Dealing with the Devil (The Earthwalker Trilogy Book 1)

by Siddoway, Jennifer

  “I…”

  Aidan clapped his hands together in a fit of glee and laughed. “Oh this is delicious! Stay there, I want to savor this feeling for a moment!” He breathed in deeply as a wild grin spread across his elated face. “Ah … yes, that’s it! Well, I can’t say karma didn’t get you in the end. First you insult me by ending our relationship, all for the sake of that filthy mortal. But he doesn’t want you now because he’s already got a family of his own! So you’ve come crawling back to me hoping that I'd help you out of … what, the goodness of my heart? Is that it?”

  My mother stuck out her jaw defiantly, but I could see the broken woman she’d become and the wild, lost look in her eyes. “Are you going to help me or not?”

  “Oh, I can help you,” Aidan crooned. “But it’s going to cost you the same as anyone else.”

  “What do you want?”

  Aidan’s face became hard as stone as he whirled on her in an instant, stopping only inches from her face. “For you to suffer. I offered you my kingdom, my heart, but that wasn’t good enough for you. If you want me to help you be with him, and get the wife out of the picture, then you must give up the most precious part of him in exchange.”

  “How…?”

  “The child,” he insisted cruelly.

  “Why would you even want her?” she asked, not daring to meet his gaze. “She's just a baby.”

  “No, you stupid girl! Anna's daughter is not yours to bargain with. Do you honestly think no child will result from this union? The child I want is yours!”

  “I'll conceive?” she asked, unconsciously stroking her belly.

  “Without question,” he answered flatly. “Had you borne my child instead, this conversation would not be happening. Those are my terms, take it or leave it.”

  “What do you want with it?” she asked, turning to face him.

  “You already know the answer to that. Drown it, smother it, snap its little neck, I don't really care as long as its heart stops beating.”

  She spat in his face and sprinted down the beach as fast as her legs would carry her. Aidan sighed and flashed in front of her seconds later. Her eyes bulged with fear as she stumbled to a halt, almost running into him. “Why are you doing this to me? Haven't I been through enough?”

  Aidan scowled, looking more like a creature of the night than I had ever seen him before. “You two-faced tramp! Don't talk to me about pain. You don't even know the meaning of the word.”

  Michele gritted her teeth and clenched both hands firmly by her sides. “There has to be something else you want.”

  He laughed dryly. “Nothing comes to mind.”

  “Well … how far are you willing to negotiate? I've never really understood the whole ‘child sacrifice’ thing, it always seems … wasteful.”

  Aidan thought for a moment and laced his fingers together in a professional sort of manner. “What do you suggest?”

  She took a deep breath before speaking. “T-that I give you the child whole.”

  His body became rigid when she spoke, both eyes glowing red as a sinister grin spread across his face. “You offer me your living child?”

  “Not without my own conditions,” she insisted forcefully.

  Aidan's response was almost giddy. “I've always liked you, Michele. However, it may not be that simple. They would have to consent to this, agree to serve me of their own free will. That will be more difficult than simply ending their life, I assure you.” He extended his hand with an easy attitude.

  She nodded vigorously. He stopped her as she moved towards his outstretched hand. “Just so we're clear, if you aren't able to follow through on your end, then we will follow the original bargain — one of you will have to die. It's up for you to decide who that will be.”

  After only a moment's consideration, Michele nodded once again and shook his hand in accord.

  Aidan bared his teeth like a wolf cornering its prey. “Brace yourself, witch, because this is going to hurt.”

  I was pulled away from the scene before me, and found myself back in the park beside Aidan. My knees buckled and a sickening sense of vertigo hit me.

  “Are you alright?” he asked, holding me up to keep me from falling.

  I blinked a couple times and pulled away from him in horror. After what I saw, I wanted to distance myself from him immediately. I didn't know if he knew what I had seen, or what my reasons were for wanting to keep it secret, but something in my gut just told me that it wasn’t something I shouldn't tell him. “I-I just … got a little light headed. Do you think you could take me home?”

  “Of course,” he responded carefully. “You're sure you’re all right?”

  I nodded stiffly, not daring to meet his gaze. “Yeah, that conjuring thing was harder than I thought, just need to get some rest that's all.”

  His eyes narrowed as he took a step towards me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “You wouldn't be hiding something from me, would you, little one?”

  I shook my head, still refusing to look at him. The next thing I knew we were standing in my driveway. “Goodnight, precious. Call for me again when you've regained your strength, and we’ll get in some more practice.”

  When he left I stuffed my hands into my pockets and started up the drive. A feeling of uncertainty stirred within my chest as I kicked one of the pebbles into the rain gutter and trod off towards the porch. After witnessing the conversation that resulted in my demise, it reminded me of all the reasons I hated demons. And I did, hate them.

  This can't go on, I told myself. That was the last time I ever call for him. He said himself that my training was going well, so I had no further use for him.

  I never wanted to associate with demons anyway.

  ~ * ~

  Ring … ring … ring…

  I jolted upright at the sound of my phone ringing and I swung my entire body over to my nightstand where it rested on the dock. I overreached, lost my balance, and tumbled over the edge of the mattress. With a soft — oomph — I landed on the ground, pulling half of my covers off with me. My hair stuck to one side of my face, thanks to some drool that had accumulated on my cheek as I spoke into the receiver and nursed the rising goose-egg. “Whoever this is, I hate you,” I answered, still lying on the floor.

  Lacey scoffed on the other line. “You’re not awake yet? Don't you know what time it is? I said we'd be there at nine.”

  Crawling back into bed, I verified the time on my alarm clock. “It's eight forty-five, actually, which means I still have fifteen minutes.”

  “Fine, grouchy, go back to bed. You're mean when you don't get any sleep.”

  “Good night, Lacey. I'll see you in a bit.”

  I hung up on her and crawled back under my blanket. What was I supposed to say? That I was tired from being up all night practicing my demonic powers? I doubted that would go over well.

  I groaned and rolled over in bed trying to fall back asleep. It was no use. Lacey would be arriving any minute and she’d expect me to be ready.

  Giving up, I threw off the covers and sat up on the side of my mattress. I blinked several times while Cleo jumped onto the floor beside me and bushed up against my leg. I scratched her behind the ears as my eyes adjusted to the light, but it still took me a few minutes before I trusted myself to not walk into anything. My hair was all askew from bed-head and the chain of my necklace felt cold against my skin.

  Once I was convinced I wasn't a hazard to myself, I stumbled over to my dresser and ran a comb through my hair before grabbing my swimsuit from the closet.

  I slipped into the green tankini and pulled on a pair of Bermuda shorts; all I needed then was to throw some sunscreen in my purse and I’d be good to go. Spending the day at Ryan’s is exactly what I needed to get my mind off Aidan, and the stress that came along with him.

  It seemed a little odd to be celebrating spring break in spite of everything that was happening, but at the same time it also felt right. This was what I was fighting for, to enjoy my life
as a human without having to worry about divine or demonic intervention. That made it seem like the most logical thing in the universe.

  I staggered down the hall and made it to the kitchen, my stomach grumbling nosily in anticipation of a morning meal. Once I’d stuck a bagel in the toaster, I poured myself a glass of orange juice and took a seat at the kitchen table. Elyse stepped into the room beside me with the same grace as a ballerina. She was in a green, vintage dress with her hair pulled back with a jeweled barrette and her wedding planner tucked snuggly beneath her arm next to a pile of crocheted baby blankets. She was always knitting things for people, or donating them to charity — just one of her many insufferably productive, altruistic hobbies.

  “Good morning,” she told me in a sing song voice. “Where are you off to today?”

  “The Murphys’ for a party, spring break and all,” I told her airily. The bagel popped in front of me and I began smearing it with cream cheese. “What about you, any plans?”

  Elyse let out a frustrated sigh as she opened the refrigerator door. “I have to pick up my dress from the tailor to see if anything else needs to be altered, the neckline is impossible. Then I was going to drop these blankets off at the children’s ward in the hospital while I was in town.”

  “Fun!” I responded with mock enthusiasm, leaning back against the counter and feigning interest in her story. “You’ve got quite the day planned.”

  Elyse caught on to my tongue-in-cheek appraisal, but smiled sweetly and pulled some yogurt and granola from the fridge. “You could come with me if you like, you’re always welcome. I’m sure you’d have a ball waiting amidst the sea of pastel bridesmaid dresses. We do still have to pick out something for the Maid of Honor!” she said, poking me in the shoulder.

  I raised my eyebrows sarcastically and finished off my bagel, wiping my hands on the front of my shorts. “Oh no, I don’t think I could handle it. You better go on without me, you wild woman you.”

  She rolled her eyes and smiled, taking a seat at the table next to me.

  “What about Nate, is he up yet?”

  Elyse scoffed quietly as she stirred the granola mixture with a spoon, “Not a chance. I heard him playing World of Warcraft until three thirty, I doubt he'll be up for a couple more hours.”

  Picturing him passed out on his bed like a college frat boy made me snicker into my drink when suddenly we heard a car horn blaring in the driveway. “That would be Lacey,” I told her with a sigh. “Good luck with all your errands and tell Kevin I said 'hi’.”

  “Okay, do you know what time you'll be back?”

  I blew a raspberry and shrugged, “Probably not until late. I'll call you later when I have more details.”

  She eyed me sternly and said, “Stay out of trouble, will you? Dad’s got enough on his plate already.”

  “Of course,” I waved her off dismissively. “Bye!”

  “I love you!” she called out after me as I grabbed my towel off the counter. I gave her a farewell wave and opened the French doors to the outside, my bag tucked securely beneath my arm. You could feel the heat and summer breeze rolling off the country hills. It was the time of year when I truly relished in having grown up in the south. I skipped over the driveway and found a huge grey, pickup truck parked alongside my house. Needless to say, it was not the gold Toyota I'd been expecting when Lacey called down to me from over the side. “Looks like you got up after all!” she teased me playfully. “Hey there, gorgeous!”

  “Hey!” I greeted them with a laugh. “What’s going on?”

  There were at least four other seniors piled in the bed of the truck, not including Lacey, and three more in the cockpit. Neil was in the driver’s seat, playing country music as loud as he could over the beat-up stereo. They looked so happy and carefree it made me feel like an outsider.

  “Is there room for me up there?”

  They just laughed and one of the guys offered me his hand to pull me up into the bed beside them. “Ah, yes, that was a ridiculous question. Besides, what else could be as funny as recklessly endangering our safety?”

  Lacey grinned at the sarcasm in my voice while I settled down next to her with our backs toward the window. I placed my bag and towel between my knees and questioned, “What's with the welcome party? I thought it was just going to be you picking me up.”

  “It was,” she agreed, somewhat bitterly. “But then everyone else decided to tag along. We had to pick up Travis on the way. Apparently, you're not the only one who appreciates a good night’s sleep.”

  He just grinned and said, “What about you, Wynn? What's your excuse for being late? New beau since you and Ryan called it quits?”

  “Ryan and I weren’t together!” I responded automatically, exasperated and rolling my eyes. “And my love life is none of your business.”

  “Ooh! Does that mean there’s someone else?” Lacey probed.

  “Ugh, not you too.”

  Neil called out the window behind him and knocked on the roof of the car. “Everybody in?” There was a cheer of affirmation and he tapped the roof again before backing down the driveway.

  We shifted back and forth in the bed of his truck as Neil drove down the road. It was a bit of a drive to the Murphys’ citrus grove, but as we got closer to the trees, the smell of orange blossoms came wafting across the hills. The main house was tucked away on the edge of their property next to a crystal blue lake — perfect accommodations for our group of friends.

  As we crested another hill, our group was greeted by a series of cat calls. Half our senior class was there sprawled out across the lawn. Picnic tables had been set up near the porch swing and many of our friends from school were already sitting there, grabbing drinks out of some coolers. It was exactly the way I remembered it, with a beautiful wrap-around porch, and signature Southern architecture. Ryan’s mother had even planted a private garden to feed their family. It wrapped around the side of the house and led almost to the water.

  Neil put the car in park and we jumped out the back of his tuck, grabbing our towels and drinks before going over to join the fun. “Hey, Wynnabego!” Ryan called, running up to me with a big grin across his face. “Glad you could make it.”

  “Wynn didn't want to get up this morning,” Lacey teased. “We practically had to drag her out of bed.”

  “That is a gross exaggeration of what happened and you know it,” I responded with a laugh.

  “Lacey!” he greeted warmly, his eyes bulging slightly at the sight of her. “You're … looking good.”

  She blushed behind the towel and pulled it up to cover a bit more of her bikini top.

  “Well, most of the people are already down by the water. If you need somewhere to change, you're more than welcome to use the house. I'll see you guys down there in a little bit.”

  I gave him a one handed wave as he headed off toward the water and turned to Lacey, “Let’s go find a place to set our towels.”

  We glanced around the yard to see what other people had done and eventually decided to bring them with us to the water and set them on the grass. There was a line forming at the base of a gigantic tree that drooped out across the water. A hefty rope swing had been tied to one of the branches and they were taking turns climbing up the ladder and throwing themselves into the blue abyss.

  “That looks like fun!” Lacey gushed to me when we got closer. “Do you wanna give it a try?”

  “Sure,” I agreed reluctantly. Ryan and I had spent many days swimming in the lake as we were growing up and the water was still absolutely freezing this time of year. Most of the time I'm a chicken and wade in slowly, shivering the whole way up to my elbows and then dunking myself in quickly, but I was eager to please my newfound friend and decided not to mention the chill that we were in for.

  Lacey smiled and looped her arm through mine as we walked to the back of the line. Most of the people in front of us were already dripping wet, the goose bumps on their arms foreshadowing what we were in store for. Lacey didn't even seem
phased by it in the least and only got more excited as we got closer and closer. I saw Courtney and Travis in line ahead of us, along with Jasmine and few of our other friends from the show.

  We watched Ryan climb the ladder and grab hold of the knotted rope. Before he swung out across the water, he screamed, “Cowabunga!” which received a joyous shouts from the growing crowd. He crashed into the blue green water and came up a few seconds later with a exhilarated grin on his face. Everybody cheered as he swam back towards the shore.

  After a few more people went, it was finally my turn. Very carefully, I climbed the wooden ladder and stepped out onto the branch. Lance Jessup perched precariously on the branch in front of me and caught the rope as it came swinging back. He handed it to me and I accepted with wary anticipation. “You can do it, Wynn!” Lacey called to me from below.

  “Come on, Wynn!” Ryan cheered.

  All my senses tingled in anticipation as I pushed off of the makeshift platform and threw myself over the edge. There wasn't even time for me to be scared, just adrenaline and blood pumping through my veins as the wind whipped past. I landed feet-first into the blue-green water and the force of impact knocked the breath from my lungs; it was colder than I thought! I sank deeper beneath the surface and then swam back towards the light. Everyone was clapping when I emerged and swam to shore.

  I turned around and cheered as Lacey took the plunge, somehow managing to do a back flip on the way. Ryan met both of us on the shoreline with a mischievous smile on his face.

  “Let’s do it again!”

  Lacey nodded enthusiastically while I laughed playfully at the two of them, “Okay.”

  By the time lunch came around, we'd gone off the rope swing so many times I thought I was going to be ill, so Lacey and I decided to make our way back to the picnic tables and get ourselves something to eat. Ryan, whose stomach had actually been replaced by a real life black hole, was already sitting there, choking down more food than I could possibly eat in a week.