Rival Demons (2 page)

I had to find a way to keep the witch from
coming through. My aching muscles protested as I lifted my arms to
cast. I wasn't sure it would work, but I thought of the shield Zara
had taught me to use. What if that shield could work like a
barrier? It might give us the extra time we needed to put a more
permanent seal on the portal.

I summoned every drop of energy I could find and
concentrated on creating the shield. I knew I wouldn't be able to
hold it long, but I hoped it would give them enough time to destroy
the circle of roses.

Just as my shield went up, I heard a loud roar
behind us.

I couldn't hold my concentration and the shield
dropped. I cursed and bit back tears.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the second
tiger twin pounce toward Jackson. This twin's coat was similar to
her sister's but was colored with orange and white instead of
black.

"I've got this one," Jackson said, fury and
hatred in his eyes. "You help Lea."

I turned back to the portal just as the tiger
dove forward. It took a lot of willpower not to look back to see
what was happening. I had to just trust that Jackson knew what he
was doing. For now, it seemed to just be these two twins who had
broken through to the demon world. If Lea couldn't seal this
portal, we would all die. We couldn't fight off an entire coven of
witches, especially if Priestess Winter was one of them.

I had to find a way to connect to my true power.
I lowered my weary body to the ground and sat criss-cross against
the cold obsidian rock. I steadied my breathing and let all of the
noise around me fade away. In my mind, I pictured one of my
mother's cherished white roses. Finally connecting to the energy
inside of me, I tried again to create a barrier against the witch's
attacks.

And this time, it worked.

Spells blasted into my
shield, leaving the taste of dark magic on my tongue.

On the Peachville side,
the witches worked to bring down the barrier I had created. My
strength wavered, but I forced myself to hold on. Just a few more
seconds. My body screamed as my energy slipped away. I wanted to
sob. I wanted to give up.

I wanted to lay down and
sleep for a hundred years.

But more than any of that,
I wanted to survive.

I exhaled, feeling the
last of my power slide through my fingertips. When I thought I
couldn't give more, the portal shifted, sealing with a sucking
noise. A deafening silence settled on us as the wind stopped.

Beside me, Lea leaned
over, trying to catch her breath. Black petals and stems were
strewn across the ground in every direction. She had finally
managed to close the portal, and for the first time since I'd met
her, I actually wanted to hug her.

But we weren't out of
danger yet. The twins were still on the shadow world side. I turned
to find Jackson and Mary Anne as the fog cleared.

Jackson had the white
tiger pinned to the ground and she quickly shifted back to her
human form.

Her dark green eyes
practically glowed as she snarled up at me. "You'll never be able
to hide from us," she said. "The Order won't stop until you're
dead. All you're going to do is get your friends killed right along
with you."

"That's a chance we're
willing to take," Jackson said, wrapping a smoky black ribbon
around the girl's mouth.

"Let her go," someone
shouted. A flash of movement off to our right caught my eye as the
other twin shifted into her orange tiger form, lunging toward
Jackson with such speed I didn't have time to do anything but
watch.

Her claws scraped
Jackson's arm, streaks of blood staining his t-shirt. He cried out
and let go of his hold on the first twin as she shifted into her
white-tiger form. Both tigers now moved with incredible speed,
circling me in an instant.

I tried to run, but they
kept me trapped between them.

Lea laughed, and I jerked
my head toward her. Seriously? With Jackson injured, me trapped,
and Mary Anne nowhere to be found? How could she be laughing at a
time like this?

Apparently, the twins were
wondering the same thing. The orange tiger stopped circling and
turned to stare at Lea. "You think it's funny that your precious
Prima is going to die?"

"No, actually, I was just
wondering what you think you plan to do with her now that you've
got her surrounded," Lea said, smiling and raising an eyebrow. "In
case you didn't notice, I sealed the portal. Trust me, there's no
way anyone's going in or out of that thing for a while. How exactly
are you planning to get Harper back to Peachville?"

The white twin growled low
and bared her pointed teeth at me.

"We'll kill her here and
now," the orange twin said.

"You won't kill her," Lea
said. "If the Order simply wanted her dead, they would have killed
her a long time ago. No, the Order has gone to a lot of trouble to
keep her alive so they could transfer her essence to a new Prima.
Don't ask me why. For some reason, her essence is special to them.
You need her alive so they can complete their ritual."

The white twin shifted
into human form and grabbed my arm so hard, I knew it would leave a
bruise. I tried to pull away, but the events of the past few weeks
had finally caught up with me. I had no strength left. Only
anger.

"You underestimate the
power of the witches on the other side of that portal," the twin
said. "They will break through soon, and when they do, all of you
will die. Including Harper. Only her death will happen in the
ritual room while yours will happen instantly."

"The Order doesn't have
the upper hand in this world," Jackson said. I'd never seen such
rage in his eyes before. Blood dripped from his shoulder, but he
barely seemed to even notice. "Nothing they can do will open that
portal for at least another few hours. Do you really think you'll
still be alive by then?"

As they argued, I scanned
the area, searching for Mary Anne. She had to be here somewhere.
Maybe she had gotten scared and run off to hide? But where? Around
us, the black rock seemed to stretch on for miles. Far in the
distance, I could see some type of forest, but there was no way she
would have been able to see that in the fog.

No, she had to be
close.

Then, I caught sight of a
small form collapsed against the rocks about fifty feet away. My
stomach twisted. Oh God. It was her. And she wasn't moving.

Tears burned my eyes. They
spilled down my face and soaked into the fabric of my dirty white
ritual dress.

"See?" the orange twin
said, amused by my tears. "Even Harper knows there is no hope now.
Open the portal and maybe we can convince the Order to let you
live."

"What did you do to her?"
I asked, my voice a whisper. I had meant to put more sound behind
it, but I was breathless and scared. I tried again. "What did you
do to Mary Anne?"

At first, the twins both
stared at me, as if they had no idea what I was talking about.
Then, the white twin followed my gaze over to where Mary Anne lay
motionless against the rocks. She stifled a laugh.

"Oh, her?" she said. "The
little bird tried to peck my eyes out. I had to put her in her
place."

Rage boiled up within me,
searing my skin. Mary Anne had risked everything to save me. More
than once. She didn't deserve this, and it was all my fault. She'd
come here to keep me safe. How could I have let this happen?

Deep inside, a dark power
burned through me like liquid fire. I acted on instinct, knowing
only anger. They needed to pay for what they had done.

I burned like a fever, my
flesh becoming like hot coals. The white twin let go of me and
stepped back, staring at her blistering hand in horror and
confusion. Slowly, I lifted both of my hands upward. The ground
beneath us rumbled and all around, pieces of black rock rose into
the air. The force of my hatred consumed me. It seemed to rip me
apart, splintering me into a million little pieces. I wasn't
myself. I was something dark and furious. Anger rolled through me,
consuming me. In my mind, all I could see was Mary Anne's unmoving
body. All I wanted was revenge.

I focused all of my anger
on the white twin. Without even thinking, I summoned the crushing
weight of all those rocks on her.

The rocks flew through the
air at lightning speeds. Before anyone could react, the white twin
was crushed and buried between a mound of rock six feet high.

The sister threw herself
onto the pile, screaming and clawing at the rocks. When I realized
what I had done, I lowered my hands and fell to my knees. I had
killed someone.

The strength drained from
my body, leaving only an empty shell.

I struggled to stay
upright, but suddenly, I was falling down, down into a sea of
never-ending blackness.

The last thing I heard
before I slipped out of consciousness was the sound of Jackson
calling my name.

A fire roared nearby, sending shadows dancing
across my eyelids.

My eyes fluttered open, protested against the
light, then closed again. I moaned, my body aching against the hard
rock.

A warm hand touched my cheek.

Jackson
.

I didn't even have to open my eyes to know it
was him. His hands were slightly rough and smelled of evergreens
and firewood. I smiled, my dry lips cracking painfully.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked. My
throat was sore.

"Almost two days," he said.

That woke me up. My eyes flew open in surprise,
and I struggled to sit up.

"Whoa, take it easy," Jackson said, his arm
slipping around my back. "You've been through so much in the past
couple weeks."

Every muscle in my body protested as I came to a
sitting position. Ouch. I guess lying on a cold stone floor for two
days straight hadn't helped the situation. To be honest, it wasn't
much better than the torture room they'd held me in at Shadowford.
At least here my hands weren't shackled. I rubbed my wrists
absently. They were still sore and bruised from the chains the
Order had kept me in.

Then, I remembered.

The twins. Mary Anne.

I teetered backward, my stomach turning.
Jackson's strong arm held me up.

"Thanks," I said, tears stinging the corners of
my eyes. I looked around the dimly lit cave. "Is Mary Anne..."

Jackson motioned toward the back corner of the
cave, and relief filled me as Mary Anne came into view. She was
lying down, but there was no mistaking the rise and fall of her
chest with each breath.

"She's going to be okay," Jackson said. "She has
a pretty mean scratch across her face and a bite on her side, but
she's going to be okay. A few scrapes and bruises, but she'll heal.
Like you."

Would I heal? I stared down at my tattered and
bloodied dress. Yes, the wounds on the outside would heal, but I
had killed someone out of hatred and anger. That was going to take
some time to deal with.

"The twins?" I asked, my voice cracking.

Jackson reached into a black backpack and pulled
out a large bottle of water. "Here," he said. "Drink this."

I stared down at the backpack. Had he brought
that with him through the portal? I hadn't noticed it before.

The water was lukewarm, but beautiful. It slid
down my sore throat like rain on a barren field, healing all the
cracked parts. By the time I finally came up for air, there was
only a small sip of water left in the bottle.

"Thanks," I said.

"Do you want some food?" he asked, avoiding my
eyes. He rummaged through the backpack instead.

My stomach growled at the thought. I was empty.
A shell.

But I wanted to know the truth about what
happened. About all of it.

"Just tell me," I said. "Did I kill her?"

Jackson paused, his head hung low. The fire
crackled. "You can't blame yourself for what happened," he said.
"She was going to take you back to the Order. You had no
choice."

I shook my head, the tears coming now. "That
isn't true. You guys weren't going to let her take me back," I
said. "I don't know what got into me. When I saw Mary Anne there on
the ground, I just snapped. I never meant to kill her, I swear I
didn't."

Jackson wiped away a tear as it slid down my
cheek. "I know you didn't," he said. "She wasn't a good person,
Harper. She was evil, just like the rest of them. And if she'd had
the chance, she would have killed us all."

I knew what he was saying was true, but it
didn't make me feel any better. The power I'd used to move those
rocks had come from a deep dark place, and I never wanted to go
there again. I'd completely lost control.

"What about the other one?"

Jackson sighed. "When you collapsed, all I cared
about was getting you to safety," he said. "The other twin was out
of her mind, screaming and pulling on the heavy rocks. I knew once
she saw her sister's dead body, she would come after you. And I had
a feeling she wouldn't care about the Order's rules."

"So you just left her there?" I asked.

He nodded. "I don't even think she noticed we'd
gone," he said. "I scooped you up and Lea grabbed Mary Anne, then
we came here."

I studied our surroundings again. We were in
some kind of cave. Behind Jackson, there was a small opening, and I
could see Lea sitting at the entrance keeping guard. A warm fire
blazed in the center of the room. The walls were made of the same
black rock we'd seen on the ground near the portal, so I guessed we
were still somewhat close to where we started.

"Where are we?"

"We're on the coast, a couple of miles from
where the portal to Peachville opens," he said. "We couldn't risk
taking you too far with both of you injured. Lea and I know this
place from when we were kids. We'll be safe here for a little
while."