The Demon Girl

by Penelope Fletcher

  “Focus,” I said, and thumped him lightly on the back of his thigh with my tail.

  “I’m trying to relax you. You’re too wound up and ready to break.”

  “I want this over with. I want him dead.”

  He sighed and muttered, “This is not going to end well.”

  I twisted round to look him in the face, unsure of what he meant. He looked at Conall and his lips pressed into a thin line. Breandan was skilled at schooling his expression and I had to watch him closely to see if he was mad, pissed or upset. I was going for mad.

  “What?” I asked, because it became apparent he’d realized something before I had. I stepped out of his arms and he let me. “What are you both not saying?”

  I looked to Conall, the mighty warrior who was strong enough to massacre a small army of his kind. He glowed, brighter than any other I had seen, except when Breandan and I were suffering the effects of our bond. Conall was beautiful, a face of hard angles and smooth planes.

  His eyes were gold, a family trait it seemed, since mine were the same, only lighter. His muscled chest heaved with a sigh.

  “The trail has gone cold.”

  I stared at him.

  “You’re lying.” Even as I said the words I flushed, but kept my stare defiant. Conall could not lie. Fairies could not lie, except for me. They were bound to speak nothing but the truth by magic. A fairies word once given was law.

  Conall ignored the comment, flicked his hand through the air as if brushing his hurt aside. “It is beyond me. Devlin has worked a spell. There are three different trails, each are cold and each carry his and Wasp’s scent. Less than an hour ago we were half a day away and gaining. Now, it seems we are days behind and losing more time. It is a trick, a spell and I cannot see past it.”

  “Then we follow each trail. One each.”

  “No,” Breandan said.

  “Apart from the fact it would be most unwise to leave you alone, Rae,” Conall said patiently, “what happens when one of us does find them? Or maybe we will find more false trails that we cannot navigate alone.”

  “Then we follow each one,” I said through my teeth. “We pick the most likely, follow for a while, and if we’re wrong we’ll backtrack and start again until we get it right.”

  “And what of the time we lose whilst doing this? What if we come across more false trails? We could spend days going in the wrong direction.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him I was ready to spend my lifetime hunting Devlin. Then I saw the stupidity in such words and my shoulders slumped. I burrowed the toe of my boot into the needle leaf strewn around me. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes.

  My voice was thick when I said, “There must be another way. We can’t just give up. Not just for my rev– sake. Lochlann needs the grimoire before he can start setting things right, doesn’t he.”

  Even if Conall would not give into a selfish endeavourer, such was the nature of revenge; he was the most loyal warrior I knew. He would do anything to secure Lochlann the fairy-lordship because he believed it was the right thing to do.

  I looked up and found Breandan glaring at my brother, who sent him a short look of apology.

  “There is something else we may consider. It is not without its dangers.”

  “It is not a good idea,” Breandan said.

  My tears were gone. Straightening, I cocked my head and tried to look attentive and brave, not desperate to crack some skulls. “Tell me and I’ll do it.”

  “The shifters.”

  My nipped intake of breath was loud in the sudden silence. “Yes,” I hissed, new possibilities opening up like a carnivorous black hole before me. “A pack of were-cats could read each trial and save us time. Which is the closest?”

  “Byron’s pack is close and of the Alfa’s he is the most civilized.”

  “You both forget I have already said no.”

  Breandan sent me a pointed look that told me he was serious. I returned it with some extra

  ‘I’m doing this so back the hell off’. I won, of course. He would not dare deny me this.

  “Lead the way, big bro.”

  Conall grimaced. “My title would do if you wish to call me something other than my birth name.”

  “Huh? What title?”

  “As the oldest surviving member of our family, you may call me Elder.”

  “Na, big bro is fine.”

  Breandan laughed. It seemed the sun shone brighter and his smile made me blink.

  Conall muttered something about fools in love and took off. I followed close behind and Breandan reached out the same moment as I did, to join hands.

  The smell reached me first, warm hay and rich soil. We reached the edge of the forest and my eyebrows disappeared somewhere into my hairline.

  The trees ended abruptly and long green grass flowed outward, rippling in the wind like sea waves. Conall stepped forward and as we drew closer I noticed the grass was green, but peppered with grays and browns, the shading of autumn. As far as I could see there was nothing but undulating land that net the blue sky in the far distance. The beauty was soon lost on me as I realized Conall did not mean to run again.

  “Why have we slowed down,” I asked my brother, trying and failing to keep the impatience from my tone.

  “Open your senses,” he replied quietly.

  I made a rude noise. “Is now really the time for a lesson?”

  He said nothing and the look Breandan sent me soon had me shutting up. As we walked I did as I was told, extending myself. Since I had become a fairy what I could perceive had changed immensely. My body was me, and I was anchored to it, but my consciousness could feel further than just a few feet. My mind could seek out life-forces miles away. I started. There was someone of the two natured here, a male. He was coming closer, curious and wary. He didn’t want to hurt us; it was his job to check we were friendly. I opened my eyes and glanced around. My sight was keen and I had paid little attention to our surroundings other than how pretty it was at a glance. Now, I focused then saw a line of the grass moving in the opposite direction of the rest.

  “The wind is blowing east, it blows our scent right into the sentries,” Breandan explained and pointed to the grass. “It is not polite to run in another’s territory without permission, even if you mean peace.”

  We stopped and waited.

  The big cat leaped forward and screamed at us, mouth pulled back and teeth bared. His ears were flat to his head and his claws scratched up the earth. He was huge. Black and I found myself wondering how the hell I had not seen him in the green grass. It was taller than him, coming up to just below my breast, but still. After his display of dominance he turned his head to look at me, and blinked.

  I laughed and held out my hand. “Hai, it’s good to see you.”

  He padded over and pushed his hand into my hand, purring up a storm.

  “You know this hunter?” Conall asked a hint of surprise and pride in his tone.

  “We met in the forest yesterday morning, when Breandan first found me.”

  The words pulled me up short. Had it really only been two days since I’d met Breandan and Conall? Had it really been so short a time in which my life had been turned upside down and inside out?

  The cat nipped at my leg, then buried his teeth in the material of my jeans and tugged.

  “Will you lead us to Byron, hunter?” Conall asked politely.

  The cat bobbed his head in agreement and plodded forward, back into the plain. He stopped, turned his head back and looked at me.

  “It is an invitation,” Breandan explained and pushed me forward lightly.

  “For what?” I said and joined the cat. I pulled at the fur on his spine playfully. He was so soft to touch.

  The cat bunched his front and hind legs together and leaped forward, taking off at speed that made my mouth drop.

  “To run,” Breandan said and winked, a moment before he and Conall took off too.

  After a beat, I laughed and started be
hind them. I passed them quickly, and found myself following just behind the cat's tail. I tried to catch him up, but always his tail winked in and out of sight. My feet pounded the grass and I found myself going faster. The earth was soft and springy. Unlike the forest, where you often had to jump and doge, here the land was flat and flowed up and down in gentle hills. My wings fluttered and I extended them slightly and found my pace increasing. My tail whiplashed out to steady my balance when I thought I would tumble over, and then I was by the cat's side, keeping up. I smiled and with a last push took the lead, laughing as I did so.

  Breandan shouted something sounding terrified, and I glanced behind.

  Something brown and heavy crashed into me from the side, and I went down. Rolling over the floor until I stopped and felt something sharp drag at my hip. I smelt blood. I stopped and gasped.

  A slender lioness growled fiercely before me. She too, was starting to stand, her huge yellow eyes locked on me. I scrambled up and back up a pace. She crouched, ready to pounce but then the panther skidded to a stop between us and spun to face the lioness. He screamed at her, a series of loud and commanding bleats. Then he paced forward and bit her on the neck, pushing her down onto the floor. She didn’t resist him and the change in her posture was instant. She lowered her head and whined. Her ears were pressed against her skull in submission and her tail pointing down.

  The panther shook her roughly, I saw his jaw flex around her neck and for a moment I feared he would kill her. Then let go.

  He plodded over to me and head butted me in the leg, hard.

  I got a distinct feeling of anger radiating from him.

  “Sorry,” I said and knelt down to look him in the face. “It wasn’t her fault, and I’m sorry.”

  “Good,” Conall said. I hadn’t heard him arrive. It was then I noticed he had Breandan pinned to the floor. He let my scowling life-mate up then bowed humbly. “Forgive me.”

  Anger flashed across Breandan’s face, before he composed himself. “There is nothing to forgive. You were right. It would have gone badly if I had interfered.”

  I flushed. What I had done was plain stupid. Of course the shifters would have more than one sentry posted. Lost in the joy of running I had forgotten we were drawing nearer to the heart of the Pride. The lioness would have smelt me coming and instantly reacted to what could be a hostile invader.

  Our little group stood still for a moment, before the panther took the lead again. The lioness slinked to his side, head still bowed in submission.

  Breandan held out his hand.

  “I guess you want to keep a hold on me now,” I said and yanked on the end of my hair in irritation.

  A small smiled played on his lips. “Just for a little while.”

  Grumbling to myself I didn’t hesitate to entwine my fingers with him. His skin glowed brighter and he smiled. I felt my muscles unclench and a troublesome anxiety that had gathered between my shoulder blades release. I relaxed and sighed. Breandan seemed to be experiencing similar sensations, since he closed his eyes and rolled his shoulders.

  "That is better," he said, satisfied and tugged me along after him.

  The were-cats traveled in front of us, and soon the lioness pulled ahead but the panther stayed close. Soon, I saw small house like shape up ahead, smoke and I caught a faint waft of cooking meat, sweat and warm animal. We drew closer to the heart of the shifter Pride and I sensed may more beings around us. Their auras were quieted violent and unstable, as if they saw us as a threat, and I found it upsetting. We passed through unhindered since we had the panther with us, and I wondered what would have happened if we had tried to come here un chaperoned.

  The panther came to a stop and dipped his head low, made a rumbling sound at the back of his throat, and his tail hit the floor a few times. Breandan shifted so he stood in front of me, shielding my body.

  I craned my head to peek around him.

  I had thought Lochlann, Breandan’s brother was big. This guy was massive. He towered over me, and looked as solid as a tree. There was nothing delicate or soft about his abs and pectorals that looked like they’d been chiseled into existence. He was missing one eye, and a large scar ran down from the top of his forehead to the tip of his cheek.

  The power and dominance radiating from him named him as the Pride Alfa.

  “Alec, Change,” he growled.

  The panther lay down on its side and started to writhe in the dirt, and patchy grass.

  I watched, morbidly fascinated by the change. Soon, I wished I hadn’t.

  There was no smoke, or gentle, graceful movements. No instant shift from animal to human. It was horrible and ugly. At one point, the panther was a deformed mass of quivering, convulsing flesh. It’s jet black fur seemed to shrink back into its skin, which smoothed out to become human like. The mess that had once been a panther groaned; half human, half animal.

  I shuddered and cringed into Breandan who wrapped his arms around me. I pressed my eyes shut and buried my head into his solid chest. I could smell blood, sweat and something floral, but pungent to the point my nose burned. The heat coming from where the shifter Changed was immense; like a fire raged nearby. There was a thick, glooping sound, a crack and snap of bone. The lush tearing of muscle.

  I put my fingers in my ears and plugged my nose by holding my breath.

  A minute passed and I thought my lungs would burst. Breandan pulled one of my hands down and nudged my chin up with the other.

  “It is done, love,” he said, and ran his finger down the bridge of my nose.

  I peeked an eye open, and was rewarded with the sight of a muscular and naked boy. Body slick with blood and sweat he crawled his way toward me. He reached me and nudged his head into my hand. Flustered, I patted him twice, cringing as I did so then stepped back. He blinked up at me, and I recognized the colour of his irises, even if they were a different shape.

  “Sorry,” he said, raspy. “It takes a while for my brain to think, human and not cat.

  “Rae,” I blurted. “Hai.”

  He smiled and stood, up. He wobbled for a moment, but once he’d steadied his legs, he held out his hand. "Alec," he said.

  I stared at the hand, then him.

  A DEMON DAY will be out SUMMER 2011.

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