Bitter Demons

by Sarra Cannon

  Now everything was even more complicated than ever. When we were together, I felt a magnetic attraction to him - like we were meant for each other. But now I wondered if the attraction was only one-sided. Did he really care for me? Or did he just want be close to me so he could stay close to his brother?

  Right now, his brother was more like a bodyguard for me. He was trapped somewhere and was only able to take form when my life was threatened in some way. I’d figured that much out by now. If the Order of Shadows ever put me through the final initiation ceremony, however, my connection to Jackson’s brother would be much more intimate. Any hope I had of a possible relationship with Jackson would be destroyed forever if I let that happen.

  I needed to find out as much as I could about the initiation ceremony of a Prima. And I needed to start looking for a way to break the bond or close the gate without killing myself and everyone in Peachville.

  “Harper?” Courtney knocked on my door and poked her head inside. “You’re not even dressed,” she said. “Ella Mae’s already downstairs waiting in the van. Need help?”

  I looked down at my robe. I’d been so absent-minded the past few days. If I didn’t hurry, I was going to be late to meet the futures from Cypress. That’s what all the girls on the squad called them, anyway. Futures. The technical name was Prima Futura and was given to any girl in-line to someday become the Prima of her demon gate. There were two Futures on the Cypress squad. Their mother was the current Prima. I envied them and I hadn’t even met them yet. I would have given anything for just five minutes with my mother. Maybe she could have explained this crazy world to me.

  “Harper?”

  I’d been staring into space again. “Sorry,” I said. “Can you grab my cheerleading uniform out of my closet?”

  Courtney rushed to the closet while I quickly applied the demon tattoo to my cheek and threw my hair into a high ponytail.

  “Thanks,” I said. “Tell Ella Mae I’ll be down in two minutes.”

  I got into my uniform in record time, slipped into my sneakers and ran downstairs to the van. By the time we got to the school, everyone was waiting for me.

  “I was just about to go without you,” Mrs. King said. “Brooke, you’re off the hook. Harper’s here.”

  Brooke crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Are you sure Harper’s ready for this level of responsibility? She’s ten minutes late.”

  “Yes, Brooke. Thank you.” Mrs. King dismissed her and winked at me.

  “Sorry I’m late,” I said.

  “You’re fine. The other team isn’t here yet anyway.”

  “What exactly am I supposed to do when they get here?”

  Mrs. King put her arm around my shoulders and led me out into the gym. “Just greet the squad,” she said. “Smile and be friendly. I’m excited for you to meet the futures from Cypress. Meredith is the oldest. She’s also team captain. Her younger sister is Caroline. I think she’s about your age.”

  “That’s all? Just be nice?”

  Mrs. King laughed. “Yep, that’s it. Simple.”

  The tension in my shoulder relaxed a bit. The pain was still bothering me, especially when I was stressed. “I think I can handle that.”

  We walked outside just as the buses from Cypress pulled up. Football players climbed off the first bus and started making their way to the guest locker rooms. I saw Drake come out of the locker room with Coach King. I crossed behind Mrs. King to walk on the other side, hoping to avoid Drake seeing me. It was bad enough I had to put up with him at the lunch table everyday.

  The second bus was full of cheerleaders. Their coach, a tall woman with short brown hair, stepped down from the bus and nodded to Mrs. King. There wasn’t even a hint of a smile on her face even though Mrs. King was smiling from ear to ear.

  “Welcome back to Peachville,” Mrs. King said, extending her hand in welcome.

  “Thank you,” the Cypress coach said. She shook Mrs. King’s hand, then turned her cold stare my way. “This must be Harper.”

  Geez. Did everyone in the world know about me? I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and did my best to make my smile look genuine.

  “Hey,” I said. “We’re so glad to have y’all here this weekend.”

  The woman pressed her lips into a hard line and looked me up and down. “I guess I was expecting more,” she said.

  I pulled at my uniform, making sure it was straight. What exactly was she expecting me to look like? I didn’t like the idea of having to be nice to a woman who was so obviously rude. I hoped the futures were nicer.

  “Why don’t I show you to your locker rooms,” Mrs. King said. “The game isn’t scheduled to start for another hour, so you’ve got plenty of time to freshen up if you’d like.”

  The coach sighed and nodded. “If I remember correctly, your guest facilities are less than ideal,” she said. “But I suppose the girls would appreciate the chance to go to the bathroom and get a sip of water.”

  Mrs. King cleared her throat. I saw her smile falter for a moment, but she recovered quickly. “Excellent.” Her voice was strained.

  A beautiful girl with the most striking light blue eyes appeared on the stairs. “Are we going to sit here all day? Or can we…” her voice trailed off as she caught site of me. She replaced her scowl with a beauty-pageant smile. “Well, Harper Madison. Aren’t you just the cutest thing.”

  She stepped down off the bus and gave me the type of hug I call a “porcelain doll” hug. It was the kind of delicate hug that made you feel that if you squeezed the person even a little bit, you might break them. I hated those kind of hugs. They just seemed so fake. She ended her hug with an air kiss on my cheek. I threw up in my mouth a little bit.

  “Thanks,” I said. I wasn’t sure how else to respond. “You must be Meredith.”

  “Of course,” she said. She flipped her long brown hair back off her shoulder. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. You’re all anyone’s been able to talk about the past week. Peachville’s prodigal daughter, so to speak.”

  “Prodigal daughter?”

  “You know, the story from the Bible where the son runs off and squanders his fortune, then comes back and everyone throws him a big party?”

  I raised my eyebrows. Seriously? What part of that sounded like me?

  “I’m sure the rest of the squad is anxious to get off the bus,” Mrs. King said. She squeezed my arm a little too tight. Maybe she sensed that there was only so much bullshit I was going to take from these people before I totally lost it. My patience had been on a short fuse lately.

  The Cypress coach nodded and stepped on the bus briefly to give the rest of the squad instructions. Meredith stood beside me, studying me a little too closely. It made me wish I had been too late to make the whole meet and greet. Brooke wanted the chance to schmooze with these girls? She could have it as far as I was concerned.

  “So, how does it feel to suddenly find out you’ve got this amazing destiny?” Meredith asked. She chewed her gum vigorously and blew a big bubble. It burst with a loud pop.

  I shrugged. “Great,” I said.

  “I should think so,” she said. “I mean, it’s a real Cinderella story.”

  I’d never thought of myself as Cinderella, but I liked that better than the prodigal thing. Although, I certainly didn’t think my current path was leading me toward a happily ever after.

  “I simply can’t imagine it,” she said. “I mean, I’ve known since I was a little girl that I was basically royalty in Cypress. But you? You must have been so excited to learn that you had more to look forward to than a pitiful string of foster homes.”

  Wow, this chick knew more about my life than I thought she would. Did everyone know? Or just her since she was a future? She talked about my life as if the Order had lifted me from some terrible life of poverty and shame. I guess she was right in some ways, but I hardly saw how this life was all that much better. Sure, the magic was awesome, and I was closer than ever to finding out the truth abo
ut my mother. But I also knew that all of this came at a very hefty price.

  The cheerleaders were finally allowed off the bus, and I was glad to get out of my one-on-one conversation with Meredith. I had hoped to find her sympathetic and easy to talk to, but she seemed stuck-up. Not my favorite kind of person, to say the least. She’d probably get along with Brooke just fine.

  I helped show the visiting squad to their locker rooms. On the way there, a cute girl with silky straight brown hair ran to the front to stand beside me. She was slightly out of breath when she reached me.

  “Hey,” she said, panting. “Harper, right?”

  She had a sweet smile that was contagious.

  “That’s me,” I said. I braced myself for another condescending comment, just in case.

  “Oh my god, I’m so excited to finally meet you,” she said. “I’m Caroline, Meredith’s younger sister.”

  Great. Another one.

  “Hey,” I said. “Nice to meet you.”

  “I can’t imagine how weird all this must be for you,” she said. “To have all this pressure just heaped onto your shoulders out of nowhere.”

  I turned my head to study her more closely. Maybe she wasn’t like her sister at all. I softened. “It’s been tough,” I said. “Sometimes I feel like I stepped into the Twilight Zone.”

  She laughed. It was a sparkling, genuine sort of laugh that made me instantly like her. “I hope we get a chance to talk more later,” she said. “I heard someone say we’re having a party after the game and spending the night in town tonight.”

  “Yeah, the mayor offered her lake house to us,” I said. Luckily, the party qualified as an approved event, so my curfew had been lifted for the evening. “Everyone should be there. It’ll be fun.”

  “If you have time, come find me,” she said.

  “I will.”

  She waved as she disappeared into the guest locker rooms. I waved back and smiled. The difference in the two futures was phenomenal. For the first time in my life, it made me glad I didn’t have a sister.

  You’re A Public Figure Now

  The Peachville vs. Cypress play-off game had everyone on their feet. It made sense that both teams were excellent. I mean, after all, they both had magic on their side. I had never confirmed it, but I was pretty sure Drake’s mom gave him a trinket to help him with his game. Something similar to the sneakers us cheerleaders wore. And if Peachville did it, other demon gates probably used magic on the field too.

  As I watched, I realized this was possibly the first game all season that seemed like a fair match. I suddenly felt sorry for all of those non-magic teams we beat earlier in the year. Technically speaking, it wasn’t really fair. Using magic was no different from using illegal steroids. The only thing was that it was a hell of a lot harder to prove.

  Jackson warned me that using magic was dangerous for lots of reasons. Not just the awful headaches or feeling sick when you used too much power. Magic was addictive. Worse than any opiate or crack or whatever else. Once a witch got used to having power, it was very difficult to live without it. I hated to say that I kind of understood what he meant. Ever since my confirmation, magic had been so easy for me, it was definitely becoming addictive.

  I turned toward the stadium full of Peachville fans. I cheered and kept a smile on my face, but my eyes searched for Jackson’s face. If I could trade all the magical power running through my veins for the safe release of his brother, I would do it in a heartbeat.

  The crowd roared. I flipped around mid-cheer to see Drake’s perfect pass land in the hands of number sixty-three. Touchdown. The game was tied with only two minutes of game-play left. Usually at this point in the game, Peachville was at least fourteen points up. Now, we were fighting just to stay in it.

  The Demons football team went for the two-point conversion and scored, putting Peachville up by one point. Everyone in the stadium was on their feet, and for a moment, I was just a normal girl cheering for her team. All my thoughts of magic and responsibility faded away. I cheered with my community, and I felt like part of the town.

  Cypress had the ball and made an attempt to run it down the field, but on the second down, Foster Adams intercepted the ball. I never heard so much sound come from a crowd of people as I did in that moment. People on the Peachville side jumped up and down. With the ball in Peachville’s hands, the clock ran down quickly. Peachville won by one point, and everyone was ready to celebrate.

  Most of the cheerleaders were all smiles as we made our way to the locker rooms to change.

  “Did you see that last pass Drake threw?” Brooke said. She’d rushed up to me on our walk back and hugged me so hard my shoulder screamed in pain.

  I winced. “Ouch. Still kind of sore over there, Brooke.”

  She looked offended. “Isn’t that ever going to heal?”

  I wanted to roll my eyes. I’d been stabbed with a ritual dagger made from metal that isn’t even found in this dimension, and she expected me to be healed in three weeks. “Not if people keep aggravating it,” I said.

  She cleared her throat, then seemed to brush it off. She smiled again and put that high-pitched excitement in her voice that she had when she first walked up. “So did you see the pass? He’s amazing isn’t he?”

  “Great,” I said, not wanting to argue. “It was an awesome game.”

  “I really don’t see why you guys broke up,” she said. “You were the perfect couple. Foster says he never stops talking about you and that he hasn’t even been able to think about other girls since you broke his heart.”

  “He really should move on,” I said. “I’m just not interested.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said with a laugh. “Any girl in this school would kill to go out with him. How could you not be interested in a super-rich, super-goodlooking star quarterback?”

  Gee. I don’t know. Could be the fact that he’s an asshole.

  I kept my mouth shut and prayed for someone to save me from the conversation. I spotted Lark holding the door for us just up ahead. I jogged to meet her.

  “Thanks,” I said cheerfully.

  “You guys are coming to the party, right? Mom’s been working like mad to make sure everything is perfect,” she said. The three of us walked together into the locker rooms. “We hardly ever use the lake house since Mom was elected mayor. She just doesn’t have time to go out there with us. It was full of dust and stuff, but we got it aired out and it’s looking good.”

  “That’s so sweet of her to host us all there,” Brooke said. She sounded sugary and fake. I hardly recognized her anymore. One minute she was talking about me behind my back and the next she was trying to be my best buddy again.

  “Yeah,” Lark said, making a face. She obviously noticed the weird tone of voice, too. “My mom’s a sweetie.”

  “Do you guys want a ride over there?” Brooke asked. “I can take at least four people.”

  “I’m riding out there with Mom as soon as I can get changed,” she said. “We’ve still got some stuff to set up before the crowd descends.”

  Brooke looked to me.

  “Actually, I’m planning to ride out there with the two futures from Cypress,” I said. Mrs. King had asked me earlier to be their host, so I couldn’t very well say no.

  “Fine,” Brooke said, her shoulders tense. “I’ll go see if Allison wants a ride.”

  I was relieved when she walked away. I didn’t like her energy lately. I wanted the old Brooke back, but I knew that was never going to happen. Either her demon was changing her from the inside or the power of being part of the Order was going to her head.

  I changed quickly and ran out to meet the futures from Cypress. Mrs. King had offered to give the three of us a ride out to the party. She thought it would be good for us to spend some time together. Meredith and Caroline were already waiting outside the gym. They’d both changed into jeans and sweaters. Every detail of Meredith’s outfit was very precise. Her earrings had a stone that exactly matched a ston
e in her belt buckle. The brown leather boots she wore exactly matched the brown of her sweater. It was all a little too matchy matchy, and I wondered if she was using a glamour. For all I knew, that was standard training for a future.

  “You look great,” I told her. “I like your belt.”

  “Thanks,” she said. She put one hand on her hip and studied my outfit with both her eyebrows raised. “As a future, you know you really should spend more time on your appearance. You’re a public figure now.”

  I nodded and gritted my teeth. I probably should have used a glamour tonight, too, but I was afraid I was using magic a little too much lately. “I’ll work on that,” I said.

  Caroline caught my attention and rolled her eyes. She stood slightly behind her sister so Meredith couldn’t see her face. I stifled a giggle.

  “It’s like when celebrities like Britney or Lindsey Lohan get photographed wearing awful baggy shirts or no make-up or something. Everyone notices.”

  We made our way toward the parking lot and Mrs. King’s car.

  “I hardly think anyone’s going to be photographing me,” I said.

  “Yes they will,” she said. “Not the press or anything, but people around town will begin to see you as a sort of local celebrity. You’ll start to see your picture in the paper and the yearbook and all around. And once you become the Prima, you’ll be a real leader around here. If you want some tips on how to dress or how to put together an outfit, I’d be happy to help.”

  “I think I can handle it,” I said, tired of the conversation about my fashion. It was like a flashback to Brooke telling me I had to stop wearing so much black when I first got on the cheerleading squad. I wasn’t really a big fan of people criticizing my fashion choices, but I knew I couldn’t exactly tell her to stuff it either.

  “I mean, I know you don’t really have a lot of money or whatever,” she said. “But there are other ways.”

  I glanced at Caroline and she smiled.

  They had to know about glamours. What other way could Meredith mean? They didn’t strike me as the type to recommend shoplifting. I wanted to ask them about it, but Mrs. King came up at that moment and ushered us into her car.