Shadow Demons

by Sarra Cannon

  “Your decision, Prima Anderson, is simple. Either promise to never speak of these changes again and agree to submit to the Order’s close supervision of your gate and its members over the next ten years, or continue to wish for something that will never happen. If you choose the latter, you are surely aware of the consequences.”

  The Prima did not cry or scream. She did not beg for her life. Instead, she lifted her palms and produced a bright purple flame. “The witches of Aldeen refuse to live under your rule for another moment,” she said. “If you won’t listen to reason, then we have no choice but to continue to fight for what is just and right. We will not put any more of our girls through this initiation against their will.”

  “The Council will be sorry to hear it.”

  Priestess Winter and the women in black robes prepared for a fight. The Prima threw the first bolt of magic, but it disintegrated into nothingness before it touched the priestess’ robes. The priestess retaliated by throwing heavy chains that shackled the Prima to the stone wall behind her.

  Fighting broke out, and I pressed myself against the wall, helpless. It was chaos as magic shot through the room with bright lights, fire and stones. But no matter how long the Aldeen witches fought, nothing seemed to hurt the women from the High Council. I watched in horror as one by one, the Aldeen witches were turned into statues. Their eyes still moved, showing their terror, but their bodies were as still as stone.

  Priestess Winter held her hands high in the air, revealing for the first time a silver chalice. My hand rose to my mouth. I’d seen a cup like that before. It was the Prima’s cup. Exactly like the one the crows had used with their red stone, and exactly like the one I drank from during the Heritage ceremony at the priestess’ house just last week. Mine had a blue stone, but this one was purple.

  The priestess began to chant in Latin. The purple stone portal to the shadow world began to glow deep within. She took slow steps toward the shackled Prima, then with her other hand, lifted a silver ritual dagger.

  “No,” I screamed, running forward, not wanting to accept that this was real. That I couldn’t change what was about to happen.

  The priestess lifted the dagger to the Prima’s throat and slit it open with one clean slice. I turned away as she brought the cup to the wound and filled it with blood.

  “Take me out of here,” I said. “I don’t know what kind of trick you’re playing here, but this can’t be real. Zara’s mother wouldn’t do something like this.”

  Lea sat beside me on the stone stairs, her eyes full of hatred. “You’re not the only one who thinks this scene is disgusting,” she said. “You’re not the only one who lost sisters on this day. For every one of these witches who died, one of my friends died with them. Do you think I would show you a false memory?”

  I forced myself to look back toward the priestess. As the Prima’s body slumped down into death, the priestess poured her blood on the eye of the portal. It sizzled and hissed as the blood ran down its smooth surface, then, as the town’s Prima gave in to the darkness, the portal stone cracked into a million pieces.

  “This is what they do, Harper,” Lea said, her voice softer than I’d ever heard it before. “They kill anyone who stands in their way, then they blame it on their enemies to provide a reason for war and retaliation. This is who the Order of Shadows really is.”

  Shaken to my core, I crawled up the steps and out into the night, unable to hold back the sobs being torn from my soul. If Lea was right about the Order and they were truly capable of such madness and cruelty, we had to find a way to stop them.

  “Take me back,” I said. “Please.”

  “I’m sorry you had to see this,” she said. “But you needed to understand what kind of people they are. And you needed to know that as long as you fight against the Order, we’re on the same side.”

  I stared up into her black eyes as she took my hand and carried me away from the nightmare in Aldeen.

  This Is The Way Of The Order Of Shadows

  I fell to my knees on the rocky ground, gasping for breath.

  Jackson ran to my side, placing his hand on my back. “Oh my God, are you okay?” he said. He looked up at Lea, fury in his eyes. “What did you do?”

  “I took her to Aldeen,” she said. “She needed to see.”

  “I’m fine,” I said.

  Jackson wiped the tears from my face. “You’re not fine,” he said. “I didn’t want you to find out like that. You should have never had to see something like that.”

  “You knew?” I asked. “You knew the Order was capable of that?”

  He sighed. “Yes, but-“

  “Dammit, Jackson, this is exactly what I’m talking about,” I said, standing up on shaky legs. “You can’t keep everything a secret from me. You try to shelter me from the truth, but I need to know what’s going on. How else am I going to make a difference?”

  “Do you really think you could have done something to stop what happened in Aldeen?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “But if the rest of the recruits knew what was happening…”

  “The High Council is stronger than you can imagine,” he said. “Too much even for us to fight, and we’re some of the most powerful shadow demons from our world.”

  “But those people,” I said, tears falling again. I shook my head and turned away, looking out over the ocean. I wasn’t sure how long we’d been gone, but the heat of the sun had burned off some of the mist. “Why didn’t they fight back? They were slaughtered in minutes.”

  “This is the way of the Order of Shadows,” Lea said. “They hold the secrets to great power, but they don’t share that knowledge with the regular demon gates. They teach the bare minimum of defensive magic to their Primas and the local covens, making them believe that they are well-equipped to fight any foe.”

  “Which would be true for most of the types of enemies a normal demon gate might face,” Jackson said. “Like the Others or some small faction.”

  “But the truth is that their greatest enemy is the Order itself,” Lea said. “Only certain privileged few have access to the really powerful magic. That way, no one can ever challenge the authority of the Council. And anyone who does find out the truth, never lives to tell about it.”

  Silence fell over us. Erick, Joost, Mordecai and Cristo sat near a newly-conjured fire, their heads hung low. Jackson wrapped his arms around me and Lea turned away.

  “I’m sorry I ever thought you guys could be responsible for what happened in Aldeen,” I said finally. “But last night, Erick said something about wanting to bring the pain in Peachville…”

  Erick shook his head. “I was joking,” he said. “It was in poor taste. I forgot you don’t really know us. I guess I assumed that if you understood the kind of person Jackson was, you would understand who we are, too.”

  “What is that you have been doing?” I asked. “How have you been fighting the Order?”

  “You weren’t completely wrong about Aldeen,” Lea said. “We were responsible, but not in the way you thought.”

  I pulled away from Jackson and turned toward Lea. “What do you mean?”

  “We spent nearly six months living in that community,” Mordecai said. “We made friends with the members of the Order and when we were sure we had a small core group of good people, we told them the truth about who we were.”

  My hand flew to my open mouth. That’s how they were fighting the Order? By making friends and trying to educate them on how they were hurting the shadow demons? I had so misjudged them. I felt terrible and confused and angry all at the same time.

  “We should have been there with them to fight,” Lea said. “At least then they might have had a chance.”

  “We couldn’t have known the High Council would come that night,” Mordecai said. “It’s not your fault Lea.”

  “It is my fault,” Lea said. “We should have stayed in Aldeen, but I let my feelings for someone else distract me.” She looked at Jackson, her jaw te
nse. “I thought maybe if we forced you to use your powers, you would wake up and realize that you belonged with us. Once you really accepted the fact that you were back to your old self, you would join us in our mission to change the Order from the inside.”

  “Wait, what do you mean force him to use his powers?” I asked.

  Jackson closed his eyes and sighed. “I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea about my friends,” he said. “And if I told you, I knew you would go crazy.”

  I didn’t like the sound of this. “Tell me,” I said.

  “We’re the ones who sent those illusions for you,” Lea said. “In the woods the night you went to the lake and outside the gym after the cheerleading competition.”

  My hands balled into tight fists. “Why would you do something like that? I thought someone was trying to kill me.”

  “You were never in any real danger,” she said. “We wouldn’t have let anything happen to you. It’s just that we saw how much Jackson cared about you and we knew that if we made it look like someone was attacking you, it would force him to use his powers. Of course, we never expected you to kill that bird on your own before he even got there. You surprised us with that one.”

  “So, what? I was bait?” I asked, my face red with anger. “Scaring the hell out of me was your idea of a game?”

  “I see what you mean about her going crazy, mate,” Cristo said with a laugh. He cracked open another one of his beers, despite the fact that it was only around ten in the morning.

  I wanted to scream. What was I supposed to do, exactly? Take this news in stride, like, hey no big deal that you made it seem like someone was trying to kill me?

  “And you knew it was them and didn’t tell me?” I asked Jackson.

  “I told you it was only an illusion,” he said. “And once I realized who it was, I had a talk with Lea. Made sure she gave you the cell phone back and stopped messing with you. Look, I should have told you the truth, but I was afraid you’d get the wrong idea and think that the demons were the bad guys here.”

  He put his hand on my arm, but I pulled away.

  “Our plan backfired anyway,” Lea said. “Instead of wanting to join us, he was even more reluctant to leave you after the fake attacks. I guess we underestimated how much he cares for you. Not that I particularly understand it.”

  Her jab didn’t go unnoticed. What was it with this chick? She had no reason to dislike me. Sure, I was technically a Prima Futura, but not by choice. Besides, I’d been trying to find a way out of the Order’s clutches since I first found out about them.

  “The bottom line is that we have to come up with a plan for how we’re going to deal with Peachville and the High Council,” Jackson said. “Now that they know Harper has no intention of joining the group, they’re going to come after her in force.”

  Everyone fell into thought. My mind was still reeling from all the things I’d learned in the past twenty-four hours. Plus, after seeing what Zara’s mother had done to Aldeen’s Prima, I had no idea how I would ever be able to stand up to her.

  “We could rally all the towns where we’ve made friends,” Mordecai said. “Ask them to help us in our fight.”

  “We still wouldn’t be strong enough,” Lea said. “There aren’t enough of us now that Aldeen is gone, and there’s no time to recruit more people to our cause.”

  “For now, I say we get back on the road,” Jackson said. “As long as we don’t stay in any one location for more than a day, we can probably avoid detection for at least a few weeks. By then, maybe we’ll have come up with a plan.”

  The group nodded in agreement. Cristo and the others worked to clear the camp of all evidence while I stared out at the ocean, trying to figure out what to do next.

  Too Late

  The next week was a blur as we traveled by night, then found remote places to camp and sleep during the daytime.

  I spent a lot of time thinking about Lark and Zara and my other friends. How much did they know about the Order’s activities? Did Zara know what her mother had done? I didn’t want to believe that. I also didn’t want to believe that women like Mayor Chen and Mrs. King were evil. I was certain that if they knew what the Order was capable of, they would be willing to make a stand against the High Council.

  I’d mentioned this to the shadow demons, and they agreed that every demon gate coven had good people who would stand up to the Order if they had the chance. Unfortunately, there was no way to separate the good from the power-hungry.

  Cristo was the only one in the group that wanted to approach the whole thing with pure force. He saw no problem with going in and killing everyone on the High Council. He was also slightly delusional in his belief that we were powerful enough to fight against those witches.

  “Come on, seriously mate,” he said. “We’re five of the most powerful demons in the shadow world. We could definitely take those witches.”

  “You have to remember that those witches are hybrids of both powerful human witches and some of the most powerful demons in the history of our people,” Joost said, pushing his glasses up. “Even if we had access to all our powers in this world, we would still be at a severe disadvantage.”

  It was the same argument we’d had a million times. We’d set up camp in the middle of a large empty field somewhere in Oklahoma. I stood up and stretched.

  Jackson started to stand, but I held out my hand.

  “I’m fine,” I said. “I just need to stretch my legs. I’m going to take a walk in the meadow. Don’t worry, I won’t go where you can’t see me.”

  Jackson sat back down reluctantly. He’d been very sweet over the past week. He felt terrible about keeping so many secrets from me, and he was trying to make it up to me. I loved being able to spend all this time with him, especially at night when he put his arms around me while I slept. But I missed having a real bed to sleep in. My back ached and my legs felt like they were permanently asleep from spending so much time sitting around the fire talking.

  I walked through the knee-high grass, enjoying the unusually warm breeze. Mordecai had been nice enough to go into a town a few days ago and pick up some clothes for me to wear. Jeans and a few sweatshirts. I’d been glad to get out of my mother’s dress and into something more comfortable.

  Unfortunately, the shoes he got for me were a little tight and pinched my feet. I slipped them off and let them dangle from my crooked fingertips as I walked.

  No matter how much time I spent thinking about the future, I couldn’t figure out a way to really make a difference. If we had more time, we could go on a crusade to all of the demon gate towns and try to convince them to speak out against the Order. One town alone might be defenseless, but what about hundreds of towns? Thousands of witches working together?

  We needed to train these towns to fight back, but in order to do that, we needed to know what kind of spells the High Council was capable of. I sighed. It was so overwhelming. How would we ever find the information we needed? And how were we going to convince all those towns to fight with us before the Council figured out what we were doing?

  Lost in thought, I barely noticed the movement to my left. Then, another slight movement to my right. I froze and looked around. No one was there.

  I turned back toward the camp. Jackson and the others were still sitting by the fire, deep in conversation. As if sensing my fear, Jackson looked up. I waved to him and smiled. He lifted his hand and smiled back.

  Then, he froze, his face suddenly terrified. “Harper! Run!”

  I looked to my side as a pair of tigers leapt toward me, then morphed into human form. Two women I didn’t recognize. But I knew who had sent them. Dread filled my veins like frozen water as I felt their hands close around my arms.

  I screamed and tried to run, but it was too late. Before Jackson and the others could even travel the distance between us, I was gone.

  I Can’t Tell You How Disappointed I Am

  I woke up on the wet floor of a dark cell.

  My b
ody ached from being passed out for so long on such a hard surface. It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. I considered conjuring an orb of light, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for whoever was holding me prisoner to know that I was awake.

  What would they do to me?

  Jackson had said if they caught me, there were two possibilities. They would either wipe my memory and force me through the final initiation or they would kill me and transfer the line to another family.

  Down in the crow’s library, the diamond earring I’d found belonged to Brooke. That meant the Peachville Order definitely had those books, and I knew they had every intention of using them.

  I’d seen the horrible things Lydia Ashworth had tried to do to my mother. Now, she was trying to do those same things to me all these years later. And with the crows out of the picture, she would have complete control over the coven.

  I shivered against the cold floor. They’d taken my sweatshirt and jeans and left me in some kind of thin robe. My arms were bound in thick steel cuffs that connected to the wall with a bulky chain. My wrists were raw and bleeding.

  I tried to sit up, but my body was too weak to do more than prop myself against the wall.

  How long have I been here?

  I had no idea if it had been hours or days. Judging from the extreme rumbling of my stomach, I was leaning toward days.

  Whatever happened after I was taken from the field was a blur. I couldn’t remember anything. My head pounded, and it hurt to think. All I knew for sure was that I was completely and totally screwed. I didn’t have the strength to fight against the Order, not that I stood a chance against Priestess Winter anyway. My only hope was that Jackson and his friends would somehow be able to find me.