Demons Forever (Peachville High Demons #6)

by Sarra Cannon

  Demons Forever

  By Sarra Cannon

  For Andrew

  I wanted you all my life,

  Prayed for you with all my heart,

  And will love you with all that I am.

  Forever.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2012 by Sarra Cannon Bittmann

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  Find Sarra Cannon on the web!

  www.sarracannon.com

  www.twitter.com/sarramaria

  http://www.goodreads.com/sarra_cannon

  www.facebook.com/sarracannon

  Cover Design by Robin Ludwig Design, Inc.

  http://www.gobookcoverdesign.com/

  Acknowledgements

  This book has been the hardest of my career to write, but in many ways, it has also been the most rewarding. While writing this book, I went through one of the most beautiful, life-changing events a person can experience. Something I had wanted for many years with all my heart.

  I became a mother.

  Finding the right balance between motherhood and career has not been easy, but I wanted to take a moment to say a genuine thank you to all my fans out there who have supported me throughout this year, always encouraging me to keep going and to make this book the best it could be. Thank you for believing in me and for waiting patiently for this last installment of the Peachville High Demons series.

  I also want to say thank you to my amazing husband, George, for always loving me and supporting my choices. Thank you for taking on some extra baby duties during my late night writing sessions and for being my first reader and my muse. I love you.

  This book would not have been possible if it wasn't for the help of neighbors Carissa and Miranda. I am so happy to have you in my life! Also, to all my 'Old Farts'. Words cannot express how much you mean to me. You ladies keep me sane and bring joy and much-needed friendship into my life. I love you all.

  Thank you to my dear friend, Megg Jensen. Writing can be a very lonely career and I feel so lucky to have met a fellow writer like you to call my friend. Thanks for always being there for me.

  As always, thank you to my critique group for your honest feedback. And to my beta readers, Lisa and Nick. Your insight and willingness to read quickly and with a reader's eye has helped this to be the book that it is.

  The Complete Peachville High Demons Series:

  Beautiful Demons

  Inner Demons

  Bitter Demons

  Shadow Demons

  Rival Demons

  Demons Forever

  Table of Contents

  A Castle And A Crown

  There Was No Answer

  She Wants It Back

  You Get That From Your Mother

  It's Complicated

  All These Questions

  Such A Different Life

  Exactly Who You Are

  They Found You First

  The Actions Of Evil People

  I Wasn't Surprised To Hear Her Name

  Everything You Think You Are

  Where We're Headed

  Beyond The Barrier

  A Hatred So Deep

  Lost Without Her

  You Care Too Much

  The People We Left Behind

  A Hero Locked Inside

  Inner Demon

  They Never Return

  A Princess

  Their Next Move

  My Sister

  Every Second You Waste

  A Cold Stone Where Her Heart Should Be

  She'll Never Stop

  Zara's Gift

  The First Breath

  Worth Dying For

  The Path Chosen

  The Beginning Of The End

  The World To Me

  On Our Side

  The Best Chance

  To Feel Closer

  A Life Of Our Own Choosing

  One Way Or Another

  You Might Not Get Another Chance

  I'll See You Soon

  The Tattoo

  Back To Peachville

  The Woman Sitting In The Wheelchair

  You Left Me Here To Rot

  Brighton Manor

  She's Alive

  A Hundred Heartbeats

  Where Guests Were Not Allowed

  No Song To Sing

  All Magic Has A Cost

  Anyone Could Be Anyone

  The Butterfly

  You Won't Remember A Thing

  She Couldn't Have Taken That News Well

  I Don't Think She's Acting

  The Typical Human Lifetime

  Family Tree

  A Magical Battery

  No One Will Even Know It's Me

  Leap Of Faith

  There Wasn't A Minute To Waste

  The Old Brooke

  Her Secret Dream

  A Beat Too Long

  The Bomb Lea Had Just Dropped

  So Many Secrets

  Dark Magic

  Tennessee - 1995

  What Happened That Day

  I Came To Set Her Free

  Feast Of Souls

  I've Seen Something Like It Before

  The Greater The Cost

  Proven

  Would They Help Us

  Together We Are Stronger

  This One Night

  Not A Day For Fear

  No Turning Back

  I Am Not Your Enemy

  The End Of It

  A Crack In The Bond

  I Trusted You

  My Destiny

  Bloodbath

  Afterworld

  She Was Mine

  Free

  The Center

  The Lines Between Good And Evil

  The Demon Liberation Movement

  A Future Hope

  A Castle And A Crown

  Cheers echoed through the streets of the domed city.

  Breathless, I stared down at the crowd. Was this really all for me? My ears rang and time seemed to stand still. I blinked, unable to make sense of this scene.

  My father, the King of the South, stood next to me, fist raised high in the air. A ghost. A vision.

  A demon.

  Never in a million years did I think this could be my truth. How many times had I wondered about him? How many times had I dreamed he would show up at the door of my latest foster home and claim me? Take me away to his big house in suburbia where we would have a dog and a pool and a real life together?

  And I'd thought that was dreaming big.

  I didn't even know how to wrap my mind around the thought of a castle and a crown. Much less the fact that I was not completely human.

  Jackson's hand squeezed mine, and I was instantly grateful he was here with me. He was the anchor holding my feet to the ground.

  I squeezed back.

  "We love you, Princess," someone shouted from below.

  Me? A princess? Disbelief shot through me, making me so dizzy I had to grip the railing to stay upright.

  I breathed in, warmth snaking across my cheeks. I wanted to duck my head. To hide in embarrassment. But I also wanted to smile and wave and giggle like a child on Christmas morning. My father was alive!

  I had a thousand questions to ask him, but for now, the roar of the crowd washed over me like a wave. Inside, I tumbled end over end, one moment feeling as if I might drown and the next thinking I might float away.

  Somewhere in the d
istance, a firework burst into the air. I followed it with my eyes, raising my chin toward the domed sky as it erupted in a flash of greens and blues.

  When the sky cleared, a tiny speck of darkness descended toward us. At first, I thought it was part of the festivities. But as it drew closer, its inky blackness expanded and grew, blotting out the light of the distant suns. The crowd gasped as the sky grew dark, all eyes turned upward in fear and confusion.

  The hand around my shoulder grew tense. I glanced at my father. His silver eyes darkened to a steel gray. He held his breath.

  "What is it?" I asked in a whisper.

  "I don't know," he said. "Get inside. Now."

  He motioned to the guards at our back. They rushed forward and gripped my arms. I resisted, unable to turn my eyes away, but they pushed me back into the safety of the throne room. Jackson stayed on the balcony, his eyes lifted to a growing darkness.

  I pulled away from the guards, my heart racing. What was going on? Why did everyone look so afraid? I thought they'd said the dome was safe?

  Trembling, I hugged my arms close to my chest and stared out through the archway. I watched genuine fear flash in my father's eyes. Beneath his silver beard, his jaw tensed. He lifted his arm like a shield above his head as a massive explosion rocked the domed city.

  The tile beneath my feet shook from the force of the blow and my ears rang. I stumbled backward and fell onto the steps leading up to the throne. Screams echoed against the high ceilings and my blood went cold. Outside, the sky turned black as night. An oily darkness slipped down across the smooth surface of the dome, blocking any view of the forest beyond.

  Time moved in slow motion.

  I stood, panic rising in my stomach as both Jackson and my father followed something with their eyes. Their heads moved in unison as the gasps and screams below grew louder.

  I pushed forward, running past the stunned guards to see it for myself.

  Before I could reach the balcony, I saw what it was they'd been watching. A single drop of black liquid splashed across the solid stone railing, inches from the king. With a hiss, it ate through the rock in seconds. Then, a cascade of drops fell around them and the balcony gave way.

  I shouted and reached forward, Jackson's eyes searching for mine as he fell.

  There Was No Answer

  The domed city erupted into chaos.

  Shouts sounded in the distance as hunters poured through the city's front gate, the dome's magical seal broken. Spells flashed as demons and humans banded together against them.

  I lunged forward, hands outstretched toward the falling balcony. In the instant before they fell onto the stone steps below, Jackson and the king both shifted to smoke. One black as night. The other white as a cloud. They coiled and circled up toward me, rushing past. Hands gripped me tight and pulled me with them as part of the floor collapsed and crumbled to the ground.

  Out of breath, we landed on the steps of the shining silver throne.

  "What's happening?" I asked. "I thought the dome was safe from witch's magic."

  My father shook his head. "Some kind of bomb. Or acid. They must have figured out a way to damage the outer shield," he said. "They've cracked a piece of the dome, disrupting the protection spell. Harper, we have to get you to a safe place."

  He motioned to the guards who had dragged me inside moments earlier. They were at my side in the blink of an eye.

  I stepped back. "No, I want to fight."

  "I don't have time to argue with you about this," he said. "Jackson, help these men get her downstairs. The dungeons three levels down will be the safest place. They were built ages ago with very strong stone."

  Jackson sucked in a tense breath. "Yes sir."

  I opened my mouth to protest, but Jackson's hand gripped my forearm and squeezed. When our eyes met, he shook his head to silence me. I had no idea what he was thinking, but I had to trust him. We didn't have time to talk this out. The battle outside grew louder and closer.

  My father's eyes darted toward the gaping hole in the castle wall.

  "Go," I said. "We'll be fine."

  He turned to me, his silver eyes clouded with worry. "Get to safety. I'll find you as soon as this is over."

  My stomach flipped as he shifted to white smoke and disappeared through the missing wall. Would I ever see him again? I couldn't lose him now, minutes after I found out he even existed.

  The guards turned, ready to usher me downstairs to the dungeons.

  "I'll make sure she gets down there," Jackson said, pulling me close to him. "Your city needs you now."

  One of the guards, a tall demon with dark brown hair and bulging muscles, threw a glance toward the battle. "We have our orders."

  "Don't waste your time on us," I said. "Go. We'll find our way down."

  The second guard drew his sword from his belt. "Take the stairway behind you all the way down to the dungeons on the lowest level. You'll be safe there," he said.

  My heart thundered in my chest. A flash of green shot across the throne room, hitting the far wall. I covered my face as sparks erupted and fell to the floor.

  Jackson pulled me toward the staircase, and I ran with him. Once we started our descent, the guards shifted and flew out to join the fight.

  As soon as the guards disappeared from sight, I pulled my arm away from Jackson and turned back toward the battle. "What are you doing?" I shouted. "We have to help them."

  "Harper, you have to listen to me." He placed a hand on my face. "I know you want to go out there, but you've barely had any time to recover from the last fight. We need to get you-"

  Before he could finish, a fiery bomb exploded by our feet. The force of it destroyed the area around us and sent us flying in separate directions. I lifted my arms to shield my face from the heat as I fell hard onto the marble floor. Wincing, I pushed up, coughing and clawing my way through debris.

  Something nearby caught fire, and I struggled to find Jackson through the flames.

  I shouted his name, but there was no answer.

  Which way to the stairs? Disoriented, I stumbled over the broken floor and fell to my knees. I cursed and tried to stand again. In front of me, a figure emerged from the blaze. I lifted my eyes, hoping to see Jackson's familiar face.

  My breath caught in my throat and I scrambled backward. It wasn't Jackson who had found me.

  It was a hunter.

  She Wants It Back

  The hunter's hollow eyes bored into me, her face twisted up in a terrible grimace.

  "Looks like I win the prize," she said, moving closer. "Won't my priestess be proud?"

  Priestess Winter.

  Bile rose up in my throat. Of course she was behind this whole thing. But how had she found me so fast? How had she been able to get through the dome's protective shield? It was as if she'd been watching me this whole time. Waiting for the chance to make her move.

  Part of me had been hoping this attack had nothing to do with me. That it was just bad timing. But I guess deep down, I knew better. Priestess Winter was never going to let me go. She would keep coming after me no matter where I tried to hide. And she wouldn't stop until I was dead and the Peachville line ran through the blood of another family.

  I glanced around for any sign of Jackson, but I didn't see him anywhere. Panic twisted my stomach. Was he hurt?

  The hunter cackled and raised her hands to me, sending a spell rushing forward.

  Distracted, I couldn't think fast enough to protect myself. The spell hit me head-on, the force of it sending me backward again. This time, the back of my skull slammed hard into the marble floor. I cried out and curled into a little ball.

  Another whoosh of air pushed past, this time lifting debris all around me, forming four tight walls that locked me in place.

  "I don't know why they say you're so hard to capture," the hunter said, hovering just beside the makeshift cage. Her face was grotesque. Covered in a slimy fluid that reeked of decay. "This was my easiest catch in decades."
<
br />   I clutched my throbbing head and rocked back and forth. I needed to get out of this trap, but I couldn't think straight. A blackness flowed over me and threatened to pull me under. I wanted to close my eyes and give in to it. I wanted to forget the pain that coursed through me.

  "Why?" I shouted in my delirium. "Why won't she just leave me alone?"

  "You took something that belongs to her." The hunter crouched low, her rancid breath turning my stomach. "She wants it back."

  I shook my head. No, she was wrong. I didn't have anything that belonged to Priestess Winter. Then, through the haze of pain, I remembered.

  The ring.

  The diary Andros gave us when we left the Underground had led us to the sapphire ring. A ring of great power that acted like an anchor here in the shadow world, connecting all of the blue demon gates to the original. Without that ring, the Order wouldn't be able to pull demons through the blue portals.

  And without it, Jackson and I wouldn't be able to reverse the spell that kept Aerden and I bound to Peachville.

  I couldn't let her take the ring.

  With sheer force of will, I pushed the pain from my mind. Carefully, I stood, my legs trembling at first, then finding their strength.

  The hunter laughed. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked. She moved closer to the cage of stone and debris. "You'll never escape, no matter how hard you try."

  I concentrated on my power, remembering back to the moment in the field when I'd shifted into smoke. I'd taken the form of my demon half to save myself once before, so maybe I could do it again. I focused on the feeling I remembered. Weightlessness. A loss of body and self.

  But nothing happened.

  The hunter studied me with narrowed eyes. "What's wrong? Can't remember how to use your power?" she asked. "You're such a child."

  Did she know what I was? Who I was?

  I took a deep breath in and released it slowly, trying to ground myself. To connect to the core of my power. I could feel the human side of my power buzzing in my veins, but where was the demon half? If I could somehow find a way to shift and control that side of my powers, I would be free. I would have the advantage.

  Only it wouldn't come.