Shadow Demons (3 page)

I stared helplessly at the items in my closet. Jackson said to be myself, but I had to wonder who that was anymore. Did I even know? Wearing glamours had become second nature to me these days. Everyday at school, my hair was straight and perfect. My makeup was always flawless. I hardly remembered what I looked like without it.

A pang of guilt stabbed through me. Had I really let the Order influence me so much?

I reached into the back corner and pulled out my black knee-length lace skirt. It used to be my single favorite piece of clothing, but I hadn’t worn it since I first joined the cheerleading squad and Brooke had lectured me about dressing better.

I smiled and threw the skirt on my bed. Screw Brooke’s fashion rules. I was going to wear the skirt I loved. I pulled on a pair of bright pink tights, my black boots, black lace skirt, and a long-sleeve black sweater. I left my blonde hair down and wavy, and only wore a touch of black eyeliner.

Standing in front of the mirror, I realized I missed my old self. I’d gotten so used to playing the part of Harper, the cheerleader, that I’d almost forgotten who the real Harper was. I pulled a bright pink ribbon from my drawer and tied it around my wrist.

“You look amazing,” Jackson said when I stepped out on the back patio. The light was fading in the twilight sky and shadows danced across his face.

I bit my lower lip and tried to hide the fact that my cheeks were about as pink as my tights. “What’s the plan?” I asked, trying to act normal.

Jackson grabbed my hand and pulled me in close. He held his warm body tight against mine, moving a strand of hair away from my face. All of the awkward tension from the other night was gone and we were just us again. “I want to show you something,” he said.

My breath caught in my throat and time stood still as our eyes locked. God, how did he have this ability to make everything else seem so insignificant?

He leaned close, his lips brushing against mine. I lifted my face to his, losing myself in his kiss.

“I’ve been looking forward to this all week,” he said, pulling away but keeping his hand firmly entwined with mine.

“Me too.” My stomach did a little flip. “So where are you taking me, anyway?”

Peachville wasn’t exactly a thriving metropolis. There were no movie theaters or romantic restaurants. There were a couple of fast-food places and one very outdated bowling alley. I had no idea what normal people did for weekend dates. Drake had only ever taken me to parties or over to his house to hang out. Beyond that, I wasn’t too experienced in the art of dating in Peachville.

“You’ll see,” he said. He pulled on my hand, and I followed him back toward his house. I expected him to pull me onto his bike, but instead, we walked right past it. When we stepped into the darkness of the forest, my heartbeat quickened.

I paused. “You’re taking me into the woods? I mean, are you sure it’s safe?”

Jackson’s lips curled into a smile. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Trust me.”

Trust. A very tricky word. I took a deep breath and studied his sparkling green eyes. My whole life, I’d never been able to really trust a single soul. Was I really willing to put that trust in a demon who had killed so many witches in the past? I looked at him. He would never be Wrath to me. He was simply Jackson, and in my heart, I knew he would never do anything to put me in danger.

“Lead on,” I said, gesturing to the darkness.

Jackson led me through the dense trees. Dead leaves crackled beneath our feet and twigs slapped against my clothes as we navigated the maze of tree trunks. We headed west of the ritual path, deeper into the forest than I’d ever been before.

The moon shone through the branches just enough to tease my sight. Dark shadows loomed all around, and I held tight to Jackson’s hand.

The fresh evening air caressed my skin, and an electric excitement flowed through me. I imagined what it would be like to come out on the other side of these trees to find another world far away from Peachville where Jackson and I could have a future together. Someplace where we could be ourselves and not worry about the whole demon vs. human thing.

When we finally did emerge from the forest, I gasped at the beauty of the place.

“Whoa,” I whispered, staring out at the most beautiful lake. Overhead, there were so many stars, it was as if my wish had come true and a portal to a new world had opened before us. “What is this place?”

“Brighton Lake,” he said. He moved behind me and slipped his hands around my waist, pulling me against him.

“I had no idea this was even back here,” I said.

“Technically, this all belongs to you,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite places on the property. I knew you’d love it out here.”

The beauty of the lake consumed me. The breeze coming off the water was cold and smelled faintly of roses.

“Are there flowers out here?” I asked. “In October?”

“All year,” Jackson said. “This was your mother’s favorite place to practice her magic. The flowers are her creation.”

“And they never die?”

“Never,” he whispered, his mouth so close to my ear, I could feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek and neck.

Brighton Lake. I loved it instantly. I leaned my head back against Jackson’s shoulder and breathed in the flowery scent. I never wanted to leave.

A small boat floated next to a rickety dock that extended out from the shore of the lake. Jackson’s boots knocked against the wood. He crouched down to untie the rope that held the boat in place.

“Get in,” he said with a smile.

I hesitated. I wasn’t a great fan of being out on the water. And I had never been on the water at night before. Something about not being able to see what was lurking below the surface gave me the willies.

“I promise I won’t tip the boat over or anything,” he said.

I squinted my eyes at him. “You better not.”

“It may not look like much,” he said, motioning to the small row boat, “but I promise it’s safe. Besides there are only a couple alligators out here.”

My eyes widened and I backed away from the dock. “No way,” I said. “I am not getting in the water with alligators.”

Jackson laughed. He had one hand on the lip of the boat, making sure it didn’t float away. “I’m just teasing you,” he said. “Come on, this is part of my surprise.”

I took a deep breath, then walked out onto the dock. The boat jerked as I stepped inside, and Jackson grabbed my hand to steady me. There were two little benches in the boat. I sat down quickly and held on tight to the edge of the seat.

Jackson stepped into the boat gracefully, grabbing one of the two wooden oars and pushing us off from the shore.

Out on the water, the surface looked like a sheet of black ice. The moon shone down on the surface, not quite full yet, but still bright and beautiful. Jackson rowed us out until I couldn’t even tell where the lake ended and the land began.

We didn’t talk at first. I listened to the sound of the water lapping up against the front of the boat as we sliced through the smooth, still surface. Frogs croaked. Crickets sang. And there was no sign of the infamous alligators. It was peaceful out here.

“What are you thinking about?” Jackson asked. He’d stopped rowing.

By my guess we were somewhere out in the middle of the lake, far from the shore now.

“I was thinking it’s no wonder my mother loved to be out here,” I said. “It’s so peaceful. Ever since I came to Peachville, my life has been nothing but noise. Out here, it’s quiet.”

“I know what you mean,” he said. “I come out here a lot to just get away from it all. So I can be still for a while and think. I love that you see it the same way I do.”

I smiled at him. “What kind of things do you think about when you’re out here?”

“You,” he said, lifting an eyebrow and making me laugh. Then, his face grew more serious as he looked out over the water. “And I spend a lot of time thinking about home. About Aerden and my family. I wonder whether we’ll ever go back there again.”

My heart ached for him. I felt pulled in two directions. I could hear in his voice how much he missed his homeland. I wanted him to be happy. But at the same time, I didn’t want to lose him.

“Tell me about your home,” I said.

Jackson looked up at the stars and was quiet for a long moment. For a minute, I thought he wasn’t going to answer my question, but then he started talking.

“There are no stars where I come from,” he said. “But there are seven moons and seven suns, each one a different color. And there are no alligators.”

A large smile spread across my face, and I playfully slapped him on the knee.

“What else is different?” I asked.

“In places, the shadow world looks just like this world. There’s green grass and trees and birds. But where I’m from, the ground is one long sheet of shiny obsidian glass.” He waved his hand out over the water. “Like this, in a way, only solid beneath your feet. We call that area the Black Cliffs, because of the jagged cliffs of black rock that look out onto the ocean.”

I listened in awe. It was hard to believe he came from a different world. When I looked at him, I felt that we were the same. I had so many questions about what his life was like there, but I didn’t interrupt. I just let him talk.

“During the day, the sky is the most beautiful shade of purple,” he said. “I wish you could see it.”

My stomach fluttered. “Me too,” I said. “What about your hometown? Where did you grow up?”

“I grew up in the city of Leuxia,” he said. “The largest city in the Northern Kingdom. It’s home to over five million demons.”

“So, basically, just like Peachville,” I said, winking.

Jackson laughed. “It couldn’t be more different,” he said. “The buildings are all made of dark glass and a golden metal mined from the nearby countryside. The streets of the city are made of a dark stone we call malorite. You wouldn’t believe how beautiful it is.”

“Do you have cars?” I asked. “Or electricity?”

“No cars,” he said. “We don’t need them. A shadow demon by nature can shift into mist and fly through the atmosphere faster than you can imagine. As for electricity, we have something similar, but it doesn’t take fuel to create. All of our energy is magical. You remember the black soul stone the crow witch used to drain Caroline’s power?”

I nodded. How could I ever forget it?

“It was invented by a powerful demon named Soshana. She found a way to infuse the stone with powerful demon magic from the elders who have moved on,” he said. He lowered his head. “It’s complicated, I guess. But like all magic, it can be useful as long as it’s not exploited.”

“And what about your family?” I asked. “Is Aerden your only brother?”

“Yes,” he said. “But I have two sisters. Illana and Orian. You’d like them. They’re rebels just like you.”

I smiled and looked up at him. Our knees touched in the tiny boat, and I still felt like we were too far apart. Having him finally open up to me about his life and his family was like finally drinking water after being in the desert for a hundred days.

“Harper, I know you’ve been wanting to know about my powers,” he said. “It’s not always easy for me to open up about my feelings. It’s been so long since I had anyone I could talk to.”

“You can tell me anything,” I said softly.

“I know,” he said.

I leaned closer and took his hand in mine.

“The shadow demons are an extremely magical and powerful race, and it’s been really hard for me to go without those powers for the past fifty years.”

“But now you have them back?” I asked.

He nodded slowly. “I wish I could explain it to you, but it’s not something I completely understand,” he said. “That day when we found Caroline in the circle of black roses? That was the day everything changed for me. Before that, I didn’t think it was possible to break the spell the Order put on me. Trust me, I looked everywhere for a type of magic that could give me my powers back, but nothing worked.”

“When I was trying to save Caroline, I could feel the roses pulling me into the center,” I said. “I remember seeing you come to help me. I felt you trying to pull me out of the roses, but I couldn’t hear anything. It was like I was under water. Everything was muffled and dark from the pain.”

“Do you remember what happened next?”

“You pointed to my necklace,” I said. “And I understood that what you wanted me to do was summon Aerden for his help.”

“So you let the necklace touch the magical barrier,” he said. “And Aerden came.”

“That’s where things get kind of fuzzy,” I said. My stomach was full of nervous butterflies. I’d been waiting to hear what happened to him that day.

“I was holding on to you, pulling as hard as I could, but you were slipping away from me,” he said, his eyes dark and stormy. “And then Aerden’s spirit stepped into my body. It was the strangest feeling, like inhaling such raw power. My entire body felt electric and so incredibly strong. I don’t know how to explain it except to say that by joining his power with mine, Aerden became like a key. He unlocked the powers that had been sealed inside of me for so long.”

I listened, my body tingling with excitement. “So you have all of your old powers back?” I asked.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I feel strong. I can definitely feel the old power flowing through me, but I can’t really test them all. I don’t want to take the risk of someone in the Order finding out that I’ve got my powers back.”

I thought for a second. My skin broke out in goosebumps. “You spent all that time trying to find a way to get your powers back, and in the end, it happened accidentally. Call it fate or whatever, but the bottom line is that there was a way,” I said. “And if there was a way to break that spell, there’s got to be a way to break the spell that binds me to Aerden.”

Sadness settled in Jackson’s eyes. “Even if that’s true,” he said. “It could take decades to find the answer.”

Silence stretched out between us. It was the unspoken words that hit me in the deepest part of my heart. I only had a little more than a year before the Order would initiate me. We didn’t have decades to figure this out.

We were running out of time.