Rival Demons (6 page)

I tried not to think about our past or how this
would probably be the last time I felt my body pressed against his.
I focused only on the rhythm of his feet against the ground.

When we reached the edge of the Obsidian Forest,
we stopped and looked back, the silhouette of the frozen man black
against the night sky.

Under the canopy of the Obsidian Forest, all
light ceased to exist. I kept waiting for my eyes to adjust and for
something to come into view. A tree. A shadow. Something. I could
put my own hand two inches away from my face and never see it.

"I can't see anything," Lea said. "We'll have to
set them down and walk together."

Jackson helped me back to my feet. "Harper, hold
Mary Anne's hand. Lea take Harper's free hand and use your other
one to grab onto my arm," he directed.

We formed a chain and began to move through the
darkness. Jackson moved fast, and I struggled to keep up, my heart
pounding as I tried to catch my breath. The journey through the
forest was terrifying. Around us, the wind howled and animals moved
in the trees. It took some serious willpower not to jump every time
a vine slipped across the skin of my leg.

An eternity seemed to pass before finally, up
ahead, the faintest strip of moonlight appeared in the distance.
Around me, the shadowy figures of the trees, low bushes and
underbrush began to form.

"How much farther?" I asked.

"We're getting close," Jackson said. He pulled a
tattered piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. "The map
says it should be just past the edge of the forest on this
side."

Minutes later, we finally emerged from the
forest. Even the moonlight seemed brighter after the pitch darkness
we'd been in. I broke off from the others and stood on my own,
staring up toward the amber colored moon, noticing that now, there
were two moons in the sky. One amber and one lavender. It was
breathtaking.

"We have to keep moving," he said, taking off
down a path that led along the edge of the forest.

Soon, we came across a small bridge that floated
over a stream running with icy blue water.

"This way," Jackson said. He motioned for Mary
Anne and I to cross first.

I stepped up onto the bridge, half expecting it
to wobble since it was just floating in the air, but it was
surprisingly sturdy. I was over to the other side in five steps.
The grass beyond was strange and stiff, almost white as if it were
frost-bitten.

I studied the new terrain as the others crossed
the stream.

A field of white grass was cut into an
almost-perfect circle. All around it were large red stones, like
markers of some sort. In the center of the circle was a cluster of
something black, but from this distance I couldn't quite make out
what it was. I stepped out onto the stiff white grass, my legs
instantly breaking out in goosebumps.

"Wait," Jackson called, then jogged over to me.
He pulled me back off the grass. "It's enchanted with frost. If you
tried to walk all the way to the middle, you'd be a frozen block of
ice before you got there."

My eyes widened. "You can't be serious."

"I'm deadly serious," he said. "See the ring in
the middle? That's where we're heading."

"And how do we get over the enchanted grass
without using magic?" I asked.

"You don't," a voice said, coming out of the
shadows just beyond the stream.

I turned, my muscles tense and on high-alert.
The man who spoke was tall and lean with dark tanned skin and hair
as black as night. His eyes gleamed almost white. He squinted at us
in the darkness, weapon drawn.

"Jericho," Jackson said. "Old friend. Don't you
remember us? Denaer and Lazalea."

It took me a moment to realize Jackson was
giving this demon their true names. I realized with a pain in my
heart that I had never heard his true name until this moment.

Denaer.
So much like his twin brother's
name. It sent chills through me, making me feel as if even after
I'd felt so close to him, there was so much I still didn't know
about him.

The demon he'd called Jericho straightened, then
stepped closer, shaking his head. "It can't be," he said. "But you
disappeared years ago. We haven't heard a word from you in
ages."

Lea moved to him, extending her hand. "Jericho,
don't tell me you've forgotten me already?" There was a sweet
coaxing to her tone that I'd never heard before.

Jericho bowed his head to her. "Princess
Lazalea," he said, his voice cracking a bit on the words. "It's an
honor to see you again."

"Thank you," she said. "But please, you don't
need to bow. We're the ones who have come here to ask a favor of
you. And I'm afraid we're in a hurry."

Jericho's eyes searched the small group. His
attention flicked from Mary Anne to myself, not even trying to
conceal his distaste. "Human witches?" he asked. "Are they your
prisoners?"

"No," Lea said. "They are our friends, and
they're in serious danger. The Order of Shadows is searching for
them as we speak. It's extremely important that we gain entry to
the Underground."

Jericho lifted his head, surprise on his face.
"Princess, you can't ask such a thing of me," he said. "Humans are
not allowed below."

Lea's patience was growing thin. I could see the
frustration and determination in the set of her jaw and the way her
feet planted firmly into the ground just outside the white grass.
"Listen to me, in a few minutes this forest will be crawling with
Sentinels. My father knows I'm here, and he's going to come looking
for me," she said. "Now, if that happens and he finds me here with
two human girls, we both know he'll throw me into his dungeon.
Then, he'll probably leave these two witches to fend for themselves
here in the shadow world, and believe me, it won't take the Order
long to find them."

"I'm sorry Princess, but I-"

"This witch in particular," she said, cutting
him off and pulling me forward, "is extremely important to the
Order of Shadows. Believe me when I say they will do anything to
capture her. We can't let that happen, Jericho. She is bound to
Aerden and we have promised to protect her life. If you feel any
loyalty to me at all, I ask you to please let us in."

Jericho's eyes shifted back and forth between
Lea and me. He looked frightened and unsure. "She's important to
the Order?" he asked.

"She's critical to their plans," Jackson said,
stepping forward. "As enemies of the Order, we have a duty to
protect her. Now, please. We're running out of time."

The demon seemed to be at war within his own
mind, wringing his hands together nervously. Finally, he nodded.
"Okay, then let's get underground as soon as we can," he said. He
moved to the white grass, then turned to look at me over his
shoulder. "Stay on the black path at all times."

I opened my mouth to tell him that I didn't see
a black path, but before I could say a word, he lifted his hand and
a black oozing smoke drifted from his fingertips down to the grass,
slinking along the white toward the middle, turning everything in
its path a shimmering black.

He moved quickly along the new path, so we all
followed. As we approached the center, though, I hesitated, my
heart skipping a beat. There, in the center of the frosted grass
was a perfect ring of black roses.

"What's wrong?" Lea asked.

I shook my head and pointed to the center. "I'm
sorry," I said. "I just have some bad memories of black roses."

Lea narrowed her eyes and looked from me to the
circle of black roses. "Don't you remember the roses at the portal
when we first came in?" she said. "It's perfectly safe."

Mary Anne shifted beside me, obviously
uncomfortable with the roses too. It was her family who had been
using the black roses. They'd gotten the dark magic from old
spellbooks of the Order of Shadows. Mary Anne had probably seen
them used several times in her childhood.

Jackson spoke up. "Harper, the roses work a bit
differently here than back in the human world," he said. " The
black roses act as a conduit, pulling the essence of a witch or a
demon into the black rock below. It's the same kind of rock you saw
in the human world. A soul stone."

I was listening, but so far, he hadn't convinced
me.

"The difference here is that instead of a small
soul stone that traps the power inside, the entire ground below
this area is made of this special magical rock," he said. "When a
demon's being passes through the stone, the black roses on the
other side, underground, help pull them through and out the other
side. I promise, it's safe. Just a little scary at first."

"We don't have time for fear," Lea said. She
moved forward without hesitating even for a second. She stepped
over the roses and into the circle. "I'll go first."

Lea disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"She's fine," Jackson said. "She's in the
Underground below us now."

I peered over the edge of the roses and noticed
that in the center was an iridescent black rock that looked exactly
like the soul stone the crow witches had used to steal Caroline's
power back in Peachville. Jackson's explanation didn't make
complete sense to me, but I knew we didn't have another minute to
waste.

"Okay," I said. "I'll go next."

I knew Jackson would want to go last, and I
wasn't about to let Mary Anne go through until I knew for sure it
was safe.

I took a deep breath and with shaky legs,
stepped into the circle.

A subtle energy hummed through my body, starting
with the bones in my feet and traveling up my legs, hips, torso,
down each arm and up through my skull. It was nothing like the
painful torture of the black roses in the woods near
Shadowford.

I turned to meet Mary Anne's eyes and was about
to tell her that everything was okay when an overwhelming feeling
of lightness and separation came over me. For a split second, I
ceased to be. Everything went dark. I knew the sensation of
falling, but I couldn't feel my body anymore. It felt as if I were
a ghost passing through a wall. A mist of a person. I separated,
then came together again, landing on my feet at the bottom of a
cool dark cave.

I stumbled. Tried to catch my breath.

"Are you okay?" A woman's voice.

I was too disoriented to answer. All I could do
was hold onto the wall and close my eyes, praying for the world to
stop spinning.

"She's fine." Lea this time. I could tell by the
level of sarcasm.

My stomach twirled and twisted, but I refused to
throw up down here in front of Lea and this stranger. Most demons
I'd met already thought of me as a weakling. I didn't want to give
them the satisfaction of thinking they were right.

I took a long breath in, counted to three, then
let it out slow and steady. I pushed away from the wall and stood
strong on my own two feet. "I just need a second," I said. "I'm
fine."

I let my eyes focus on the girl standing next to
Lea in the small corridor. She was petite and beautiful. Her black
hair was braided into at least two dozen thin braids that hung all
the way down to her waist. Her lips were painted a dark red and her
eyes were as black as coal.

"I'm Harper," I said, ignoring the fact that she
was staring at me like I was diseased.

"Marlana," she said, not meeting my eyes. She
looked up toward the ceiling, then placed her hand on a dark stone
embedded in the wall beside her.

Mary Anne popped down beside me. She wobbled. I
reached out to her and held her steady.

"Just give it a second," I said in her ear.
"You're safe, it just takes a minute to get over the
dizziness."

Her breaths were shallow and quick. Her eyes
were closed shut as if she were scared to open them and see where
she'd landed. I held tight to her to give her some reassurance that
everything was going to be okay. Her hands trembled slightly and
she brought her elbow in close to her right side, wincing.

I looked down toward her wound and saw a fresh
red blot of blood spreading across her shirt. I looked to Lea,
alarmed. I didn't say a word because I didn't want Mary Anne to
freak out, but this didn't look good. Lea stared at me in confusion
until I nodded toward the wound.

I pulled Mary Anne closer, careful not to bump
her wounded side. I looked up at the ceiling like the demon girl
had done, wondering when it would be Jackson's turn to come down
here. He'd said magic couldn't be traced this far below the special
stone. It worked like a barrier of some sort. I prayed that meant
he could use his healing powers to heal Mary Anne's side.

The ceiling of the corridor was covered in black
roses. They hung upside down, seeming to grow out of the soul
stone. I had no idea what Marlana had seen when she looked up there
before, but apparently she could see something my human eyes
couldn't. After a few seconds, she glanced up there again, then
placed her hand on the dark stone on the wall. It had to be some
kind of lever that opened the passageway.

Jackson came through in a rush of cool air,
completely unfazed by the process. He took one look at my face and
knew what was going on. "Mary Anne?" he asked, touching her
shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

She didn't say a word, but her lip trembled. She
laid her head against my chest, and I could feel her small frame
shaking.

"Can you help her?" I asked.

"What's the problem?" Marlana asked, stepping
forward.

"She was injured by a witch when we first came
through the portal to the shadow world," Jackson said. "I thought
she was healed enough to come through the soul stone, but it might
have been too hard on her. I can do a little bit to stop the
bleeding, but I'm not a full scale healer. Would it be possible to
get her to your shaman?"