Demons Forever (Peachville High Demons #6) (12 page)

Once I was settled in, she turned to leave.

"Wait," I said. "Can you stay? Talk to me for a while?"

She smiled and I could see the hint of a blush on her dark cheeks. "You want to talk?"

"Yes," I said. I'd come to enjoy our talks. So much of my time in the shadow world had been spent in hiding. I liked talking to Tuli because she showed me a different perspective to what life was like here. "I mean, you don't have to or anything. If you've got something else you need to be doing, I totally understand."

She shook her head and came to sit on one of the marble steps leading up to the tub. "I have nothing else to do," she said. "I just thought you might prefer some privacy."

I laughed. "Believe me, all I would do is sit in here and stress out about what this party is going to be like."

"Why stress?" she asked. "You don't like parties?"

Wow. Where did I even begin? "Parties back in Peachville were always a disaster," I said. "Someone almost always died or got kidnapped or something awful. Trust me, if I could live the rest of my life without another party, I would be a happy girl."

Tuli frowned. "I am sorry to hear this," she said. "I am sure your father did not intend to upset you."

I shook my head. "It's really not that big of a deal," I said. "I'm sure everything will be fine as long as I don't trip and fall or say something stupid."

"You will be just fine," she said with a smile.

"I'm not a very good princess," I said. "I'm too clumsy and awkward."

"I think you are a perfect princess," she said. "And everyone in the kingdom agrees with me."

My stomach flipped over. "They expect me to be their warrior," I said, running my hand across the mountain of bubbles around me. "I'm not even sure what that means. Do they want me to be like my father and live to protect them? If it were up to me, I'd take an army to the human world and fight the Order head on. What do you think the people want?"

Tuli's eyes darted to the door. "I do not think I should speak against the king."

"Trust me, Tuli, no one is here but you and me, and I promise I can keep a secret," I said. "I'd really like to know what you think. What the people here really want instead of just what my father thinks they want."

She brought her hands into her lap and fidgeted a bit, then took a deep breath in and out. "I think you are right that most of those who live here in the Southern Kingdom wish the king would be more aggressive," she said. "The king's army only fights when a village is attacked or when a hunter gets close to one of our cities. They never initiate the fight or go directly after the Order."

"Are there still a lot of demons living outside the dome?" I asked.

"Not a lot, but there are still a handful of villages who do not want to become a part of the domed city. They understand the risks, but they are not willing to give up their independence. For many, their ancestors have lived in a certain place for centuries," she said. "To leave their homes would be like admitting defeat. The king respects this. He sends out patrols and often visits these villages to make sure they are safe."

I floated closer to her and rested my arms on the side of the tub. "And are they? Safe, I mean."

She made a pained sound and closed her eyes. "I do not want to say anything against my king," she said. "He is a wonderful leader and he has done a lot for us here in the Southern Kingdom."

"But?"

"But those who live outside the city are not safe," she said. When she looked back up at me, her eyes were moist with tears. "My family comes from one of these villages. One of the lakeland villages in the deeper south. They refuse to leave our homeland, but..."

Tension filled her voice and her hands trembled.

"Did something happen to them?" I asked.

She nodded and a sob shook her body. Her head fell into her hands.

I grabbed a robe she had set out for me and got out of the tub. I put my arms around her and let her cry it out. My heart ached for her. It was obvious that whoever she had lost was someone she cared about tremendously.

When she calmed down, she swiped at her tear-stained face and pulled away. "I am sorry," she said. "You are supposed to be relaxing and here I am crying and burdening you with my sorrows."

"You are not a burden," I said. "I want to hear about what happened. I want to help if I can."

"No one can help," she said. "My mother was taken. My brother too. By hunters of the Order. There is no one who can save them now. Everyone knows that once a demon has been taken to the human world, they never return."

The sadness in her eyes broke my heart. I wanted to be able to help her, but I knew the awful truth of the situation. Her family members had become slaves. Forced to live inside the body of a witch somewhere on earth. It would be nearly impossible to find them, and even if we could find them, I had no idea if we could free them.

"I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say to her. I didn't want to give her false hope, but what if the reversal ritual actually worked? How many lives could we save? "I wish there was something I could do."

"I wish that as well," she said. "My family has mourned my mother and little brother as if they are dead. I know there is nothing you can do for them, but I still have my father and my older sister who live in that village. The king tries to protect them by going after the hunters, but for every hunter his guards destroy or scare away, the Order sends two more in its place. No one is safe."

The Order never gave an inch. In every situation, they pushed and pushed and fought as hard as they could. They had no sympathy or care for family or for life and love. All they cared about was power. Sometimes, it seemed like the high priestesses of the Order actually enjoyed hurting others.

"Someday they'll pay for all the hurt they've caused," I said. "I promise."

Tulianne sniffed and gave me a weak smile. "This is why the people honor you," she said. "They can see in you the true spirit of a warrior. You are strong like your father, but your spirit has not been broken."

"Broken?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing," she said, standing. "You should really start getting dressed. You don't want to be late to your own party."

I wanted to press her about what she'd meant, but she'd already disappeared into the bedroom.

A Princess

"Can I look yet?" I asked.

Tuli giggled. "In a minute," she said. "I need to add a few finishing touches."

She'd spent the last hour dressing me and fiddling with my hair, but she refused to let me look in the mirror. "You are missing something."

"There's no possible way you've missed anything," I said with a laugh. "You've been working on me all day. What else can there possibly be?"

"Wait here one moment," she said. Mischief sparkled in her amethyst eyes. She disappeared into the large closet and emerged a second later with a large silver box.

"What's that?" I asked, eyeing the box.

"A gift from your father," she said. "He sent it with very strict instructions for me not to show it to you until tonight."

Excitement danced under my skin. Other than my necklace, which was now lost to me, I'd never gotten a gift from one of my parents.

"Here," she said. "Close your eyes and I will lead you to the mirror. Do not open them until I tell you."

I let out a nervous laugh, but did as she said. She steered me toward the full-length mirror in the corner of my room, and I was careful not to trip in my high-heels.

She stepped away from me, and I heard her take the top from the box. Then, I felt her come close to me and place something solid and slightly heavy onto my head.

I gasped and brought my hand up to my mouth. I knew what it was even before I opened my eyes. A strange fear consumed my body, tensing every muscle and making me hyper-aware of the weight at the top of my head.

"Open your eyes," she said in an excited whisper.

I almost told her I didn't want to. I almost told her to take it off. But I knew I couldn't change the expectations placed on me. I had to face my own truth.

I opened my eyes.

The crown sparkled with gorgeous dark blue sapphires and the clearest white diamonds. I reached up to lightly run my finger across the intricate design etched into the silver. I had never seen something so beautifully made in my entire life.

The blue of the sapphires matched the blue of my dress perfectly. Tulianne had worked for weeks to make this dress special for the ball tonight. The bodice fit perfectly, hugging me in all the right places, the neckline dipping low but not too low. Layers of silk cascaded to the floor. A beautiful dusting of silver glitter sparkled across the right side of the skirt. Back in the human world, a dress like this would have cost thousands.

"What do you think?" she asked.

My breath caught in my throat and my mouth dropped open slightly. What did I think?

"For the first time in my life, I think I actually feel like a princess," I said.

How had I gotten here? Less than a year ago I was just a girl who couldn't stay out of trouble. I had no real home. No real friends. There was no one in the world who looked up to me or ever expected me to make anything of myself.

Yet, here I was.

"I never expected this to be my life," I said.

"Life is rarely what we expect it to be."

She was right. Even though I was only seventeen years old, I learned a long time ago that you never really knew what tomorrow would bring. Every time I thought I had my life figured out, something happened that turned everything upside down again. One day I was a foster kid in Atlanta, and the next I was in the car on the way to Shadowford. I never suspected moving to Peachville would be the beginning of the craziest, most unexpected year of my life.

I stepped back and took in my reflection. This may not have been the person, or demon, I ever expected to be, but this was me.

I was a princess.

Their Next Move

The throne room had been transformed into a fairy wonderland.

A thousand tiny lights sparkled near the ceiling like fireflies. Dark green vines curled up the stone walls, their yellow flowers fragrant and bright. The white marble floor had been covered with a lush green carpet.

I slipped my heels off my aching feet and dug my toes into the cool fake grass. I'd spent hours talking to the people of the city, being passed from group to group, dancing with anyone who asked for a moment alone with the princess.

As the crowd around me finally began to thin, I felt a warm hand caress my back.

"May I have this dance?" a familiar voice whispered in my ear.

The warmth of his breath on my bare neck sent shivers of pleasure from my head to my toes. I turned and the sight of him took my breath away.

Jackson bowed, then offered his hand to me. I curtsied and slipped my hand into his.

"I have never in my life seen anything so beautiful," he said as the music began.

I reached up to touch the delicate crown. "Isn't it gorgeous?"

His lips curled into a sexy half-smile and he raised one eyebrow. "I wasn't talking about the crown."

My face and neck grew warm, and I ducked my head to hide my red cheeks.

"I've missed you," he said, pulling me closer. The orchestra played a waltz, and Jackson twirled me around the dimly lit dance floor. "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to stay away from you this long? All I've wanted to do was get you in my arms."

I smiled and pressed my cheek against his shoulder. "This is the only place I've wanted to be."

"The people of this city adore you," he said. "They believe in you."

"I hope I can live up to what they want me to be," I said.

"You already are everything they want you to be, Harper. Don't you see that?"

I pulled away enough to be able to look into his eyes. "We have to get serious about a plan to get home to Peachville," I said. "As much as I love it here, I can't help but feel like we're running out of time. I keep waiting for the Order to make their next move."

His eyes grew serious. "I know what you mean," he said. "But tonight I just want to feel your body close to mine. Tomorrow we can worry about a plan."

I closed my eyes and lost myself in the music and the feel of his strong arms around me.

A commotion near the throne pulled me from my dream state, but we were lost in the crowd. I couldn't see what was going on. Jackson and I continued to dance for a moment, but when a scream echoed through the hall, a knowing chill ran across my back.

I clasped Jackson's hand and ran toward the throne. A large group had clustered together around the steps, and Jackson and I had to force our way through. The orchestra stopped mid-song and was replaced by a chorus of gasps and screams and excited chatter.

"Please," I said. "I need to get through."

Panic crawled through my veins. Something terrible had happened. I could feel it in the air of the room.

Finally, we pushed through to the front. A bloodied figure knelt at my father's feet. The king looked straight at me with terrible fear written across his features. My eyes darted from him to the injured man as I stumbled up the steps, nearly tripping over my dress.

"I'm so sorry," the man said. "I did everything I could. I don't know how they figured it out, but they know."

The bloodied man nearly collapsed and the king crouched down to help hold him up. I rushed forward and propped him up on the other side.

That's when I saw his face more clearly.

Coach King.

I gasped. What was he doing here in the shadow world? This didn't make any sense. My mind reeled from shock. How was this possible? What had happened to him?

Coach King doubled over, crying out as a wave of pain seized his body.

"Hold on," the king said. "You've got to be strong now. Tell me, Roan, where have they taken her?"

"I don't know," Coach King said through clenched teeth. "I'm so sorry, my king. I have failed you. I tried to fight, but Priestess Winter, she was too strong. I tried, but I couldn't save her. They've taken her, my king."