Rival Demons (3 page)

I put my hand on his knee and his eyes flickered
toward the entrance. Toward Lea. Awkwardly, he shifted away. "I'm
really glad to see you awake."

"Awake and very hungry," I said with a nervous
laugh. I had a feeling I still didn't understand everything that
was happening here. Why had he moved away from me?

Jackson reached into his backpack and handed me
some crackers. "Take it slow," he said. "You haven't eaten in a
while and if you eat too fast, it's just going to make you
sick."

I looked at the bag of crackers in my hand.
Then, I lifted my head and studied the rest of the cave. Several
blankets were laid out like sleeping bags. Lea's duffel bag full of
swords lay toward the back of the space. The food, the water, the
supplies. How long had they been preparing for this trip to the
shadow world?

I took a bite and chewed slowly, questions
swirling in my brain.

"What exactly happened back there? In
Peachville?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

I shook my head, trying to find the right words.
"I mean, one second I thought I was going to die and the next you
were there, pulling me through the portal. Was that planned? Or
just some rash decision?"

"After the Order took you away, we searched for
you," he said. "We thought they might take you to the headquarters
for the Order, but we couldn't find you anywhere. No one had heard
or seen anything. Then one day at school, Mrs. King pulled Mary
Anne to the side and warned her that the Order had locked you away
on the third floor of Shadowford. They had the room heavily guarded
at all times. We tried to find a way inside, but they placed a
strong seal against the door inside Shadowford and there was no way
in. Luckily, Mary Anne overheard Mrs. Shadowford talking to the
priestess about their plan to take you to the ritual room and
transfer the line."

I nodded, listening. I tried not to let him see
that my hands were shaking.

"That's when we knew the ritual was our best
chance," he said. "We knew that if we rescued you and tried to run,
the Order would find us eventually. You weren't safe in the human
world. Here, though, we would have the upper hand. We knew we could
find a way to keep you safe here."

"So what's our plan?" I asked. "Now that we're
here? Do you think they'll send anyone else through after us?"

Jackson took out a bag of chocolate and popped a
few pieces into his mouth. "We're pretty well hidden where we are
right now. I don't know if they've broken through the portal just
yet, but you can bet they'll have someone looking for us. If not
one of the witches from their side, someone on this side for
sure."

I frowned. "This side?"

"Yeah, they have lots of servants on this side,
both demon and witch," he said. "If I had to guess, I would think
they'll be sending hunters after us."

"What are hunters?"

"Witches who have been here for over a hundred
years," he said. "They're the ones who decide which demons are
taken to be slaves in your world."

"So they're humans?" I asked, confused. "How do
they live so long?"

"They were human at some point," Jackson said.
"But I wouldn't really call them that anymore. They've performed
dark magic for so long, they've been corrupted by it. Plus, time is
different here in the shadow world. Humans who are bound to demon
energies will live a lot longer here. And the hunters, sometimes
they're bonded to more than one demon."

I shuddered. More than one demon? That had to
make them both extremely powerful and extremely evil. I didn't like
the sound of someone like that hunting me in a strange world.

"How long do you think we'll stay here?" I
asked.

Jackson looked toward the mouth of the cave, his
gaze lingering on Lea. "Another day or two, max," he said.

I leaned back against the wall of the cave and
ate a few more crackers. We would probably have to stay out of
Peachville for a long time. At least until we could figure out a
way to either defeat the Order or free Aerden. But at least we'd be
back in the human world soon.

"Then what?" I asked, hoping he'd already come
up with some kind of brilliant plan for getting back without the
Order finding us.

"Then we're heading to a place called the
Underground," he said. "We'll be safe there as long as we can
convince them to let us in."

"Why wouldn't they?"

Jackson shifted uncomfortably. "The demons in
the Underground aren't exactly fans of most humans considering most
of the humans they've ever known were members of the Order," he
said. He looked at Lea again. "I'm sure we'll be able to get in
though. Lea has some pretty serious connections in this world."

I paused. "Wait, so this place isn't back home?"
I asked. "It's here in the shadow world?"

Jackson's shoulders slumped and he bit his lip.
"Harper," he said, pausing as if to find the right words. "You
can't go back home. I thought you understood that."

I stopped mid-chew. What was he talking about? I
studied his face, trying to make sense of it. Then, my hands began
to tremble. "For how long?"

It took him a long time to answer, and when he
did, it cut me straight to the core.

"For forever."

Had I heard him right? There was no way he
expected me to live in the shadow world for the rest of my life.
That was ridiculous. I must have misunderstood.

"What do you mean forever?"

"I mean you can never go back there, Harper," he
said. "The Order of Shadows is too powerful. They'll find you no
matter how far we run."

"So we find a way to fight." I pulled my knees
up close to my chest. Despite the fire, I was shivering. "And what
about Aerden? Do you just plan to leave him over there all alone?
Eventually I will die, you know. Even here. Then what?"

Jackson closed his eyes, his jaw clenched as if
trying to keep himself from saying something.

"I won't just sit back and let them win,
Jackson."

His left hand balled into a tight fist. "You're
not listening to me," he said. "They'll kill you. Or did you forget
everything that happened a few days ago? If we hadn't shown up and
brought you here, they would have killed you."

"But you did show up," I said. "Alone, I might
not have a chance, but if we all stick together-"

"We barely made it out of there alive," Jackson
said. "We didn't even have the power to fight them all. They're too
strong. All I did was freeze them just long enough for us to pull
you through the portal. If we had stayed to fight, we'd all be dead
right now."

"Maybe so," I said, practically shouting at him.
"But it was four of us against a few dozen of them."

Toward the back of the cave, Mary Anne shifted
and moaned. I took a deep breath and lowered my voice.

"What if we built an army?" I asked. "If we find
enough witches and demons to fight with us, we could win with sheer
numbers."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" he asked.
"Every time we get a coven of witches on our side in the human
world, the Order kills them all without hesitation. And here in the
demon world? There's a handful of rebels, but most demons are under
the rule of the King of the North who would rather ignore the
Order's entire existence while our citizens are stolen out from
under us."

"Maybe we could talk to the king. Reason with
him. Tell him what we've seen the Order doing to the demons. Maybe
he just doesn't understand."

"The king isn't going to listen to a human," Lea
said, taking me by surprise.

I hadn't heard her move from her spot at the
mouth of the cave. She stood next to the fire and nudged a log with
the tip of her boot, sending sparks up into the air.

"Then maybe he'll listen to you and Jackson," I
said.

"We are the last demons he would listen to," she
said. "Besides, he isn't going to change his mind about the Order.
He's a coward when it comes to fighting them."

"How can you be so sure?" I said, lifting my
chin defiantly.

Lea laughed and shook her head.

"Because he's my father."

"You're a princess?"

"You say that like it's so hard to believe," Lea
said with a sly smile.

In her leather pants and tight corset top, she
didn't look like any princess I had ever imagined. Plus, she didn't
exactly seem refined and regal. She was definitely more biker chick
than royalty. Of course, I had no idea what royalty even meant in
the shadow world. Maybe their princesses were supposed to be tough
and snarky and difficult in every way.

"Close your mouth," she said. "You look like an
idiot."

I hadn't even realized I had my mouth open. I
shut it quickly, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I'm just surprised I
guess."

"Don't be," she said. "My father didn't think I
was good princess material either. I was a constant disappointment
to him and my mother both."

"Is that why you left?" I glanced from her to
Jackson. I had a feeling I knew why she left, but I wanted to hear
her say it.

She shrugged and sat down. "Partly, I guess."
She looked down at her boots. "And partly because Jackson had gone.
Aerden was my friend too, you know. We all grew up together. And my
father? Well, he refused to help after Aerden went missing. He was
too scared of what the Order might do to his kingdom if he invaded
their territory."

I bit my lip. She'd gone because of Jackson, not
his brother. I felt pretty certain of that. "So your father is the
king of the entire shadow world?"

"No," she said. "The world is divided into two
kingdoms. The north and the south. My father is the King of the
North."

"And what about the King of the South?" I asked.
"Would he be willing to help us?"

Jackson and Lea exchanged silent looks.

"What?" I hated it when they did that. It always
made me feel like they were keeping things from me. Or maybe what
really bothered me is that they were obviously sharing in something
I couldn't be a part of.

"Forget about the entire Southern Kingdom,"
Jackson said. "They won't help us."

His answer wasn't good enough for me. I knew he
wasn't telling me the whole truth. "Why not?" I pushed.

"Because the two kingdoms are rivals," Lea said.
"Enemies of the worst kind. If anyone so much as crosses the border
between lands, the king has them thrown into his dungeons to rot.
Wars have been fought in the lands between the kingdoms, leaving
nothing but ghosts and monsters. Even if we wanted to, we'd never
make it there alive."

I swallowed nervously. The way Lea's voice
cracked a bit when she said ghosts terrified me. If it was
something she was this obviously afraid of, it was something I
wanted no part of.

"Does the Order take demons from their side of
the shadow world too, then? Or is it just the north?"

Another look passed between Jackson and Lea. I
wanted to confront them about it, but I was so tired of being
angry.

"We don't know," Jackson said. "I would assume
so, yes. But there's been no communication between the two sides
for a very long time. The Southern Kingdom is completely separate
from us, as if they were a part of a completely different
world."

"I never came across any demons in the human
world who were from the south," Lea said. "But that's not saying
much, especially since I couldn't find a way to communicate
directly with any of the demons who were already slaves. It was
rare to find a free demon like Jackson or myself."

"So it's possible that the Kingdom of the South
would want to fight against the Order," I said. "Even if it meant
pairing up with some of the demons in the north for a little
while."

Lea rolled her eyes. "You don't know what you're
saying," she said. "This rivalry is ancient. There is a hatred so
strong between my father and the King of the South that nothing,
not even a common enemy, could bring them together."

Frustrated, I leaned back against the wall of
the cave. How would she know if no one had ever tried? If no one
had talked to the demons in the south for more than a hundred
years, how could they possibly know what was going on over
there?

"It's complicated," Jackson said. "Don't forget
that demons are immortal in this world. We don't pass into the
Afterworld unless we choose to here, or unless our lives are
wrongfully taken from us."

"Immortal means forever," Lea said. "And trust
me when I say that forever is an awfully long time when it comes to
holding a grudge."

I had so many more questions, but I was having a
hard time keeping my eyes open. Besides, it seemed like each answer
just led me to another question. And since we weren't leaving this
world any time soon, I figured I had time to ask more questions
later.

"I'm going to lay back down," I said. I curled
up close to the warm fire and willed my mind to stop spinning.

Lea got up and walked back toward her post at
the cave's entrance.

Jackson leaned over me and placed a warm kiss
against my forehead. "When Mary Anne wakes up, we'll try to get on
the road," he said. He placed a blanket over me, and I pulled it
close. "Get some sleep. I'll be up front guarding the entrance to
the cave if you wake up and need anything, okay?"

I nodded, then closed my eyes and fell fast
asleep.

A gentle nudge woke me the next morning. The
fire had long since gone out, but a shimmer of light gleamed in
from the mouth of the cave. I yawned and looked up, surprised to
see worry on Jackson's face.

"What is it?" I whispered. "What's wrong?"

His eyes darkened, but he forced a smile. "I
want to show you something."

I pushed the blanket from my body and sat up,
wincing as my bones cracked and my muscles protested. I wondered
how long it would take before I started to feel normal again.