Demons of the Sun (13 page)

One woman gasped, then covered her son’s eyes, and shook her head at Persephone as she passed.

Looking down, Persephone saw she had on a black corset with tiny crystals that caught the sunlight, and a billowing black skirt.

What am I wearing? And where am I?

Screaming and yelling came from up ahead. She started toward the noise, pausing when she saw a sword leaning against an open doorway.

Something tells me I’m going to need that.

Persephone stepped into the dark room—no one else was around—grabbed the sword, and exited the old house.

The sun beat down on her, baking her bare shoulders. Thick clouds of dust filled the air. More and more people came running toward her, some badly injured, all wearing terrified expressions.

Still, Persephone felt impelled to keep going. Her heart rate increased with every step she took closer to the action, until it was hammering against her ribs in a painful too-fast rhythm.

Bodies of slain men and women covered the ground. In the middle of the open, grassy area stood a demon army. No projections, fully armed, killing people left and right.

The few people who weren’t running away were trying to fight them off, but they were severely outnumbered.

Persephone glanced up at the sun, shining brightly in the sky, then back at the demons. Their grayish skin was peeling and sagging, but obviously the sun didn’t burn them.

A hooded figure emerged. She couldn’t make out his face, but no glowing red eyes came from under his hood, and he wasn’t built like a demon. There was something about him, though, that chilled her to her core.

As he stepped out of the shade of the trees, the sun glinted off the blade in his hand—Hades Dagger. A massive, three-headed black dog stood by his side. Cerberus. The man must be Hades himself.

“Bring me a Warrior!” Hades bellowed.

Just behind him, a demon lurked in the shadows, red eyes glowing.

One of the beasts brought a struggling man over to Hades. Even facing Hades, the Warrior clenched his jaw and held his head high.

Hades lifted the dagger and plunged it into the man’s chest.

A strong wind swirled Persephone’s hair around her face as she watched in horror, unable to move, to breathe.

The Warrior crumpled to the ground.

Crimson ran in streams down the dagger—both inside and out. Hades muttered an incantation the breeze carried away before she could make it out. He turned and plunged the dagger into the chest of the demon behind him.

The demon let out an awful scream that raised the hair on the back of Persephone’s neck and sent crippling fear through her entire body.

Then his eyes opened. He stumbled into the light and slowly tipped his head to the sun.

Hades turned, and the sun threw enough light on his face to make out his chin and the caustic smile stretched across his lips. “Soon, there will be only our kind left. Then we will have Earth and Hell.”

Swallowing the suffocating despair she felt, Persephone gathered all her courage, lifted her sword, and stepped toward Hades. “I’m going to need that dagger back.”

In a blur, he was gone.

Then he was standing right beside her, his lips near her ear. “Face it, you’re one of us. You should be fighting on our side.”

Persephone whipped around, swinging the sword toward him. “I’m not one of you. I fight with the gods.”

Hades gestured at the two demons standing where he’d been moments ago, beckoning them over. “You’ll change your mind.”

With that, he left her side, moving so fast her eyes couldn’t track him. The two demons came at her, taking large, quick strides.

Backpedaling, Persephone lifted her sword.

But now all of the demons were walking toward her, encircling her on all sides. Her knees felt weak, her hands started to shake.

The demons moved closer and her mind spun, trying to work out a way to get out of this alive. But there wasn’t one.

Teeth bared, swords out, the demons charged.

A hand reached out and took hers.

And then she was being yanked away.

Persephone jerked her head off her desk and gasped. Heart racing, she looked around, trying to get her bearings. Mr. Ramsey meant World History. She glanced to her right and found Jax staring right back at her.

Her gaze dropped down to her hand. The hand Jax was still holding—he’d obviously pulled her out of the dream. Never before had she been sucked in like that, not during the day.

Jax squeezed her hand and mouthed, “You okay?”

It took all her self-control not to cry.

Jax quickened his step to catch up to Persephone, which wasn’t easy, considering how fast she’d bolted out of the classroom. “What was that back there?”

She waved it off, like it was no big deal. “I fell asleep, that’s all.”

“Liar. You turned pale, and your breath got all shallow. I could tell something was wrong, that’s why I grabbed your hand.”

She stopped walking and he almost barreled into her. “It was just a nightmare, okay?”

“Not okay,” he said. “Was it like the one that woke you up screaming the other night?”

“I have bad dreams sometimes, the same as everyone else, but I’m fine now, so just let it go.” She turned away, and he reached out and caught her arm.

She whipped around, that annoyed expression she wore so often the first few days they’d spent together back on her face. “You want to spar right here in the hall?”

“If that’s what it takes to get you to realize how serious this is. Persephone, this isn’t something you wave off. You’ve got a responsibility, not only to protect the dagger, but also to take care of yourself.”

“You don’t think I take my job seriously?! It’s haunted me every day, long before you showed up. I’ve lived it, breathed it, had the importance of it engrained in me since I could talk.” Her fiery eyes met his, and he could see a hint of pain in them, too. “I left my family to die so I could protect it, so don’t ever,
ever
say anything so stupid to me again.”

She yanked her arm out of his grasp and stormed away from him.

Well, shit.

He stood there, wondering how his good intentions had blown up in his face.

Jax approached Persephone as she shoved her books in the locker. Anytime he’d looked at her since the confrontation in the hall, she’d looked away. Which had made the day even longer and more tortuous than usual.

“It came out wrong,” he said. “What I was trying to say is that if something’s happening—and from what I saw the other night and today it looked like more than nightmares—it might mean something. My instincts lead me to demons. They led me to talk to the Druid. If your instincts are telling you something…”

Her movements slowed, but she didn’t look at him.

He risked putting his hand on her shoulder. “Last night I told you I wouldn’t let you fall, and I meant it. But how am I supposed to do that if I don’t know what’s going on?”

“I’m afraid you’ll think I’m crazy.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I’m starting to question my sanity myself. And honestly, I’d rather believe it was only a bad dream, because if it was more…” She paled, and he could tell whatever she’d seen had scared her.

And since she hadn’t looked the least bit scared the night she’d been injured fighting the demon, that scared him.

She slowly turned to face him. “I was sucked back to the days of the Black Death, back when Hades
had managed to tip the power scale in his favor. The demons were out walking in the sun, slaying everyone in their path.
 It was awful. The world was so dark, and so many people died, and Hades was there, and they said…” Her voice cracked, and she shook her head.

“They said what?”

She looked away, suddenly interested in the drinking fountain on the other side of the hall. “It doesn’t matter, because I’m not letting it come true.”

“But if you tell me more, maybe I can help you figure out why you keep having the nightmares. If it’s bad enough, we might need to contact the Order.”

She twisted to face him, eyes wide. “You said I could trust you!”

“Of course you can. I’m trying to help, I just don’t know how.”

“Well for one, you cannot, under any circumstance contact the Order. The only reason I’ve made it this long is because no one knows where I am, or even who I am.” She gripped his shirt. “Promise me you won’t contact them.”

“If you don’t want me to, I won’t.”

She released his shirt and he noticed her hands were shaking. “Sorry, it’s just…” She took a deep breath. “Soccer. I’ll feel better after soccer. Then we’ll do some more training.”

She started down the hall, then slowed and glanced back at him. “Come on already.”

His instincts were still screaming at him that something wasn’t right. They’d never been wrong, and there was definitely a reason they were so deafening now. A scary, needs-solved-with-a-sword reason.

***

Dean patted Persephone’s shoulder. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Everyone has off days.”

“That was more than an off day,” Rob said, pouting over their loss. “It was pathetic.”

Persephone glared at him. “Tomorrow I’ll show you just how pathetic I am.”

Rob’s eyes bulged, and without another word, he walked away.

All she’d wanted was to play a game of soccer and turn this crappy day into a normal one. But it wasn’t a normal day. Everything was off, and her dream kept popping into her mind. She’d be in the middle of a play and think she saw red eyes in the distance. Once, when she’d been about to score, she heard Hades’s voice in her head, whispering,
Y
ou’re one of us.
 

Even though she’d been born centuries after the rise and fall of the Demons of the Sun, the images from that period—even the smell of the dirt and rotting demon flesh and blood—were burned into her mind, more like memories than a dream.

“Anything I can do?” Dean asked, bringing her back to the present. “I know I’m not Danielle, and I’m not even going to pretend to get girls, but I’m here if you need me.”

The tiniest bit of sun broke through her cloudy mood. “Just don’t pick me last tomorrow when we play. That’d really depress me.”

“No problem.” He clapped her on the shoulder. “Even on your worst day, you’re still better than most. And you’ll always be better than Rob.”

Words could not express how much she appreciated that. Not every guy would be so cool with a teammate who reached the goal and then froze in place and let the other team not only get the ball, but didn’t even try to go guard them. “I’ve told you you’re the best, right?”

Goofy grin on his face, he nodded. “Once or twice.”