The Shadow City (The Demon-Born Trilogy Book 2)

by L. C. Hibbett

  “Grace!” Sam seized my two hands and held them in his own. “Stop. Stop! You can’t close the portal, it’s not slip. It’s Demon magic. We need to find whoever opened it. Can you find Cat and Cain? If you find them, I can bring them to us.”

  I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, blocking out the noise coming through the portal and focusing instead on Cat’s energy. She was close. Really close.

  “Hey!” Sam’s shout startled me into opening my eyes. He was staring into the air and waving his arm wildly. I squinted at him, and Sam spread his arms apart. “It just disappeared. Did you do something to make that happen?”

  I shook my head and walked over the ground where the portal had been only seconds before. “No. I just tried to Seek for Cat, nothing else. William’s Demon ally must have closed it from the other side.”

  Sam wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and my body stiffened under his touch. He stepped back and wrapped his fist around an overhanging vine. “Maybe. Did you get a read on the others?”

  I opened my mouth to say something about last night, but let it snap shut again—now wasn’t the right time to try and sort out our messy feelings. Maybe there never would be a right time. I chewed on the side of my thumb. “Yeah, they’re really close. Only a few minutes away. Follow the sound of the flowing water.”

  We walked in silence. Sam gripped his Spirit Blade in his hand, but he didn’t ignite it. The air was warm and sticky against my skin, and the trees grew tall and straight. Their trunks rose up into the sky, higher than my eyes could see. The sound of shouting filtered through the bushes, and Sam and I began to run.

  We emerged from the undergrowth just in time to see a girl not much taller than Dawn throwing herself on the ground in front of Cain and Cat. “Help! My friend needs help, please hurry!”

  Her accent was difficult to place, and her plain, rough clothing reminded me of another era. Cat’s eyes widened, as she stared from the grubby child to Sam and me, emerging from the forest. She grabbed my hand as we scurried after the girl. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be meeting the High Council. The Spirit Eaters found the house.”

  My heart dropped thinking of our failed meeting with the High Council. Another path closed. I decided that story could wait until we had reached William’s cell safely. “Yeah, we saw the fighting. We followed you through the portal. Where are we? Is this girl part of William’s cell?”

  I held on to Cat’s fingers tightly as the sound of rushing water increased in volume. The girl darted ahead with Dawn on her heels, and the trees gave way to a sheer drop. Water rushed through the gorge with breathtaking ferocity and smashed over the razor-sharp rocks down below.

  The skinny blond girl raised a shaking hand and pointed at a large tree perched on the edge of the ravine, and I realized with a sickening lurch that a girl, about the same age, was clinging to an overhanging branch. She had her eyes closed, and her lips were moving at a rapid pace. Terror rolled off her body like a wave of freezing fog.

  “She saw a wild cat—thought it was injured. I told her not to climb up. She’s too soft.” The girl’s grubby face was screwed tight as she looked up at her friend. “She won’t come down with me, and I’m afraid if I drag her like I ought to, she’ll fall.”

  Sam bent down and put a gentle hand on the girl’s skinny shoulder. “It’s okay. Do you have anything that belongs to your friend?”

  “My sister,” the girl’s blue eyes flashed defiantly, and she pressed a small piece of cloth into Sam’s hand. I tried not to show my surprise as I stared at the the dark-skinned girl with a mop of black curls clinging to the tree.

  “I’m going to get your sister down right now, okay?” Sam smiled and the fierce little blonde, and twisted his body to face the tree. His spine snapped into a straight line, and I realized with a start that in the blink of an eye Dawn had already scrambled halfway up the tree.

  “Dawn! Come down, please. Sam will get her down.” Cat was doing her best to sound calm, but every muscle in her body was tensed.

  Dawn ignored our cries and scaled the broad trunk like a wiry, copper-haired monkey. When she reached the branch that the other girl was clinging to, she eased herself slowly along toward the other girl. I strained to hear her soothing words over the roar of the water. “It’s okay. I know it feels scary, but I can help you down. Will you let me hold your hand?”

  Cat pressed her fingers against her mouth, and I wondered did she feel the same swell of pride in her heart as I did. Ebony ringlets bounced frantically as the other girl shook her head and clung on to the branch with renewed panic. Dawn edged a little closer to the curly haired girl, and I stared at the point where the branch joined the trunk, checking for any sign of cracking. I could see none.

  “I’m going to scoot right over to you, and you can hold on to me so my friend can get us down from here, okay?” Dawn stared down at Sam, and he nodded vigorously. “I’m nearly there. All you need to do, is hold on to me. You don’t have to move, you don’t even have to open your eyes, just hold on to me.”

  Dawn leaned forward and grasped the other girl by the arms. I exhaled as the weight of fear lifted from my chest. Dawn turned her head to look at Sam with a look of satisfied concentration. Sam closed his eyes and opened his hands wide, but before he could draw a breath, the sickening sound of splitting wood cut the air. My mouth fell open, and I lunged forward as the branch gave way and both girls tumbled through the air and vanished into the gorge.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Dawn and the petite curly haired girl plummeted down the ravine toward the rushing waters. I yelled at Sam to use his magic to catch the girls, but I knew they were moving too quickly, or his magic too slowly, to have any chance of saving them.

  My lungs emptied as Dawn slipped away from us and spun through the air like a bird falling from a nest, heading straight for the roaring river and the jagged rocks below. Cat’s desperate screams tore at my ears as we watched in powerless desperation.

  Then I felt it. A flicker of life, blazing across the edge of my vision. Ozzie burst through the clearing with a hurricane at his back. I squinted at his small form. He looked exactly as he always had, and yet, he was utterly transformed. In three bounds, he covered the space separating us and planted his feet on the edge of the precipice. He raised his arms in the air, and the world responded with unimaginable force.

  A violent mass of air exploded through the ravine and whipped the waters into a frenzy. I stumbled backward, dragging Sam and Cat with me, terrified they would be swept over the edge and into the treacherous river. Ozzie drew his hands together and directed the might of the storm underneath Dawn and the other girl. It carried them through the air like kites on the wind, and propelled them back onto the ledge, dying down to a gentle breeze as it set them on the forest floor.

  I sank to my knees as Cat, Cain, and the blond urchin surrounded the two girls and embraced them. Ozzie remained frozen to the spot with his hands pressed tightly together, shivering. Sam sprinted to Ozzie’s side a threw his arms around him. “Oscar? Ozzie, man, you okay? How did you get here? That was something else, kid. You did good. Man.”

  Ozzie slapped Sam on the back, but his eyes remained fixed on the huddle of people on the ground. One of the figures broke free and threw themselves on top of Ozzie’s wiry frame in a blur of copper hair and gangly legs. Sam disentangled himself from the embrace, as Dawn squeezed her arms around as Ozzie’s neck and pressed her face against his halo of soft, springy hair.

  Dawn leaned back and stared into Ozzie's face. “You saved us. How did you do that? Jabal never showed us that.” She took a step back but didn’t let go of his hand. Their skin was an ethereal contrast of light and dark. ”How did you even get here?”

  “I don’t know. When we got back to New York, mom
got a message that the Spirit Eaters were planning an attack and that there was a safe zone for us to go to until the Shadow Children could figure it out. Mathas came and got me, he sent me through this portal. I couldn’t find anyone, but the door was gone before I could ask him. Then I heard you screaming... I dunno. My body just knew what I needed to do.” Ozzie scrunched his nose and pulled his shoulders up to his ears.

  He drew his eyebrows together and shook Dawn’s arm. “How did you fall over the edge, anyway? See, this is why we need to be in the same cell. You’re dangerous on your own. I’m going to talk to my mom as soon as we get back.”

  Dawn’s pale blue eyes widened, and she turned to Cain, still gripping Ozzie’s fingers. “Cain, Ozzie’s the Storm, isn’t he? The lost power that can control the elements?”

  Ozzie stared down at his own hands, and Cain ran his mud-stained fingers over his cropped blond hair and exhaled. “Dawn, we shouldn’t come to any conclusions until we’ve talked to Emmanuel and Lizzie. People can do incredible things when they think someone they care about is in danger, it’s not necessarily tied to one of the lost powers. It could be a—”

  “We need to go.” I looked at the blond-haired girl in surprise as she dragged her sister to her feet by the hand. I had forgotten about them entirely for a moment. The blonde started to pull her curly haired companion back through the undergrowth.

  Cat sprinted after her and stepped in her path. “Hey! Where are you going? Are you okay? Can you tell us where we are?”

  “We don’t have anything to give you. Our magic is weak in comparison to yours, we just want to go, please.” The girl with the curly hair had a soft, sweet voice.

   Cat pulled back and looked at the girls intently. “My daughter nearly got killed trying to help you, can you please tell us what is going on here? Why would we want something from you? Is this headquarters for one of the cells?”

  The blond girl narrowed her eyes and looked around at our small group. “Don’t waste your time trying to get anything from us. Three pairs. We know you’re being tested, but we have nothing to offer you. We’re nobody. All we want to do is stay safe—bringing us back to the city won't buy you any favor with them. We’re nobodies.” She shot a deadly glare in Ozzie’s direction. “And if he does have one of the lost powers, they’re going to be looking for him. They will be here as soon as the Hounds pick up the trace of his magic. If you don’t want to be caught, you better run. Fast.”

  Cat stared over her shoulder at us with widened eyes before looking back at the girls. “We don’t know what about any trials or tests, and we don’t mean you any harm. Please, how do you know about the lost powers?”

  The blonde had already started to drag her sister toward the trees when she answered. “You’ll figure it out is soon enough, everyone does.”

  Please help us.” Dawn’s soft voice didn’t appear to reach the blonde’s ears, but the girl with the black curls twisted her neck to meet Dawn’s pleading gaze.

  She bunched the faded gray material of her shapeless dress up inside her fist and tugged the blonde’s hand. “Diamond?”

  “No, Valerie! They’ll slow us down. They’ll lead the hounds to our door.”  Diamond shook her head.

  Valarie pushed her hair out of her eyes. “They saved me, Diamond. It would be an insult to the gods if we did not return the favor, Anna said—”

  “Anna is a crazy old hag—we left that life behind when we escaped from the city.” Diamond jerked Valerie’s arm and tried to pull her across the clearing, but the curly haired girl wouldn’t budge. Diamond stared up at the sky and scanned all directions with narrowed blue eyes, before throwing her hands in the air. “Fine. We take them with us, but only for one night, understood? After that, they’re on their own.”

  Valerie nodded her head vigorously and a grin as bright as a ray of sunshine split her face. She beckoned for us to follow her. “Stay close, we move quickly. We will explain what we can when we get to safety, but don’t talk here. The trees have ears.”

  She ducked under the canopy of low-hanging branches and disappeared out of sight. Cain exhaled in a low whistle. “Trials? The favor of the Gods? Where the hell has that Master sent us for safe keeping?”

  “Yeah, I think you can go ahead and erase any belief that rat faced son of an Angel was sending us somewhere safe. Lying shit. When I get my hands on him—”

  I cut through Sam’s rant and shoved past his raised fist. “We need to follow those kids. That girl Diamond will shake us off the first chance she gets.” I pulled back a curtain of vines to let the others pass by me.

  Sam ran his hand over his jaw. “You think this is a good idea, following two strange kids into a strange forest?”

  “Do you have a better suggestion?” My lips thinned as I raised my eyebrows at him. Sam didn’t reply. I ducked under the vines and sent out a blast of energy to make sure we were following the girls in the right direction. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. Stay if you want, Sam, or come if you want—I don’t care. I’m going after the girls either way.”

  I scrambled after Cat, and she caught me by the hand and pulled me to her side. Cain took the lead. The two girls had already moved far ahead, and they slipped through the trees soundlessly, twisting and turning on a track that looped over itself and back again until we arrived at what appeared to be the side of a rocky outcrop.

  “You managed to keep up.” Diamond didn’t appear to be hugely pleased by this, but Valerie smiled at us gently.

  “We can’t ever take a straight path home. The more you twist and turn and cross over your own path again, the harder it is for the Hounds to track you.” The Hounds. I winced. What kind of place used Hounds to track down little girls? Valerie’s lips twitched as if she knew what I was thinking. “I can tell you more when we are safely inside.”

  “Safely inside what?” Sam ran his hand over the solid rock face dubiously. Diamond closed her eyes, and her lips moved with words too soft for me to hear. The stone underneath Sam’s fingers crumbled and disappeared, leaving a small opening in the rock face. Cat met my eye and gave me a pointed look. Whoever these kids were, they were no strangers to using magic. Diamond slipped through the crack in the wall and disappeared from sight with Valerie at her heels.

  I went to follow them through, but Sam stepped in front of me and ducked under. “Could be a trap. I’ll go first.”

  I shrugged my shoulders and tried not to notice how green his eyes looked in contrast with the yellow stone. “Whatever, Sam. Be first if you want—the shit before the shovel.”

  Sam’s face collapsed into a grin broad enough to show his white teeth. I tapped my foot in irritation as my stomach fluttered. Those god forsaken dimples gave him an unfair advantage. “That’s beautiful, Grace. You Irish really have a way with words—you could be the next Yeats.” I tried to give him a nasty look, but my lips curved into a smile. Betrayed by my own mouth. Sam’s dimples deepened even further as he made his way through the narrow entrance to the cave. “Although, I always imagined you as more of a Maya Angelou than a—what the hell?”

  I pushed Sam further into the cave so that the rest of us could step inside. My eyes widened in surprise as I talk in the high curved roof and the beautifully crafted furniture. Candles burned on every stone ledge, and their flames flickered and danced like living creatures. Diamond raised her hands, and the roughly hewn doorway vanished once more.

  Valerie settled herself crossed legged on the floor and gestured for us to join her. “Welcome to our home, friends. You must forgive our simple fare, we do not receive guests often.”

  Diamond snorted from the other side of the cave where she was polishing a sharp blade. “Sister, you sound as crazy as that mad potion haggler. Forgive our simple fare? They should kiss our feet for not crying to the Hounds—we could do with
the favor of the City.”

  “Don’t call Anna that, we would be long dead without her.” A ripple of fire past over Valerie’s sweet face, but it faded when Diamond gave her an apologetic shrug. The small girl turned her dark eyes on us once more. “Now, friends, what do you seek to know?”

  I kneeled down and ran my fingers over the brightly colored threads, admiring the craftsmanship. Dawn cuddled a soft woolen blanket to her chest beside me. Cat wrapped her arm around her daughter’s shoulder and pulled her close, and Cain and Ozzie sat cross legged beside them. Diamond and Sam were the only two who remained standing, like mismatched bookends on either side of the large mat.

  I spread my fingers wide. “Everything. We don’t know anything about where we are right now, what country are we in?”

  “What country?” Valerie’s brow furrowed and her lips thinned. “No country. We are in the forest, next comes the desert, then the Shadow City.”

  My chin lifted in surprise. “The Shadow City? There is no rainforest in Switzerland, and no desert, either.”

  “She told you this was no country. Your rules don’t work here.” Diamond’s eyes glinted through the curtain of her dirty blond hair, and she extended her hand to point at a mural painted on the wall behind us. “This land belongs to the Circle. It’s the realm of the chosen ones—from this soil shall the world be reborn in His image.”

  A bronze circle joined nine separate crescent moons, and in its center blazed blinding sun. Beneath the circle was a crimson river, seething with children and hounds and gaping mouths. Darkness leaned on the edges of the mural, creeping along the crevices, but from the water, seven lights burst forth and wrapped their radiance around the circle, protecting it from danger. I pressed the heel of my hand against my sternum. “The darkness, the shadows around the edge of the picture, are they the Spirit Demons?”