Dealing with the Devil (The Earthwalker Trilogy Book 1)

by Siddoway, Jennifer

  “Your contract is with the witch. You can’t—”

  “And her child is woven intricately into its design! That makes both her, and the Earthwalker’s soul, my property until my business with them is done. We all hold scars from the previous war, I doubt any one of us would like to relive the horrors which it entailed. You are bound by laws as we are and justice mandates that the punishment fit the crime.”

  The djinn raised an eyebrow at Aidan’s passion and said, “I’m in agreement with Lucifer. The Son of Morning has a prior claim here, and I will be outraged as well if there is a breach in treaty.”

  This strange turn of events had left be a bit confused, why were the demons the ones who were advocating my safe return? It seemed completely backwards, I thought the angels would have been my saviors. Caleb was the only person on the side of light who seemed interested in my welfare. He and Lucifer, or Aidan, I wasn’t sure what to call him, had been ready to kill each other in battle moments ago, but here they seemed united in one curious aspect — me. Neither one of them wanted to see me die. Granted, it was for entirely different reasons, but at least they agreed on that front.

  The centaur frowned with an air of condescension in his voice. “You're saying we should disregard the danger and pretend that nothing happened?”

  “I’m saying we should give her the opportunity to prove herself and learn to control her powers,” Caleb insisted. “Once she's learned to harness them, we'll know for sure whether or not she’s a threat.”

  “What about the rights of all the other inhabitants of Earth?” the mermaid demanded from her moonlit pool. “Are we to put them in danger all for the sake of one? Her powers are only now beginning to manifest and already she's been able to unleash a burst of energy that puts even her mother's skill to shame. Imagine how much damage she could do if she's allowed to increase her power.”

  Aidan tried to hide his smile when Caleb shot back, “Power alone is neutral. It’s how she chooses to use that power that's important.”

  “That may be, but it's better to err on the side of caution than risk countless lives in the process,” one of the robed angels argued.

  Caleb stood in the midst of them, fuming with righteous indignation, “Do you hear yourself? How many lives have been destroyed in the name of the ‘greater good’? You're letting fear and prejudice rule your judgment instead of individual merit. It displays a sense of arrogance and lack of empathy that's unbefitting of your station. I implore you to see reason and not make a premature decision that results in an innocent girl being ripped away from her family and a war between our factions. Give her a chance to prove herself and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.”

  “I've had enough of this!” the angel named Ezekiel shouted back, clearly the loudest and most outraged at my very existence. “You don't have the r—”

  The angel with marking on his skin cut his companion off. “Calm yourself, friend. It’s the fae who will be directly affected by our decision. Since they inhabit the Mortal Realm, it should be they who determine the child's fate. What say you, Brothers and Sisters? Are you willing to keep the Earthwalker as part of your domain, or will we be disposing of her for you?”

  All eyes were turned towards their dark fae leader, Ellyllon, deep in thought. “She is quite the anomaly,” Ellyllon agreed. “But what we are failing to address is the bigger picture in regard to Miss Hendricks’ eternal state of being. Once the cruel hand of time has claimed her she will inevitably be sent to the Demonic Realm anyway, unless she is given the opportunity to rid herself of the claim staked on her soul by Lucifer. This girl deserves the same right to earn her place in Paradise as any other daughter of Eve. As was stated earlier, the punishment must fit the crime and no crime has been committed. However, her powers will grow stronger day by day and her true nature will begin to manifest. I propose that we test her boundaries to know the limits of her self-control. Only then will we know if she's truly what she seems and whether or not she can handle the enormous responsibility that's been placed upon her young shoulders. She is, as we keep reminding ourselves, a child.”

  There was an uproar in the congregation and the old man raised his eyebrows in surprise. The tattooed markings on his face and skin glinted slightly in the darkness. “You propose she be given a test?”

  “Yes.”

  The fae began to nod and talk excitedly amongst themselves. I leaned forward, straining my ears to hear what they were saying. I couldn’t stand to have them deciding my fate without me. I wanted to say something, to tell them they were wrong about me, but I strangled the thought within me before it could cause any further damage. Caleb was right; they were looking for a reason to get rid of me and I wouldn’t give them ammunition. When it appeared they were in agreement, the man turned back towards the demons. “Lords? What have you to say?”

  They shouted in agreement almost immediately and Aidan looked positively giddy. “Let’s put it to a vote. Medon?”

  The centaur he’d addressed as Medon nodded, flipping his tail behind him. “Aye. The girl has resided on Earth long enough to know the laws of the land. I also think she's acutely aware of what the punishment would be if she sets a toe out of line. I say let her take a chance.”

  “Very well. Napaeus?” he asked the satyr kindly.

  “Aye,” the satyr told him with a mysterious tinkle in his eye.

  “Fleur?”

  The lighter fairy smiled, cocking her head to one side as she looked me over carefully. “Aye. I think she will be a spot of fun once she's learned to control her powers.”

  “What about you, Daryah?”

  The mermaid hissed inside her moon pool and said, “Absolutely not. It’s a reckless and foolhardy decision.”

  He nodded and turned towards the golem slowly. “Xephora?”

  “No,” the golem stated flatly.

  “Izar?” The unicorn nodded, stamping its hoof in agreement.

  The old man sighed. “Very well. She will be placed on a probationary period of one calendar year, in which she will be tested by each of the Demon Lords to determine her underlying nature. If she succeeds, then she'll be allowed to live out her days in the Mortal Realm without any further claim to her and earn her way to Paradise just as every mortal must. Are we agreed?”

  There was a murmuring of agreement from both sides until the man turned to me and said, “You've been oddly quiet, little one. Answer, so that we know you understand.”

  I glanced to Caleb, panicked, who gave a subtle nod of encouragement. His face was solemn and emotionless as he resigned himself to accept my fate — there was nothing he could do. Gathering up my courage, I looked back at them and said, “Yes, I understand.”

  My voice cracked as I addressed them, but there was no judgment in their eyes — just fascination and tense observance of the hint of mortal weakness. The old man walked towards me and waved his hand across my collarbone. The tattooed runes on his hand illuminated as he activated some kind of mystic spell and brought them calmly to his side. Mom’s necklace that I was wearing began to sparkle and then disappear completely to be replaced by a hefty, metal chain. “This will be the mark of your probation,” the robed man told me. “Don't ever take it off or it will constitute your forfeiture of the test, and similarly, that of your life.”

  “I won't.”

  “Good luck, Miss Hendricks.”

  I nodded and once again my skin began to glow and it felt as though I was falling backwards. There was another sickening sense of vertigo and I sensed my body being pulled away. My stomach lurched as I collapsed in the center of my bedroom floor. Looking around my room, there was no sign of my earlier intruders, or anything that had happened, as if no time had passed at all.

  My door banged open and Dad and Nate barged in. I stared at them in shock. Nathan gaped at me on the floor with an expression of fury on his face. “Wynn, what the heck? I've been banging on your door for at least ten minutes!”

  “I, uh…”

  Dad
turned to him now clearly frustrated, “Son, you had me seriously scared for a minute!”

  Nathan didn’t let his guard down yet but did a quick search of my room and closet. He turned to me with a dark look, “I know what I heard.”

  He stormed out, but I could still hear him muttering to himself outside.

  Dad took a step towards me with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “We were really worried,” he explained. “Nate thought that you were hurt. He heard a crash and then you weren't responding—”

  As the memories came flooding back, a tear rolled down my cheek and it all come down on me like a ton of bricks. He stopped talking immediately as his paternal instinct kicked in and eyed me with concern.

  “Wynn, what's going on?”

  I shook my head and coughed, feeling the blood rush against my temples. My hand flitted to my throat where the new necklace hung and I could feel the metal chain.

  It had been real.

  A thrill of fear trickled down my spine and began to settle in the pit of my stomach, developing into mild nausea — nope, full blown nausea.

  “I'm gonna be sick!”

  Dad’s eyes went wide for a moment as he sidestepped into the hall and I ran past him to the bathroom. I pulled my hair back and crouched over the open toilet to unleash the contents of my stomach, praying that it would all be over soon.

  Relief should have been instantaneous, but the dry heaving was only painful and couldn't expel the knot within my gut no matter how hard I tried. Dad followed me as far as the doorway, but the sound of my violent retching kept him from going any further. “I guess that means you’re not hungry,” he mumbled to me softly. “Can I get you anything?”

  I wiped my mouth with a bit of tissue and looked up at him in the doorway. “No, I just wanna be alone.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  My head was going a thousand miles a minute as the reality of my situation started to sink in.

  No … no, this can’t be happening.

  He let out a tired sigh as he walked down the hall and disappeared from my line of sight. It went against everything my instincts were telling me not to tell him everything. I wanted to ask him about mom, about Aidan, but I remembered what he said about keeping this a secret. “If one of them finds out, I will rip out their beating heart in front of you.”

  I could never let that happen.

  My eyes felt tired and began to hurt, so I limped over to the sink and splashed some water on my face. I reached over to dry my face with a towel, but when I saw my reflection in the mirror, bloody tears were running down my cheeks. Any other day I would have been alarmed at the sight of it, but after my experience in the Grove it didn't really surprise me. I took a deep, steadying breath and grabbed a few tissues from off the counter to wipe away the evidence.

  They were still red and bloodshot, but once the blood was gone there was nothing else to do. I limped over to the shower, hoping the sound of running water would drown out the noise of my crying. My hand was trembling as I reached for the faucet and noticed the thin cut on my wrist from where Aidan had drawn my blood. It was a nasty reminder that I had been touched by a demon — it felt strangely intimate, like he had marked me as one of them.

  Steam began to fill the room as I stripped off all my clothing and stepped into the welcome stream. As the heat of the water pulsed against my aching back, my emotions became unhinged and ripped through me in frantic, panting sobs. I cried until my head hurt and my throat was sore from dry heaving.

  Why did they think I was a demon? What did that even mean? How would it affect my future even if I did somehow manage to survive the trials? My head went around and around in answerless circles and I was still no closer to losing the horrible knot in my gut.

  The hot water eventually ran out, so I turned off the faucet and stepped out onto the tile. My matted, red hair hung across my naked shoulders as I wrapped myself in a towel and listened at the door to make sure the coast was clear. Before I left, I grabbed a Band-Aid from the medicine cabinet and slapped it on my wrist. Maybe that would at least keep it from getting infected — who knows where Aidan’s hands have been. Gross.

  Slowly, I tiptoed down the hall and shut the door behind myself. Once safely in my room, I changed into some nightclothes and raked a comb through my hair. It seemed odd for life to be so quiet after the noise and chaos of earlier, like the eye of a storm. How I could be expected to stay here now that my haven had been violated? I looked at my bed where Aidan — Lucifer — had been laying and frowned.

  I can’t sleep here, I thought.

  I pulled the covers off my bed, grabbed my pillow and curled up on the floor.

  Reluctantly, I turned out the overhead light and pulled the covers up over my head protectively. Seven tests, I thought to myself with amazed astonishment. How could I even prepare for what they're asking me to do? I'd never been so nervous about an upcoming exam and I'd never felt more inadequate. I wrapped my arms around my chest and rocked back and forth in a soothing manner while tears flowed down my cheeks. The Council was calling me a demon, but the need to cry was the most human thing that I could think of.

  I was alone.

  I was scared.

  For several hours I stayed there, contemplating the decisions that lay before me until exhaustion finally overtook me and I was able to get some sleep.

  Chapter Four

  Rose Colored Glasses

  Bzz! Bzz! Bzz! Bzz!

  The sound of my alarm clock buzzing nosily on the nightstand woke me from a deep sleep. I groaned into the pillow and reached over to smash it into oblivion, only to remember I’d camped out on the floor. The memory of last night came flooding back to me and I breathed in deeply through my nostrils, trying and prevent another panic attack. I looked up at the offending clock, realizing I really did have to get up or I’d be late for school.

  Ugh, school. Mundane even at the best of times, but after the emotional upheaval of last night it seemed downright laughable to deal with something so trivial when my very life depended on passing these seven trials. There were so many things wrong with being forced to do anything today I didn't know where to start. Maybe I'll pretend to be sick, I thought to myself stubbornly. That wouldn't even be much of a stretch. Even so, I knew that I couldn't hide up here forever.

  Unconsciously, I glanced down at the hand where Aidan grabbed me, half expecting it to have developed some kind of rash, but there was nothing — just the Avengers Band-Aid I had put on it last night and the same pale skin as always, delicately splashed with freckles.

  I frowned.

  There was no outward sign that anything had changed and yet my entire world had just been turned upside-down. My mind started spinning with more what-ifs, but I didn’t have any more information to go on than I did last night.

  No, I decided finally. School would be a good thing. If nothing else, it will serve as a welcome distraction to keep my mind from worrying about things I have no control over.

  The aroma of freshly brewed coffee came wafting up the stairwell and I let out a tremendous yawn, throwing off the rest of the covers. Knowing coffee is downstairs is the only reason I leave my bed in the morning.

  “Mistress will be late for academics if she doesn't rise soon,” a raspy voice said from the foot of my bed. I sat up immediately and gasped at the sight of a small, gnarled creature with red skin skirting about my room. He stood only two feet high and the four arms protruding from his abdomen were picking up my dirty laundry and putting it in the hamper.

  “What are you?” I hissed at him accusingly.

  He bowed deeply and introduced himself, “Blix, my lady. Lord Aidan sent me to clean up from the unfortunate quarrel yesterday. He was most apologetic, I assure you.”

  “What? No! Get out of here!”

  Blix jumped back in alarm at my outburst and started once again, “But mistress, he sent me here to serve you, I cannot return to him duty unfulfilled! I—”

>   “GET OUT!!!!”

  The creature sighed and erupted in a burst of flame, disappearing from my room. My jaw fell open as I stared at the empty space where the creature had been standing, then scrambled to my feet. I grabbed the first pair of jeans that I could find and a t-shirt from my drawer then went running from my bedroom. On my way out the door, I nearly plowed into Nate as he walked by, causing him drop the Pop-tart he was eating.

  “Dammit, Wynn! What's gotten into you?” he demanded after we collided in the hallway.

  “Sorry, Nate! I, uh … didn't … see you there….” I trailed off when I realized he was surrounded by the same ethereal mist as the robed figures in the Grove. Caleb and the others had all been glowing in various shades of blue, but Nathan’s was bright green and not as brilliant.

  Okay, maybe I should have stayed in bed.

  I clutched the clothes tightly to my chest and backed away from him slowly.

  “Wynn, are you okay?”

  “Yeah, of course. I'll, uh, be right out!” I blurted as I bumped up against the bathroom door.

  He rolled his eyes as I fumbled with the knob behind me, nearly falling inside from my rush to get away from him.

  “Whatever, Wynn. You’re seriously useless before your caffeine fix.”

  I chuckled nervously and nodded as the door slammed shut between us. Carefully, I set my shirt and jeans down on the counter and took a few calming breaths, chanting to myself quietly, “Come on, Wynn, you can do this. Just breathe.”

  My anxiety was rising steadily as I got dressed and allowed my gaze to linger on the enchanted necklace that now hung around my neck. I reached up to touch the chain, leaning across the counter to examine it in the mirror. Seven crystals hung from an elegant circular knot, and the long, rope style necklace which carried them had been woven together by three different chains, each made from a different kind of metal — silver, gold, and bronze.