by Sarra Cannon
Excitement flooded through me.
They're here!
I stood and ran toward the door, shoving it open and throwing my arms around my dear friend. "Oh my god, I've missed you so much," I said, holding Mary Anne tight.
She tensed at my embrace for just a moment, then relaxed and hugged back. I knew she wasn't always the most affectionate person in the world, but I couldn't help it. I'd missed her with all my heart, and after that scare with the fake Mary Anne in the woods, I was so happy to see her here safe and sound.
Essex stood to the side and as soon as I let go of Mary Anne, I pulled him into a hug. He stiffened, then blushed. I laughed, thinking how perfect they were for each other.
"Come on," I said, laughing and taking Mary Anne's hand. I nodded to the guards who'd been stationed at the door. My father had them watching me like a hawk the past few days.
The guards bowed in recognition and turned back to their posts as I led Mary Anne and Essex into the dining room.
"So what's up with the castle and the guards and everything?" Mary Anne asked. "Is this where you're living?"
I scrunched my nose. She was going to be pissed that I hadn't told her yet. "Yes," I said, not sure how to explain this. "I told you I'd found my father?"
"Yeah, so what is he? Some kind of advisor or guard or something?"
"Not exactly," I said, biting my lip.
"He's the king," Jackson said. "He's a demon and he's the king. Harper wasn't sure how to tell you, but there it is. No big deal."
Mary Anne's eyes grew wide, her mouth dropped open. "You can't be serious."
I nodded and walked over to my place at the head of the table. "I know it's hard to believe," I said. "I still hardly believe it myself."
"Wait a minute," Mary Anne said. "That makes you a demon?"
"Half demon," I said.
"A half demon daughter of a king," she said, shaking her head and falling into a chair one of the servants pulled out for her. "Holy crap, you're a princess."
She giggled, then covered her mouth, as if the sound had surprised her.
"I'm sorry, this is just a lot to take in," she said.
"Trust me, I completely understand," I said.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
I shrugged. "I wasn't really sure it was something that should be public knowledge just yet," I said. "Plus, I figured it was the kind of thing you had to see to believe."
Mary Anne looked at me in astonishment, then smiled. "I always knew there was something special about you," she said. "I guess I'm not surprised."
I smiled back, relieved the truth was out there.
I sat back down at the table, but pushed my plate away. I was too excited to eat. "Can I get you guys anything for dinner? You have to be hungry."
"Sure," Mary Anne said. "I'm starving. We didn't bring much with us on the road. We wanted to pack as light as possible so nothing could hold us back."
I motioned to a servant waiting nearby and they disappeared into the kitchen to get more food.
"How was your trip?" Jackson asked.
"It was quite easy," Essex said. "We did not see a single hunter the entire way here. To be honest, it was strange to see the roads so clear."
I frowned. "Maybe the Order is concentrating all their efforts on attacking the villages here. We've had some trouble with hunters nearby."
"I'm glad you guys made it here safely," Jackson said.
"Did you make those?" I asked Essex, pointing to the two large backpacks they carried with them.
He beamed with pride, setting his down on the floor beside Mary Anne's. "Yes, I made them special for the trip," he said. "They have some secret compartments inside, and I imbued them with a type of magic that makes them feel much lighter than they actually are."
Mary Anne touched his leg. "It made the journey a lot easier."
I raised my eyebrow at her and she moved her hand, rolling her eyes. Still, I noticed a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
"I'm so glad you're here safely," I said. "Did Piotrek and Liroth meet you at the border?"
"Yes," Mary Anne said. A servant placed a full plate in front of both her and Essex. "They were great. They brought us here to the castle, but said they had some others duties they had to attend to."
I made a mental note to find the two guards later and thank them.
Jackson cleared his throat. "Lea wouldn't come with you?"
Mary Anne and Essex exchanged a look so brief, I almost missed it.
"She's really busy with the Underground," Mary Anne said. She took a large bite of rice and took her time chewing it up. "She said she wants to help with Aerden, but she's not sure when she'll be able to get away."
There was more to it than that. I could feel it. "What's going on?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" Mary Anne scooped another bite of rice into her mouth.
"I mean, you're hiding something," I said. "I'm sure you're just trying to spare my feelings or whatever, but we don't have time for secrets or sympathy. What's the real reason she isn't coming? She hates me, doesn't she?"
Mary Anne and Essex looked at each other again and this time Essex bowed his head and stared down at his lap. Wow, was it really so bad?
"I honestly don't know what's going on with her lately," Mary Anne said. "After the two of you left, she became more and more distant. She spends all of her time with the Underground's leaders and she never makes time to see us anymore. I practically had to beg to get even five minutes alone with her to tell her we were leaving."
"They must be planning something big," Jackson said, shifting in his seat. "Any idea what it might be?"
Essex shook his head. "No, we have talked many hours about this, but we cannot figure out what must be going on inside the leadership," he said. "It seems the Resistance army has been training more than usual, though. Something is being planned, but the leaders have not shared their plan with the general population of the Underground."
"I can guess," Mary Anne said. "Personally, my suspicion is that they're planning some kind of massive attack in the human world."
"So why would they be keeping that such a secret?" I asked. "That's exactly what we're planning to do. We could work together. I don't see why they'd keep that from us."
Mary Anne shrugged.
Jackson shut his eyes. "Because it's possible their plan involves destroying all the demon gates." He slammed his hand against the table. The silverware jumped up and clanged back down with the force of the blow. "I thought I'd convinced them to move past that," he said.
I pressed my hands to my forehead and drew a deep breath in through my nose. As if we weren't already on a race against the clock. Now we might also have to deal with the Resistance? I thought they were on our side.
"Back when I was sitting in on the meetings, there were some demons on the committee who believed that if we could destroy all of the demon gates, we'd eventually also destroy the Order itself."
"But that would mean killing thousands of demons," I said. "Even if they didn't care about the humans who would die, why would they want to kill the demons too?"
"Collateral damage," he said. "Everyone agrees it's horrible, but some think it's the only way."
"And Lea?" I asked. "What does she think?
He frowned. "She was on the fence about it a lot of the time," he said. "She didn't necessarily agree with the tactics, but she said she couldn't really see a better plan of attack. The Order is just too strong. She thought the best way to weaken them would be to close the gates and diminish their numbers."
A frustrated sound escaped from my throat. "If we go around killing demons and witches without even trying to free them, how does that make us any better than the Order?"
"Hey, you're preaching to the choir here," Mary Anne said.
"I did not realize that was the plan," Essex said with a frown. "However, I can see why many of my kind might see an advantage to this line of reasoning. Over the past two hun
dred years, we have come to consider those who have been taken as already lost to us forever. We have never heard of any demon who escaped from the human world once they were imprisoned inside a human witch. To us, those demons are already dead."
"They aren't dead," I said, standing up and kicking my chair. "I've seen Aerden manifest to save my life more than once. He's the same, only trapped. That's the way it is for all the demons who have been taken. If their human host is still alive, so are they. And as long as they're alive, there's hope."
I felt bad about raising my voice. I knew Essex wasn't to blame here. Still, it made me so angry that they were just so willing to write their loved ones off without a fight.
"Many would see it as a mercy killing," he said. "You have to understand. We are accustomed to living for hundreds of years. When we pass away, usually it is by choice so that another generation may rise up and so that our power may be used for other purposes. When a demon is taken from this world into the human world, their life is shortened to maybe fifty or sixty years if they are lucky. Not a single day of this time is spent in freedom. It is torture for my kind."
I gripped the back of the chair and leaned forward. I'd never really considered what life must be like for the majority of the demons taken to live in the human world. Demons like Aerden who were tied to a prima's bloodline lived for possibly hundreds of years. Of course, he was forced to live as a slave, but at least he was alive. For the others, though, they only lived as long as their humans lived.
"How long do you think we have?" Mary Anne asked, looking to Jackson. "How long to free your brother before the Resistance begins attacking gates?"
Jackson ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure," he said. "That might not even be what they're planning. Maybe they've worked out a new plan."
"We can't risk waiting to find out. There's too much at stake and we're running out of time. We can't worry about the Resistance right now. It sucks that Lea wouldn't come, but we can do this without her. We have to." I looked each of them in the eyes, my heart racing in my chest. "Tomorrow, we go back to Peachville."
The Best Chance
Later that evening, the four of us sat in my living room, a map of Peachville drawn out on a large piece of paper in the middle of the floor. Jackson had spent part of the day drawing in the basic roadways and landmarks.
"My family's village is approximately here," Mary Anne said. She placed a red gemstone over the forest on the edge of town. "We can use that as our base camp. All I need to do is set up the protection spell again."
"You can do that?" I asked. "How will we all get in, though? Will we have to swear a blood oath?"
"Essex and I talked about this some before we left the Underground," Mary Anne said. "There might not be time to perform a blood oath ceremony every time we want to invite someone into our camp. Especially if we end up with a lot of people who want to help."
"What else can we do?" I asked. Using the crow village was a genius idea. I'd been scared we would end up running from the Order the whole time, always in danger. If there was a way Mary Anne could secure the crow village, we might be able to hide there undetected for a while.
"I will cast the spell that my family originally used as a barrier, only I'm going to alter it a tiny bit," she explained. "Instead of a blood oath to me or my family, a person wanting to get in will have to actually be carrying a drop of my blood."
I swallowed. "How are we going to get that to work?"
"Before we left, Essex made a set of blue wristbands that will work like keys to the village. He put a drop of my blood into each of the bands, so essentially anyone wearing one will be able to get in."
"What if someone steals some of the bands?" Jackson asked.
"We can't let that happen," Mary Anne said. "We'll have to guard them with our lives and only give them to people we completely trust."
I considered her plan. It was risky, but it was a really great idea. "Do you think the blood spell is strong enough to keep the Order out?"
"It's practically impenetrable," Mary Anne said. "A blood oath is one of the strongest types of magic. As long as we are careful with the bands, we'll be safe."
"Let's do it," I said. "As soon as we pass through to the human world, you two need to go straight to the village to set up the blood spell."
"What about you guys?" Mary Anne asked. "Where will you go?"
I looked to Jackson. "We're going straight to Shadowford."
He met my eyes and nodded. We'd already talked about this part of the plan. Jackson and I would go to Winterhaven alone.
"Wait a second," Mary Anne said. She sat up straighter. "You mean we came all this way and you don't want us to go with you to rescue Mrs. King?"
"Angela," I said.
Mary Anne reached out to touch my hand. "Angela."
"The less people we take to Winterhaven, the better," Jackson said. "If we go alone, maybe we can stay under the radar and rescue her before anyone knows we're there."
"They took her so you'd come after her," Mary Anne said. "They aren't going to let you just walk in and take her. They'll have traps set up everywhere."
"Maybe," I said. "But it won't do any good to have us all trapped there. If we get don't show up at the crow village within a day or two, you can come back through to the shadow world and try to get more help. Besides, if we don't come back, we'll need you to try to perform the ritual reversal to free Aerden. If that works, it will change everything."
"So why don't we do the ritual first, then?"
"Because if it works, Priestess Winter is going to completely lose her shit," I said. "She'll be so angry, there's no telling what she might do. She might kill Angela just to get even."
Mary Anne bit her lip. "True," she said. "We have to get her out of there first if we can."
"Exactly," I said. "And if we can't, then at least someone else will still be alive to try the ritual."
Jackson handed her the witch's journal Andros had given us. "The details of the ritual are in this book," he said. "I've marked the page."
"Do you think it will work?" Essex asked. "If demons can be freed from their prisons on earth, this will change everything about the way our people think. If we could see our families again..."
His voice drifted off and he stared down at his hands.
"It's the best chance we've ever had of defeating the Order and freeing our kind from slavery," Jackson said.
Mary Anne took the journal and tucked it away inside her backpack. "I'll hold onto it, but I expect you to come back and get it from me in the village," she said.
Silence filled the room. No one said it, but I knew we were all thinking the same thing. What if Jackson and I never came back from Winterhaven?
Jackson finally broke the tension. "Remember, once we get across the border to the human world, we have to be very careful not to cast any demon magic," he said. "Essex, Harper already knows this but demon magic works differently in the human world. There, our magic is fueled by the living things around us. Trees, grass, even human life if that's the only source available. A simple spell will leave a noticeable mark in the grass that can be tracked. No shifting or casting of any kind once we go through. Not until it's absolutely necessary."
"I understand," Essex said.
"Aren't we forgetting something important?" Mary Anne asked.
"What?"
"How exactly are we planning to get back to Peachville?" she asked. "If the ring you took made the portals inactive, how will we get through?"
It was a good question. One Jackson and I had given a lot of thought to over the past few days. "There has to be another way through," I said. "Coach King managed to come through the night he was attacked. He wouldn't have been able to travel far with his injuries as bad as they were. There has to be another portal between Peachville and this domed city. A portal the Order doesn't know about."
"But where is it?"
"I don't know," I said.
I rubbed at the muscles in m
y neck. "Let's call it a night for now," I said. "We've been talking through this for hours. We all need to get some rest. We're going to need our energy tomorrow night."
"You're right," Mary Anne said. "I'm exhausted."
"We'll all stay here in Harper's room tonight," Jackson said. He stood and walked toward the bedroom door. "We'll come back to this with fresh eyes in the morning."
The three of them disappeared into my bedroom, but I sat there alone for a long time staring at the map, wondering how in the world we were going to find that portal.
To Feel Closer
I sat on the couch staring at the map of Peachville.
It was late, and I knew I needed to get some sleep, but my mind wouldn't stop churning. We had to figure out how to get back to the human world. I could go to my father and ask him for the location of the portal, but I didn't think he would tell me. He didn't want me to go back, so he wasn't going to make it that easy.
The gate had to be somewhere here inside the domed city, and the other side must come out somewhere in Peachville. Coach King had been injured so badly, he wouldn't have been able to travel too far. If he'd come through somewhere far away from the domed city, he might have passed out or been intercepted by hunters before he got to the throne room.
My guess was that the portal was actually somewhere near the castle itself. But where?
I ran a hand through my hair and sighed.
We didn't have time to waste like this. Every second we stayed here in the shadow world was another second the Order had to torture my sister.
The outer door to my chambers opened, and I sat up, on full alert.
"It is just me, Princess." Tuli entered, carrying a stack of blankets and a single white rose. "I thought you might need these since you have so many people staying with you in your quarters this evening."
"Thank you," I said, taking the blankets from her. "What's the rose for?"
She raised an eyebrow and walked toward the middle of the room. "These were your mother's favorite flowers," she said." I am told she loved them so much, she even had them planted at the lake near her home in the human world."
