by Sarra Cannon
Tears pushed through to the surface, stinging my eyes. I was so exhausted. We'd been traveling for days and it had taken everything I had just to fight the three hunters near the blue stones. I'd barely survived their attack. Jackson was right. I needed more time to recover. I should have gone downstairs to the dungeons with him. I should have rested and let my father deal with these witches.
Above me, the heavy rocks pressed down. I used what little power I had still running through my veins to lift up, hoping to break the hunter's cage and set myself free long enough to get away, but the rocks wouldn't budge an inch.
Had I really come all this way just to be captured here in my father's castle?
If they took me now, I would never have a chance to know him or ask him all the questions I longed to have answers to. I shook my head and tightened my fists. There was no way I was going to let that happen.
I am stronger than this.
The hunter circled me like a beast watching its prey. She laughed and celebrated her catch, but before she could get all the way back around to the front, I pulled into myself, accessing a well of power deep within, then pushed out with everything I had.
As I lifted upward, the debris and stone holding me captive broke into a thousand pieces and flew out in every direction. The hunter screamed and rushed toward me.
I glanced up, looking for anything I could use against her.
An iron chandelier with six burning torches hung from the high ceiling above. I reached up into the air and grabbed hold of it with my mind. With all the power I had left inside, I pulled downward. I tore the heavy chandelier from the ceiling and brought it down on the hunter's head, the force of it smashing her skull with a loud crack.
She fell to the ground like a broken doll. Thick black blood oozed from a hole in the side of her head. Her arms and legs twitched twice, then fell limp at her sides.
Exhausted, my power spent, I dropped to my knees.
I turned my eyes toward the blown-out castle wall. The battle continued outside. Shouts sounded. Several fires blazed across rooftops, their smoke mingling with the smoke of demons shifting and moving through the semi-darkness. Spells flashed and cracked.
I blinked, struggling to see as my vision faded to black and my body hit the floor.
You Get That From Your Mother
Someone shook me from my sleep.
Startled, I jerked up. A man with worried eyes and a silver beard stared down at me. At first, I didn't recognize him. Fear pumped through my heart. Then, relief flooded my veins. My father. We were in his castle and we had been attacked. But he was alive.
I sucked in a nervous breath. "Is it over?" I asked, my head still throbbing. "Did we win?"
My father crouched next to me on the floor. "Yes," he said, his voice tired and strained. Soot covered his face and his eyes were ringed with fatigue. "There were a few casualties on both sides, but we finally drove the surviving hunters from the dome. Much of the city was destroyed, so there will be a lot of work ahead in the next few days. We need to fortify the city's entrance and find a way to patch the crack at the top of the barrier."
I looked around, wondering where I was and how I had gotten there.
I was in a cell, the iron gate wide open. Under me, stiff straw scratched at my clothes. Someone must have brought me down here to the dungeon after I passed out.
I swallowed, my heart thudding in my throat. "Where's Jackson?" I started to stand, but my legs wouldn't hold me. "Is he okay?"
My father put a hand on my shoulder. "He's fine," he said. "Don't push yourself. I sent him upstairs to help heal some of the wounded. He said a hunter trapped him upstairs in the throne room, then came after you. When you killed her, it set him free and he brought you down here until the battle ended."
I sighed in relief, then leaned back against the cold stone wall. "Thank god."
"I should have brought you down here myself." He ran a hand through his hair. "I never would have forgiven myself if something had happened to you. How are you feeling?"
I reached up to touch the sore spot on the back of my head and winced. "I hit my head pretty hard," I said. "Other than that, I think I'm just tired."
My father leaned forward and placed his hands on my head. I flinched as an electric wave washed over me, then relaxed as the pain disappeared in an instant. This felt different from when Jackson had healed me in the past. Infinitely more powerful and not at all cold like Jackson's power.
"Wow," I said, the pounding in my head completely gone. "How did you do that?"
He gave me a small smile, then sat down next to me, back against the wall and hands on his knees. "Healing is one of my strongest powers," he said. "You'll be glad to know I paid a brief visit to the little boy you brought with you."
I brightened. "How's he doing?"
"He was pretty badly hurt, but he's recovering nicely," he said. "He should be ready for visitors in a few days. To be honest, I was actually surprised to learn healing wasn't one of your powers, but you never know exactly which abilities will get passed from one generation to the next."
We sat in silence for a moment. I thought of the destroyed throne room and the damage that consumed a large portion of the city.
"Did you even know this was possible?" I asked. "The explosion? Has the Order attacked the city like this before?"
He ran his hand across his forehead. "Never to this extent," he said. "We had some warning that the Order had been working on a spell that would damage our barrier, but until today I had no idea how far they'd come."
The fear in his voice scared me. If the king was afraid, shouldn't we all be terrified of what might happen?
"This is all my fault," I said.
My father sighed and drew his eyebrows close together in the middle. "You can't blame yourself for this," he said. "The Order has had its eye on this city since I created it."
I stared down at the blue stone glittering on my finger. "You don't understand. I took something very valuable to the Order," I said. "I had no idea they'd come after it this fast, though."
He looked down at the ring and gasped, his eyes wide. "The anchor," he said. "May I see it?"
I pulled the ring from my finger and placed it in his hand. He turned it over and around, studying each detail. Every mark and facet.
"Incredible," he said. "We've been looking for this for ages. Where did you find it?"
I explained to him about the diary we'd been given. "It belonged to one of the original members of the Order," I said. "The entries explained the importance of the ring and how it had been hidden here in the shadow world to act as an anchor that would allow additional gates to be opened. Jackson and I went looking for it, and along the way, we discovered that each ring was hidden in a place of power. A place where stones of the same kind were grouped together. A gem dealer near the borderlands told us we could find a blue stone quarry here in the Southern Kingdom."
"But we've searched that blue quarry a thousand times," he said. "We've never seen any sign of the anchor."
"I think the hiding place revealed itself to me because I'm the prima futura of a blue demon gate," I said. "Not even Jackson could see the special pedestal that held the ring, but for some reason, I was drawn to it. It appeared when I got close enough, only the ring wasn't there. I think the pedestal triggered some kind of attack from three hunters who were guarding the ring."
"Amazing," he said. "I have seen other documents that spoke of this ring, but never before have I seen one with my own eyes."
"I'm pretty sure that ring is the reason the Order attacked the city today. I can't imagine Priestess Winter sent those hunters here just for me."
Unless the Order already knew I was half demon. I had no idea what that might mean in terms of the demon gate's power, but I wondered if that was the reason Priestess Winter had gone through so much trouble to transfer Peachville's prima line to another family rather than kill me outright. As I saw in Aldeen, sometimes she'd rather kill an entire town than deal with a pri
ma who didn't follow the rules.
I shivered at the memory.
"I'm going to put this ring in my vault and make sure there are extra guards stationed with both you and the ring at all times," my father said. "We can't take any chances."
A sick feeling rolled around in my stomach. I wanted to trust him, but that ring was too important to our cause to let it out of my sight. He moved to place it in his pocket, but I reached out and gently touched his arm.
Surprised, he paused and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry," I said, pulling my hand away. He might have been my father, but he was also a king. There were probably rules about being too familiar. "It's just that we went through a lot to get that ring. We need it."
He closed his fist around it. "Harper, I understand you've been through some tough battles," he said. "But you need to understand how important this ring is to all demons. With it, the blue demon gates are useless to the Order of Shadows."
"I know," I said, biting my lip. "But holding onto the ring only prevents the Order from bringing more demons through to the other side."
"Do you understand how many lives we could save if we could do that? How many rituals we could prevent?" he asked. "What could be more important than that?"
My chest tightened.
"Freeing the demons who are already trapped in the human world," I said.
The king stood and cleared his throat. "We all know there's nothing we can do for those who have already been taken," he said, a hard edge to his tone. "We have to concentrate on saving the demons who are still here in the shadow world."
"That's not true," I said, pushing against the wall to stand. Was he really so quick to give up on those who'd already been enslaved? "According to the diary we read, if we perform the original gate opening ceremony in reverse, we can close a demon gate forever. If we do that, it will break the bonds created by that portal. That means every demon tied to a witch in that gate town would go free and no one would have to die."
"That's impossible," he said. "Where did you say you found this information?"
"A diary," I said, crossing to him. "One of the five original sisters who created the Order kept a journal. A detailed history that includes rituals and information about different spells that were used to create the Order's power."
"Demons have been looking for a way to free the enslaved demons for two centuries," he said, shaking his head. "If a diary like that existed, I would have already known about it."
Warmth crawled up my neck. Was he calling me a liar?
"I can show you the journal if you don't believe me," I said.
"How can you be sure it's real and not something created to lead you down the wrong path?" he asked.
"I can't prove it's real, but I can tell you that it led me to the ring in the first place. And if there's any chance the ritual reversal might work, I will do everything in my power to perform it. Even if I have to risk my life by going back to Peachville."
The king paced the length of the cell, rubbing his beard. "I understand why you want to free yourself and Jackson's brother from the Peachville gate, but this war goes much deeper than one demon or one gate. We can't risk letting that ring get back into the hands of the Order."
I clenched my jaw tight. This was my first real conversation with my father, a man I'd dreamed of meeting my entire life, and he was already pissing me off.
"Peachville's just the beginning. If the ritual works there, it will work everywhere. With this ring, we could close all of the blue gates forever and free thousands of demons who are in captivity," I said. "Isn't it worth the risk if we can free so many demons and humans from the Order's slavery?"
My father sighed. "We can talk about this later," he said, his voice tired. "For now, let's get you up to your room. You have to be exhausted."
I swallowed. "Can I have my ring back?"
He turned back to me, worry creasing his forehead. "I think I'll keep it for now," he said. "That way I can make sure it's safe."
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "I know you're my father, but that doesn't automatically mean I can trust you," I said. "The ring is rightfully mine. I need you to promise me that if I ever ask for it again, you'll hand it over without question."
He seemed to consider it for a moment, then released some of the tension in his shoulders and nodded. "I guess I should have expected you to be independent and stubborn," he said with a sad smile. "You get that from your mother."
My breath caught in my throat. A heavy silence filled the space between us. It was the first time he'd mentioned my mother. I wanted to ask him about her, but I was too scared to open that door between us.
"Now, let me take you to your rooms," he said, holding his arm out to me. "Thankfully the back side of the castle was not damaged."
I hesitated. Was I was doing the right thing by letting him keep the blue ring? Could I really trust him to give it back?
After a moment, I finally placed my arm in his.
It's Complicated
I followed my father up the stairs, past the main floor where more than a dozen people worked on the repairs.
Through the broken wall, a sliver of sunlight shone through the oily remains of the Order's attack.
"Harper, your room is up on the top floor," my father said. "In fact, I've had this room ready for you for the past sixteen years, just in case."
His words blossomed in my heart. He'd had a room for me? All these years of moving from one foster home to another, sharing rooms with other kids and never knowing how long I'd even stay in one place and all this time, a room had been waiting for me. It didn't seem real.
I gasped as he stopped in front of a large golden door. Shimmering on its surface was a beautiful painting of a white rose.
The door opened on its own as I approached, as if to welcome me home.
My father stepped back to let me pass, a gentle smile on his face and the hint of a tear in his eyes.
I stepped inside and my hand went to my mouth. The entryway was gorgeous. Perfect white roses were arranged in a large pink vase that sat on top of an intricately carved table. The floor glittered with multicolored stones embedded beneath clear glass tile.
Above my head, crystal lamps hovered in the air, unattached to any wires or switches.
"Go on," he said. "You have three rooms all to yourself up here."
My eyes grew wide. Was he serious? That was practically like my own house.
Like a giddy child, I moved through the foyer into the living room area, anxious to explore my new space. A space that had waited here for me all my life.
A thick black rug lay across the glittering floor. It looked like some kind of fur, and I couldn't resist leaning down to run my hand over its soft surface.
"Magdonear fur," my father said, naming an animal I'd never heard of. "When I was younger, I used to hunt quite a bit in the mountain areas. I had this made just for you when I realized how much you liked black."
I stood, my hand going to my heart. He knew I liked black? How?
My lips fell open, the room forgotten for a moment. I couldn't even think straight enough to figure out how to put words to my questions. "When?" I asked. "How long have you been-"
"Watching you?" He completed my thought. "I've been searching for you from the moment I found out you existed, but your mother did a good job of hiding you. When you came to Peachville, it was both the happiest day and the saddest day of my life."
I tilted my head and looked at him, puzzled. "Why both?"
He moved into the room and put his hands on the back of a leather chair in the small seating area. "The happiest because I'd finally found you," he said. "And the saddest because that meant the Order had found you too."
I swallowed, my mouth dry. "Why didn't you come for me?"
"It's complicated," the king said. He pushed off from the chair and moved toward the next room, avoiding the question completely. "We'll have plenty of time for talking about these kinds of things.
Why don't we get you settled so you can get some rest? I'm sure you're anxious to get cleaned up, too."
I took a deep breath and pushed my disappointment to the back of my mind. I followed my father into the bedroom.
One look and it took my breath away.
The walls were made of dark stones in various sizes from floor to ceiling. A square mahogany bed decorated with inlaid pearl panels and draped with sheer golden curtains took up the right half of the room. A fire roared in the large stone fireplace to my left.
Even the ceiling in here was a work of art. An abstract mosaic created with pieces of golden-colored gemstones sparkled in the light of three large floating chandeliers.
My favorite part, though, was that the entire far side of the room was open to the outside. The same golden curtains that hung over the bed also draped across four separate archways. The light fabric swayed in a gentle breeze, caressing the floor with a whisper-soft touch. I pushed through them and stepped onto a large stone balcony overlooking the castle's gardens.
A white marble fountain flowed in the square below. The garden burst to life with flowers of every color, including an entire section of my mother's favorite white roses. Their fragrant smell reached me all the way up here at the top of the castle, and I breathed in, wondering if my mother had ever visited here. Had she even known my father was a demon king?
I knew from reading her journal that he had once been a married man living in Peachville. He'd had a wife and daughter there when my mother fell in love with him and got pregnant. Why had a demon king been living in Peachville, pretending to be a normal man? And what about my half-sister? Was she still living there in Peachville? I wanted so badly to ask, but he'd avoided every single question I'd asked about my mother or his past. I didn't want to push him away.
"What do you think?" he asked, joining me on the balcony.
"I love it," I said. "This is such a gorgeous castle. Did you design all of this yourself?"
My father looked out across the gardens. "Yes. The original castle where I grew up was destroyed in an attack around the time you were born," he said. "The dungeons down below were the only rooms that survived. When I returned to the shadow world, I had to basically start from scratch. That's when I built the domed city and this castle. I invited everyone in my kingdom to live under the safety of our dome."