The Shadow Children (The Demon-Born Trilogy Book 1)

by L. C. Hibbett

  Eve snapped back to face us. “What are you waiting for, Cain? Go.”

  Cain looked down the line and nodded once. I bit my lip and tried not to get in anyone’s way.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Stepping through the slip was as easy as walking over a threshold. One moment my feet rested on coarse, moonlit grass and the next they were planted on a smooth, polished stone floor. I could see the muscles in Lydia’s back tensing as we crept through the deserted hallway. Cain and Samuel stepped to the side, allowing Jasmine and Elijah to lead the way. New York. The cell that Jasmine and Elijah were part of as children, Lucas too. I looked around, taking in the details of my friends’ childhood home.

  At the end of the hallway there was a large paneled door, with frosted glass on either side and an umbrella stand to the right. I blinked at the daylight streaming through the windows, disorientated by the realisation we had just walked to the other side of the ocean.

  Lucas and Elijah nodded in silent agreement. I felt a pinch of anxiety as Elijah gave Jasmine a gentle tap on the back. She took a sharp right and led us down a side corridor, running her fingers along the wood-clad walls with her eyes closed.

  My palms prickled and I looked enviously at the others gripping their Spirit Blades. I wished I had brought a weapon. I thought for a moment of the umbrellas by the door but abandoned that notion as quickly as it had come. Mary Poppins wouldn’t cut it against anything we might face tonight.

  Jasmine stopped at a doorway and pushed it open to reveal a recreational area. The polished pine floor was strewn with beanbags and cushions. Every corner held different equipment— art materials, musical instruments, computers, a library. One entire wall was comprised of glass, and light flooded into every nook and cranny. In the center of the floor lay a single child’s shoe.

  Jasmine ground to a halt and raked the end wall with her fingertips. Lucas and Elijah pulled closer to her, blocking Jasmine’s small frame from view. I heard a rhythm being tapped against the plasterboard. Once, twice, three times.

  I looked at Lydia and Cain, my eyebrows raised, but they were both watching the wall intently. We waited, seconds ticking by. Nothing happened. Lucas kicked a press and I jumped. The cracking of his shoe against the wood rang out like a gunshot in the eerie silence. Cain reached out with his hand but Lucas shrugged it away.

  “Upstairs. We’ll check the Master’s study. That was always charmed.” Jasmine's voice sounded strained.

  Lucas kicked the press again, splintering the wood. “Come on, Jasmine. Don’t talk crap. I saw them when Elijah opened the slip. There were Suckers everywhere, no way anyone could have gotten up the stairs.”

  He banged his fist against the wall again. Lydia grabbed his arm and dug her nails into his wrist. “Stop it, Lucas.”

  Lucas exhaled and leaned over to press his forehead against Lydia’s shoulder. It began to rain outside and fat drops pelted against the windowpanes. Jasmine and Sam tried running their hands over the walls again. Elijah and Cain disappeared down the corridor but reappeared moments later in silence. I wrapped my arms around myself as if physical pressure could mold me into something tougher.

  Listen.

  My head snapped up and the hair on the back of my neck stood to attention. We weren’t alone. I held my hand in the air. There it was again. A flicker of life, a flare of colored light at the edges of my subconcious. My eyes were drawn to the spot where Jasmine had touched the wall. I stepped forward on shaking legs and trailed my fingertips over the plasterboard.

  I felt it again, that tremor of life. “Hello?”

  I pressed my lips together, embarrassed by the obvious quiver in my voice. The wall shimmered under my touch, and I stumbled backwards with a squeak.

  Lydia grabbed my shoulder. “What did you do? Do it again.”

  My pulse was throbbing in my neck. Jasmine caught my hand. “It’s okay. Just try.”

  Sam met my eye over her shoulder and nodded. I swallowed and stepped forward, searching for the glimmer of life. My palm caressed the cold surface. I smelled popcorn and hot chocolate, and the world trembled in front of my eyes. The wall appeared to give way. I was blinded by a blaze of light as the brickwork cracked and crumbled to reveal another white wall with a door in the center. I stood back, blinking.

  “Who are you?” The voice was steady. Barring the entrance was a boy, no more than nine or ten years old. His hand trembled as he held the Spirit Blade out but his glare was unyielding. “I said, who you are?”

  Lucas shouldered me out of the way, knocking the blade from the boy’s hand and wrestling him into a bear hug.

  I flattened myself against the wall as the others pushed past me. It was a small windowless room with strange padding on the wall and markings etched across the concrete floor. I followed the patterns with my eyes and stared at a huddle of bodies, mostly children, pressed against the back wall.

  Elijah and Cain reached them first, calling to Lydia to stay back. She ignored their warning, tearing across the room like a banshee at the sight of Frank’s limp body, his head cradled in a small girl’s lap. Sam grabbed her by the shoulders, twisting her body so she was facing him. “We get them home, we fix him. Okay?”

  Lydia nodded, looking back at Elijah and Cain gently lifting Frank off the ground.

  Cain turned to Sam as they headed for the door. “Everyone follows us, make sure they’re all through before Jasmine seals the gate.”

  Lydia and Jasmine herded the small group through the door, and Lucas guided the crowd toward the slip, still clutching the small boy by the shoulder. Emmanuel and Peter were waiting on the grass when we got back, surrounded by several other Shadow Children with lit Spirit Blades. Emmanuel rushed to Cain’s side and ran a hand over Frank’s forehead. “Get him to the house. Take him to Eve, I haven’t enough strength to heal him, I’m sorry.”

  Sam narrowed his eyes, and a shadow crossed his face.

  Cain hoisted Frank carefully onto his shoulder and ran. Lydia sprinted after them. Peter counted the children as the came through the slip, and his eyes widened. “Did you find them all?”

  Jasmine pursed her lips as she sealed the slip with delicate pinches. “We nearly didn’t, Peter. Grace was the one who breached the barrier. I couldn’t sense them at all, the wards were too strong.”

  I blushed and jogged up the field to avoid Peter’s scrutiny. Lucas looked over his shoulder at me and smiled, his eyes full. A small girl with brown hair tripped on the root of a tree, and I reached out to steady her. She slipped her hand inside mine. It was warm and delicate. I found her. My chest expanded to contain the intense wave of emotion. This is what it felt like to be a Shadow Child.

  Sam caught up with us, falling into step on the other side of the little girl. She smiled up at me. I smiled back.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Just ask her does she want porridge or scrambled eggs, Dawn.” Cat’s voice crept in around the edges of my sleep. I was aware of figures standing around me. I cracked one eye open to find several little faces peering down at me.

  Sneaking a hand out from under my blankets I leaped up, roaring like a dragon, and grabbed Dawn by the waist. Her friends galloped back to the kitchen, squealing and giggling. “Eggs, my little warriors. Bring me eggs!”

  I swung Dawn around and deposited her onto a high stool. She beamed up at me, shaking her silky copper hair out of her eyes. “Mom, she wants eggs.”

  Cat waved a wooden spoon at me and stepped over a tiny girl rolling across the kitchen floor like a hedgehog. The little beads at the end of her braids clattered against the wood with every rotation. Cat smiled down at the small child. “Dalila, maybe you could roll into the living room? Plenty of space in there.”

  She took bowls from the press. “So we have five people for porridge with peanut butter, and we have four who want scrambled eggs and toast.”

  “And one for black coffee and a cookie,” Dawn chimed in. Cat met my eyes for a moment before turning her attention back to breakf
ast. Eve looking for sugar at eight in the morning. We both knew what that meant.

  I closed the bedroom door behind me and stepped over the piles of sleeping bags on the ground as I pulled on a clean set of training clothes. My hair was still damp from the shower I had taken in the middle of the night. I stretched my spine until I heard it crack and cursed the two-seater couch.

  Eve was at the table by the time I got back, dipping a chocolate chip cookie into her coffee.

  “Where did all the kids go?” I grabbed a fork and settled down in front of the one untouched plate of eggs, looking around the room, baffled.

  Cat popped her head out the bathroom door. “Paul came and collected them for class. They just swallowed their food whole. I think it was the novelty of eating somewhere that isn’t the dining hall.”

  I poked at a lump of congealed egg that had somehow attached itself to the underside of the table. “Yeah, I think meals in the dining hall is a good idea. Kids are messy eaters.”

  Cat smiled at me around her toothbrush, ducking back inside the bathroom when Eve cleared her throat. I took a bite of toast. She drained her cup and placed it on the saucer. “My presence is required in the meeting hall. Most of the New York cell have regained consciousness. Deirdre is waiting for you in the Magic rooms. Emmanuel has excused the Seniors from all other classes today.”

  I swallowed my food. “Where was Emmanuel last night when the Spirits attacked?”

  Eve dabbed her mouth with a linen napkin. “He was feeling unwell and asked me to act in his stead.”

  I drew my lips together and tried to word my next question carefully but Eve had already moved away from the table. I grabbed her sleeve. “Where did you learn to fight like that?” The look on her face send my pulse racing and more words burst from between my lips “That was good last night, wasn’t it?”

  Eve raised her brow.

  “Not good that people were attacked, but good that we could help. You totally blitzed it.” I wanted to cover my head with the tablecloth, but verbal diarrhea continued to flow. “We were useful, you know? We helped out. I think the Shadow Children were impressed, Eve.” I ran a finger around the rim of my glass. “It was nice. Working as a team. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stay here for a while.”

  Eve shook my hand off her sleeve and clasped my shoulders. “These people are not our friends, Grace. We don’t need to impress them. They have not earned our trust.” She shot a glance at the bathroom door. “You have to protect yourself. Be wary.”

  I took a deep breath, fighting the tremor in my throat. “You were the one who said that this place might be what I’d wanted. Somewhere to be me, without hiding?”

  Eve’s grip tightened. “We don’t know what we are dealing with yet, Grace. This attack changes everything.”

  There was a knock on the door and Eve twisted her head. I shrank away from her grasp and slid out of my chair and into the living area. Cat sprang out of the bathroom and dashed across the floor. She swung the door open to reveal Emmanuel. Eve didn’t move a muscle. “Catherine, I will take that look of disappointment as a compliment to Cain, as opposed to an insult to my good self.”

  Cat blushed and ushered him inside, offering him tea or coffee. Emmanuel shook his head. “No, thank you. Eve and I have a matter of some urgency to discuss. I also suspect Paul would be aggrieved if I delayed you further. He appeared to be struggling with some of our newest recruits when I passed the training hall.”

  Cat grinned. “I’ll head straight down to him. Grace, do you want to help out? I’m guessing classes have been canceled? Jabol and Cain have been in the dining hall all night.”

  Emmanuel held up a hand. “Grace is to go to the magic room to join her group for lessons with Deirdre. We are hoping to return everything to normal as quickly as possible. I am certain you don’t want half the children in Shadow Hall camping on your floor forever. Everyone should have returned to their own quarters this evening.”

  Cat smiled as she slipped her phone into her pocket. “Well, we’re happy to have a slumber party here anytime. Dawn has never been so excited.”

  Emmanuel smiled. “Hopefully there won’t be any repeat performances, but thank you for your support last night, Catherine.” Emmanuel touched my forearm, his sleeve riding up to reveal a bandaged wrist. “And thank you, Grace. It seems without your intuition the children and Frank might not have been recovered before the inevitable arrival of the Guardians or the return of the Spirit Demons. We are in your debt.”

  I bit my lip hoping to disguise the swell of pride in my veins. “It was nothing. See you later.”

  Cat linked my arm and steered me out the door. I groaned as we made our way down the corridor. “She’s just impossible. Black is white, white is black. If I don’t like something, she’ll love it. If I decide it’s okay, then she’ll decide it’s cow dung.”

  Cat nudged me with her elbow. “Cain said they wouldn’t have been able to hold back the Spirit Demons without her.”

  I shivered. “She was fantastic, Cat. Where did she learn to do that? She didn’t look anything like a ballerina on that field. She was like a sorceress from a fantasy movie.”

  Cat stopped outside the scarred door that led to the music rooms. “Eve’s a good woman, Grace. Be patient with her. She bound her existence to our protection for a decade, and yours for almost a decade more. It must be hard for her to try and figure out what role she has in our lives now. She has held your hand since you were an infant, and now your growing up and finding your own path. I can’t imagine how frightened I’ll be when I have to watch Dawn starting a life of her own.”

  I tapped my foot against the door, enjoying the sensation of the magic shocking my system. “That’s different. Your Dawn’s mom. Eve isn’t my mother, she has always been very clear about that.”

  Cat gave me a stern look. “Grace, just because she doesn’t want you to call her mom, doesn’t mean she doesn’t care about you. A label can’t define love.”

  I shook my head and swallowed, changing the subject. “Were you frightened last night, Cat?”

  She looked directly into my eyes. “I was terrified. Couldn’t breathe until I saw you and Cain come through that door. I was so angry with Eve for letting you go through that slip.” She laced her fingers through mine. “And so proud of you when Cain told me what you had done.”

  She gave my hand a little tug before swinging the door open and pushing me over the threshold. I looked back at her. “You’re not coming in?”

  Cat shook her head. “Paul is probably cracking up. The junior group was wild enough before adding in a bunch of extra kids. I better go help.” She prodded me in the back, inching me forward. “You’ll be fine.”

  She gave me a salute before vanishing down the stairwell, her light footsteps barely making a sound.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I exhaled and braced myself before easing the door of Deirdre’s classroom open. The heavy velvet drapes had been pulled in front of the windows, leaving the room in total darkness. I paused on the threshold, waiting for my eyes to adjust.

  A spark lit in the center of the room. Then another, and another, until the air was filled with tiny pinpricks of lights. They swirled and danced like living creatures, each one more brilliant than the next. I watched as they drew together in a tight sphere. A tiny sun. It blazed in the center of the room, suspended midair for a moment before exploding into a thousand little fireworks and then fading away, leaving the room in darkness once more.

  “Nicely done, Jose. Prya. Much improved.” Deirdre’s voice startled me, and I lost my grip on the door, letting it slam against its frame. “Drapes please.”

  Light flooded the room as Elijah and Sam pulled the curtains open. Jose and Prya were standing in the center of the room beside Deirdre, who beckoned me over to her. “Come on in, Grace. Seems like that magic is finally stirring, well done last night.”

  I tugged at the sleeves of my top, wishing my training pants had pockets I could jam my
hands into. Something thumped against the wall in the adjoining room, and Deirdre disappeared through the door, rolling her eyes and muttering about corporal punishment.

  Jasmine sidled over beside me as Jose and Prya retreated into the far corner to practice their light show again. She bared her teeth. “Megan’s brother and his friend are killing each other next door trying to master the Spirit Blade. Jabol is the patient magic tutor. I think Deirdre might barbecue them.”

  I grinned, scanning the room. Megan was sitting on a windowsill with her elbows resting on her knees. Sam was leaning against the wall, his eyes focused on me. I crossed my arms and turned back to Jasmine. “Is Lydia still with Frank? Is he doing okay?”

  Jasmine nodded and pushed her glasses up on her nose. “She won’t leave his side. He was lucky. If we hadn’t found him when we did…” Her chin wobbled.

  Elijah bounded across the floor and gave Jasmine’s shoulder a squeeze “He’s going to be fine, Jas.” He punched me lightly on the arm. “You did good, kid.”

  “Kid? Seriously, how much older than me are you?” I backhanded him across the chest. He caught my hand and held onto it for a second. I flushed and extracted my fingers, glancing over my shoulder at the far corner of the room where Sam stood. The door creaked open again, and Lucas slid into the room. The skin under his eyes looked bruised and drawn.

  “Lucas.” Sam flew across the room, almost knocking Lucas off his feet. “Is everyone all right? Frank? Ozzie? Your mom?”

  Lucas lifted his hand to cover Sam’s on his shoulder. “They’re good. Everyone’s okay.”

  He twisted his body to face me, and I clenched my back teeth together tightly, fighting the stinging at the back of my throat. “Grace, thank you. If you hadn’t been able to sense them. If the Guardians had gotten there before we could find them…” Lucas pushed his unstyled golden fringe from his eyes roughly.