”No,” I yell. “Stop him!” But my warning is pointless. Vicky is already suspended between the brothers, gazing into George’s eyes, while Geoffrey leans back with a shocked look on his face.
George drops the scissors with a sob. “What are we doing, Geoff? Why can’t we just talk it out?”
Vicky turns her head to look at Geoffrey.
His look of shock changes into one of sorrow. “I just can’t stand it anymore, George. I want some happiness, too. You got it all. The job, the wife, the house…”
George just shakes his head. “No Geoff, I swear. I paid Dad for the house and we never told Mom, because she wanted to give everything away. I couldn’t let her. They had nothing.”
The demons behind us snarl. They hit the invisible barrier with their hooves. Some are trying to freeze it.
George stands up and holds out his hand. Vicky is at my side again. We watch silently.
Geoffrey finally accepts his brothers help. George pulls him up and slaps him on the shoulder. “I’m so sorry you’re unhappy. I wish you the best. Just… let’s make this company bigger together. You’re better than me at running it, so you deserve a bigger share.”
Geoffrey slumps on the couch by the window and hides his face in his hands. “That’s stupid. You deserve half.”
George sits down next to him and puts his arm around his brother. “I am so sorry Mom always favored me. But you know I always tried to pull you into everything, don’t you? You’re my brother. I love you.”
Geoffrey’s shoulders shake. “I do know that. I just… forgot somehow. I felt so betrayed, by life, by Mom and Dad, by you. I’m so sorry. I should have just talked to you. I should have spoken up.”
A loud cracking noise makes me and Vicky whirl around. The demons howl in triumph. Their mouths open in wide grins.
I shiver. “Are they getting through?”
Vicky raises her sword.
The rest of the Shield appears next to us, their weapons ready. Jeep has a mad look on his face. Now that he’s back in the game, he’s ready to rip those monsters apart.
“Please forgive me,” I hear Geoffrey say. “I’ll transfer everything back and say it was a glitch in the system.”
My eyes zoom in on my weapon lying against the wall near the elevator.
“Vicky, my Morningstar.” I nod towards it.
She disappears and returns with the ball.
After handing it to me she clenches her fists. “We should attack before they escape.”
“I agree,” D’Maeo says.
Before we can charge, Jeep takes off his hat and flings it into the circle. It cuts off one demon’s raised tail, but it only enrages the others further.
When I fling my Morningstar, the head demon catches it and pulls me into the demon’s snare. I yell and hold my athame in front of me. I hit the demon square in the eye and it bounces backward, letting out a deafening howl.
I scramble back out of the circle. Red stains appear on the bandage around my leg.
When I turn my head for a moment, I see the brothers bent over a laptop.
The demons fling themselves forward in one motion, their icy gazes fixed on Geoffrey.
Completely oblivious to the importance of what he’s doing, Geoffrey hits a button. “There, every last cent is back where it belongs.”
The noise within the circle ceases. We all frown.
I give Vicky a sideways glance. “What’s happening? What are they doing?”
My confusion is reflected on her face. “It looks like they’re giving up.”
“What? Why?”
D’Maeo grins. “Because we’ve won. We prevented Geoffrey from framing his brother.”
I shake my head. “I thought we were supposed to prevent George from killing him?”
The monsters slowly start to vanish. The head demon’s eyes are the last thing I see. They bore into mine, as if it wants to say, ‘I will see you again.’
I rub my arms to drive out the sudden cold.
Vicky pulls me from the doorway when the Timson brothers leave the office, slapping each other’s shoulders.
Taylar puts away his sword. “I think we just saved them both.”
I scratch my head. “So what-”
Jeep adjusts his hat. “You can stab someone in the back literally or figuratively. I think the cards warned us about both. We just didn’t realize it until now.”
I rub my face with both hands. “I think you’re right.”
Maël walks through the circle. She’s leaning slightly on her staff, although she’s trying to hide it. “Let’s go home.”
I collect the bowl, candles and incense stick and take the elevator down. I look down at my leg. The bleeding has stopped again. It still hurts, but I can manage. Right now I just want to go home, check on Mom and sleep for a week. Or maybe just draw for days.
The Shield is already waiting for me in the car. There’s no sign of Charlie and Paul. I will have to confront them later.
The Timson brothers drive by in Geoffrey’s car. He waves at me. I’m too stunned to wave back.
“He could see me,” I say when I reach Phoenix and step in. “How’s that-“
“You were only invisible until you succeeded, remember?”
I nod slowly. “Yeah... I’m afraid my brain is shutting down.”
Jeep slams his hand on his heart. “Wow, are you saying it worked once?”
“Very funny.”
Vicky reaches over and strokes my arm. “It’s okay. You’re stronger than you think.”
“I am, I know that now. But there’s so much I don’t know yet. Like what is going on with my friends? What did Paul have to do with all this? And what about the others? Can I still trust them?”
Vicky shrugs. I know she doesn’t have the answers, but I can’t stop the words from flowing out of my mouth. “Are Mom’s fits really gone? How is that possible? And that voice. Was that real or just in my head?”
D’Maeo leans forward. He clasps a hand over my throat and the words get stuck. “Take a breath. You’ve had a lot to process. You just need some rest.”
I can’t argue with that.
I drop the ghosts off at Darkwood Manor and put the bowl and candles away in the kitchen.
“Thank you,” I say.
The Shield looks up, surprised.
“Thanks for fighting with me. Thanks for saving me.”
Vicky smiles. “No problem, that’s what we’re here for. And you did a good job yourself.”
The others nod in agreement.
I take the cards out of my pocket. Before I can take a last look at them, they crumble to dust in my hands. A sudden gust of wind picks the tiny pieces up and blows them through the hallway and out of the open door, into the clear sky.
I give an incredulous shake of my head. “We did it. We saved him. We saved the world.”
The Shield gathers around me. They pat me on the back and hug me, all at once.
“We did it,” I repeat.
A triumphant feeling rises in my chest. This crazy magical ride has come to an end. We survived. And we came out so much stronger. I have a pack of ghosts at my side that I can trust. A Shield that I can turn to when I’m in trouble. There’s so much to learn about this strange world full of magic, but I can handle it. I’m ready to embrace my new life, as a Mage and as a master. I have the power of premonition, which I can use to save people, save the whole world even. And I just know I’ll find all the answers I’ve always searched for about Dad. I still believe he was a good man and one day I will prove it, if I can only be patient. The most important thing right now is that we are safe. We beat the Devil.
But still, something feels off. A sliver of unease tugs at my heart. My gut tells me that this was just the beginning…
What’s next?
Dante is right, the rollercoaster isn’t over yet.
Do you want to know what the Devil’s plans are? Why Mr. Timson was so import
ant? Who Mona really is? Why it’s not permitted to build in Blackford? What Dante’s friends are hiding? Who that mysterious voice belongs to?
Then be sure to move on to book 2: Cards of Death - The Second Premonition. It will be released on June 8th 2019, but you can already read the first chapter on the next pages.
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The First Demon has gone through several rounds of beta reading and editing. If you found a typographical, grammatical, or other error which impacted your enjoyment of the book, we offer our apologies and ask that you let us know, so we can fix it for future readers.
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Preview
Cards of Death book 2
The Second Premonition
Tamara
Geraeds
CHAPTER 1
The drive home is peaceful. I steer Phoenix through the woods slowly, with the windows rolled down, so I can breathe in all the earthly smells. My leg hurts, but I pay no attention to it. We defeated the demons and saved Mr. Timson. We did what we were supposed to do. We saved the world.
After dropping off the ghosts at Darkwood Manor I don’t feel like stopping yet, so I drive straight ahead, towards the center of Blackford. The wind in my hair blows away all the questions tumbling through my head. Questions about Dad, Hell, demons, angels and people who betray their friends.
I take a left, past the police station and look at the familiar houses.
Mom calls just as I pass Rodney’s DIY shop.
“How’s the floor?” she asks.
Oh, right. The flooding. I forgot all about that. I was a little busy sending a bunch of demons back to their hellhole. “It’s drying.” That’s probably true.
“Someone is coming tomorrow to put in a new floor, so I’ll be home after breakfast.”
“Okay, Mom.”
“How was your day? Have you been able to entertain yourself?”
I almost chuckle. “Sure, it was fine. How about you? No fits?”
“None at all.” She sounds as cheerful as I feel.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am about that.”
“That makes two of us, honey. So what did you do all day?”
I’m just trying to come up with an answer, when I see a flicker in the corner of my eye. My head swerves right and I gasp.
“What’s that, honey? I can’t hear you.”
I hit the brake. “My phone is almost dead, Mom. So I’ll see you to-“
I hang up and blink at the patch of grass between the two houses on my right. There was another house there, just now. It was vague, but it was there. I could even see light behind one of the windows.
I drop my head on the steering wheel and sigh. All the things I’ve seen in the last couple of days are getting to me. I should go home and get some sleep.
I rub my face and look up.
“No way.” Instead of just a house here and there, there are complete blocks on both sides of the road. Someone steps out of a doorway that shouldn’t be there.
“Charlie!” It takes me only a second to recognize him.
As soon as his head turns in my direction, I fumble for the door handle.
I jump out of my car and flinch when I put weight on my wounded leg. I almost forgot about the gash that demon gave me. “Hey,” I pant. “What’s going on here?”
There’s no answer. Charlie is gone. So are the houses I saw.
“I need rest,” I tell myself.
I turn back to Phoenix, ready to get back in and call it a day.
A car passes me in the middle of the road.
“Hey, you’re not allowed to drive on the grass strip!” I yell out of habit. But then my gaze is pulled towards the tarmac. Dark grey tarmac. No grass.
I frown and blink. The asphalt disappears, making way for familiar green.
I take a step back, bumping into Phoenix. My vision blurs. No wait, not my whole vision, just part of it. The houses that I’ve always known are crystal clear. Next to them blurry buildings appear and vanish with every heartbeat. Strips of color move past me. Sounds fade in and out.
Then I see him again. “Charlie!” He must have crossed the street while I was looking around.
The street returns to normal when I blink. There’s a loud panting in my ears and I whirl around. “What’s going on?” I breathe. The panting stops. “Oh, that was me.”
I scan the street and every patch of green in between. I’m alone.
I pinch myself. It hurts. “No dream,” I whisper. “Maybe a premonition?”
A glance into the future, where building permits are finally granted? But why is Charlie in it?
Determined to find out, I cross the street. A weird sensation floods through me when I set foot on the grass strip in the middle of the road. For a moment I see a pick-up truck coming towards me. Instinctively I step back onto the tarmac. A strong draft pulls at my body. It passes quickly and I shake my head. Just another figment of my imagination. Or a warning, who knows.
I reach the spot where I saw Charlie and turn in every direction, taking in every detail of what I see. “Charlie?” I call out. “Are you here?”
He disappeared very sudden, so maybe he went into one of these houses? Or around them?
I take a step towards the grass between the houses, when another flash hits me.
I almost bump into the door of the building that has appeared in front of me. It doesn’t look real somehow, so I touch the wood. I pull back instantly. It reminds me of the ghosts in my Shield; transparent, yet very solid. For a second it vanishes again, only to come back clearer.
I push the door before I lose my nerve. Three people are sitting at a table. One of them is Charlie. When he sees me, his eyes grow wide.
“What are you doing?” I ask, stepping forward. “Where are…?”
I halt when the house and the people in it dissolve again. Under my shoes the grass rustles softly. A door slams, but there’s no one here. Footsteps approach and I walk backwards as quickly as I can.
“Watch out!” Charlie’s voice says, and an invisible force grabs me and pulls me back onto the sidewalk.
Although I’m pretty sure nothing can hurt me in a premonition, I struggle to free myself.
My best friend blinks in and out of view. One moment the bright yellow of his flowery shirt blinds me, the next I see only grass.
“Charlie? Are you there?”
I hear voices mumbling.
“Just let me talk to him,” Charlie says. “Before he hurts himself.”
“Fine,” an irritated voice answers. “But he’s not ready yet.”
I roll my eyes. “Here we go again, with the not ready thing.”
Close to me I hear the creaking of a door. I follow the sound with my eyes, but there’s nothing there. Everything has turned back to normal.
Until a blond head manifests itself.
I cross my arms over my chest. “There you are. Finally.” I nod at the empty space under his head. “You don’t look so good.”
He follows my gaze. “Oh crap.” The rest of his body appears, wrapped in familiar flower patterns and shorts. “Sorry about that. I’m still getting used to this zapping thing.”
He scrutinizes me and frowns. “You don’t seem scared.”
I shrug. “I think there’s a glitch in my premonition. Besides, I’ve seen worse.”
“Oh, right.” He nods. “The demons. Yes, those were pretty nasty.”
“Demons, ghosts, the devil, nothing surprises me anymore.”
He’s still nodding. “Okay, let’s sit down for a minute. I have to tell you something.” He puts his arm around me and guides me back to Phoenix.
For a second I see all the extra houses light up again, but I ignore them and drop into the driver’s seat. “Shoot.”
He scratches his head, making his long hair sweep back and forth. “You’ve seen some crazy stuff lately, right?”
I look him straight in the eye. “You could say that. But I’ve dealt with most of them. My lying friends are probably next.”
He raises his hand. “We’ll get to that later.”
I clench my jaws. “I can’t wait.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tamara Geraeds was born in 1981, in a small village in the south of The Netherlands.
When she was 6 years old, she wrote her first poem, which basically translates as:
A hug for you and a hug for me
and that’s how life should be
She started writing books at the age of 15 and her first book was published in 2012. After 6 books in Dutch she decided to write a young adult fantasy series in English: Cards of Death.
Tamara’s bibliography consists of books for children, young adults and adults, and can be placed under fantasy and thrillers.
Besides writing she runs her own business, in which she teaches English, Dutch and writing, (re)writes texts and edits books.
She’s been playing badminton for over 20 years and met the love of her life Frans on the court. She loves going out for dinner, watching movies, and of course reading, writing and hugging her husband. She’s crazy about sushi and Indian curries, and her favorite color is red.
The First Demon (Cards of Death Book 1) Page 22