Rival Demons (28 page)

"Let's keep walking," I said. "I think we might
be getting close."

Jackson walked close by my side, watching my
expression as we moved forward.

"Stop staring at me," I said with laugh. "You're
making me self-conscious."

He gave me that sexy half-smile I'd missed so
much when we were apart. "I'm just getting excited," he said. "Let
me know if anything changes, okay?"

Not even half a mile later, I stopped again. The
humming feeling was now a strong charge throughout my body. I felt
like I'd been connected to some kind of super battery.

"We're so close," I said. "I can feel the power
of the stones. I don't know how or why, but my body is having a
very strong reaction to it. It's like a flood of power."

Something in my pocket buzzed. I reached my hand
in and found the small blue stone the boy had given me. "Look," I
said.

The stone seemed to glow from within.

"Follow it," he said. "Maybe you can lead us
there."

I closed my eyes for a minute and allowed myself
to really connect to the feeling. When I opened my eyes, I could
see very clearly where I needed to go. The force of the stones
pulled me like a magnet. A hill up ahead blocked the way, but in my
heart, I knew what we would find on the other side of that
ridge.

Too excited to walk, I threw my backpack to the
ground and broke out into a run. As I crested, the hill, tears
sprang to my eyes and I pressed my hands hard against my face. We'd
found it. The valley below us was filled with perfect blue stones,
the suns shining off of them to create an almost diamond-like
effect. Jackson ran up behind me and threw his arms around me. The
boy laughed and cheered, even though I knew he didn't understand
our excitement.

For a moment, we both just stood there in awe.
This is the place where all of Peachville's stones had come from.
This place of power might have been where my troubled past
originated, but right now all I could see was hope for the future.
Breaking loose, I ran down the hill, placing each step carefully so
as not to trip. Jackson ran even faster, hitting the bottom before
me. The boy sat at the top of the hill, looking down on us as he
played with a small flower.

Together, Jackson and I searched the large area
for any sign of the ring.

"It's going to be here somewhere," I said. "This
is really going to be it. We just have to find it."

I crouched low and studied every crevice,
searching for any place a ring might be hidden among the stones. I
lifted the loose stones from the ground and looked underneath. I
studied the area from different angles, even going back up the hill
to look at it from a new perspective. But the ring wasn't here.

With each passing minute, I grew more and more
frantic.

We couldn't have come this far for nothing.
Please. I had been so certain it would be here. I stood with my
hands on my hips, staring out at the quarry. Wasn't there something
here that looked out of place? Some rock that could be moved to
reveal a secret hiding place? Something.

Jackson joined me, shaking his head.

"We've been looking for over an hour," he said.
"What if it's not here?"

His words tore through me like a hot arrow. Even
though I'd been thinking it myself, I wasn't ready to hear it said
out loud. I refused to accept it.

"It has to be," I said, a quiver in my
voice.

I went back down the hill and started over,
checking each section of rock again.

When I got to the center of the stones, I saw
something on the ground I hadn't noticed before. A very small
faceted stone. My heart jumped in my chest. All of the other stones
here were raw and uncut. They had no polish or shape to them. But
this stone was different. It was shaped and buffed and shined.

I reached down to touch it and suddenly, a stone
sculpture appeared in front of me. My eyes nearly popped out of my
head. I turned to Jackson and screamed for him to come to me.

He rushed my way, out of breath. "What is it?
Did you find it?"

"I don't know," I said. "But look. What do you
think it is?"

He drew his eyebrows together and looked all
around. "What are you talking about?"

I pointed to the square stone sculpture. "This
statue-thing," I said. "You're telling me you can't see it?"

He shook his head. "I don't see anything."

I stepped closer and put my hands on the surface
of it, trying to figure out if there was a way to get inside. When
my hand touched the stone, an electric shock went through my entire
body. I tried to let go, but it held onto me. Then, the top slowly
began to open from the middle, two parts sliding out to reveal a
special compartment just inside.

I peered in, my heart beating so fast I could
barely breathe.

On the inside of the statue was a small pedestal
with a hole in the top, perfectly made to hold a ring. Only, there
was no ring inside. It was empty.

I slumped forward, a dull pain spreading across
my chest.

"It's gone," I said, unable to hold back my
tears.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "I can't see
whatever it is you're seeing Harper."

I tried to breathe, but I felt like my breath
was coming in through a thin straw. My head was spinning, and I
knew I couldn't keep standing or I would pass out. This couldn't be
happening. Not now.

"There's a statue here that's made to hold the
ring," I said. "We were right. This is where they keep it. But it's
gone. They must have gotten to it first. It's gone. It's
empty."

I turned around and slid down the side of the
sculpture. I sat on the edge of a bright blue stone, unable to
believe we'd come this far only to have lost our chance.

A dam broke inside me.

I wanted to fight. I wanted to be strong. But I
also wanted to let go. I wanted all of this to be over. A year ago,
I was just a girl who hated foster homes. I knew I had a different
life, but I still had dreams of getting out on my own. Going to
college. Having a life of my own.

Going to Shadowford was just a bump in the road.
Something I had to get through in order to come out the other
side.

Only, it turned out to be so much more than
that. I was grateful for the friends I'd made and for the
relationship I had now with Jackson, but the weight of everything
else I'd been through came crashing down on me. It wasn't fair that
I had been thrown into this life, and as much as I wanted to be
everyone's hero, I felt so weak and defeated.

My tears burst forth, growing more desperate
with each passing second. The exhaustion and fear and anger of the
past couple of months finally broke through me like a tidal wave,
refusing to be contained for another moment.

Jackson put his arms around me and held me as
sobs shook my body.

I cried for my mother and for her horrible
death. I cried for the demons who had lost their freedom. I cried
for Brooke and every other girl whose life had been stolen from her
before she could even question it.

A cold chill ran through me as I realized that
it had begun to rain. I looked up, letting the drops land on my
cheeks and mix with my salty tears.

Jackson stood and held his hands out to catch
the rain. Then, with a worried panic on his face, he turned to me.
"Harper, you have to stop crying," he said. "This isn't natural
rain."

I choked back a sob and shook my head. "What do
you mean?"

He crouched beside me and grabbed my shoulders.
"It's your magic," he said. "Your emotions are so strong they're
affecting the weather."

I breathed in slow gasps, holding on to him so I
could stand. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," he said. "I know it's difficult, but you
have to stop crying. They'll be tracking your magic."

I closed my eyes and willed my emotions to
settle. Fear gripped my soul. Had I just put us in serious danger?
I took a deep breath and as I calmed down, the rain slowed to a
light drizzle.

But it was too late.

When I opened my eyes, I could feel their
presence like a cold nothingness surrounding us. I looked toward
the hill and froze.

The hunters had found us.

I stared up at them, my flesh crawling.

Three hunters hovered at the top of the hill,
and I couldn't so much as find the strength to run or move or even
scream.

The air around us turned icy and the drizzling
rain quickly turned to snow.

Jackson took my arm. Maybe he was thinking of
trying to run. I knew he could move fast, but where did we have to
go? There was no safe haven to run to. No Underground. Not even a
single city where we knew we could get help. And I knew the hunters
would not stop until they had me in their clutches.

White flakes stuck to my hair and face. My
entire body shivered, but I felt a sudden clarity. A knowing.

I planted my feet firmly on the blue stones at
my feet and plugged in to the buzz of power it sent through me. If
we were going to have to fight them, this was the place to do it.
At least here, I had an advantage.

I looked toward where the boy had been sitting,
but he was gone. I closed my eyes and prayed he had seen the
hunters in time and had found a safe place to hide. We should have
never brought him with us. What were we thinking?

But the time for regrets had passed. We had to
stand in this moment and face it as it was.

I locked eyes with Jackson, and I knew he saw my
decision in my eyes. His face had turned so white, but he nodded,
accepting our fate.

"Okay," he said. "I trust you."

Those three words resonated through my being,
filling me with a sense of love and pride and confidence. For the
first time since we'd met, he truly believed in me. He'd stopped
trying to protect me like I was a little child and was letting me
be my own person. A fighter.

I lifted my chin and waited.

Taking their sweet time, the three hunters
floated down toward us, circling us. Their collective stench
overwhelmed my nostrils. Two of the witches looked very similar to
the one I'd faced in the Underground, but the third hunter was
different. She was older, her decay more complete and gruesome.

She was obviously the leader of the group, her
purplish-black eyes never leaving my face.

I stood tense and ready, waiting for them to
make their move.

The lead hunter finally slowed and settled in a
spot just in front of me. "Isn't this a pretty twist of fate," she
croaked. Her voice grated on my nerves, so dry it sounded like she
hadn't had a drop of moisture in years. "Our hunting expedition had
nothing to do with a lost Prima, but won't the Priestess be
pleased?"

She moved closer to me and reached out a gnarled
finger. Her blackened fingernail ran down the edge of my cheek, but
I stood my ground, not even flinching. Not wanting her to know my
fear.

"Such a beauty," she said. "Too bad you couldn't
see the right path. It's always a shame to lose one like you."

"I won't come with you," I said. "You'll have to
kill me."

The hunter clucked her tongue and shook her
head. "No, no, you know we have to bring you alive," she said. "But
you'll be dead soon enough, right sisters?"

The other two hunters laughed. The sound made my
stomach lurch.

"Of course, your boyfriend here can die now,"
she said, circling Jackson like a buzzard.

"Don't touch him," I said, grinding my teeth
together.

"Or what?" she said with a cackle. "You'll send
me to bed without any supper?"

I didn't answer her. She was just like the other
one. Toying with me. The life of a hunter must be pretty boring for
them to like to play with their catch. I didn't have the patience
for this.

The ancient hunter moved to grab my arm, but I
stepped back, avoiding her.

Anger flashed across her rotten face. "The more
you resist us, the more you will suffer," she said.

A flutter of anticipation moved through my
veins. Before I had time to doubt myself, I reached inside and
grabbed hold of my power. With one swift movement, I lifted my
palms in front of my chest and pushed back.

The three hunters went flying backward in
separate directions, screams echoing against the blue stones.

Jackson jumped to action, shifting into his
demon form and flashing to the side of the younger hunter on the
right. Before she had time to recover from her shock, Jackson had
woven a cage of ice around her entire body, locking her in.

Making the most of the dwindled numbers, I
turned my attention to the other weaker hunter. I pushed the force
of my power down toward the ground, breaking up the stones into
large boulders. Without hesitation, I lifted several stones into
the air and sent them hurtling toward the hunter's body.

She easily dodged two of them, but one of the
smaller stones hit her squarely in the neck, the jagged edge
slicing her open. With a screech, she fell to the ground, greenish
black liquid flowing through her fingertips as she lifted both
hands, desperate to close the wound.

With the other two temporarily disabled, we
turned our attention to the ancient hunter.

Rage in her eyes, she flew toward me, claws out.
I tried to throw up a shield, but she moved too fast. Her nails
sliced into my arm with searing pain. She opened her mouth and
breathed on my wound, a poisonous cloud seeping into my open cuts.
I screamed and fell back against the stone sculpture. The scratches
burned so badly, the pain seemed to seep into my brain.

Jackson formed a ball of ice between his
hands and threw it at the ancient hunter, sending her flying off to
the side. He moved to try to heal my wound, but I pushed him away.
We didn't have time to nurse injuries right now. I forced the pain
from my mind and took stock of the situation.