by Sarra Cannon
“You lead the way,” I said. “I’m not feeling well, and I’m scared.”
“Scared?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling. “Of what?”
“You’ve been suggesting to me since the fire that maybe someone murdered my mother,” I said. “Who do you think they would go for next?”
He nodded. “Good point,” he said. “Come on. Send that light ahead of me, at least, so I can see where I’m going. The path is always hard to find.”
I sent my orb of light in front of him and watched him carefully, sending the light wherever he stepped. The woods were thick out here, and as far as I could tell, there was no real path at all. I stepped over fallen branches, thick underbrush, and vines that grew up from the earth in twisted patterns.
After about ten minutes of walking, I was convinced he’d been lying to me this whole time. I kept a steady eye on his back, waiting for him to turn on me, but he simply kept walking forward, pushing branches out of his way as he went.
“Here it is,” he said, motioning to a much more obvious path along the forest floor.
I might not have noticed it if he hadn’t pointed it out, but I saw it now. A very small line of cleared trees and underbrush that led straight ahead.
I relaxed slightly.
“Let’s move faster,” I said.
The detective followed close behind me as I hurried down the path. A few minutes later, the woods opened up into a large clearing. There, in the center, was some kind of structure. I couldn’t see it well in the dark. There wasn’t much moon to speak of tonight, and there were no lights on inside.
Still, a strange feeling rolled through me. I knew this place.
“We made it,” I said.
“Yes, we did,” he said. “No thanks to you. It’s like you had no idea where it was, Monica.”
I brought a nervous hand to my forehead. “It’s been a rough few days,” I said.
“The Monica Evers I know would never be rattled by these kinds of things,” he said. “I’ve known you what? Twenty-five years? I’ve never seen you lose your head quite like this.”
My mouth went dry. I didn’t like his tone of voice.
“How many times has my mother disappeared like this?” I asked, turning to face him. “How many times has the fire happened early?”
He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think that’s all it is,” he said. “Besides, there’s one other thing that’s been bothering me. Not once have you called me by my name. Do you even know what my name is?”
I sucked in a breath. “Of course, I know what your name is,” I said, lifting my chin and trying to keep up the attitude of the heartless doctor. “Since when are you so paranoid? Maybe mother started the fire early, because she realized you’d outgrown your usefulness.”
Instead of looking intimidated, like I’d hoped, he smiled and stepped toward me. “No, it’s not that,” he said. “You know what I think?”
He took another few steps toward me, and I stepped backward. I gathered my power in my hands, and the energy buzzed through my veins.
“I think the Evers women finally brought someone a little too powerful to their little house of horrors,” he said, stepping forward until he was almost touching me. “I think they couldn’t torture this girl enough to break her, and she finally got her revenge.”
He knows.
“What are you saying?” I asked, using the time to charge my magic as much as I could. I pulled from the trees around me, drawing as much power into my body as I could handle. “You’re not making any sense.”
“Oh, I think you understand me perfectly.” His eyes widened, the light shining onto his face. “Who are you? Because I’m willing to bet my life that you’re not Monica Evers. I’m guessing Monica is one of those bodies in the basement of the asylum. And maybe her mother is the second body. So, who are you?”
My heart raced. What was my best move here? This guy had obviously owed some kind of debt to the Evers women. Maybe if he knew they’d been killed, he would be willing to help me.
Then again, maybe he was fiercely loyal to the priestess and had been playing me all along.
“You need to be careful, Det—”
“No,” he shouted, shaking his head. “Not detective. You never called me detective. What’s my name? If you’re really Monica Evers, you’ll know my name. I want to hear it. Prove it to me that you know exactly who I am.”
I glanced back toward the cabin in the shadows. I had to be sure no one else was here. If I had to fight one person, I could hold my own. A group would be much harder.
But there was no sign of anyone at the cabin. It looked dead and abandoned.
“Listen, now is not the time to do this,” I said. “We need to get inside and see if the portal is still open.”
He laughed. “I knew it,” he said. “I knew it the night of the fire. Something wasn’t quite right about you. Whoever you are, you did a brilliant job with your glamour, but you didn’t quite nail the good doctor’s attitude. She was a real bitch, you know that? And whoever you really are in there, you just don’t have it in you to be as nasty as she was.”
I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold him back. He obviously knew the truth, and I couldn’t afford to waste another second on this game.
I dropped my glamour and lifted my hands.
His eyes widened, and he stepped back. “Damn. You’re just a girl,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t understand how you defeated them. There’s no way someone your age could be powerful enough to take them down.”
“See, that’s exactly the problem with the Order,” I said. “Everyone is always underestimating me. I may be younger, but the Evers women gave me no choice but to fight back. The woman was about to shove an ice pick through my brain. Let’s just say they gave me all the motivation I needed.”
He laughed and stepped even further away. “Well, let’s see how motivated you’re feeling tonight,” he said.
I glanced around again, this time noticing several shadows moving just inside the treeline. I tensed as five men stepped out of the darkness.
“What’s going on?” I asked, taking a step back toward the cabin.
“It’s taken me all this time to put together a group of people who were willing to fight against the Order of Shadows and their witches,” he said. “But I’ve had six trips back here to the past to identify the perfect people to help me overthrow the Evers witches.”
I looked around, surprised when five women also stepped out of the shadows, magic glowing on their hands.
Shit. What was going on here?
“If you want to fight against the Order, then you’re no enemies of mine,” I said. “I’ve dedicated my entire life to ending the Order. We can work together to bring them down. We just have to find our way back to the present day.”
The detective stepped back to join the circle of those who had joined us. The eleven of them stretched out around me, closing me in so that the only escape I had was back toward the cabin. And I had no idea what I’d find in there if I tried to run.
“You don’t get it, do you? It’s not just the Order we’re fighting against,” he said. “It’s all witches who carry a demon inside of them, and I can feel the demon power running through your veins. You’re one of them.”
I shook my head. “No,” I said. “My father was a demon. I didn’t enslave a demon the way the Order does.”
“It doesn’t matter to me how you came by your demon power,” he said. “Demons are an abomination to our world, and we are dedicated to eliminating any witch who has associated herself with these creatures. Besides, we’ve been looking forward to our first chance to get rid of a witch who had demon power running through her veins. We were hoping to end the priestess and her daughter, but we’ll settle for you.”
I wanted to scream at them. They obviously didn’t understand how witches worked. Every witch here in the human world had some level of demon power running through he
r veins. That was our source of power. The Order exploited that by enslaving demons to make themselves more powerful, but every witch in this circle who carried her power in her hands now was part demon to some degree.
From the way their eyes focused on me, anger and hatred burning through them, I didn’t think logic was going to work right now. Still, I had to try.
“All magic in this world comes from demons,” I said. “Those in your own group who have power get that from a demon and a human mating somewhere in their family line. You are no different from me.”
“Lies,” one of the witches screamed. “Those are exactly the kinds of lies the Order likes to tell, but it’s not true. My power comes from God. It’s a gift from heaven. Your power comes from the devil himself. Demons are the devil’s minions, and we are committed to killing all demons and witches who have demon power running through their veins.”
I stopped cold. Oh my God. I’d heard this before. I knew exactly who these people were, and I couldn’t believe this was happening again now, of all times.
“You’re the Others,” I said, half in awe and half in complete frustration.
How had I gone through all this just to get mixed up once again with this crazy religious sect that wanted to kill all demons? A group of Others had kidnapped Jackson before I even realized he was a demon. They were totally nuts.
The detective raised an eyebrow. “So, you’ve heard of us,” he said. “It took me three trips to gain the trust of their leader and convince enough of them to join me here in this town to fight against the priestess. To be honest, I wasn’t sure we’d have enough to take them down, so we were trying to come up with a way to separate them. Luckily, you took care of them for us.”
“I helped you, and now it’s your turn to help me,” I said. “Help me find the portal home, let me and the girls go home to where we belong. We’re fighting the Order just like you are, you have to see that. We’re on the same side, here.”
He shook his head. “No, that’s not how it works,” he said. “These people all came here to fight, and I’m not about to let a witch with demon blood running through her veins get away, free and clear.”
The circle of Others had tightened on me as we talked, and I prepared myself for a fight.
That night at the abandoned hospital when I’d gone to save Jackson, I had fought three of the Others, and I’d nearly died. Jackson had barely survived the whole thing, too, but I would have given anything to have him here at my side right now.
Could I face eleven on my own and survive it?
I shook my head. Man, this really sucked, but the only way home from here was through these people. And I hadn’t come this far to be brought down by a group of misguided religious zealots.
“I’ll give you one last chance to get out of here and leave me alone,” I said. “I don’t want to fight you.”
“Oh, there’s going to be a fight,” he said, smiling. He pulled a gun from the belt of his pants and aimed it straight at me. “First, you’ll die. Then, we’ll go back and kill that nurse at the house. Before the night is over, we’ll have killed ourselves two witches, even if it isn’t the two we originally meant to kill.”
I met his eyes, vowing that I would not let him get to Brooke.
“This whole time, I thought the Others were very different from the Order, but it turns out, you’re basically the same,” I said, lowering my hands as my power turned to bright flames that surrounded my body. “You murder innocents, worship power above all things, and you always underestimate the ones strong enough to kill you.”
At my words, the detective aimed his gun straight at me and fired the first bullet.
A Dim Red Light
Jackson
I sat straight up in bed, my body covered in sweat.
I’d been dreaming of Harper again. We were back in that abandoned hospital in Peachville, fighting the Others. I hadn’t thought about that night in a long time, but for some reason, the dream had rattled me.
I took a deep breath and slid out from under the covers. I poured a glass of water and stood on the balcony, looking out at the garden below. Sleep wouldn’t come easy again, so I thought about our plan and shook my head. There were still so many unknowns it made my mind twist into knots.
I seriously hoped that someday, Harper and I would stand here and look out at this kingdom with nothing more to worry about than what to name our son. I longed for peace, but steeled myself for battle.
With a sigh, I turned and saw a dim red light filling the room. I dropped my water, the glass shattering on the tile floor as I lunged for the red stone on the table. My heart raced. This was one of Lea’s stones.
I took it in my hand and waved my palm over the top, activating its magic.
“Lea? I’m here,” I said.
“Jackson?” Her voice trembled. She was whispering, so I leaned closer to hear her better.
“It’s me,” I said, keeping my voice low in case she was in danger. “Are you okay? Is Aerden with you?”
“Oh, Jackson. Aerden’s fighting in the King’s Games. Didn’t Andros tell you?” she asked. “Ezrah told me Andros planned to tell you about the games more than a week ago.”
“I haven’t seen Andros,” I said, nearly choking on my own words. I sat down in the chair beside the table. “The King’s Games have been outlawed for centuries.”
“My father brought them back,” she said. “Aerden won the first round, but he fights again in the morning. Jackson, I’m going to do everything I can to get us both out of here before the final round of these games. There’s more going on here than we thought. The entire city could be in danger.”
“What can I do to help?” I asked. “We’ll come to get you.”
“I’ve already sent word to the Resistance,” she said. “Just make sure there’s room for us at the castle when we get back there. Hopefully, we’ll be together again in just a few days.”
“There will always be room for both of you here,” I said. “Lea, the emerald priestess is dead. We’re going to win this war.”
“What?” she asked, her voice full of awe. “Is Harper home? Did you find her?”
“Not yet,” I said. “It’s a long story. I’ll pour us some wine and tell you all about it in a couple of days, okay?”
She laughed, but it sounded as though she was crying. “You have no idea how good that sounds to me right about now,” she said. “Before I go, there’s something else I need to tell you. Just in case we don’t make it home.”
“Don’t talk like that,” I said.
“We’ve found evidence that there’s another kingdom, Jackson. Far to the east, beyond the wall of darkness in the Sea of Glass,” she said. “The map that was found was made of diamonds. I think it’s important.”
My hands went numb. Another kingdom? That wasn’t possible.
“Lea—”
“Shhhh,” she said.
I held my breath, listening.
“What are you doing in here?” a man asked, his voice full of rage.
“Kael, don’t,” Lea shouted.
I winced at the sound of a hand hitting flesh. Lea screamed, and the stone in my hand went dark.
One Last Threat
Lea
Kael slapped me hard across the face and threw the communication stone to the floor. The ruby shattered into a million tiny pieces, and I screamed.
I seriously wanted to kill him for that, but the demon grabbed my hair at the base of my neck and dragged me over to the mirror.
“Do you see what you made me do?” he asked, tilting my head so that I got a good view of the slash now bleeding across my cheek. “I didn’t want things to be like this between us, Princess, but you’ve left me no choice. Tell me who you were talking to, or I will cause you a great deal of pain before the night is over.”
“How dare you come into my chambers uninvited,” I said.
“These are my chambers,” he said, his lips so close to my ear, I could feel his breath. “T
his entire city belongs to me now. Having you at my side would have made the transition to king easier for me, but I do not need you, Lazalea. Who were you talking to?”
He gripped my hair tighter, but all I could think about was the bow hidden beneath my bed. I couldn’t wait to send an arrow straight through his heart. I smiled at the thought, and he growled, throwing me to the ground.
He lifted a hand to me, and a diamond ring caught my eye. I touched my cheek. That’s what must have slashed into me.
“You do need me,” I said. “If you didn’t, you never would have brought me up from the dungeons. You have power here, but the people don’t trust you. They trust the council, but there are those on the council who would not support your rise to the throne. Without me, you have no claim to it. Besides, this festival is in my honor, is it not? What will the people think if I show up at tomorrow’s battle with bruises on my skin? Rumors travel fast in this city, Kael. The people would not support you if they thought you abused their princess.”
His lips pressed into a tight line. He reared his hand back, but instead of hitting me again, he turned and walked toward the balcony. He stood there for a long moment before coming back. He grabbed my arm and pulled me off of the floor.
“Your usefulness only extends until the day of our wedding,” he said. “I will talk to your mother and insist we are so in love, we simply cannot wait any longer. In two days, after the final round of the King’s Games, we will be mated. I will solidify my right to the throne, and you will choose to either obey me, or die. I honestly don’t care which.”
He released me, but before he left the room, he turned around with one last threat.
“I warned you what would happen if you didn’t fall in line,” he said. “You’ll want to pay particular attention to the battle tomorrow, Princess. Your actions here tonight have sealed your poor friend’s fate, I’m afraid. Maybe next time, you’ll think twice before you betray me.”
