Shadow Demons (17 page)

The morning came early. I yawned and stretched. Sleeping in a tent wasn’t exactly the life of luxury I’d gotten used to at Shadowford with my big canopy bed. The beach looked so different here compared to the few times I’d visited the Atlantic ocean or the Gulf Coast. Here, morning mists rolled off the cliffs, shrouding the beach in a haze.

Jackson put a blanket around my shoulders.

“Get any sleep last night?”

“Barely,” I said. “I just listened to the waves all night, thinking about how fast everything is changing.” I didn’t say anything, but I’d also been scared to go to sleep. I knew Jackson was right outside keeping watch, but after what Lea had said about ending the Peachville coven, I couldn’t trust her. I was grateful to the demons for coming to our rescue, but if they were responsible for killing all those witches, I didn’t want to stay here.

“You’re going to need your rest in the coming weeks,” he said. “Life is going to get crazy for a while.”

“Jackson, what’s going to happen to my friends?” I asked. “Like Lark and Zara? I can’t help feeling like everyone is going to get hurt if we fight back. But some people are innocent in all this, you know?”

Lea came to stand by us, and I tensed. I hadn’t realized she was standing near us, but I guess when someone can change into black shadow at any moment, they could be anywhere. I would have to be careful what I said from now on.

“You really think anyone is innocent in the Order of Shadows?” she asked. “You’re so naive, little girl.”

“Stop calling me that,” I said. “I may not be as old as you and your friends, but that doesn’t make me some ignorant child.”

Lea laughed. “Well, at least there’s a little bit of fight in you,” she said. “I was beginning to wonder.”

I turned away, staring out at the peaceful scene.

Cristo called for Jackson to help him with something. “I’ll be right back,” he said, leaving me alone with Lea for the first time.

“Why do you hate me so much?” I said.

Lea shifted her weight from one foot to another. “I don’t hate you,” she said. “I just don’t like you very much.”

“Were you the ones who closed the demon gate in Aldeen?” I asked, nervous to hear her answer. “Because I know this is your fight, but I need to know what you’re capable of before I go too deep-“

“You think we did that?” she asked.

“Look, I understand why you hate the Order of-“

“Holy shit, are you serious?” she said, shaking her head. She took a few steps toward me, her face uncomfortably close to mine. “You really have no clue, do you? I mean, you’re so quick to blame the demons for mass-murder, but you swear that your little friends in the Order are so innocent. You want to see reality, little girl?”

Before I even knew what was happening, Lea gripped her hands around my shoulders and recited some strange language. I called out for Jackson and saw him running toward us, but before he could get to us, we turned to black smoke.

Lea and I landed in a field in the middle of the night. I fell to the ground, my breath knocked from my body.

“Where are we?” I asked. “Where did you take me?”

“The past,” she said with a slight smile. “We’re in Aldeen, Kansas a week ago. You said you wanted to know what happened.”

I coughed and placed my hands on the ground for support. Traveling back in time had been much more violent than normal shadow demon traveling. I couldn’t take a breath or see anything the entire time we were porting from one place to another.

“Telling me might have been enough,” I said. “I’m not sure I needed to actually see-“

“Oh look,” she said. “The guests of honor.”

Torches lit up the area just south of us. The scene looked eerily familiar, and I looked around, realizing we were in a barren, treeless circular field just like the one in the woods of Shadowford. We were close to Aldeen’s ritual room.

Witches in purple robes walked past us, their faces solemn and pale with worry. I started to back up, to hide in the woods so they wouldn’t see us, but Lea laughed.

“They can’t see or hear you,” she said. “We’re only here in spirit, so to speak. We can’t alter their fate now.”

The horror of what was to come hit me like a ton of bricks. “I don’t want to be here to see what happens to them,” I said. “Please, this isn’t right.”

“Oh, I think it’s only fair. You accused me of something horrible,” she said. “I think you need to see the truth.”

I stayed on the ground as the line of witches disappeared down the stone stairs. My muscles were tense. I didn’t want to watch these people die. Lea was mad for bringing me here. For forcing me to watch this.

“We’ll need to go downstairs to see the real show,” she said. “But first, we need to wait for the rest of the Order to show up.”

I stared at her, unable to even form the words for the things I wanted to say to her. Had I completely misread everything they said last night? Had someone else been responsible for all this death?

Something flew near my face, and I squinted to see what it was in the darkness. A yellow butterfly landed in the grass beside my hand. A butterfly?

“Someone you recognize?” Lea said, watching me closely.

The butterfly shifted into a woman with shockingly white-blonde hair, and I gasped. Zara’s mother. A priestess on the High Council. What was she doing here the night this demon gate closed?

Several witches in black robes joined her and she led them down into the ritual room below.

“Go on,” Lea said. “I think you’ll want to see this.”

A heavy feeling settled in my stomach. I didn’t want to follow. I didn’t want to know. But now that I was here, I had to see the truth.

I stood and with shaky legs, followed Zara’s mother down the stone steps. This ritual room was almost an exact replica of the Peachville room. The main difference was the stone in the floor where the demon gate opened wasn’t a sapphire. Instead, it was an amethyst. A beautiful purple stone with dark, rich tones.

Aldeen’s Prima bowed down to Zara’s mother. “Welcome Priestess,” she said. “As you can see, we’ve gathered here tonight as you asked. It’s our hope that we can work through this, and I think your presence here is the first step.”

Zara’s mother smiled, but her eyes were flat and cold. “Yes, the High Council is also hoping we can resolve this issue tonight,” she said. “It is our understanding that your local council has voted against any new initiations. Can you explain this to me?”

Tension rippled through the room. Several witches shifted uncomfortably, sharing looks of concern. Several of the witches lifted their heads defiantly, ready to make a stand against the High Council. Rebellion was in the air.

“In times of old, shadow demons and humans lived in peace together,” the Prima said. “Instead of forcing our recruits and the demons into a life they might not be ready for, we would like to introduce some new ideas.”

“Such as?” the priestess asked, her voice bitter.

“We already outlined those requests before the High Council six months ago, Priestess Winter.”

“I would like to hear them again.”

The Prima took a breath and straightened her neck to stand tall and confident. “Such as teaching our recruits exactly what it means to be joined with a demon,” she said. “Allowing them to make the choice about whether joining the Order is right for them.”

When the priestess didn’t say a word, the Prima went on.

“Also, we’d like to communicate with the demons in the shadow world,” she said. She cleared her throat. “To make sure that being joined with a human here in our world is something they want and will agree to. If we can just build relationships with the demons, I think we can get back to our roots and-“

“Blasphemy,” Zara’s mother said. She threw her hands out to her side and I saw the glimmer of something silver.

The witches in the room gasped. Someone screamed in terror. My heart raced. What was happening?

“Priestess, please, we beg of you.” A small woman with long red hair stepped in front of the Prima, her eyes gleaming with fresh tears. “We don’t mean any disrespect-“

“Silence.” Priestess Winter waved her hand in front of the woman’s face and her lips fused together.

I recoiled, not believing Zara’s mother could be so cruel.

“According to Law 4 of the binding code of the Order of Shadows, no demon gate or its Prima may speak out against the Order’s practices or seek to change them,” she said. She lifted her hands up to her chest, but from this angle, I still couldn’t see what she was carrying. “Those changes are to be made solely by the High Council. The changes you speak of are outrageous and not worth the Council’s time. Demons are no more than mere animals. We have figured out a way to enslave them and they are not strong enough to fight back. That makes them lesser beings, and the Order will continue to use them as we see fit.

“Your decision, Prima Anderson, is simple. Either promise to never speak of these changes again and agree to submit to the Order’s close supervision of your gate and its members over the next ten years, or continue to wish for something that will never happen. If you choose the latter, you are surely aware of the consequences.”

The Prima did not cry or scream. She did not beg for her life. Instead, she lifted her palms and produced a bright purple flame. “The witches of Aldeen refuse to live under your rule for another moment,” she said. “If you won’t listen to reason, then we have no choice but to continue to fight for what is just and right. We will not put any more of our girls through this initiation against their will.”

“The Council will be sorry to hear it.”

Priestess Winter and the women in black robes prepared for a fight. The Prima threw the first bolt of magic, but it disintegrated into nothingness before it touched the priestess’ robes. The priestess retaliated by throwing heavy chains that shackled the Prima to the stone wall behind her.

Fighting broke out, and I pressed myself against the wall, helpless. It was chaos as magic shot through the room with bright lights, fire and stones. But no matter how long the Aldeen witches fought, nothing seemed to hurt the women from the High Council. I watched in horror as one by one, the Aldeen witches were turned into statues. Their eyes still moved, showing their terror, but their bodies were as still as stone.

Priestess Winter held her hands high in the air, revealing for the first time a silver chalice. My hand rose to my mouth. I’d seen a cup like that before. It was the Prima’s cup. Exactly like the one the crows had used with their red stone, and exactly like the one I drank from during the Heritage ceremony at the priestess’ house just last week. Mine had a blue stone, but this one was purple.

The priestess began to chant in Latin. The purple stone portal to the shadow world began to glow deep within. She took slow steps toward the shackled Prima, then with her other hand, lifted a silver ritual dagger.

“No,” I screamed, running forward, not wanting to accept that this was real. That I couldn’t change what was about to happen.

The priestess lifted the dagger to the Prima’s throat and slit it open with one clean slice. I turned away as she brought the cup to the wound and filled it with blood.

“Take me out of here,” I said. “I don’t know what kind of trick you’re playing here, but this can’t be real. Zara’s mother wouldn’t do something like this.”

Lea sat beside me on the stone stairs, her eyes full of hatred. “You’re not the only one who thinks this scene is disgusting,” she said. “You’re not the only one who lost sisters on this day. For every one of these witches who died, one of my friends died with them. Do you think I would show you a false memory?”

I forced myself to look back toward the priestess. As the Prima’s body slumped down into death, the priestess poured her blood on the eye of the portal. It sizzled and hissed as the blood ran down its smooth surface, then, as the town’s Prima gave in to the darkness, the portal stone cracked into a million pieces.

“This is what they do, Harper,” Lea said, her voice softer than I’d ever heard it before. “They kill anyone who stands in their way, then they blame it on their enemies to provide a reason for war and retaliation. This is who the Order of Shadows really is.”

Shaken to my core, I crawled up the steps and out into the night, unable to hold back the sobs being torn from my soul. If Lea was right about the Order and they were truly capable of such madness and cruelty, we had to find a way to stop them.

“Take me back,” I said. “Please.”

“I’m sorry you had to see this,” she said. “But you needed to understand what kind of people they are. And you needed to know that as long as you fight against the Order, we’re on the same side.”

I stared up into her black eyes as she took my hand and carried me away from the nightmare in Aldeen.

I fell to my knees on the rocky ground, gasping for breath.

Jackson ran to my side, placing his hand on my back. “Oh my God, are you okay?” he said. He looked up at Lea, fury in his eyes. “What did you do?”

“I took her to Aldeen,” she said. “She needed to see.”

“I’m fine,” I said.

Jackson wiped the tears from my face. “You’re not fine,” he said. “I didn’t want you to find out like that. You should have never had to see something like that.”

“You knew?” I asked. “You knew the Order was capable of that?”

He sighed. “Yes, but-“

“Dammit, Jackson, this is exactly what I’m talking about,” I said, standing up on shaky legs. “You can’t keep everything a secret from me. You try to shelter me from the truth, but I need to know what’s going on. How else am I going to make a difference?”

“Do you really think you could have done something to stop what happened in Aldeen?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “But if the rest of the recruits knew what was happening…”

“The High Council is stronger than you can imagine,” he said. “Too much even for us to fight, and we’re some of the most powerful shadow demons from our world.”

“But those people,” I said, tears falling again. I shook my head and turned away, looking out over the ocean. I wasn’t sure how long we’d been gone, but the heat of the sun had burned off some of the mist. “Why didn’t they fight back? They were slaughtered in minutes.”

“This is the way of the Order of Shadows,” Lea said. “They hold the secrets to great power, but they don’t share that knowledge with the regular demon gates. They teach the bare minimum of defensive magic to their Primas and the local covens, making them believe that they are well-equipped to fight any foe.”

“Which would be true for most of the types of enemies a normal demon gate might face,” Jackson said. “Like the Others or some small faction.”

“But the truth is that their greatest enemy is the Order itself,” Lea said. “Only certain privileged few have access to the really powerful magic. That way, no one can ever challenge the authority of the Council. And anyone who does find out the truth, never lives to tell about it.”

Silence fell over us. Erick, Joost, Mordecai and Cristo sat near a newly-conjured fire, their heads hung low. Jackson wrapped his arms around me and Lea turned away.

“I’m sorry I ever thought you guys could be responsible for what happened in Aldeen,” I said finally. “But last night, Erick said something about wanting to bring the pain in Peachville…”

Erick shook his head. “I was joking,” he said. “It was in poor taste. I forgot you don’t really know us. I guess I assumed that if you understood the kind of person Jackson was, you would understand who we are, too.”

“What is that you have been doing?” I asked. “How have you been fighting the Order?”

“You weren’t completely wrong about Aldeen,” Lea said. “We were responsible, but not in the way you thought.”

I pulled away from Jackson and turned toward Lea. “What do you mean?”

“We spent nearly six months living in that community,” Mordecai said. “We made friends with the members of the Order and when we were sure we had a small core group of good people, we told them the truth about who we were.”

My hand flew to my open mouth. That’s how they were fighting the Order? By making friends and trying to educate them on how they were hurting the shadow demons? I had so misjudged them. I felt terrible and confused and angry all at the same time.

“We should have been there with them to fight,” Lea said. “At least then they might have had a chance.”

“We couldn’t have known the High Council would come that night,” Mordecai said. “It’s not your fault Lea.”

“It is my fault,” Lea said. “We should have stayed in Aldeen, but I let my feelings for someone else distract me.” She looked at Jackson, her jaw tense. “I thought maybe if we forced you to use your powers, you would wake up and realize that you belonged with us. Once you really accepted the fact that you were back to your old self, you would join us in our mission to change the Order from the inside.”

“Wait, what do you mean force him to use his powers?” I asked.

Jackson closed his eyes and sighed. “I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea about my friends,” he said. “And if I told you, I knew you would go crazy.”

I didn’t like the sound of this. “Tell me,” I said.

“We’re the ones who sent those illusions for you,” Lea said. “In the woods the night you went to the lake and outside the gym after the cheerleading competition.”

My hands balled into tight fists. “Why would you do something like that? I thought someone was trying to kill me.”

“You were never in any real danger,” she said. “We wouldn’t have let anything happen to you. It’s just that we saw how much Jackson cared about you and we knew that if we made it look like someone was attacking you, it would force him to use his powers. Of course, we never expected you to kill that bird on your own before he even got there. You surprised us with that one.”

“So, what? I was bait?” I asked, my face red with anger. “Scaring the hell out of me was your idea of a game?”

“I see what you mean about her going crazy, mate,” Cristo said with a laugh. He cracked open another one of his beers, despite the fact that it was only around ten in the morning.

I wanted to scream. What was I supposed to do, exactly? Take this news in stride, like, hey no big deal that you made it seem like someone was trying to kill me?

“And you knew it was them and didn’t tell me?” I asked Jackson.

“I told you it was only an illusion,” he said. “And once I realized who it was, I had a talk with Lea. Made sure she gave you the cell phone back and stopped messing with you. Look, I should have told you the truth, but I was afraid you’d get the wrong idea and think that the demons were the bad guys here.”

He put his hand on my arm, but I pulled away.

“Our plan backfired anyway,” Lea said. “Instead of wanting to join us, he was even more reluctant to leave you after the fake attacks. I guess we underestimated how much he cares for you. Not that I particularly understand it.”

Her jab didn’t go unnoticed. What was it with this chick? She had no reason to dislike me. Sure, I was technically a Prima Futura, but not by choice. Besides, I’d been trying to find a way out of the Order’s clutches since I first found out about them.

“The bottom line is that we have to come up with a plan for how we’re going to deal with Peachville and the High Council,” Jackson said. “Now that they know Harper has no intention of joining the group, they’re going to come after her in force.”

Everyone fell into thought. My mind was still reeling from all the things I’d learned in the past twenty-four hours. Plus, after seeing what Zara’s mother had done to Aldeen’s Prima, I had no idea how I would ever be able to stand up to her.

“We could rally all the towns where we’ve made friends,” Mordecai said. “Ask them to help us in our fight.”

“We still wouldn’t be strong enough,” Lea said. “There aren’t enough of us now that Aldeen is gone, and there’s no time to recruit more people to our cause.”

“For now, I say we get back on the road,” Jackson said. “As long as we don’t stay in any one location for more than a day, we can probably avoid detection for at least a few weeks. By then, maybe we’ll have come up with a plan.”

The group nodded in agreement. Cristo and the others worked to clear the camp of all evidence while I stared out at the ocean, trying to figure out what to do next.