The Demon-Born Trilogy: (Complete Paranormal Fantasy Series)

by L. C. Hibbett

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yes, you did. I think you compared me to W.B. Yeats. Fair comparison.”

  Jasmine bowed her head somberly. “So articulate.”

  “Profound,” Sam said.

  Brandon raised his eyebrows at me as Sam and Jasmine dissolved into another fit of giggles. I held my palms up in defeat and settled back into the arm of the chair, smiling. Lucas slapped Sam’s knee and pointed toward the center of the room where Aza’s portal had opened. Jasmine stiffened beside me as the High Guardian stepped into the room followed by a small group of Angels dressed in the familiar black of the Guardians.

  I recognized Pierre, his father, and high Councilor Emily amongst the small group. To a man, the Angels looked pale-faced and weary. Niamh stepped forward to greet them. “Welcome, friends. We are grateful for your co-operation.”

  “The gratitude is all ours, I’m afraid.” The High Guardian bowed his head to his chest before raising his eyes again. “You came to me with your suspicions of corruption many years ago, as did my old friend.” Guardian Adam rested his hand on Pierre’s father’s shoulder. “I should have delved deeper. It should not have taken your work to reveal the rot at the core of our society. There are no words to express my sorrow for the things that we have done at the Elders bidding. All we can offer you now is our hand in peace and our arms in battle.”

  “How do we know we can trust you?” Brandon asked.

  The Angels glanced at each other before Emily responded. “That's a big question for a lone human.”

  Lucas balled his fists, but Brandon grabbed hold of his arm and nodded for him to sit down. His eyes were sharp as he ran his gaze over the black clothed Guardians. “Two thousand years ago, the Elders deceived the world and sacrificed the mixed blood race. The Angels were the race to benefit, and the Angels were the race which allowed the Elder's reign of terror to continue unchecked.” He held up his hand to stop Emily from interrupting him. “Perhaps, unknowingly. Perhaps, unwittingly. But the fact remains, nevertheless. The Angels have not been a friend to the Humans or the Halfblood people. Now it is my people that the Elders wish to sacrifice—I think I deserve the right to ask why you should be trusted as our allies.”

  “That's fair,” Pierre said and tipped his head at Brandon.

  “Young man, I understand your hesitancy. I have been working with many of the Masters of the Shadow Children over the past days as we free those who have been incarcerated in the Silent Homes, and I have seen things that fill me with shame and horror. I understand why you don't trust me—indeed, I'm not certain I would trust myself.” High Guardian Adam paused for a moment and ran a hand over his eyes. “There is no apology I can give that will be in any way a worthy reparation for the damage our people have caused.”

  “Our friend is dead because of you.” Megan’s eyes flashed as she glared at the Angels standing in the center of the room. The sunlight filtering through the windows lit up her golden stubble like a halo. “The Angelic Council has spent centuries hunting the Shadow Children and all those who aid them. You think an apology is enough to make you trustworthy allies? After you’ve imprisoned our families and murdered our friends?”

  “We have to forgive them.” Jasmine’s voice was soft, but every head in the room turned in her direction. She gave Megan a sad smile. “We have to forgive them, Megan, otherwise the Elders will win, and all our fighting will have been in vain.”

  Jasmine shifted her gaze onto the High Guardian. “How many of the Angelic family lines remain true to the Elders? Are we badly outnumbered?”

  “We haven’t a complete overview as of yet, but it would appear that the Angelic families most supportive of the Elder Circle are concentrated in particular geographic areas.” The High Guardian nodded at Emily and Pierre who unrolled a large map of the world and held it up for the rest of the room to see. “The blue represents Angelic families who have vowed to support our fight for emancipation from the control of the Elder Council, the red is an indicator of the areas which have declared themselves supporters of the Elders.”

  Aza clicked her tongue. “There’s nearly as much red, as there is blue on that map, Angel. I’ve seen more promising statistics in studies trying to prove chocolate is a health food. What does the yellow mean?”

  “The yellow represents the Angels who haven’t yet declared their allegiance,” the High Guardian said.

  Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the map. “That’s a lot of undecided Angels, Adam. If they decide to favor the Elders cause . . .”

  Gabriel’s words hung in the air, and I crossed my arms tightly over my chest. Emmanuel edged closer to Eve and pointed at the map. “The Angels are frightened. The families who have chosen to support the Elders are those with the most at stake when the Veil falls.” He lifted his eyes to meet the High Guardian’s stare. “Because that’s what you’re talking about here, isn’t it? If we defeat the Elders, if we face the darkness that they’ve been feeding and protecting for millennia, we are accepting that the veil dividing us from our Human neighbors will fall. The Angelic community will be laid bare.”

  “And God knows how that will end,” Aza muttered. “We’ll bust our asses to save the Human race and the two races could end up blowing each other to pieces anyway.”

  Niamh shook her head. “It doesn’t have to be so. There is every possibility of a new dawn for this world. The Angels and the Humans can find to their piece—”

  “Eve? Cat?” Ozzie burst into the room before Niamh could finish her sentence. Camille frowned and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, but he struggled in her grasp. “No, Mom, stop! It’s Dawn. She needs help. ”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Grace

  Cat tore out of the room and down the corridor before I had even gathered my thoughts. Ozzie grabbed his mother by the hand and took off after Cat at lightning speed. Eve glanced at me over her shoulder as she followed them. I scrambled to my feet, gathering my senses.

  Niamh turned to address the room, shooting Aza a pointed look as her second-in-command slipped out the door. “I apologize for the interruption.” She turned to face Emmanuel. “Master, would you be as kind as to continue discussions while I check on the children?”

  Emmanuel waved her off with a solemn nod, and I slipped into the corridor behind Niamh and followed her into the farmhouse kitchen. Sam, Gabriel, and Cain burst into the room after us, and Aza gestured for Gabriel to close the door behind him.

  Dawn was perched on the edge of the sofa with her two hands crushed tightly between her knees. Her elfin face looked pinched, and her lips were trembling. The temperature in the room dropped as a gust of wind brushed past my face. Camille squeezed Ozzie’s shoulder. “Oscar, please—control your magic.”

  Cat dropped to her knees in front of Dawn. “Dawnie, are you okay? Can you hear me?”

  “It’s Lizzie.” Dawn grimaced as she answered her mother. “They have her, Peter and the Elders, they have Lizzie. They’re going to hurt her.”

  Cat clenched her mouth shut as she glanced over her shoulder at Niamh, Aza, and Eve. She turned around to face Dawn again. “Dawn, there is something we should have told you about Lizzie. We found out a few days ago, before the Elders attacked us at Hidden Cottage, but we didn’t want to upset you and Ozzie. I know you both liked Lizzie very much. The thing is, people aren’t always what they seemed. Sometimes people aren’t totally honest. Lizzie was working with the—”

  “No!” Dawn shook her head and squeezed her eyes closed. “We know about the letters, Ozzie and me. It doesn’t matter.”

  Cat stroked Dawn’s wrist tenderly. “I’m so sorry, Dawn, but it does matter. Lizzie is not on our side. If she’s fallen out with the Elders, there’s nothing we can do. We can’t protect her anymore.”

  “Listen to me!” Dawn’s eyes shot open as she grabbed hold of Cat’s arms. Her body began to shake.

  Niamh thrust her arm out to stop me from moving forward. Her fingers clamped around my biceps like a vice. “Let the ch
ild tell us what she needs to. You cannot interfere with her Sight.”

  Cat glared over her shoulder at Niamh. “No, stop this vision. Make it leave her. Lizzie betrayed us, why should Dawn be tortured by visions that she can have no hand in changing?”

  “Please, listen.” Dawn’s whisper was muffled by the trembling of her lips.

  Ozzie ripped free of his mother’s hold and shoved past Cat. Thunder rolled across the sky outside, and a fork of lightning struck a tree beside the window. “Why can’t you just listen to her? Just because you’re older, doesn’t mean you know it all. She’s trying to tell you something.”

  Ozzie sank to the floor in front of Dawn and reached for her hands. My stomach cramped as I watched his face crease with concern for his friend. Dawn’s eyes lost focus as the vision took her and Ozzie caught her body as it tumbled forward. The instant her skin connected with his, the room exploded into a cloud of color and noise. I smashed my fingers against my lips and stared in awe as the images began to form around us.

  “Her vision.” Niamh stretched her arm upward as if to touch the magical storm building above our heads. Her mouth fell open. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

  Sam threaded his fingers through mine is the colors began to swirl and form an image of a city in the desert. Eve’s breath escaped in a hiss as Dawn’s vision took us through the streets of the Elders’ city and dragged us into the citadel. My chest pounded at recognized the open-air arena where we had seen little Diamond meet her end.

  “Elizabeth!” Niamh’s cry startled me, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the scene unfolding in front of us. Lizzie stood in the center of the ring with her arms spread, facing Peter and a row of his black-clad Hounds.

  “I won’t let you lay a hand on the children, you filthy creature.” Lizzie’s voice was so clear that it felt as though she was standing in the room with us.

  “Won’t you?” Peter tilted his head to one side and gave Lizzie a slow smile. I pressed myself against Sam’s side, resisting the urge to scrape at my skin. Peter took a step closer to the center of the arena where Lizzie stood. I realized for the first time that there were two small bodies huddled behind Lizzie’s legs. Peter smirked. “That seems like a foolish course of action for someone who is utterly alone and at our mercy.”

  Lizzie raised her hands higher into the air. “I’m not alone. My friends will come from me. My sister will come for me and when she does . . .”

  Peter’s arms flew up to shield his eyes as sand from under his feet whipped through the air and lashed his face. He thrust his own arms out, and the air cleared. Peter’s mouth narrowed as he wiped the dirt from his cheeks. “Oh, you are alone, Elizabeth. There is nobody coming to save you. All your friends believe you to be a traitor, even your precious sister has deserted you. You are alone, but not yet useless.”

  His white garments swirled as Peter turned to face the Hounds. “I want them brought to the Elders’ room. Chain the girl to the Demon, but leave the boy free. We have work to do if we want to release his powers.” Peter grinned at Lizzie and wet his lips with his small, pink tongue. “Yes, one of my brothers is quite skilled at helping the Demon-Born children rip open their gifts. I think he’ll find you and the little girl quite useful for motivating the boy to gain control of his magic. That’s the problem with becoming fond of others, isn’t it? Ultimately, love is just another weakness.”

  Lizzie screamed and clawed at the Hounds as they tore a skinny, blond boy out of her grasp and dragged him across the arena. My eyes widened as I realized that the other child clinging on to Lizzie was Valerie, the Demon-Born child with the gift of Heart. The last thing I saw as the vision faded was Lizzie pressing her lips against Valerie’s soft, black tangle of curls.

  For a moment, the room was silent as we stared at the ceiling, each of us trapped in our own personal prison. Cat and Camille were the first to stir, and they bent down to tend to Dawn and Ozzie. Sam twisted to face me. “What does this mean? Could we have been wrong about Lizzie?”

  I felt as if a heavy weight lay on my chest. “I don’t understand—the letters, they were addressed to Peter and posted from Castletown?”

  I dug my hand into my pocket and pulled out the letter I had rescued from Brandon’s pile for burning that morning. The paper was damp and smelled of sea salt. I unfolded it carefully and smoothed the paper between my hands. “My dear friend Peter, I have more news for you on your daughter Eve and her Demon born girls—”

  Niamh snatched the letter from my hands and held it up to the light. She swayed, and Aza steadied her with a hand around her narrow waist. Aza’s jaw tightened. “Niamh?”

  Niamh shook her head and blinked at the paper. “This isn’t Elizabeth’s writing.”

  I glanced at Sam, and he crushed my hand between his fingers. Niamh’s voice reminded me of an almost boiled kettle. Gabriel reached for the sodden letter. “It came from her home and provided Peter with information no one else had access to—”

  “It’s not her handwriting!” Niamh screamed the words at Gabriel and crushed the paper in her fist before throwing it in his face. “I should have known. Why didn’t I look at the goddamn letters? How could I have believed she would do this? Elizabeth would never betray a friend.”

  “Mathas,” I said. Everyone turned to look at me, and I bit down on my lower lip. “He knew everything that Lizzie knew, he had all the same opportunities as her to gather information and to thwart our plans.”

  Sam’s eyes darkened. “It wasn’t William who opened a portal that night, was it? Mathas used him as a scapegoat. That’s why he killed him in the prison cell.”

  I stared from Sam to Niamh and Aza. “Why did Mathas come to this world? What was he doing here when the Veil fell? I know why the rest of the original Demons had come to this place, but him?”

  “He said he was searching for something for his people.” Niamh’s voice dropped an octave. “It hadn’t seemed that important back then. We were a team, the original Demons. I thought we all just wanted of the same thing, to go home. And Mathas loves Elizabeth, adores her, he wouldn’t throw her at the mercy of the Elders. Would he?”

  Aza pinched the bridge of her nose. “All I know is that your sister has gotten herself into a whole heap of trouble, and it looks like those Elders have gotten their paws on the final Lost Power.”

  “We have to go to her. We have to rescue Elizabeth and those children from the Sanctuary,” Niamh said.

  Sam drew his eyebrows together. “Can we please not call that cesspit the Sanctuary anymore? Man, I can’t think of a less fitting name for that hell hole.”

  Gabriel touched Niamh’s shoulder. “I’ll go. I can get to Jonah, we have a connection.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “I owe you both that much.”

  “You owe us nothing, Gabriel. You never did. Your presence in our lives was a gift to Jonah and me. Always.” Niamh gave Gabriel a sad smile. He ran a hand through his dark hair and blinked at the floor. Niamh touched his cheek gently before turning her gaze to Sam and me. “Children, do you think you could get me to Jonah?”

  “Yeah,” I said. I looked at Sam, and he tipped his head in agreement. “I’m pretty certain Sam and I could get us back inside the Elder’s city. Would we be able to get out again, though?”

  Niamh held her hand out to me. “If you can get me in, I can get you out.”

  Aza stepped between us and glowered down at Niamh. “Do not do this, Niamh girl. If you go into that place, you’ll never—”

  “I will never forgive myself if something happens to Elizabeth, Aza. You know that. This is where my path leads me, old friend. I promised long ago never to keep you from your path—you must not keep me from mine.” Niamh raised up onto tiptoes and kissed her friend on the cheek softly. Aza bowed her head for a moment before stepping back to allow Niamh take my arm.

  Sam grabbed hold of Niamh’s other hand, and the three of us stood in a small circle in the middle of the room. Eve and Cain came to stan
d beside Aza and Gabriel. Eve twisted her watch around her slender wrist. I could tell she didn’t want me to go, but she said nothing, keeping her lips pressed tightly together. I met her eye. “We won’t take any risks, Eve. We’ll be straight back, I promise.”

  The room began to spin around us as Sam and I joined our magic and moved toward Jonah’s energy. My words seemed to echo in my head as we spun away and a tiny part of me wondered why I was making promises I had no way of keeping.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Grace

  Mostly, when Sam and I used our power to move through space, I felt exhilarated. Powerful. But as we hurtled toward the hidden city the only emotion I felt was fear. I tried to take a breath, but terror closed my lungs. Returning to the Elder’s sanctuary was an act of madness. My heart froze in my chest as I felt our magic begin to falter and I let myself wonder what would happen if Sam and lost our connection before we reached our destination—would we simply cease to exist? Perhaps, that would that be a blessing to the world. Two fewer weapons for the Elders to corrupt.

  Grace? My consciousness jerked as Sam’s soul called to me. I focused on the light emanating from his being and let myself be drawn into his warm embrace. As his energy surrounded me, my feet touched solid ground.

  Sam steadied me against his chest as the room came into focus. Niamh grabbed hold of a scrubbed wooden table with white-knuckled hands. Shelves filled with potion bottles of every shape and size lined the walls. We were back in Anna’s house. The rough terracotta tiles feel grimy under my feet. I wriggled my toes nervously. “Why am I always barefoot in this filthy city? Please tell me we don’t have to go into the street.”

  “Why did you not put shoes on at any point today, weirdo?” Sam grinned down at me. He nodded his head toward the figure slouched awkwardly on a hard-backed chair in the opposite corner of the room. “You want to wake him or will I? No time to let him rest, unfortunately.”