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

by L. C. Hibbett

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the grass, behind one of the towering trees. His face was creased with amusement. I slapped his arm. “Stop! It’s not funny, I could have hurt somebody. I can’t go for food, you’ll have to send me back to Shadow Hall. I’m a danger.”

  Sam doubled over, howling. I narrowed my eyes at him and he straightened up, still smirking. I pinched my lips. Sam reached for my hands. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but that was pretty freaking funny.”

  I tried to tug my fingers free. “No. It’s not funny, Sam. What if there had been a baby carrier on the bike. Or a pregnant woman walking past? I had no control over it, I didn’t even realize I was doing anything. I don’t like it.”

  “Okay, I get it. But don’t spiral over this— you didn’t hurt a baby, you knocked a random man off his bike. And he was wearing white bike shorts, so I’m pretty certain he deserved it.” I cracked a smile and Sam lifted my arms in the air. “That’s better. Okay, let’s try and put some order on this magic of yours. If you don’t feel comfortable after, we’ll go straight home. All right?”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  Sam rested his hands gently on my shoulders. “Now that your magic is released you should feel it inside you. It’s like breathing. You can draw it in, from every natural object and being, and you can release it. In whatever natural form you chose to channel it into. Draw in the sunlight, release fire. Draw the wind, release water.”

  I screwed my eyes up in confusion and Sam gave me a lopsided grin. “I knew you were going to fight me on this. It’s not science, Gracie. It’s magic. Think of all natural things as being made of the same basic building blocks, Spirit Light. You pull the natural energy in, and you strip it down to those basic elements, then you convert it. Into whatever you want. Does that make more sense?”

  “I think so. Like breathing.” Sam nodded. I bit my lip. “Okay, I’m going to try it. You have to stop me if I can’t control it, right? Knock me out. Whatever. Just keep people safe. And don’t let anyone see! I don’t want to expose some poor Halfling, I can’t handle any more weight on my conscience.”

  Sam gave me a searching look. “What els— ”

  I cut him off, putting my finger to his lips. Then I closed my eyes and concentrating on my breathing, dragging the air through my teeth and pushing it out again. At first, I felt nothing, except the pounding of my heart in my ears. A bird flew by, distracting me with its song, and suddenly I felt it. That flicker of colored light inside me. Calling out for the bird, recognizing it beauty.

  I closed my eyes, blocking out my other senses, and there it was. The very essence of the bird. I turned my mind’s eye on the rest of the world around me and gasped. The place was alive with life. Trees, the grass, the sunlight. Everything. I directed my inner sight towards Sam, and his energy hit me like a bolt of lightning. I could feel him. I drew him in, feeling his essence flood through my veins, and I released it, opening my eyes to watch his face. An avalanche of cherry blossom petals fell from the branches above our heads.

  He gave me a slow smile and raised one eyebrow. “Cherry blossoms in July. Interesting choice.” His fingers traced the line of my jaw and he ran his thumb over my bottom lip, his touch as light as the breeze.

  I shivered and turned away from his hand, overcome by the intensity. I slapped Sam on the back. “Hey, let me up. We need to get to that diner. Lucas is already miles away.”

  Sam pulled me up onto his back, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. His hands gripped my thighs. “Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about that, Lucas is probably still at the carousel, checking out the cute tourists.”

  “Nope. You’re wrong, Samuel the Wise. They’re already miles away, and Lucas is in the lead.”

  He twisted his face to look at me. “How do you know?”

  I shrugged my shoulders and dug my heels into his body. “I felt them, when I was looking for the energy. Come on, run. I’m starving.”

  Sam stared at me, unmoving. “What makes you think that’s what you felt?”

  “I don’t know, I just do. Or I think that I did. Maybe, it wasn’t.” I shook my head and Sam started to move forward, his mouth tight. I ruffled his hair. “Hey, Mr. Awesome, where are those panty-dropping speed skills you’ve been bragging about. Get us to that diner. Unless Lucas is faster than you?”

  Sam narrowed his eyes and took off like a bullet, dodging and ducking through a group of tourists. I held on tight, smiling into his shoulder.

  We got to the diner ten minutes before the others arrived. Sam ordered for everyone without having to look at the menu. Lucas burst through the door with Elijah hot on his heels. Jasmine rolled her eyes and apologized to the waiter. Megan was last to arrive, stepping over the threshold with her arms folded.

  Lucas hoisted himself up onto the stool and the end of the booth. Jasmine slid into the space beside me. Elijah and Sam sat close together, talking quietly. Megan stood beside the booth awkwardly.

  “Hey, you can sit beside us,” I said and shuffled further up the couch, trying to make room. Megan eyed the cramped space beside Jasmine and squeezed her fingers together.

  Sam waved at the waiter. “No problem, I’ll get another stool. Megan can sit beside Elijah.”

  Megan pressed her lips together and stood back to let everyone shuffle seats. Sam slipped outside to make a phone call. An awkward silence settled over the table. I lifted my eyebrows at Lucas, and he smiled back, grimacing slightly. Everyone looked relieved when the food arrived.

  I bit into my burger and sighed. “This is so good.”

  Elijah gave Megan a nudge with his elbow. She swallowed a French fry. “So, Grace. Your first time in New York, right?” I nodded, chewing. “Where were you living before Westport? You guys moved around a lot. Cain said.”

  I wiped my mouth with a napkin and folded it in half. “Pretty much, Megan, yeah.”

  “Pretty much a lot of places?” Megan pressed.

  I folded the napkin again, wishing Sam would hurry up and come back inside. “Yes. Paris, Dublin, Glasgow, Lisbon. London.”

  Megan shot Elijah a look. I tore the napkin into little pieces.

  “Because London is where Eve’s family home was, right? In Chelsea? Pretty powerful family. Direct line. You knew that?” Megan rested her elbows on the table, watching my face intently.

  “I never knew her family. Eve’s mother and grandparents died in an accident a few years before I was born. But we lived in the family home in London when I was young. Eve says they were good people. They protected her. Kept her nature hidden.” I shrugged my shoulders as I finished talking, staring down at the little mound of shredded paper at my fingers.

  Jasmine smiled at me. “I didn’t realize you’d lived in London. I thought that it was your first time there when we went to the Demon quarter.”

  “Oh, we didn’t really get out. Eve preferred me to stay on the property. Westport was the first time she let us go into the community. It was safer, you know with the low population and the ocean. Less risk than in the cities.” I grinned. “Well, that and Catherine insisted on talking backward for a week until Eve let me go to study group with Dawn. Tel reh emoc ot loohcs. Funny stuff.”

  Elijah crossed his arms. “There were different rules for all of you?”

  “Dawn is Catherine’s child, Elijah. Eve couldn’t dictate what Dawn was allowed do. Eve never tried to be Dawn’s mom, she respects Cat.” I exhaled at the sight of Sam hanging up his phone and coming back inside.

  “But Cat was only a kid when Grace took her in. Like, fourteen or something?” Elijah asked.

  “Fifteen. And heavily pregnant.” I poked at my half eaten burger. “I don’t ever remember Cat seeming like a child.”

  Sam slid onto his stool and took a huge handful of fries. “Who’s not a child?”

  Megan put her finger on Elijah’s wrist, distracting him from answering Sam’s question. Sam and Lucas exchanged a look as Megan whispered something in Elijah’s ear. Jasmine made a puking face at me
. I faux gagged.

  “Grace? No way, dude. It is you. Sam, Eli, Jasmine— what the hell? You’re all here. And Megan.” My friend Brandon, from the study group back in Ireland, tipped his head in Megan’s direction before throwing his arms around Jasmine and me. He slid into the booth beside us, his compact frame hardly taking up any space.

  “What the hell happened to you guys? You dropped off the face of the earth.” Brandon looked around the table, huge brown eyes calculating as they moved. “The examiner waited on the morning of the first exam, but you never showed. I must have tried your number a hundred times, Grace.”

  I blanched. I should have tried harder to get a message to him. I should have known he would be worried, I was just so caught up in myself. I bit my lip and gave him an apologetic glance. Lucas was staring at Brandon’s neat cornrows as if he might reach out and touch one. I arched an eyebrow, and he shoved his hands in his pockets, cheeks flushed. “Brandon, I’m so sorry, I should have messaged. I’m a terrible friend. I had to get a new phone, new number. Things got kind of crazy…”

  Sam slid his French fries into the middle of the table, offering one to Brandon. “Dawn got much worse, man. It was very sudden. She had to be airlifted to hospital. They transferred her to New York. There was no suitable treatment option in Ireland. Grace and Catherine are living with us for the summer while Dawn recuperates.”

  The lies rolled off Sam’s tongue. I shifted uncomfortably and my fingers fumbled at the napkin holder, searching for another sheet to shred. Brandon shook his head. “That’s rough. I had no idea things had gotten so bad, Grace. That’s why Catherine left early that night?” I nodded, unable to meet his eye. He squeezed my hand. “How is she doing now?”

  “Better. Much better. She has met other kids that are like her.” My chest loosened, relieved that we were on somewhat less morally dubious ground. I gestured towards Lucas. “Actually, this is Lucas, his little brother, Oscar, is one of Dawn’s new friends.”

  Brandon turned to Lucas and flashed a row of pearly teeth in his direction, holding out his hand. Lucas shook it. “Ozzie. That’s what we call him. He’d like your hair. He has an afro. I keep promising I’ll watch some tutorials and do it for him. He’s adopted. You have great skin. It’s glowy. Like, it glows.”

  Sam widened his eyes in my direction, and I had to stifle a snort. Lucas shot me a pleading look. I tapped Brandon’s hand, drawing his attention. “You got home to America. I thought you’d be back on the east coast?”

  Brandon grinned sheepishly. “I’m only in the U.S. for the week. Helping set up a high-tech interactive performance art show. Off-Broadway. I’m literally flying out in a couple of hours, my friend has a party in London tonight. I decided not to go back to California. I’m in London for the summer, working in the city, and then I am going to stay in Ireland for university. Trinity College.” He held up his hands in response to my guffaws. “What can I saw, you people grew on me.”

  Sam grinned. “Yeah, the Irish tend to grab you by the balls and keep you there.”

  “Excuse me?” I gaped at him.

  Sam smirked in response, unruffled by glare. Elijah snickered, and Lucas rapped me on the head. “Shame on you, Gracie, missing out on the carousel for that sort of thing.”

  I balled up my crumpled napkin and threw it at Lucas, sticking out my tongue. Megan pushed her plate to the side and pressed herself against the table. “You identify yourself as Irish? Even though you lived in so many places?”

  My foot jiggled. “It’s where we spent the most time. Where we settled the longest.” Megan’s face didn’t move, her eyes fixed on mine. “It’s where I was born, too, Megan, if that’s enough for you? Didn’t realize you had joined the FBI.”

  “Just curious, Grace. Don’t get your panties in a knot.”

  Jasmine narrowed her eyes in Megan’s direction. “Mind your own business, Megan. You seriously need to work on your social skills.”

  Megan went to stand up, leaning across the booth towards Jasmine. Elijah put his hand on Megan’s waist. Jasmine cut her eyes at him, her lips crushed together.

  “Wet shoes.” All heads swiveled to stare at Lucas. He shrugged his shoulders. “That’s the only thing I hate about living in Ireland. The rain. My shoes are always wet.”

  Brandon laughed. “Yes! Ruined so many pairs of kicks in that damn rain. You need to get some boots, man.”

  Lucas grimaced. “I can’t see myself pulling off that look. Country Squire isn’t on my to-do list.”

  Brandon stretched his arms over his head, smiling slowly. “I can see it. Guessing you could pull off just about anything.”

  Lucas looked down out the ground biting his lip coquettishly. Jasmine pinched my leg, and I kicked her back. Lucas blushing and speechless. We had entered the twilight zone.

  Brandon’s phone beeped, and he checked the screen. “Damn. I have to go, somebody has messed up the RGB laser.”

  He scanned the booth. “Hey, you guys are welcome to come with? Any interest in interactive performance art? You can be the guinea pigs?”

  Sam closed one eye and wrinkled his nose. I nodded my head and grinned. Jasmine clapped her hands together. Sam rolled his eyes at Elijah and exhaled.

  “All right. Theatre District it is. Lead the way, Brandon.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Jasmine’s scream echoed around the empty space. Images of her terrified face assaulted my vision, bleeding across the wall, flashing and multiplying. I stepped back from the metal staircase. “What’s in there, Brandon?”

  He grinned, typing something onto the screen of his tablet. “You chose your own journey. I just set up the means to share it with the room.”

  Megan’s image suddenly appeared on the ceiling. She reached out, her face drawn. Lips moving. I looked away, embarrassed by the look of raw longing in her eyes. Jasmine pushed her way past a thick white curtain. She marched over to Brandon and slapped him over the back of the head. “You jerk. You scared the crap out of me! I can’t believe you would take videos of me looking so hideous. Delete those bad boys. Immediately.”

  Brandon rubbed his head. “Hey, take it easy. I’m just the wizard. You guys chose to step into the tornado.”

  A shot of Lucas spread across an entire wall. He flipped through the air, landing with the ease of a cat, one arm extended as though he was pulling somebody behind him for protection. Brandon slid his finger across his computer screen and the image zoomed in on Lucas’s chiseled face. Brandon shook his head slowly. “Not bad work if you can get it.”

  Jasmine relented, bumping his shoulder with a snicker. Sam tugged at my hand, pulling me up the staircase. A girl with a clipboard stopped us at the top, requesting that each of us sign a waiver. I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “We’re not talking Yoko Ono stuff here, are we? I don’t want anyone cutting my clothes off.”

  “All choice will be your own.”

  I pushed on the door, waiting for Sam to follow me. The girl shook her head. “One person at a time. Nobody takes the same journey.”

  Sam wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I let the door fall shut behind me, cursing Brandon. The room plunged into pitch darkness. A voice whispered in my ear.

  “Help.”

  I spun around, clawing at the blackness.

  “Help.”

  The voice was further away now. Footsteps moved to my left. A dim red light pulsed, revealing a narrow passageway. The voice came again, reverberating along the flickering red walls. “Please, help.”

  “Your heart’s desire.” This voice was lower. Soothing. A white light burst into life, illuminating a golden path to my right.

  “Help me.” The red light flashed wildly.

  “Unimaginable joy.” I turned my back on the seductive golden tones and stepped towards the dark tunnel, closing my eyes against the burning red glow. I curled my fingers inside my fist, reminding myself it was just a game.

  A door slammed shut somewhere behind me, and cackling laughter chased me, shrin
king the walls closer. Adrenaline coursed through my veins.

  “Help me.”

  I burst out into a small room. Two doors. One gold. One red.

  The white voice caressed my ears again as the gold door opened a crack. “What does your heart desire?”

  The red door creaked. It was a whisper now. “Help me.”

  I pushed on the smooth wood, leaving clammy fingerprints on the scarlet paint. The room was unlit, but I could make out a figure in the far corner. I stepped closer and so did they. I reached out a hand, and the room exploded into light.

  I threw my arm in front of my face, shielding my eyes. Help yourself, Grace. “Gabriel?”

  My hands reached out for the figure and smashed against cold glass. A mirror. I screwed my eyes closed. An exit door slid open to my left.

  Jasmine and Megan were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Jasmine shook her head and rubbed my arm. “He’s a dick. That aged me, girl. I think I have gray hairs.”

  Megan was staring at an image of Sam filling the opposite wall. He was drawn up to his full height, colossal in his fury. His lips moved. Grace? Jasmine scratched my hand playfully and made a whistling noise. I bit my lip.

  “Who’s Gabriel?” Megan’s eyes were glacial, freezing my blood.

  I crossed my arms. “Why were you calling for your mommy?”

  Megan’s face convulsed under a wave of undisguised rage. “My family is none of your goddamn business, you stupid, Demon-loving slut.”

  Lucas tore across the room with Brandon two steps behind him. He slithered between us and fixed us both with a horrified glare. Brandon moved the security guard away with a quiet whisper. My cheeks burned. Sam pushed his way through the curtain and stood behind me, eyeing the scene.

  “Sorry, Brandon,” I said.

  He gave me a sympathetic wink and waved away my apology. Megan stomped out the main entrance without as much as a backward glance. Brandon opened his eyes wide. “Don’t ever change, Megan. You fill the world with sunshine and light.”