This was the moment I could have told her the truth about my brother’s feelings for her. I should have told her.
Only, seeing that tiny crack in her armor rattled me to the core.
Lea may act tough and strong, but for the first time, I saw that she was a woman, too.
"You go first," she said, her voice a whisper.
I cleared my throat and uncurled my fingers, laying the locket out flat against my palm. I took my eyes from hers and waved my free hand over the golden case.
I held my breath as it opened, revealing the small stone inside.
The light that spilled from it was strong and true. It wasn’t blinding or brilliant, but it was honest.
I looked up into Lea’s eyes and she smiled. Carefully, I lifted the stone from its velvet case and placed it near my heart as my mother had instructed. My eyes closed as her truth poured into me.
Through the magic of the stone, I saw myself through her eyes for the first time. She saw me as a dear friend, but there was so much more there than what I expected to see. She thought I was strong and compassionate. A warrior capable of winning battles, but also an artist able to see the beauty in small things.
She knew my love for my brother and in it, saw my loyalty to family. Because of this, she knew that I would be a good father someday.
Tears welled up in my eyes at these images that flowed through my mind and my heart.
I didn’t deserve all this. I wasn’t the honorable one she believed me to be.
When the stone was done showing me what was in her heart, I placed it back inside the golden case, closing it up again.
She looked at me with anticipation.
I didn’t know what I was supposed to say.
"Thank you.”
A puzzled look crossed her face. "Is that all you need to say?" she asked.
"Should there be more?"
She smiled and shook her head. "I don’t know," she said. Then, she looked at the locket in her hand. "Can I open mine?"
I nodded.
Lea took a deep breath, then passed a hand over the locket, her fingers trembling.
I think I knew what to expect when it opened, but actually seeing it with my own eyes took my breath away.
A brilliant light poured from the small stone, so bright it made the stars inside the veil look dim.
Lea gasped, her breath hitching in her chest. She brought her free hand up to her mouth and tears spilled from her eyes. She took her time, watching the light sparkle in the space between us before she lifted it toward her heart.
Her eyes closed as the stone told her its secrets.
An ache gripped my chest as I watched her.
It should be Aerden standing here with her. Not me.
I would never know exactly what she saw inside that stone, but whatever it was touched her so deeply she nearly fell to her knees. I reached out for her, my arms slipping around her waist to hold her up.
She opened her eyes and in them, I saw so much love, it broke my heart into a million pieces.
"I didn’t know," she said, searching my face. "Why didn’t you tell me?"
I didn’t have an answer for her.
She regained her footing and stepped back so she could put her stone away. She held the locket against her chest, her eyes flowing with tears. I’d never seen her cry before and it made me wish I loved her. I wanted to be able to give her true happiness instead of this lie.
"All this time, I was so afraid of opening the locket only to find that you were standing here out of obligation to your family and your king," she said with a laugh. She wiped her tears from her face. "I expected it, honestly. I prepared myself for it. But this? I never in a hundred years expected this. Is this how you have felt about me all this time?"
"Would you have accepted me anyway?" I asked, not wanting to answer her question. "Even if the stone hadn’t been as bright?"
She smiled and threw her arms around me. "Yes," she whispered. "I have wanted you for as long as I have lived. Even the dimmest light from you would have meant more to me than the brightest stone from someone else."
I leaned my head against her shoulder. Her words cut deep into a part of me I hoped she would never have to see.
Aerden had been right, then.
Even if I’d told her the truth about his feelings, she would have chosen me instead.
But being right didn’t justify the lie. The stone was a betrayal of the worst kind. I knew it the second its light reflected in her eyes.
I knew that someday, our desire to protect Lea from the truth would cause her more pain than truth ever could have.
A Black Hole In My Heart
In the tradition of our people, the veil can only come down once the couple inside makes their decision about whether to part or to promise their future to each other.
If, after viewing the heart stones, either one of the couple decides to look for another partner, they are supposed to lay their locket on the floor at the other’s feet, then turn their back. At this, the veil will fall into ash and they will both be released from their promise.
If they both choose to move forward with their engagement, the couple inside the veil must seal their promise with a kiss.
It’s the final step in the engagement ceremony and the one I’d been dreading the most since my mother explained it to me.
Not that Lea wasn’t a worthy mate. She was perfect and any demon in the kingdom would have been glad to trade places with me.
But in my mind, kissing her was like kissing a sister.
After the love she’d seen inside the stone, she’d be expecting something magical and passionate. A kiss to end all kisses. How could I possibly fake something like that?
I knew that our first kiss would be a lie and that every single kiss from here until eternity would be a betrayal. I would be lying to her, but also to myself. The weight of the future stretched out before me, but I knew we couldn’t hide inside the veil forever.
Outside our cocoon, everyone was waiting.
I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry.
"Lea..." I started, but couldn’t finish.
She reached for my hands and I clung to her.
"Yes?" she asked.
I shook my head, feeling that I couldn’t let this moment pass without trying one last time to reach out to my brother. I wanted him to know that even though we’d already exchanged stones, there was still time to tell her the truth if that’s what he wanted from me. It wasn’t too late.
I closed my eyes and lowered my head. When I exhaled, I sent a piece of myself out toward him, searching for that connection I’d never lived a day without.
I wasn’t expecting to find him. Part of me knew he was long gone—disappeared to some place that had taken him farther than our bond could reach so that he wouldn’t have to feel the pain of this day.
But there, at the very edge of my reach, I found him.
I was struck by the same terror I’d felt on the steps before. But this time, it didn’t fade.
I felt his agony, but it was distant. At first, I was sure it was his loss of Lea that I was feeling. But when I reached further, my gut twisted and I was struck with a vision so powerful, it knocked me off my feet.
I fell to my knees and cried out as I felt the shackles around his wrists. The inside of them was filled with spikes that cut deep into his flesh. The pain was keeping him from shifting into his shadow form.
"What’s wrong?" Lea’s voice was panicked.
I was still holding tight to her hands and she knelt by my side, pulled down by the weight of my body.
Another vision struck me. Thorns pierced my brother’s knees as he knelt on the ground. His clothing was ripped and bloodied. I pushed to the very limit of my ability, focused on nothing but the bond we shared as twins, determined not to let go of him. I had to let him know that I was here. That I was with him.
I heard Lea shouting, but I couldn’t answer her.
My awareness had left the veil
and I was transported to another place. A place I didn’t recognize.
A field of black roses, arranged in a large circle around a dark blue orb of light.
In my vision, Aerden’s head snapped up, almost as if he could see me.
He whispered my name as the sky above him grew dark as night. Someone stepped in front of the strange blue light. I struggled to see his face, but a badge across his arm flashed clear in my mind. A red dragon.
My strength began to fade, but I held on with everything I was.
And then, in a horrible instant, Aerden was ripped from me. It felt as if a blade had cut us apart, the pain of it so deep and so brutal, it slammed me against the ground. I screamed in terror as the vision disappeared.
Only, I suddenly knew with certainty that this wasn’t a vision of the future.
I felt his absence from this world like a black hole in my heart, its darkness filling me with a loss so great I knew I would never recover.
I opened my eyes as Lea cradled my head against her lap, her hands stroking my face as she begged me to tell her what was happening.
"Aerden," I said, my voice hoarse from screaming. "Aerden’s dead."
More Than Enough
The Human World – Present Day
The memories of that horrible day tore through my mind like shards of glass.
I forced myself back to the present, releasing my grip on the memory stone. I didn’t want to lose sight of all the good that had happened in my life since that day, but I also understood that none of this joy would have found me if it hadn’t been for the pain of my past.
I focused on the sounds of the party beneath my room until my breathing calmed and the memories began to fade back into the past where they belonged.
There was so much more of the story to tell, but I needed to see my brother with my own eyes. I needed to know that he was here and he was safe. I stood and grabbed my jacket from the back of the chair, then opened the door and headed down the stairs to join the party.
I stood in the doorway of the living room for a long moment, silently watching my friends.
These were the people I held most dear to me in this world and the next.
Harper stood in the corner with a glass of red punch in her hand, whispering something to Mary Anne and Essex.
Mordecai, Joost, and Erick sorted through a collection of Cd’s by the stereo.
Courtney sat in a chair that had been pushed against the wall, a book of spells open in her lap.
Lea was dressed in a white outfit with her hair pulled into two large buns. I brought my hand to my mouth, hiding my laughter as I realized she was dressed as Princess Leia from Star Wars. She danced in the center of the room with our friend Cristo.
And Aerden, the brother I thought had been stolen from me forever, stood against the far wall. In his human form, he looked almost identical to me except for his slightly darker hair.
He must have sensed my presence, because the second my eyes landed on him, he looked up and smiled.
He shifted into a wisp of black smoke and in an instant, reappeared by my side. "What took you so long?" he asked. "I was beginning to wonder if you’d abandoned us."
"Never," I said, my tone more serious than I intended.
He studied me, then leaned against the door frame. "You’re up to something."
I tried to keep from smiling but couldn’t. "Maybe," I said.
"Definitely," he said. "And by the looks of it, whatever it is has put you in a less than partying mood."
I sunk my hand deep into my left pocket and twirled the golden case and the memory stone between my fingertips. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," he said.
"Have you given any thought to telling Lea the truth about the heart stone?"
He lowered his head, his hands falling to his sides. "I think it’s too late for that, don’t you?"
I shook my head. "I think it’s never too late to tell someone the truth, no matter how scared you are."
He turned to watch her dancing. Even after a hundred years, his eyes still shone with his love for her. I really don’t know how I didn’t see it all those years ago.
"Lea and I don’t belong together," he said. "We didn’t a hundred years ago, and we still don’t. Telling her about the stone would only open up old wounds."
"Maybe reopening those wounds is the only way to ever really heal them," I said.
Aerden swallowed and lowered his eyes again. "Lately I’m beginning to think her pain is the only thing holding her to this life," he said.
I drew in a deep breath. He was still trying to protect her.
Or maybe he was trying to protect himself.
Before I could ask him more, a hand slid around my waist. A slow smile crept across my face as Harper lay her head against my chest.
"When did you sneak down here?" she asked.
"Only a minute ago," I said. "Having fun?"
She looked around at our friends. "I think this is the first party I’ve been to where no one was murdered or kidnapped or dying. I call that a win, don’t you?"
I laughed and wrapped my arms around her. "Yes, I do," I said.
"The night is still young," Aerden said, an eyebrow raised.
Harper rolled her eyes and leaned over to punch him in the arm. "Don’t you jinx this, mister."
"Who? Me?" Aerden lifted his palms in the air and laughed. "If I remember correctly, I’m the one who saved you on more than one occasion such as this."
"Don’t remind me," Harper said. Her hand absently gripped her blue pendant. It was nothing more than a pretty blue stone now, but she said it served as a reminder of how far she’d come and how much work was still to be done.
I think she just wore it to feel close to her mother.
"Well, I’ll leave you two love birds alone," Aerden said. He pushed off the door frame and walked into the main hallway.
"Wait, where are you going?" I asked. There were still some things I needed to talk to him about before the night was over.
He shrugged and glanced toward the dance floor, sadness flashing in his eyes. "I need some air," he said, then took off toward the back door, leaving a trail of black smoke behind him.
"Do you think he’s okay?" Harper asked, watching after him.
"I don’t know," I said. "Every time I try to talk to him about the past, he brushes it off and then manages to avoid me for days. I wish he’d open up to me and tell me what he’s thinking."
"Give him time," she said, taking my hand in hers and kissing the tip of my finger. "I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be trapped inside someone else’s soul for a hundred years. He’s been through so much, Jackson. You can’t expect him to get over all that in a matter of a few months."
I leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You really are amazing, you know that?"
She blushed and turned her head to the side. "So you keep telling me," she said. "I’ll believe it when we’ve defeated the Order of Shadows for good."
I pulled away enough so I could see her eyes and know that she was truly listening to me. "Tonight isn’t about them, okay?"
She was always so hard on herself. She’d managed to put the weight of two worlds on her shoulders as if she was personally responsible for saving every human and demon who had been hurt by the Order.
"It’s Halloween. One hundred and one years since the Peachville gate was first opened," she said. "How can it not be about them?"
I smiled and and brushed the back of my hand along her soft cheek. "Because for the first time in over a hundred years, my brother is free and the gate is closed forever," I said. "You did that, Harper."
She leaned into my hand, closing her eyes as a tear escaped and ran a jagged path down her face. "It’s not enough," she whispered.
"Look at me," I said.
Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing brown eyes shining with tears.
My heart overflowed with love and I pulled her tight against my chest. I remembered ba
ck to the hopelessness of the day Aerden disappeared. I remembered the party a year ago when Mrs. Ashworth had tried to take Harper’s life. How the Order had followed us and taken Harper from me.
I thought the only two people I’d ever really loved had been lost to me forever.
"Yes it is," I said, my cheek pressed against her hair. "For tonight, it’s more than enough."
A High Cost
Later, I went searching for Aerden.
He’d been traveling in his shadow form, so I was able to follow him from the back door and into the woods by the line of decay he’d left in his wake.
In this world, using demon magic sucked the life from whatever it could use nearby. Plants, trees, animals, even humans. Something as simple as shifting didn’t take much power, but my eye was trained to recognize even the slightest trail of demon magic.
I followed him out past the house I’d once shared with Ella Mae, across the field and into the woods, but the trail disappeared as I neared the ruins of the old Peachville demon gate.
Thinking I might find him near the destroyed portal, I walked the rest of the way to the clearing.
The ground beneath my feet still buzzed with the battle that had taken place here a few months ago. There had been so much death that day on all sides. Witches from the Peachville coven. Demons from the Resistance. Even Harper’s father, the King of the South, had given his life in battle.
Our victory against Priestess Winter had come at a high cost, but the reward was immeasurable.
In the months following the battle, those of us who remained had started a new army—The Demon Liberation Movement. Our plan was to find the four remaining priestesses of the Order of Shadows and defeat them, one by one.
At first, we’d been high on hope, believing we had found the key to freeing both our worlds from the Order.
But over time and months, we’d realized that once Priestess Winter died, her four sisters had taken measures to make sure we wouldn’t find them. So far, our search had been completely in vain and we were no closer to destroying them than we were in the beginning.
Our lives had settled into a peaceful routine here in Peachville, but the coming battles were never far from our minds.
A Demon's Wrath: Part I (Peachville High Demons) Page 4