Demons of the Sun

by Madsen, Cindi

  Automatically, Persephone lifted her hand to the tender spot. “Nothing. Just ran into a door in the middle of the night. Next time I’m so turning on the light.” She gave Miss Nelson her biggest smile. “So, I’m good. Thanks for asking.”

  “If you ever need help with anything, you know you can talk to me.”

  The kind of help Persephone needed was way out of this optimistic-about-life teacher’s league, but she nodded to make her happy. “Sure thing.”

  Before Miss Nelson could ask about Gran, like she usually did, Persephone rushed out of the classroom and down the hall. For the first time all day, Jax wasn’t forcing his way into her personal space. She shoved her books into her locker, then leaned back against the cool metal door and took in a couple of deep breaths of the stagnant air.

  Man, this was a long day.

  People moved up and down the halls, talking and laughing. She envied them for what they didn’t know. They had no clue how many demons were out at night, projecting human forms over their true selves. Other people her age could talk about things like clothes, TV shows, or something that always caused her heart to constrict—lame parents. What she wouldn’t give to have her parents back. Losing them had devastated her. Losing Gran nearly crushed her.

  Persephone hadn’t even gotten the chance to properly mourn. Instead, she had to hide Gran’s passing and deal with the fact she was now the sole protector of the dagger. With the knowledge Dad, Mom, and Gran had taught her, and armed with Gran’s detailed journal, Persephone could only rely on herself. It was for the best, but it didn’t make it any less painful.

  Jax approached her and she groaned. That wasn’t a near long enough break.

  He held up his notebook. Across the page, the words I’ll walk you home were written.

  “One, I’ve got a car, and two, I’m not going home right now.” She shifted her weight off her locker and charged down the hall. What she needed was an aggressive soccer game to forget about Jax, Gran, and all her responsibilities. Thank the gods she knew just where to find one.

  Persephone found Dean, Danielle, and the rest of the gang waiting on the bleachers next to the field. With February on its way out, the temperature got warmer by the day. Sunshine with a cool breeze made it perfect soccer-playing weather.

  Persephone sat next to Danielle, shrugged off her jacket, and dug into her backpack for a hair tie. Charlane and Eva, girls Persephone and Danielle hung out with from time to time, sat behind them, chatting a million-miles-a-minute.

  Danielle took the red sucker out of her mouth and nudged Persephone. “That guy’s coming. Jax, was it?”

  Persephone blew out her breath. “Yes it’s Jax, yes I know, and I’m purposely avoiding him.”

  “Why would you avoid him? He’s hot with a capital H.”

  “He’s also annoying with a capital A. He won’t leave me alone.”

  Biting her red-from-the-sucker lip, Danielle gave a longing sigh. “I wish he wouldn’t leave me alone. You send him my way once you break his heart.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s not following me because he likes me, it’s because he—” Way to think before you speak, Persephone. “He feels obligated. Yeah. Because our families go way back, and now they’re gone, he thinks he needs to protect me.”

  “Well if anyone could protect you, it’d be a guy that looked like that. And he likes you all right, poor guy. Go easy on him. Just because he’s a guy doesn’t mean he doesn’t have feelings.”

  “His ego’s so inflated, I doubt he’ll notice if I go easy or not.” Persephone finally found her hair band, pulled her hair into a ponytail and stood.

  Danielle grabbed Persephone’s wrist, and Persephone swiveled back to face her. “You okay?” Danielle asked. “Like really okay, not in the way you just always say you are.”

  The concern in Danielle’s eyes made Persephone want to break down and cry. Not the most intimidating way to start a soccer game, that was for sure. “I’m a little stressed, and seeing Jax makes me think of my family and how much I miss them. But I’m dealing, and a brutal soccer game will make me feel better.”

  Danielle released her and swatted her on the butt. “Go get em, then.”

  Persephone laughed, immediately feeling better.

  But then she turned and came face to face with Jax—well, more like face to his massive chest. With a sigh, she glanced at Danielle and the gang. “Girls, this is my shadow, Jax. Keep him company while I go play.”

  Danielle, Charlane, and Eva beamed up at him. Danielle grabbed his hand and pulled him next to her. “This is where the real fun is. Believe me, you don’t want to be anywhere near Persephone when she goes into sports mode.”

  Glad Jax was momentarily distracted, Persephone hurried over to where the guys were huddled. Dean looked over her shoulder at the bleachers. “Is that guy going to just follow you around forever?”

  “Apparently.”

  “I guess we better show him exactly who he’s dealing with then. We already picked teams, and it’s you, me, and Rob, with Luis as goalie, against the other guys.” Dean leaned in and whispered, “Rob begged to be on our team today, because he doesn’t want to have to guard you anymore.”

  That made her happy, which was probably why Dean had mentioned it. He always could tell when she needed a pick me up. “You’re the best.”

  A half-cocked grin hit his lips. “Don’t go getting all mushy on me. I need the stone-cold player everyone fears.”

  Forcing the smile from her face, she plastered on her most serious expression. “Got it. Less mush, more crush.”

  “That’s more like it.”

  The two of them joined Rob in the middle of the field, and the game started. Persephone unleashed all the pent-up frustration she’d been feeling on the other team—holding back a little, of course. She wanted to expend energy, not put someone in the hospital.

  And for a blissful forty-five minutes, all that mattered was the game.

  ***

  Jax watched Persephone go up and down the field, getting around her defender, and scoring goals. The first time one of the guys rammed her, he jumped to his feet, ready to go tell him to back off. But then he noticed the big smile on Persephone’s face.

  The next play, she floored the guy who’d bumped into her, and he wondered if he should go tell her to back off.

  He had a feeling she was holding back a bit, though. I wonder how it’d be if I went up against her.

  Could he keep up? He thought so, but he wasn’t sure, and there was something oddly exciting about that thought.

  She scored another goal, they called the game, and she walked over to him—well, more like Danielle, but he was there.

  “Don’t you dare ruin my high,” she said, eyeing him.

  Jax held up his hands. “After what I just saw, I wouldn’t think of it.”

  Dean stepped next to her, put his hand on her back, and gave Jax a pointed look. “You want us to stick around?”

  Those stormy eyes of hers flicked from Dean to Jax, then back to Dean. “I’ll be okay. See you tomorrow.” She gave Danielle a quick hug. “Rain check on the Upper East Siders marathon? I’m dying to see the new lickable love interest and all, but I think I better take care of some other things tonight.”

  Lickable love interest? Did I hear that right?

  “I bet you do,” Danielle said, looking at him, then grinning at Persephone. She and Dean walked away, leaving Jax alone with Persephone. And after that whole lickable comment he was having a hard time focusing on anything but her full lips.

  She put her bag over her shoulder and started for the parking lot, slow enough he figured she meant for him to follow. A couple of strides caught him up to her. “So tell me, how much were you holding back?”

  “Enough that I didn’t send anyone home with crushed bones,” she said.

  “So how’d you get to be so strong?”

  “Practice.”

  A tiny girl keeping up with boys that had at least fifty pounds
on her took more than practice, but she was finally semi-talking to him, so he decided not to push the matter.

  “And how much do your friends know?”

  Persephone dropped her chin. “Pretty much nothing. Dean and Danielle are the only ones who know my gran died, and it was all I could do to convince them not to tell anyone I’m living alone now. I didn’t think adding, ‘Oh yeah, and there are demons and I’ve got a sacred duty to attend to,’ would do anything but make them think I was straight-up crazy.”

  She reached her gray Mazda3, then turned back to look at him, like she couldn’t decide what move to make next.

  Usually, his grin could win anyone over. Since she seemed to be immune to it—not just immune, it seemed to anger her—he kept his expression as close to neutral as he could. “Are you really going to make me walk it, because you know I will.”

  She sighed, then hit the unlock button on her remote. “Get in then.”

  Persephone started the engine and pulled out of the school parking lot. The tension in her features was gone, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes held a light he hadn’t seen in them before.

  “So soccer is the key to making you happy?” he asked.

  Her smile brightened her whole face. “While I’m playing, everything else fades away. It’s how I get out my aggression, and it’s also the one time I’m happy to have a little extra strength. To be different.”

  “That’s how I feel when I’m fighting demons.” He twisted toward her so he could gauge her reaction to his next question. “Have you ever fought one before?”

  The happiness drained from her face, and he wished he’d stuck with soccer talk. “Not fought. But I’ve seen some before.” Her voice shook as she continued, “And even though I was twelve, and there were more than I could count, I’ve always wished I would’ve joined the fight. I promised my mom, though…” She pressed her lips together and tears gathered in her eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I just thought…With how good you are at fighting, I wondered if you’d killed some before.”

  “For years I wanted to go out and kill as many as I could find. Like maybe if I killed them all I wouldn’t feel so empty. I think about it sometimes still.” Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the steering wheel. “So, how many have you killed?”

  “I started about the time I was fourteen. With my dad and uncles, at first, then eventually I started going out on my own. I stopped keeping track after one hundred, and that was well over two years ago.”

  Persephone pulled up in front of her squat brown house, shut off the engine, and twisted to face him. “Well, I guess no matter how frustrating it is that you refuse to leave me alone, killing that many demons counts for something. Barring you’re not a big liar, which I still haven’t ruled out.”

  Jax grinned at her. “From you, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  She fought it, but a smile broke through, and damned if it didn’t shoot him right through the heart.

  As he followed her down the crack-ridden sidewalk, he thought he’d pegged her wrong. She put on a tough front, but under the surface was a fragile girl who’d lost her whole family and had the weight of the world on her shoulders. He knew better than to call her fragile to her face, though.

  Now he just had to figure out how to convince her his plan was the way to go.

  Chapter Four

  Persephone dropped her bag off to the side and automatically locked the door behind them, wigging the knob to make sure it was secure. Jax sat on the couch and kicked his feet up on the coffee table.

  A metallic thud drew her attention. “What was that?” she asked.

  Jax’s eyebrows drew together. “What was what?”

  Persephone sat next to him. “Did you take a knife to school?”

  “Of course not. I took my sword.”

  “You took a sword to school! Are you crazy?”

  “It’d be crazy to not be prepared.” He pulled up the leg of his jeans and unstrapped a gold cylinder from his ankle. “Not just any sword, either.” He leaned closer, holding the cylinder up. “See this button? You just—” he pressed it, and a silver blade shot out into a full-length sword.

  “That’s…awesome.”

  “Less conspicuous than the average sword, too.” He twisted the handle toward her. “You want to try it out?”

  Persephone took it and stood. The silver blade caught the light as she swung it through the air. It was lightweight, but surprisingly solid. Well-balanced, too, although the hilt was a little bulkier than what she was used to. Lifting the handle to eye level, she noticed the owl and olive branch etched into it. “This has Athena’s symbols on it.”

  “It was a gift from her to my great, great, a bunch of greats, Grandfather Nikas. He was the Warrior who captured the demon Athena wanted for the ceremony. The one that gave Sentries power to hold the dagger.”

  “Your grandfather was there?” All this time she’d been trying to keep her secret, when Jax might already know what Athena used the demon’s blood for. Persephone thought they’d kept it a secret, but—

  “Not for the ceremony. When he brought the demon, she gave him the sword and told him to wait for the Sentries. Once they met up with him, he used the sword to kill the demon wielding the dagger so that the Sentries could take it and hide it.”

  I wish I got a cool sword instead of the supposed gift she gave my ancestors.

  “Anyway, it’s been passed down through my family for generations. Shortly before I left, my father entrusted it to me.” Jax pointed at the sword. “If you push the button again, it’ll go back down.”

  The blade retracted with a zing, and she handed it back to him. “It’s really cool. I still think it’s a bad idea to take it to school, though. We’re safe during the day, and if you get caught with it—”

  “I won’t get caught.”

  Persephone wanted to argue, but it was kind of nice to know he was prepared for whatever might come at them, day or night.

  She jerked a thumb toward the kitchen. “I’m going to go grab a glass of water. You want one?”

  “Sure.”

  The plants lining the kitchen window looked droopy, so Persephone took a moment to water them, then filled two glasses and stepped back into the living room.

  Jax was stretched out on the couch, scratching the top of Turtle’s head.

  Okay, so maybe he’s not so bad.

  She placed the glasses of water on the coffee table and flopped on the couch.

  Turtle abandoned Jax and crawled into her lap. Clumps of cat hair clung to Jax’s black T-shirt.

  “Sorry about all the cat hair,” Persephone said. “It’s one of the fabulous side effects of owning a cat.”

  “It doesn’t bother me.” He picked up the glass in front of him and took a swig. “But if it bothers you, why didn’t you pick out one of those short-haired cats?”

  “You think I picked this cat out?”

  Turtle gave an offended-sounding mew, and Persephone scratched the top of his head. “Sorry, Turtle. I didn’t mean to insult you.”

  Jax smiled at her like she was adorable, which bugged her to no end. “It’s cute how you talk to your cat.”

  “Look, I don’t care if you think I’m all kinds of crazy. Turtle saved me, and I saved him. It’s been just me and him for months, so yes, I talk to my cat.”

  He threw his hands up. “Sorry for thinking you’re cute. It wasn’t meant as an insult, I swear.”

  She waited for the mocking follow up, but it didn’t come. Since she felt stupid for making a big deal about it, she decided to try to explain herself without giving too much away. “After fleeing my home to get away from the demons, my gran and I…We got…separated.” Talking about it, even though she was leaving out most of the details, was harder than she thought.

  Persephone swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I’d only been to New Orleans once before, but Gran had a contact here, and that’s where we were supposed to meet up if anything happened. I tr
aveled as fast as I could, terrified the demons were going to catch up with me…”

  Jax leaned forward, and the concern on his face surprised her. She didn’t want to get into the days on the run, so she charged on with the rest of the story. “Anyway, I didn’t think I was going to make it. By the time I got to New Orleans, I was tired and hungry, and I thought someone—or something—was following me. So I ducked into an alley and hid. Once I sat down, I couldn’t drag myself up. Turtle came over to me—he had a cut up leg and was limping—and snuggled in close. I almost pushed him away, thinking he might have some disease, but he was so warm.”

  She ran her fingers down Turtle’s fur and scratched his stomach. “He kept me warm that night. The next morning, I gathered my strength and got to my feet again. Turtle mewed, this pathetic rattly mew, and I just couldn’t leave him there. So I picked him up and walked the last twenty miles to Carrefour, this restaurant where a woman who knew Gran helped me out till she showed up. Obviously that was before she…” Despite her best efforts to tamp down her emotions, her voice cracked. She sniffed, trying to hold it together, but it wasn’t working. “It’s been a little over three months since she passed away, and I miss her so much that some days I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the day.”

  Now she wished she hadn’t told him the story. She felt raw, and exposed, and way too close to tears.

  When Jax spoke, his voice was soft. “I’m not going to sit here and pretend I know what that’s like. I will tell you I’ve been around Warriors all my life, and you’re still one of the toughest people I’ve ever met.”

  No doubt he was exaggerating, but it made her feel better.

  Jax raised an eyebrow. “So, are you going to tell me now how you got to be so strong?”

  The reason why she was strong was also why she struggled with who she was. Why she felt a darkness in her that she worried might take over someday. Which was another reason she kept people, even her friends, at a distance.

  Persephone shrugged. “I guess I just got lucky.”