The Shadow Children (The Demon-Born Trilogy Book 1)

by L. C. Hibbett

  The Shadow Children

  Book One of The Demon-Born Trilogy

  L.C. Hibbett

  This book was written, produced, and edited in Ireland, but US English has been used. Slang words and idioms particular to each culture have been retained to respect the authenticity of certain characters. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. This book is a work of fiction. All characters in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © L.C. Hibbett 2016

  Cover design by Josip Romac @romacdesigns.com

  Edited by N. F. Ryan and P. Holmes

  All rights reserved

  First edition

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  For my parents and the two Carmels, who taught me how to find magic in the written word.

  In the beginning, there were Men and there were Angels, two races living in peace with the Demons who visited their world, until the Halfling children drew the wrath of the Spirit Demons upon the Earth. A great blood debt was paid to appease the Spirits and henceforth all knowledge of magic and the Angelic people was hidden from Man. Halfblood children were forbidden on pain of death, lest the veil be pierced and the Spirit Demons rise up again.

  — Jonah, A Demon’s Perspective on the Hidden World

  Dear Friend,

  Is it fair for me to address you this way? I have come to think of you as a friend over the years. My silent companion. Only you can understand the grief I feel. The sweet agony of deceit. I fear this is the last letter I shall write. The world is changing. I sense it in every breath that I take. Darkness is coming.

  I kept the promise I made to you in my first letter, as best I could. I hope that you have found peace, wherever you are. I hope that one day we will have the reunion we desire. I hope for so many things that hope has turned to dust in my hands.

  If nothing else, I hope I can be forgiven. My most grievous crimes were committed for love.

  Sincerely,

  R.K.

  Chapter One

  I knew this life was over, even before I heard Eve screaming my name. I scrambled up the stone staircase, and my foot slipped on a patch of seaweed, tearing open the skin on my right knee. The wind rolling in from the Atlantic lashed against my back and propelled me towards the cottage. My mouth was dry as I sprinted up the steep driveway. Please be okay. Please, please be okay. I caught sight of them as I rounded the last corner and my heart slammed against my ribcage.

  My foster mother, Eve, was crouching down in front of the open front door, her hands outstretched over the small body of my niece. She didn’t look up as I approached, her eyes fixed on Dawn’s perfect little face. “Grace, bring me a band.”

  Eve’s small treasure chest was already on the lawn, thrown on its side. My fingers were slick with sweat as I lifted the lid open a crack and slid my hand inside to retrieve one of the thin gold bracelets. I snapped the chest shut before clamoring back across the lawn.

  Eve snatched the bangle from my hand. Her lips moved soundlessly as she ran a finger over the slender loop. My sister, Cat, caught my eye, and I nodded, bracing myself to hold Dawn steady so Eve could complete the spell. I eased my fingers around Dawn’s wrist and winced. Her tiny arm felt skinnier every time we did this.

  “Keep the child still, Grace.” Eve’s voice was sharp. I tightened my grip and squeezed my hand shut. Cat’s back was stiff. She flattened her palms against against her daughter’s little face as it contorted with each wave of convulsions. I swallowed hard, grateful that Dawn’s eyes were closed.

  Eve rose to her feet and forced the band onto Dawn’s arm in one swift movement. The violent shaking subsided and I peeked down at Dawn’s face. All signs of distress had been erased and her silky, red hair gleamed despite the overcast sky.

  I bit my lip. “What happened?”

  Cat shook her head, suddenly looking older than her twenty-five years. “She was helping me put my teaching materials in the car for my history lesson. One minute she was messing around and joking, pretending the box was a hat, next minute she was on the ground. No warning.”

  “Was it a bad one?” I stroked Dawn’s cheek and looked from Cat to my foster mother, but neither of them would meet my gaze. I didn’t repeat the question. There was only one band left in the chest. One last chance to control my niece’s magic and keep her safe.

  I slid my hands under Dawn’s body and cradled her in my arms, careful not to wake her. She usually slept for hours after an episode. “I’ll bring Dawn inside. We should start packing tonight. We need to leave here, she’s getting worse.”

  Cat leaned over and kissed her sleeping daughter’s forehead. Their hair blended like a waterfall of molten copper. Cat took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “Thanks, Grace. Snuggle Dawn into bed and then hit the shower. We’re going to be late for study group if we don’t move fast.”

  I protested but Eve cut me short. “You are sitting your first Leaving Certificate examination tomorrow morning, Grace. You will go to your final study group this evening. Catherine’s students are expecting her support before the exams. You have made a commitment, so you will both attend the session. End of discussion.”

  My stomach cramped with anxiety but I kept quiet as I carried Dawn inside. I knew better than to argue with my foster mother about anything related to study.

  I peeled off my wet running gear and grabbed the shampoo and conditioner out of the rickety olive colored wall cabinet. Almost everything in the room was a dull, dark green or a bright mustard. Whoever had owned Hidden Cottage before Eve bought it had been a big fan of mismatched colors and patterned wallpaper. Funny how fond you can become of even the most hideous interiors. Of all the places we had lived, the cottage was the least fancy. But it was the only one that had ever felt like home.

  The water that cascaded over my back was just shy of scalding. Almost hot enough to distract me from the
way my throat ached at the sight of Dawn’s T-Rex shaped sponge. Most ten-year-old girls had no interest in dinosaurs, but my foster niece wasn’t most girls. Dawn was the kind of kid who went digging for fossils wearing a princess dress and a hard hat. Until she got sick.

  I scrubbed at my hair with jagged fingernails. The final session of the study group. My chest tightened a little at the thought. It had been nice having friends, or almost friends. I had never been to a regular school. Eve said it wasn’t safe. Too much risk of exposure, even though I had never shown even the slightest hint of my magic escaping its binding.

  When we settled in Hidden Cottage, Cat had pestered Eve until she let me and Dawn join a home school study group. Cat volunteered as a History tutor so that she could stay with us at the group. Make sure we were safe. Cat had never gone to school either. Eve had tutored her for the state exams and she completed her degree through distance learning, but Cat wanted us to have a chance to live a normal life. Dawn and me.

  The study group wasn’t quite school, but at least I got to see people my own age for a few hours once a week. The other students at the group were pretty decent. Except for Megan. And Samuel Hayes.

  I smashed my fist against the shower control, shutting off the water. My hair dripped onto the bath mat as I tucked a towel around myself. The mirror was coated with condensation, leaving my image blurred and soft around the edges. I liked my reflection that way. Most days I wasn’t sure what to make of the person staring back at me from the mirror. I ran my finger over the raised mark on my chest.

  Cat gave a warning knock on the door. I threw on my jeans and slipped my feet into a pair of silver ballet pumps. I deliberated for a moment before wrestling with the make-up set Cat had given me for my birthday. ‘Sultry, feline eyes in five minutes’, was the promise on the box. Ten minutes later the finished product was decidedly more like a panda than a cat. Or maybe like one of those pigs with little patches around their eyes. I reached for the makeup remover.

  “Gracie, are you done? We’re going to be late.” The door rattled against the frame as Cat twisted the handle. I gritted my teeth at the prospect of turning up disguised as a pig-panda hybrid on the last day of term. Ideal. Cat smacked on the door again, and I wrenched it open.

  “Seriously, Cat. No need to put a hole in the door. Know your strength, Hulk.” Cat followed me down the corridor.

  “You look cute. Is that your new makeup? I like it.” She wriggled under my arm and slipped into our bedroom ahead of me.

  “It’s nothing.” I could feel my cheeks burning as I grabbed my study notes.

  “Sure, Gracie. I believe you.”

  “My darling sister, please take your impish grin somewhere else, or I’ll step on you.”

  Cat laughed and shimmied out of the room, smacking my backside as she passed. “Just get in the car, beautiful.”

  I grimaced at my reflection in the full-length mirror. My makeup didn’t look too catastrophic in this light. I turned my back to the glass, trying to see how I looked from another angle. Cat stuck her head around the door again and blew me a kiss. “He is going to love how you look from the back, baby.”

  I covered my face with my hands, laughing, and shoved her back out into the hallway. Eve was standing outside Dawn’s bedroom door, tapping her high heels on the worn oak floorboards. “Girls, you should have left five minutes ago.” She flashed her gold wristwatch at us and pressed her lips into a thin line. I checked the time on my phone, we still had twenty minutes to get to Rosmoney Pier. Enough time to sit with Dawn for a moment before we left.

  Dawn hadn’t moved in the bed since I tucked her in, dinosaur quilt still folded across her chest. Cat was kneeling by her bedside. She whispered into daughter’s ear and kissed her cheek. I hung back, not wanting to intrude on the moment. Cat closed her eyes for an instant and then sprang to her feet, flashing me a bright smile and waving the car keys. I smiled back, squeezing my cheeks with the effort. Fake smiles were better than tears.

  My grazed knee stung as I pressed it to the floor beside Dawn’s bed. There was something perversely satisfying about the soreness. I deserved pain. It wasn’t fair that Dawn should suffer alone. She said the seizures didn’t hurt. Don’t be sad, Gracie. It’s just like a dream, I don’t even feel it. I crushed my face against her scruffy, old teddy bear and rested my hand on Dawn’s arm. Identical gold bands encircled our wrists.

  I whispered into Dawn’s ear, “Sweet dreams, baby girl. Everything is going to be fine.” I couldn’t meet Eve’s eye as I headed for the door. I wanted to believe my own lie.

  Eve followed me down the narrow hallway, graceful footsteps shadowing my movements. I stopped at the front door and my fingers gripped the old brass doorknob. Eve had fixed it on the front door of every house we had ever lived in, even if we only stayed for a week. She said it was a gift from an old friend. A lucky charm.

  Tracing the intricate carving with my fingertip, I raised my eyes to look at Eve and attempted to muster some courage. My foster mother’s face was a masterpiece of line and shade, each feature defined to the point of severity. I opened my mouth, gripping the doorknob. “Eve?” She raised her brow, tilting her head to the side a fraction. I nipped at my bottom lip, hesitating, then dropped my stare. “See you later.”

  I closed the door shut behind me and kicked the doormat off the porch in frustration at my cowardice. Cat beeped the horn at me and gestured for me to hurry. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. Ten minutes to get to Rosmoney. Eve was right, we were late. Brilliant.

  Chapter Two

  “Whoa, Grace, you’re such a rebel.” Cat gestured to the doormat sitting on the grass, where I had kicked it, and her face creased with laughter. I opened the car door fully, resisting the urge to run over and put the mat back where it belonged.

  “I hate the way Eve taps her watch. Even her fingernails are judging me,” I said.

  Cat smirked and shook her head. “You’re a weirdo, Grace, get into the car.”

  “It’s different for you. She doesn’t treat you like a baby.” I sounded like a whiney brat but I knew Cat wouldn’t hold it against me. She never did.

  “I was fifteen when she took me in, Grace. She cleaned your stinky backside when you were a baby. You can’t expect her to see us both the same way.” Cat grinned at me and revved the car’s engine. “Plus, I might only be a few years older than you, but I’m incredibly mature.”

  Cat took off the second I had folded myself into the passenger seat of her Mini Cooper, zipping down the winding lane like a rally driver. I clicked my seatbelt into place as we bounced over the cattle grid at the gate.

  “Drive safe, arrive alive, Cat.” I patted her hand on the gearstick as I chanted the road safety motto. Cat put her foot on the accelerator with a wicked grin, but she eased off as we turned onto the coast road. I rolled my window down, breathing in the salty air.

  “So, who are you wearing the makeup for?” Cat cut her eyes towards me, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. I shook my head as I watched the town slip past us in a blur of colorful seaside shops. She gave me puppy dog eyes. “Come on, Gracie. Tell me who it is. Distract me from this horrible day.”

  “That’s a cheap shot, Catherine,” I said.

  She grinned, shamelessly, as we stopped at a traffic light. “I’m going to guess that it’s for Elijah. Those arms are made for loving. If I was seven years younger, Gracie…”

  “Then you’d be an eighteen year old sleazebag, instead of a twenty-five year old one. Vile. Control yourself.” I poked her in the ribs, smiling. She wasn’t wrong, though, Elijah was perfect. He could be the prototype for tall, dark and handsome. “Anyway, Cat, don’t pretend you think Eli is better looking than Cain. You two are an embarrassment at the tutor's table, you’re all over each other.”

  Cat turned her face away from me, her porcelain skin flushing. “Ha, nice attempt ata diversion, Grace. I won’t be swayed. If it’s not Elijah is it—”

  Cat’s hands went rigi
d on the steering wheel. I looked out her window. A family crossed the road in front of us. A mom and two little girls. The youngest girl turned to wave at us. She had an ice cream gripped in her chubby little hand, and it was dripping down onto her top. A purple t-shirt with a dinosaur on the front. Instinctively I waved back. Her pigtails swished with delight. The family walked on, swallowed up by the crowd. All the happy families. Heading to the beach, eating ice cream, going for dinner.

  The car behind us honked its horn, the traffic light had turned green. Cat turned her focus back to the road. We crossed the river and turned left at the golf course. The town trickled away as we headed out towards Rosmoney pier. Hand built stone walls separated the narrow road from the rocky green fields.

  “It’s going to be all right, Cat.” I kept my eyes trained on the gray clouds. “Dawn will be okay when we move. Grimsey Island will be the perfect place. That far north, surrounded by water. Nobody will find us. She might even be able to go to the island school. And I can do my degree online. Eve could maybe even teach dance.”

  “Bull, Grace. You know it is.” Cat’s tone was softer than her words. “No amount of water or distance is going to hide Dawn’s magic if we unbind her. She isn’t like us.”

  Cat held up her wrist. The simple gold band was beautiful on her delicate arm. I looked at my own bracelet, the same one I had worn since Eve had taken me in as a baby. Tweaked and stretched by Eve as I grew, but never removed. An extension of my skin.

  Cat rubbed the smooth metal of her band along her jaw. “I remember the day Eve gave me this. Bound my magic, before it reached full strength. Gave me a chance to live without being hunted.”

  I put my thumb up to my mouth, pulling at the skin with my front teeth. Images of the moment Cat had arrived in my life assaulted my brain. A tiny slip of a thing standing on Eve’s doorstep. Bruised, bloody and silent. A swollen belly peeking out from under her shirt, grotesque on her emaciated frame. I was only eight when she came to live with us and couldn’t imagine the broken teenager would become my family. My soul sister.