell me, Ashlyn, when was the last time you spoke to your parents?”

I looked at her blankly. “Huh?”

“I said, when was the last time you spoke to your parents?”

Again, my mind came out blank. That feeling of wrongness descended on me again, and the shadows seemed to wrap tighter around me like thick ropes.

When
was
the last time I’d spoken to…?

“What have you done?” I whispered.

“I haven’t done a thing. It’s like you said. I can’t hurt you. It wasn’t me who lied to you.”

The shadows rose again, gripping me, and turned red-hot, searing my skin all over. The shadows became flames and spread outward. The lake sizzled, water evaporating, and in the sinking reflection, I saw the university, burning, a torrent of flames consuming everything.

The flames consumed me, too, and I woke up, choking back a scream. It took a minute for me to realise that someone was banging on my door.

“It’s today!” screamed Alex from outside.

“What?” I said, jumping out of bed. I opened the door, still breathless.

“It’s the Blackstone Spring Festival! I know you’ve been too busy lost in your lover’s eyes to keep track, but Jesus. Get dressed and get ready! We aren’t going to miss this.”

“‘Lover’?” I said, rolling my eyes. I looked at my clock. It was midday, which considering my erratic sleeping pattern, didn’t surprise me in the slightest.

“Get your ass out here ASAP!” Alex said as she closed my door.

I felt totally disorientated. The memory of the dream slipped away even as I tried to grasp it, but the sense of absolute
wrongness
remained.

I took a quick shower to clear my head. It had been a while since I’d had a dream that vivid―I didn’t even really dream about Melivia Blackstone anymore. But that was understandable given that those dreams had been planted by the fortune-teller…

Again came the crushing sense of wrongness. A headache built behind my temples.
Oh, no you don’t.
No migraine would ruin this day.

The sight of the first real sunshine of the year drove the last remnants of the dream from my mind. Alex’s excitement was infectious, and she, Sarah, and I were in high spirits as we walked down to the fields where the festival was being held, midway between the campus and the town.

Spring had definitely arrived in Blackstone. The trees were dressed in white blossom, and daffodils and daisies had sprung up in the fields, seemingly overnight. Birds sang above, and wagtails flew fearlessly right in front of us in the woods. We even saw a group of baby rabbits in the undergrowth as we emerged from the forest path, which distracted Sarah for a good ten minutes until Alex dragged her away, insisting that we were already missing the festival.

It looked like a toned-down version of the local travelling fair at home. Stalls selling candyfloss and popcorn were scattered amongst locals giving out freebies, and several small―and not particularly safe-looking―rides had been set up, including dodgems. A large crowd surrounded a man juggling fire. I grinned, imagining what Leo would say.

On cue, my phone buzzed. Leo was on his way.

We watched the fire-juggler for a while. Despite his obvious skill, he was definitely not a magic-user. His expression of concentration was too intense for that. Still, the crowd whooped and gasped as he balanced flaming torches on his head, tossed them around in a whirling dance. For a second, an image from last night’s dream flashed before my eyes: me wearing a coat of shadowy flames.

“Hey, Ash.” My heart fluttered. Leo had sneaked up behind me.

“Hi.” I hugged him, breathing in his musky scent.

“It’s the mysterious Leo,” said Alex.

“Mysterious?” said Leo. “That sounds like my stage name. I could do a better job than that guy.”

I knew it!
But of course I couldn’t say anything with Alex and Sarah there. I settled for exchanging a wink with him behind their backs.

“Cy’s walking up from town, too,” said Leo. “He said he’ll be here in a bit. My brother,” he added, for Alex and Sarah’s benefit.

“Cool,” I said.

“What about a go on the dodgems?” he said.

“No thanks,” I said. “Last time I went on dodgems, I managed to lose control of the damn thing and cause a pile-up; it was the most humiliating thing ever. Plus it looks like it could collapse at any moment.”

“Fair point,” said Leo, nodding.

“Yo,” said a voice. Howard appeared, with Berenice at his side, actually holding hands. “Anything interesting happening?”

“Aside from the guy juggling fire?” said Alex. She eyed Howard with dislike, even though I knew they’d never met before. I hadn’t been in a hurry to introduce my friends to the people they thought were in the Gaming Society.

“Nothing special,” Howard said, shrugging.

“Your creepy flatmate’s about, Leo,” Berenice remarked.

On cue, Rachel wandered past, wearing a long daisy chain in addition to her usual paint-splattered overalls. She looked totally out of it.

“She’s baked,” said Leo, as she waved at us. My heart sank as she started weaving her way towards us.
Come and join the party!
I thought.

“Hi, Ash!” she said. “I’m so sorry!”

“For what?” I said blankly, but a chill went through me. I detected a cold undercurrent to her voice and remembered how accurately she’d impersonated a demon.

“Bye, Leo,” she said.

It’s nothing,
I told myself, as she wandered off without another word, leaving us staring after her.

“Oh… kay,” said Alex. “Thought I’d seen it all, but I guess this place really does have more than its fair share of characters. Was she an art student?”

“Given the paint, I hope so,” said Sarah.

“Yeah, she is,” said Leo, frowning. “I’ll have to tell her to stop creeping people out. It’s not the first time she’s done it.”

“Could be worse,” I said, attempting to keep my voice light. “She could have impersonated Jigsaw.”

“Yeah, that was memorable,” said Leo. “Want to go get a drink, Ash?”

“Sure,” I said. Alex and Sarah were still gawping at me, and Howard and Berenice had disappeared whilst we’d been looking at Rachel. That figured.

We walked over to the drinks stand, stopping short as someone ran in front of us. David. Not bothering to apologise to people he bumped into, he pelted across the grass to where he’d parked his bike.

“What’s he up to?” said Leo.

Howard stepped right in front of David, nearly sending him flying. Even from here I heard him ask loudly, “Where the hell d’you think
you’re
going?”

I didn’t catch David’s reply, but I hoped Howard didn’t start a public fight. Leo and I made our way over through the staring crowd.

“Look,” David was saying in a low voice. “It’s urgent. I have to go.”

“We have the right to know if there’s any danger, too!” said Howard.

“People are staring,” I said.

“Yeah, let it go,” said Leo, glancing about.

“Look,” said David. “It doesn’t affect you anyway. We’ve just received word that someone’s possessed by a demon in Manchester. They’re in the town centre―a lot of people saw them. I’m warning the other
venator
students, okay?”

“Right,” said Howard, but he didn’t try to stop David as he ran off again. “All right, at least that’s not here.”

“A real demon?” I said, taking care to keep my voice down. People were still looking curiously in our direction. “Someone’s actually possessed?”

“Like he said,” said Berenice, tossing her hair. “None of our business. We’re ages away from Manchester. I have nothing to do with it.” But her tapping foot betrayed her anxiety.

“Cara lives there,” I said. “She’ll be there now…”

And there was something else. The feeling from last night’s dream came back. The sense that I’d overlooked something important.

“And
you
live there,” said Leo.

Pain shot through my head. “Something’s wrong.” A throbbing built up behind my temples, like a headache, but something more―like I struggled to remember something long-forgotten.

“Ash, don’t worry,” said Leo. “It’s a big city. You don’t live in the town centre, right?”

I shook my head. “In the suburbs.” But the words felt forced, rehearsed, like I only repeated something someone else had told me to say.

“Well, you have nothing to worry about.” And despite the others’ eyes still being on us, he kissed me. Slightly surprised, I stumbled backwards.

“Ew. Get a room,” said Berenice.

“You’re one to talk,” I said, indicating her and Howard.

“Whatever.” And the two of them walked away, abruptly drawing the conversation to a halt.

I went with Leo back to find Alex and Sarah, even though my head still throbbed and a sense of urgency prickled at me. I wondered if I should text Cara and ask if everything was okay. Was she even at home yet, anyway? I couldn’t remember if term ended earlier or later for her than it did for us.

The end of term. Why did that feel like an omen to me?

And speaking of omens…

A flock of harpies soared overhead, unnoticed by the chattering crowd, although a couple of people did look up in surprise. Most people had their attention on the fire-dancer, who now had three companions and tossed flaming torches to each of them in turn. The flock of birds disappeared in seconds, but I knew Leo had seen it too.

There must be something serious going on for that many harpies to be on the move.

It’s none of our business
, I reminded myself again.

The fire-dancers had reached the final act of their performance. Flames leapt in the air, and they weaved amongst them in an elegant dance which dazzled the eyes to watch. Even Leo looked impressed.

It took several minutes before I realised my phone buzzed in my pocket. Cara. Despite the heat from the flames, a quiver of foreboding went through me. I flicked the touch screen to unlock my phone.

“Hey, Cara,” I said, trying to sound calm. Normal.

“Ash! Have you heard?”

“Heard what?”

The image of a demon flashed in front of me.
No way. She’d be freaking out more.

“Someone set your house on fire! Your parents were out, thank God, but it’s totally burned down.”

“What―someone set my house on fire?”

“I’m sorry, Ash, I thought you’d know! I thought your parents would call you…”

A throbbing built up behind my temples again, this time almost unbearable. My vision flickered, and I clutched Leo’s arm.

“Ash! What’s wrong?”

“Someone burned down my house,” I said.

“They what? Why?”

Very good questions. But I couldn’t think past my blinding headache.

“I don’t know. My head hurts… I think I need to go home. To Cara.”

“You sure? I’ll come with you. We can get the train from Redthorne, right? Or Preston?”

“Whichever.” My voice sounded oddly distant.

“Ash?” said Cara. “You don’t need to come! Just give your parents a ring.”

“Something’s wrong,” I said. “I’ve got to come. Now.”

“Okay. Well, I guess you’re coming home soon for Easter, anyway, right? I thought you were coming home today, actually.”

Come to think of it, Alex and Sarah had been talking about going home tomorrow earlier. Why hadn’t I thought of that?

Why did my head hurt so much?

“If you’re sure, I’ll meet you in town, okay?”

“No! Not town! Wait―”

My connection cut. I looked at my phone in disbelief. “Shit.”

“You sure about this?” said Leo.

“Positive.” But I had no clue. I just felt―knew―that I had to go home as soon as possible. “Let’s go.”