“Dawn is sick.” The low intensity of Sam’s voice ran over my skin like thick velvet. He wasn’t asking a question. My stomach twisted. The air inside the car was heavy with loaded silence. Even the noise of the radio seemed muted.
“Cat said she has been having seizures?” Cain probed gently. The traffic lights were green at the bridge. I said a silent prayer there would be no traffic on Main Street. I needed to get home and out of this car.
“Oh, no. Dawn’s fine. Mom has everything under control, it just takes a bit of time to get the medication right.”
Jasmine smiled at me. “Awesome that your mom can help. Perks of having a doctor as a parent.”
A doctor. It was almost funny. Almost. I stared at my knees and hoped that my silence would deflect Jasmine from delving any further into our flimsy back story. Doctor Mom and the happy half-sisters. Mom. The word stung like a nettle. Eve refused to let me call her Mom, even when I was a little girl.
“Many doctors consider it unethical to treat their own family members,” Sam said.
I studied my fingernails intently and pretended not to notice the murderous look Cain was giving Sam. The pressure in my chest eased as we made our way along the quay. I leaned forward. “Cain, you can just leave me at The Snug. It’s the pub around the first bend here.”
Cain drove past the white building at a crawl, ignoring my request. “Just tell me where to turn in for your house.”
I ground the heel of my hand against my right temple and tried to think of a credible reason why Cain shouldn’t drop me to my door, but my brain was unresponsive. “Take the next left. It’s the first right turn off the lane.”
My eyes scanned the garden as the tires rumbled over the cattle grid. Jasmine squinted at the wrought iron sign on the gatepost, which was almost entirely covered by creepers and moss. “Hidden Cottage. Cool name.”
The front window where Eve often stood guard was empty. I unbuckled my safety belt and leaned over Jasmine to unlock her door before Cain had even cut the engine. “Thanks a million, Cain. See you at the exam center in the morning, guys. Night.”
I rattled off the niceties, desperate to get inside the front door. Sam popped his door open and stepped out onto the gravel. I pretended I hadn’t seen him, scrambling over Jasmine’s lap and out the other side of the car. My nerves were too thinly stretched to handle the risk of falling at his feet.
I bounded up the steps and wriggled my key into the lock. Sam was still leaning against the SUV when I twisted the brass doorknob, his eyes narrowed against the dying sun. I pushed open the door with jittery fingers as I told myself there was no reason to be afraid.
I was wrong.
Chapter Five
I had always hated scary films. It wasn’t the monsters or the chainsaw-wielding lunatics that frightened me. The real terror lay in those seemingly innocent moments— an open window that should have been locked, a deserted playground on a summer day.
Slamming the front door shut behind me, I called out for Cat and Eve. Cat’s bag lay abandoned in its usual spot on the chair beside the hall table. She was the messy one in the house— always moving on to the next job before the first one was finished.
I stuck my head around the living room door. Three walls were lined with neat bookshelves. The fourth wall was home to a window, which gave a view of the ocean and the garden. Eve spent most of her time in this room, tucked into the window seat with her books. Eve couldn’t leave the grounds of Hidden Cottage. She had tied her magic to the house, shielding us from Angelic eyes and disguising the power escaping from Dawn. Sacrificing her freedom for our safety. If Eve left the cottage grounds, the barrier would fall.
I made my way toward the kitchen and flicked on the light switch. My foot banged against something, sending it pinging across the tiled floor and under the table. I dragged it out with my fingers. Cold, smooth metal. A thin golden band. Broken.
“Grace.” Eve was standing outside Dawn’s bedroom. A strand of dark hair had come loose from her chignon. An overwhelming urge to bury my face in her shoulder hit me. Stupid. I wasn’t a kid anymore.
Cat was sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding a sleeping Dawn’s hand. She gave me a wan smile. “Hi, Gracie. Sorry I had to bail on your last night of study group.”
I sat down on the end of the bed and straightened the dinosaur blanket. Dawn’s breathing was shallow, and her eyes were moving beneath the closed lids. Eve’s small mahogany chest was sitting against the wall. The traces of mud on its sides had hardened leaving a dull coating.
“What happened?” I turned my back to the box as I spoke. Nothing good ever happened when that chest was around—it was a portent of doom carved from wood.
Eve’s tone was clipped. “Dawn became distressed. I was unable to contain her magic while maintaining the barrier, I hadn’t enough power. I had to call for Catherine to assist me.” I studied Dawn for signs of injury. It must have been bad. Eve didn’t ask for help. Ever.
“You used the last band? Will this one hold for the journey?” I chewed on my lip. “Should we leave now? Forget the exams?” Disappointment welled up in my throat. All my study wasted. No chance to say goodbye to my friends. Sam. I tried to compress my selfish thoughts into a lump small enough to swallow.
Cat and Eve met eyes over my head.
“Dawnie’s binding is okay, Grace. Eve was able to maintain it,” Cat said.
I opened my left fist and glanced at the jagged edges of the golden loop I had found on the kitchen floor. I held it out to Cat. She looked at Eve again before setting her jaw and lifting her wrist. It was bare.
“Cat?” My voice was a whisper. There was no going back. A fully-grown adult couldn’t be bound without damage. Cat would become a prisoner too, unable to pass the barrier without fear of detection. This wasn’t the plan. Not yet.
Cat pulled herself to her feet. “There was no other option, Grace. Eve couldn’t hold Dawn’s binding without weakening the wards on the house. I had to have access to my magic to help her hold the protection charm. It was my time.”
I massaged my forehead roughly with the back of my hand. “Then we leave here tonight. The boat is ready and we just only need to take a few things. We get to the island, and then we break Dawn’s binding and mine and we make a charm cone over the whole island .”
Eve nodded in agreement, but Cat shook her head. “Don’t come with us, Grace.” Eve tried to interrupt her, but Cat shoved her palm out. “No, Eve. Let me speak.”
Cat’s face was softer when she turned. “You could have a life, Grace. At least for a while, until your binding weakens. Go to college. Fall in love. It’s too late for me,” she said, rubbing Dawn’s cheek, “but if you and Dawn are happy, then I have everything I need.”
She leaned closer, and I jerked away from her. “No, Cat. You aren’t leaving me behind. You won’t be powerful enough to cover all of Grimsey Island without a third adult. You need my strength to cover the island.” I pointed at Eve. “That’s what you said.”
Cat stared across the room, pleading Eve with her eyes. She spoke to our foster mother in a way I never could. Like an equal. “Grace could have a taste of a normal life, Eve. We talked about this. The girls having what we never did. That’s possible for Grace. I can see her now that my powers are free. There isn’t a trace of magic on her. No reason for any Angel or Demon to think she is anything but Human. They will be as blind to her as she is to them.”
Eve pressed her back against the wall. “She will always be a target, no matter what I do.” Eve’s voice reminded me of ice on a lake, brittle and dangerous. She gritted her teeth. “This conversation is over.”
Cat screwed her mouth together and grabbed my hand. “Please, Grace. Money isn’t a problem, Eve has sources. You could video call us, every day, and the rest of us can survive in the house on Grimsey. We’d have the garden and the beach—more than we have now. And when you’re ready, we could cover the entire island with a barrier to shield us. Think about it.”
The sound of cracking glass cut the air. Eve’s eyes were black and her hands were raised above her head. Her voice was sharper than a razor. “We stay together.”
My jaw was still hanging open when the doorbell rang. Eve flew across the room and twitched the net curtain to reveal four figures standing at the doorstep. I could see the white-blond of Cain’s hair as he pressed his face to the frosted glass pane set into the red painted wood. My heart sank as Eve whirled around to face me. “You brought people here. To Hidden Cottage?”
My throat burned. “I couldn’t stop them. You both left me alone at Rosmoney so you could go ahead with your sneaky plan.”
Sam’s gaze probed the front of the cottage. Cat shrank away from the window. “It wasn’t a plan, Gracie, it just happened. I would have told you.”
The doorbell rang again, three times in quick succession. Eve hissed, “Get rid of them.”
Cat pushed her hair back from her face as she ran toward the door. I trudged after her. Cain almost toppled inside when Cat swung the door open. He gestured toward the front of the house. “Catherine, is everything okay? We saw the window crack.”
Cat made an attempt at a chuckle. “Grace was just playing with the hurl and sliotar, lost control of the ball.” She smiled at me, her cheeks stretched in faux mirth.
“Clumsy me. Mom is going to be mad. She hates when I use the hurl inside.” I cringed at my pathetic acting skills.
Sam was standing back from the doorway, a few feet behind Jasmine. His face looked strained. Cain stepped over the threshold and pulled Cat to the side, talking to her in a soft voice. Elijah leaned against the bright red doorframe. “We thought something bad had happened.”
I could hear Eve making her way up the corridor, elegant feet moving cautiously. I pictured her neck craning as she took in every word. “Nope. Nothing exciting here.” I forced a smile. “What were you guys still doing here anyway?"
Elijah looked back at Jasmine and waited for her to answer.“Oh, I dropped my notes onto the driveway after you got out of the car.” Jasmine didn’t meet my eye as she spoke. An awkward silence fell between us. Elijah ran his hand along the edge of the door and traced his fingers idly over the brass of the doorknob.
At his touch, the door trembled and a guttural cry reverberated through the hallway. Eve burst around the corner and barged past Cat and Cain. She flew across the floor, her eyes burning through Elijah’s skull. The wind whipped through the garden and shook the gnarled branches violently.
“What do you want, Angel?” Eve’s voice was loaded with poison.
A flush of mortification burned my skin as I stepped in front of Elijah. How long had it been since Eve had seen anyone besides us? Three years? Four? Too long.
“Eve, please stop.” I turned to Elijah, apologetically, and my throat closed. Time screeched to a halt and I stumbled backward.
Elijah stared at Eve without a trace of shock on his face. His voice was steady. “She knows us, Cain. Peter was right.”
Chapter Six
A vicious gust of wind blew through the front door and knocked Elijah and Jasmine into the hallway. Only Sam remained outside, unyielding on the wet gravel despite the gale force wind.
Cat’s expression could have been carved from marble. She recoiled from Cain and drew herself level with Eve, flashing her eyes at Sam. “Step inside, Samuel. I believe we are owed an explanation.”
I heard Cat’s voice through a tunnel of disbelief. Eve had always said the Angels would find us, but not like this. I crushed my back against the wall as Jasmine and Elijah passed.
“Please, sit.” Eve swept a hand toward the living room. She narrowed her gray eyes and pinned Jasmine and Elijah to the spot. “Don’t attempt any of your parlor tricks, Angels. I have enough magic in my little toe to snap your necks before you can flick those fingers.”
As they followed Cat and Eve into the living room in silence, I breathed again, tentatively relieved by Eve’s arrogance. Sam closed the door behind himself. His chant was a whisper. “‘Will you walk into my parlor?’ said the Spider to the Fly."
I followed him warily, wondering which of us was the spider, and which the fly.
Elijah and Jasmine were both perched on the small floral couch. Cain sat stiffly on the edge of the high-backed armchair. Eve pointed at the last empty seat and looked at Sam. “Sit, boy.” Sam walked past it and rested his elbows on the back of Cain’s chair. Eve pursed her lips and turned to Elijah and Jasmine. “What are you? You aren’t Guardians.”
Jasmine pinched her fingers together and shook her head. “No, we’re not Guardians. We don’t work with them. We’re Shadow Children—we protect people who are hunted by the Guardians. People the Angelic Council has deemed a danger to society.”
Eve tapped her shoe on the oak floor impatiently. Jasmine faltered and Cain took over from her. He directed his words at Cat, but she refused to meet his stare. “The organization was formed in the first days of the Great Divide when the Angels and the Humans were separated by the Veil. Our founders objected to the way the Spirit War was brought to an end. They believed it was unjust to sacrifice the Halfblood people and that the Human race should not be have been left blind to the truth of their History. Our shared past.”
“And the Halfblood children born after the Veil? Do your people agree with the Angel’s? Do you think Halfborn children’s lives should be forfeit?” Cat glared at Cain as she spoke.
He shook his head. “No! We don’t. For over two thousand years, the Shadow Children have protected those that the Council would see dead or incarcerated. Forbidden children, born of both Angel and Human heritage. Angel families that the Council has branded as traitors. Demons who do not wish to bow to the Council’s demands. Humans who have pierced the veil. We offer refuge to all.”
I shot Cat a look. Friend to all, but no mention of our kind in their mission statement. Eve looked the four of them over with a curled lip. Her voice was a sharp enough to draw blood. “And who are you protecting from us? Or do you believe you could be our saviors?”
Jasmine flinched. “Peter, one of the senior members in our cell, sensed flares of unexplained power in this area. He was convinced that there was unstable magic. The data surrounding time and location correlated with the study group.” She paused. “We know Dawn is the source.”
Cat drew in a breath, crushing her palm against her mouth. My head felt like it was filled with shaving foam. Cain’s fingers dug into the arm of his chair as he spoke. “Look, it’s obvious that you aren’t some unsuspecting Human family that had no idea that one of their kids was a Half-Born. I understand. But we didn’t know that for certain until right now.”
“You must have sensed the protection charms on the house when you drove onto the grounds, the vacuum. Your magic won’t work here. You knew we weren’t Human as soon as you passed through that gate.” Cat spoke through gritted teeth.
Cain looked down, shamefaced. “Catherine, I understand that you’ve no reason to trust me, but please hear us out. You have bound Dawn’s powers, yes?”
Cat and Eve glared at him, silent. He kept speaking, despite their apparent anger. “And now the binding won’t hold? It isn’t going to get better. If Dawn’s powers are strong enough for us to detect them, she needs help. We can give her that. We can help her control her magic.”
“Are you suggesting I hand my daughter over to a bunch of strangers?” Cat lifted her chin higher. “Where were your Shadow Children when I was a kid in the Silent Homes? You didn’t help me escape. Eve was the only one who would take me in when I was pregnant with Dawn. Nobody else would touch me. Why come riding in on a white horse now?”
Cain’s face was pale and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “I’m sorry, Cat, we can’t save everyone, I wish we could. But I promise you that we can protect Dawn. Things are bad. The Spirit Demons are rising, more attacks have been recorded in this past year than there have been for centuries, and the Guardians are desperate for somebody to blame. They’re h
unting anyone of mixed blood relentlessly. We have the resources to protect your family. Access to Demon magic. She isn’t safe here. You aren’t safe until she can control her magic.”
Eve drew her hands together and I gasped as every breath of air was sucked from the room. She flicked her hands apart and the vice around my chest vanished. I sank down into the empty seat. Eve advanced on Cain with her teeth bared. “What makes you think we have insufficient magic to keep our family safe?” Cain opened his mouth to respond but Eve cut him off. “Two young Angels and a couple of—Halflings?” She sneered. “What could you know about controlling power such as Dawn’s? Run along, Shadow Children. You haven’t got the slightest notion what you’re dabbling in.”
Cain rose to his feet and began to unbutton his shirt. Sam stood away from the wall, pulled his t-shirt over his head, and threw it onto the couch. I felt my eyebrows peak in surprise as my gaze wandered from the shaded v of his hipbones to his defined stomach muscles. I closed my mouth with a snap, realizing that he was watching my face.
Then I saw it.
A line of puckered skin above Sam’s heart. A crescent moon waning, silver against the pale gold of his chest. The mark was familiar but shocking on Sam’s lean body. Like seeing your own eyes staring at you from another person’s face. Cain pulled open his shirt exposing an identical curved marking on his chest. The Demon’s mark. They were Demon-Born, just like us.
Cain held Eve’s glare. “The Spirit Demons are rising and the power that Peter senses is greater than a typical Half-Born. Dawn is of our blood, isn’t she?” His gaze strayed to Eve’s covered chest but he didn’t dare to voice his suspicion that she too was Demon-Born. He lifted his face to meet her eyes. “Your family would be safer surrounded by the power of the Shadow Children.”
“I do not need to borrow any of your power.” Eve’s words were dripping with venom. “We will protect her. We will protect each other. We have no want in our lives for charlatans and liars.”
The Demon-Born Trilogy: (Complete Paranormal Fantasy Series) Page 3