Rival Demons

by Sarra Cannon

  "We need to get to this meeting," Jackson said. "They'll have answers."

  I nodded, throwing on my leather jacket. My leg was still a little sore, but I was able to walk on it just fine. "We'll be back," I said. "Are you two okay here on your own?"

  Essex and Mary Anne nodded.

  "Now that I know my mother is unharmed, I am much better," Essex said.

  Jackson took my hand and led me down the hall so fast, we were practically running.

  "Are you worried about Lea?" I asked.

  He nodded, distracted. "Yes, but I'm also nervous about this meeting," he said. "It can't be good that they're calling you in when they know you were injured."

  "I'm fine," I said, but a shiver of fear ran up my spine. The demons here couldn't be happy about the danger they'd all been put in because of me. Also, Jackson and I were going to have some explaining to do about our relationship.

  The secret door to the council's meeting hall opened at Jackson's command and we rushed through. He led me down the hall straight into the library. Just inside, sitting at the large round table, was a group of ten shadow demons. Andros sat in the largest chair straight across from the door. I recognized some of the faces of the other demons, including Marlana, the girl who had first let us into the Underground. Still, there were others I did not know.

  When we walked into the room, the conversation halted. Several members of the council looked directly at our clasped hands, open-mouthed. Embarrassed, I slipped my hand from Jackson's grasp and walked up to the table.

  "Andros, I'm so sorry about your daughter-"

  He held up his hand to stop me. "Please," he said. "Have a seat and let us talk about what has happened here last night."

  There were three empty chairs at the table. I took one and Jackson sat beside me. Lea was missing from the council's table. Did they know what had happened to her? Was she okay? I wanted to ask, but Andros was obviously waiting for something. Or someone.

  I held my tongue, but my knee bounced up and down under the table.

  After a few excruciatingly slow minutes, the door to the library burst open. Everyone turned in unison to see who had entered.

  My eyes opened wide at the sight of Lea. She had changed out of her party dress and was back in her typical leather attire. In her hand she carried a chain that extended behind her through the doorway.

  "Move, traitor," she snarled, pulling hard on the thick silver chain.

  Jericho stumbled through the doorway, then fell to his knees before the council. His hands and neck were bound to the chains. Several members of the group gasped, including Jackson. Andros stood, his eyes searching Lea's.

  "No," he said. "This must be some mistake."

  "I assure you this is no mistake," Lea said. She put her leather boot on Jericho's back and pushed his face down to the floor. "This demon who we all considered a trusted friend has been working for the Order of Shadows. He's the one who let the hunter into the Underground. And he is the one who locked our army into the training rooms. This scum is responsible for the death of thirty of our brothers and sisters."

  Thirty? Thirty who had died because of me. Guilt slithered through me like a snake.

  Andros straightened his shoulder, his jaw tense with anger. "Is this true, Jericho, son of my father's friend? Explain yourself to your council."

  Jericho lifted his head. His lip was swollen and bloodied and he moved as if he had aches and pains throughout his body. I had no doubt all of his injuries were courtesy of Lea's anger.

  "I came to this place, following all of you, believing we were going to make a difference," he said. He swallowed, took a pained breath, then continued. "I thought you all had so much power, so much faith in the future. I came here to fight, not sit around like a bunch of helpless children."

  Andros' shoulders slumped slightly as he understood the truth. "So it is the truth," he said, his voice thick with disappointment. "It was you who placed my daughter's life in danger and the lives of all of the shadow demons under my care."

  "Yes, and I would do it again," Jericho said. He searched the faces at the table, finally coming to rest on me. "If this human girl had been captured today, I would have been given a very special gift."

  "What gift?" Jackson asked. "What gift could possibly be worth all of this?"

  Jericho laughed and narrowed his eyes at Jackson. "Don't you know?" he asked. "The Order would have given me back my parents. My sister Elisha. My promised mate, Sentira. The Order promised to separate them from their human slavers and return them to the shadow world by nightfall if I could hand them this one human girl."

  His words sent my heart soaring, despite his betrayal. The Order had promised to separate the demons from the humans? Did that mean they knew how to do it? Or was this just another one of their lies?

  He continued to stare at me, questioning. "Never in my immortal lifetime would I have imagined you would have defeated that hunter," he said. A tear rolled down his cheek. "Now my family is lost to me forever, thanks to you."

  "It wasn't me who took your family," I said. "Besides, you should have known better than to trust the Order. They would have never helped you even if they knew of a way to separate humans and demons."

  "The council understands your sorrow," Andros said, clearing his throat. "All of us here have someone we love on the other side, but to betray us all for your own selfish reasons is something we can never forgive. Jericho, you are hereby sentenced to live out the rest of your immortal life in isolation on the third sub-floor."

  Jericho's eyes grew wide and he shook his head frantically. "No," he said. "You cannot put me down there with those things. Please, I'll do anything."

  "Would you rather we put you outside the protection of the Underground?" Andros roared. "Where the Order of Shadows would surely come for you? Don't you know what they would do to you once they realized you had failed them? My decision is final."

  Out of the shadows of the council room, two tall demons emerged and took hold of Jericho's arms. They dragged him from the room, his screams echoing through the dark hallway.

  The Woman He Loves

  Lea took her place in the remaining empty chair around the council's table.

  She nodded to me, a knowing look in her eyes.

  "Now that the whole of the council is present, we need to address the issue of Harper's presence in the Underground," Andros said. He looked across the table at me. "I would like to commend you on your bravery today. I am sure I don't have to tell you how grateful I am that you were willing to risk your life to save my daughter."

  "I'm just glad she's okay," I said.

  "We all know that you could have run when word came that the hunter had entered the Underground," he said. "The fact that you stayed to fight against nearly impossible odds says a lot about your character. I'm sure many of the council members are sorry they misjudged you."

  Many of those sitting at the table lowered their heads.

  "You have shown enormous power for a human," he continued. "To defeat a hunter is no small feat, as I'm sure know. Still, we cannot ignore the fact that your presence here puts us all in danger. Were it not for you being here, the hunter never would have had a reason to come."

  I bit my lip and rubbed my sweating palms against my pants. I had a feeling I knew what was coming next.

  "Before you arrived, the council voted on this matter, and I'm afraid our decision was that you must leave the Underground."

  Jackson stood, slapping his hand down on the surface of the table. "You cannot do this," Jackson said. "Harper was willing to sacrifice her life for all of you today. She fought that hunter with everything she had and she won. She deserves a chance to stay. If you throw her out, you're condemning her to death. Besides, the hunter wouldn't have gotten in at all if there hadn't been a traitor on the council."

  Andros folded his hands together and leaned forward. "I understand everything you're saying, old friend. As you know, this is not the first time one of the demon
s of the Underground has betrayed us. This is why we try to keep the actions of this council and the Resistance secret, but we never dreamed we could have a traitor on our own council. Keeping her is a risk. The Order will never stop trying to corrupt and conquer our people until she is gone. We do appreciate her actions today. However, we cannot continue to put all of our citizens in danger for the life of this one human girl."

  "Are you forgetting that this one human girl is also connected to my brother? If she dies, Aerden dies too."

  "We understand your concerns," a tall female demon responded. "But our responsibility is to the shadow demons who have entrusted us with their lives down here."

  "Bullshit," Jackson said. "You have simply chosen to let fear rule you. How are you any different than the king? Or my father? Sitting down here in the safety of this cave, doing nothing while the demons of our world suffer."

  "We fight for the villages who are attacked by hunters," a gray-haired demon said. "We have saved hundreds of lives through our work."

  "You don't even make a dent," Jackson said. "You have the power and the ability to make a real difference, but instead you choose the easy fights. You protect one village while the Order simply moves on to the next and steals twice as many from their beds."

  "Enough," Andros said. "The decision has been made, friend. The girl must leave tonight."

  Fear shot through me. Tonight? My earlier heartache-fueled determination had left me. I had gotten lucky against one hunter, but. how long before another hunter found me?

  "I am going with her," Jackson said.

  Ten pairs of eyes stared at him in stunned silence.

  "Your duty is here with your future Queen," Andros said, finally finding his voice.

  At this, Lea stood. I held my breath, unsure what she was going to say. Would she demand that Jackson stay here with her?

  "His duty is both to his brother and to the woman he loves," she said. She paused and looked at Jackson, love and sadness mixed in her expression. "Go and keep her safe."

  A murmur went up among the members of the council.

  Jackson took Lea's hand and brought it to his lips in gratitude. "Thank you," he said.

  She nodded, then turned away. It was the closest to crying I had ever seen from her. I felt her sacrifice deep in my heart. She loved him, but she was willing to let him go.

  Lea sniffed once, then straightened, all signs of her emotions zipped up again behind her sarcasm and strength. "When you get settled, contact us and let us know where you are."

  She placed a small stone in Jackson's hand, and he quickly put it in his pocket.

  He touched my arm and motioned for me to stand. I knew it was our cue to leave, but I had something more I wanted to say. Before I could talk myself out of it, I turned to the council.

  "The Order of Shadows is a powerful organization, but they aren't gods and they aren't invincible," I said. "I know it's not my place to tell you how to live or fight, but someday, I hope we can build an army of demons and humans who can work together to bring down the Order. In the beginning, when the first of your kind came to my world, the first thing he experienced there was not torture or slavery or sorrow. It was love. The Order may have corrupted that, but that doesn't mean we should hate each other for the sins of one group of greedy women. Not all humans want to see your kind hurt, and not all humans value power over love."

  I finished my speech and stared out at the faces of those around the table. I couldn't tell what impact, if any, my words had on them. All I could hope was that somewhere in their hearts, they understood what I was trying to say.

  Life Rarely Is

  Breaking the news to Mary Anne was not easy.

  "You've got to be kidding me," she shouted. "You saved all their asses and they're kicking you out? Well, I'm going with you."

  She turned toward her room, but I grabbed her arm to stop her.

  "We've been through this once already, haven't we?"

  She scrunched her face up in barely suppressed anger. "You can't go back out there with those things alone."

  "I'm not going to be alone," I said. "Jackson's coming with me."

  She shook her head. "Then I'm definitely not staying here," she said. "We came here together. We should leave together."

  "I'm sorry, but you have to stay here," I said. "This journey is going to be difficult enough without me worrying about you the whole time. You still aren't completely healed from your injuries. It's too risky."

  Her shoulders relaxed slightly and her bottom lip quivered. "You have to go tonight?" she asked. "They won't even let you stay overnight to get your rest?"

  I shook my head. "No, they're afraid more hunters will show up if I stay," I said. I pulled her into my arms for a big hug. "We'll be okay."

  "Where will you go?" she asked.

  "I don't know," I said. "But we'll figure it out. Maybe we'll go back to the cave or something for a few days? We haven't had a chance to really make a plan yet."

  "This isn't fair."

  "Life rarely is," I said. "Here or back home."

  "How will I know where you are or how to reach you if I need to?" she asked. "Will you come back for me if you decide to go home?"

  "You can reach us with this," Jackson said.

  I hadn't even heard him come back into the room, but he was packed and ready to go. He handed something to Mary Anne, and when she opened her palm to study it, I saw that it was a tiny clear stone.

  "How does it work?" she asked.

  "All you have to do is close your palm around the stone and think my name," he said. "I have a matching stone with me, so I will hear you if you call for me. The only drawback is that you can only use it a handful of times before it loses its magic."

  "Okay," she said, tucking it into her pocket. "I will only use it in case of an emergency or something really important."

  "I've asked Lea to watch out for you," he said. "And Essex is going to take good care of you too."

  Mary Anne nodded, her blue eyes filling with tears. "I love you guys," she said.

  The three of us joined in a group hug, and I wondered when or if I would ever see my dear friend again.

  Guarded Secrets

  Jackson took my hand and walked with me toward the Grand Hall. We had decided to spend the night in another cave Jackson knew from his childhood.

  "Do you think we'll be able to make it there tonight?" I asked. "It's already so late, and I can't stand that stupid Obsidian Forest."

  He smiled and squeezed my hand as we walked. "The place where we came through to the Underground is just one of many portals," he said. "There are similar circles of black roses all over the Northern Kingdom. I asked Andros to find us a portal closer to the cave where I want to hide out."

  I took in a calming breath and felt the relief flood through me. I was so thankful to have him with me. I couldn't believe I'd almost left on my own.

  In the marketplace, a small group of shadow demons waited to say goodbye. I recognized the faces of some of the vendors and cafe owners I'd become friendly with over the past few weeks. Essex and his mother were there. Some of Jackson's friends. As we passed by, they offered us food, water, and weapons. Bowing, we took each present, thanking them. Their gifts touched my heart. That they didn't blame me for the deaths of those thirty shadow demons eased my guilt.

  At the top of the main staircase, Andros and his family waited to say goodbye.

  Sasha jumped from her mother's grasp and threw her arms around my legs. I crouched down to give her a proper hug. "I told my mother she shouldn't worry, that you would come and save me," she whispered.

  I smiled at her and kissed her tiny cheek.

  Ourelia hugged me and gave me a sweater. "It might get cold where you're going," she said. "Promise me you'll be careful."

  I nodded, knowing that no matter how careful we might be, the future wasn't entirely in our hands.

  It was Andros' gift that surprised me more than anything. With serious eyes, he ha
nded me a tightly bundled package.

  "What is this?" I asked.

  "When you first came here, Jackson told me you'd been looking for a clue about how to break the spell that binds Aerden's soul and power to you," he said. "I told him we had never heard of this spell, but I wasn't entirely honest."

  Chills ran up my arms. I clutched the package tight against my chest.

  "The book you now hold has the information you've been looking for," he said. Then he turned to grasp Jackson's hand. "Please do not be angry at me for keeping this from you. You must understand that this information is one of our most closely guarded secrets, and down here we still have some trust issues. Someday, we wanted to seek the items needed to break the spell and cross worlds in order to free our brothers and sisters. Harper, I now see that your destiny is tied to this book. It was waiting here for you. For this moment. May the suns and moons carry you to safety through all your days and nights."

  For a moment, I couldn't move or speak or breathe.

  In my hands, I held the key to my own freedom and the freedom of thousands. It was a priceless gift that filled my heart with hope.

  "Thank you," I managed, then threw my arms around him.

  Andros laughed and patted my back. "You're welcome," he said. "Do not let this information go to waste."

  "We won't," Jackson said.

  We finished our goodbyes and Andros walked us down the long hallway to the portal. He searched through a collection of stones, then finally placed a new symbol into a square cubby in the wall. Jackson took my hand and moved us to stand just beneath the portal's opening. With a nod, he signaled that we were ready. Andros nodded back slowly, then placed his hand over the symbol.

  A familiar hum coursed through my body from feet to head. Then, I fell upward, my body disassembling and passing through the cool soul stone. I forced myself to stay calm through the sudden darkness. When I reached the other side, the crisp air startled me.

  My hair blew back in the wind, lifting from my neck and sending a cool breeze straight through me.