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

by L. C. Hibbett

  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 barrier would fall.

  I made my way towards the kitchen, flicking 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, straightening 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 asked, turning my back to the box. Nothing good ever happened when that chest was around. It was a portent of doom carved from wood.

  “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.” Eve’s tone was clipped. 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, examining the jagged edges of the golden loop. I held it out to Cat. She looked at Eve again before setting her jaw and lifting up 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 wasn’t any other way. Eve couldn’t hold Dawn’s binding without weakening the wards on the house. It was my time.”

  I wiped my eyes roughly with the back of my hand. “Then we leave here tonight. The boat is ready, we just need to take a few things. We get to the island, and we break my binding too.”

  Eve tilted her head 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 the all of Grimsey without a third adult.” I pointed at Eve. “You need my strength to cover the island. That’s what you said.”

  Cat stared at Eve, pleading her with her eyes. She spoke to Eve in a way I never could. Like an equal. “Grace could have a taste of 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 every day. The rest of us can survive in the house on Grimsey, we’d have the garden. And the beach. More than we have now. When you’re ready, we can cover the entire island. Think about it.”

  The sound of cracking glass cut the air. Eve’s eyes were black, her hands 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 at the net curtain, revealing four figures standing at the doorstep. I could see the white-blonde of Cain’s hair as he pressed his face to the frosted glass pane set into the red painted wood. My heart sank.

  Eve whirled around to face me. “You brought people here. To Hidden Cottage?”

  My eyes 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 towards the door. I trudged after her. Cain almost toppled inside when Cat swung the door open. He gestured towards 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 go mad. She hates when I use the hurl inside.” I cringed. I was a terrible liar.

  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.

  “Oh, I dropped my notes onto the driveway after you got out of the car.” Jasmine didn’t meet my eye. An awkward silence fell between us. Elijah ran his hand along the edge of the door, tracing 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, shaking 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 a
t 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, knocking Elijah and Jasmine into the hallway. Only Sam remained outside, unmoving on the wet gravel.

  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 please, 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 into the wall as Jasmine and Elijah passed.

  “Please, sit.” Eve swept a hand towards the living room. She narrowed her gray eyes, pinning 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.”

  They followed Cat and Eve into the living room, silent. 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 was sitting on the edge of the armchair, his back straight. Eve pointed at the last empty seat and looked at Sam. “Sit, boy.” Sam walked past it and leaned 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. Our founders objected to the way the Spirit War was ended. They believed the Spirit Demons could have been defeated without the veil, without separating the races. 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 have 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 rested my elbows on the back of the empty chair and shot Cat a look. 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 that 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 on this, but please hear us out. You have bound Dawn’s powers, yes?”

  Cat and Eve glared at him, silent. He kept speaking, despite their obvious 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, then 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 now. 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 hunting 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, gasping. 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 youngAngels 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 are 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, taut and wiry. 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.”

  Cat looked shaken, but she straightened her shoulders. “Get out of our house, Cain. Don’t come back here, and don’t look for us.”

  Jasmine tried to catch my eye, her expression pleading, but I kept my focus on the faded floral pattern of the curtains and tried to hold back my tears. Hoping this was all just a bad dream. Sam pounded his fist on the back of the armchair and spoke for the first time since we had entered the living room. “You can’t protect her.”

  My heart stopped beating. I watched Eve’s hands, willing her not to inflict any harm as he continued speaking. “Peter sensed her magic. Who else is watching her? Her power is growing, and you can’t stop it. What are you prepared to do? Keep her in a coma? You might as well stab her in the heart. Better a swift execution than life on death row.”

  Eve’s head snapped up, her face pained. “So we should risk her safety at the whim of a stranger? Would you do that if she was your family, boy? Could you trust a stranger so easily?”

  Cain stood up, and moved closer to Catherine and Eve, the same conversation running over and over in endless circles. Jasmine and Elijah didn’t stray from the couch. I wondered did I look as young and uncertain as they did. Sam stepped away from the others and bent to pick up his t-shirt. I
stifled a gasp.

  His back was a mess of scarred flesh, laced with ugly gashes of every size and shape imaginable. The deformed skin twisted tightly over his shoulder blades as he tugged at his shirt. A thousand scars caused by a hundred different weapons. He straightened, tucking his top firmly into the back of his jeans.

  I mumbled something about checking on Dawn, and fled.

  Chapter Seven

  Darkness had all but claimed Dawn’s bedroom as the evening sun faded. My hand gripped the ballet barre secured to the wall. Eve had taught all of us to dance, insisting that there was no better discipline than ballet training. I let my body run through the positions on auto-pilot. The hurricane of disbelief receded until all that remained was a dull ache in my stomach and the bitter taste of betrayal in my mouth. They were still arguing in the living room, raised voices filtering through the cottage.

  I collapsed on my knees beside Dawn’s bed and searched for her little hand under the blankets. Seeking out the familiar comfort of her warm grasp. I kneeled up, pulling back the covers. She wasn’t there.

  I walked down the corridor and pushed open the bathroom door. My pulse quickened as I went from room to room, finding each one empty. I ran into the kitchen and found the back door swinging in the breeze. I sprinted into the garden and circled the cottage like a hound, but there was no trace of her.

  My thoughts twisted and turned. This wasn’t right. Dawn wouldn’t leave the cottage without telling us. She was a smart kid. It was too much of a coincidence, our friends revealing their true nature and now this. Where the hell was she? I screamed Dawn’s name, running along the boundary of the property, scanning the shoreline. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I should go back inside and tell Cat and Eve, but I couldn’t pull myself together. The world tilted under my feet.