Demons Forever (Peachville High Demons #6) (21 page)

I forced myself to swallow even though the lingering smell of yuck made me want to puke. "So I get that she was a scorpion of some sort, but what exactly was she? I mean, was that just her spirit animal? Like the tiger witch?"

Jackson shook his head and straightened. "No, this was something different," he said. "Like I said, Lea's talked about them before. They aren't human. Lea didn't share all the details, but she said something about them being created by the Order to act as guardians or protectors of some sort."

"Well, whatever it was, I'm glad it's dead," I said. I walked over to the front steps and sat down, extending my legs so that I could get a better look at the gash in my thigh.

"How does it look?" Jackson asked, coming to sit beside me.

It was hard to tell with so much dried blood everywhere, but as long as it wasn't still bleeding, I was happy. "I'm fine. I just need a minute." I looked up at the big white house with its southern architecture and its never-ending secrets. "I guess we can stop calling this place Shadowford Plantation now, huh?"

Jackson twisted to follow my gaze. "It was never really hers anyway," he said. "This house has always rightfully belonged to you and your family."

It was such a strange thought. Yes, this house belonged to my family, but at what cost? The only reason it had ever been given to my family was because it was built for them by the Order when the gate here was created.

"It used to be called Brighton Manor," I said, thinking of all the women who had lived here before me. Besides my mother, had any of them been like me? Or had they all obeyed the Order like good primas should? I fiddled with the white fabric tied around my wrist and thought of the woman in white from my dreams. I wanted to think she was like me. That all my ancestors had been unwilling victims in the Order's games. "We should get upstairs. The sun should be coming up soon. I don't want to miss our chance to rescue my sister tonight."

"Are you sure you're up to it?" Jackson asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't start with me."

He rolled his eyes and stood up. "I'm not trying to talk you out of anything. If you still want to go, I'll go," he said. "I just know that a wound like that can slow us down. We want to go in there with the best chance of getting back out."

I sighed and reached up for a helping hand. "I know. I'm sorry," I said. "But we talked about this. Tonight is our best chance. Especially now that Mrs. Shadowford is dead. I'm pretty sure the Order's going to notice something like that. They'll know we're here. Plus, we used enough demon magic to alert anyone within a hundred miles to our presence."

I looked around and noticed the ivy growing up the walls was curled and dead. Proof of our presence.

"Then let's go rescue your sister," he said.

I nodded and started up the stairs, but he pulled me back into his arms. His lips came down on mine in a sweet kiss.

"You did great in there, by the way."

I studied his supple lips, then lifted my eyes to his. "My reaction time was too slow."

"Only in the beginning," he said. He lifted one hand to my cheek and caressed my skin with the back of his knuckles. "No matter what happens from here on, I want to make sure you know how much I love you."

The warmth of a blush flourished under my skin, and I leaned into his hand. "I love you, too."

We stood there, staring into each other's eyes. My heart filled with his love and confidence. We both knew we were heading toward a war that could take decades to fight. We also knew we might not survive the night. No future was certain. The only thing we could count on was this. Us.

I pulled away and stepped inside the house.

"Let's go start a war."

She's Alive

The hallway was eerily quiet.

The noise of Mrs. Shadowford's screeches still echoed in my ears. We stepped over a river of green as we made our way to the stairs. I refused to look at it. I could smell it, that was enough.

I took the stairs two at a time, Jackson on my heels.

Together, we walked to the end of the hall where the secret entrance to the third floor waited. Nerves gathered in the pit of my stomach. What would be waiting for us on the other side? Another scorpion monster? Priestess Winter herself?

My throat went dry. I coughed and straightened my shoulders. This was the point of no return.

I was ready.

I stepped into the secret passage and walked up the narrow staircase to the room with five doors. A single candle shone its light in the room, casting shadows against the walls. I turned to the door with a demon carved on its surface. The entrance to the Hall of Doorways.

"This way," I said.

The hall stretched out farther than I could see in the near darkness. My heart raced, but I moved forward with my chin high.

My hand raised to the butterfly pin in my hair. Zara had brought me down this hallway for my Heritage ceremony. That felt like a lifetime ago.

I kept walking, looking side to side at each doorway. Some had emblems or animals, while others were blank. I knew I was looking for a door with a butterfly, but I had no idea if there would be more than one. All of the women in the Winter family could shift into butterflies, but it was a common symbol. Even Lark had one form on her back when she'd gotten her tattoo.

There were probably thousands of families in the Order who could shift into butterflies.

I had to hope there was only one with a door.

After passing at least a hundred doors, I finally saw it. A blue butterfly engraved into the wood of a thick black door. Adrenaline rushed through my veins. This was it, I could feel it. I could feel her. A connection just as strong as the one I'd been able to create with Jackson in the Underground.

"She's here," I said. "I honestly don't know how I missed this before."

"Missed what?"

I turned to Jackson and smiled. "Missed my connection to her," I said, an excited fluttering in my chest. "I was so worried I wouldn't feel anything."

"What does it feel like?" he asked.

"It's amazing," I said. "I never knew what to look for before, but the second we walked up on this door, my blood began to hum. An energy that's, I don't know, somehow familiar. As if there's a piece of me that's separate and searching for a way back. She's alive, and she's somewhere behind this door."

Jackson stared at me with a glow in his eyes. "Do you think it's strong enough to find where they're keeping her?"

I closed my eyes and pictured Angela King. I could see her so clearly in my mind. Every detail of her face. Her jet black hair. I could hear her voice as if I had a recording of her in my memory. She was a part of me and now that I knew how to connect with that side of myself, I knew I would be able to find her.

"Yes," I said, hope rising up in my chest. "I can find her."

A Hundred Heartbeats

I cringed at the creaking sound that echoed through the hall as I opened the door to Winterhaven. If anyone was up at this hour, they would have heard that. We needed to act fast.

Moving to the center of the room, I sat down as Jackson paced between the five doors, ready in case anyone came through. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my sister. Our blood bond. Our demon bond.

At first, I could only feel that she was here in this house. Alive. I could tell she wasn't up here on the third floor with us, but nothing more specific was coming to me. I settled deeper into my meditation, letting the room itself fall away. I blocked the sound of Jackson's boots against the floor as he walked back and forth. I stilled my fears and my worries and all that was within my soul until it was just me and her.

Sisters.

It took me a moment to remember how to do this. I'd been able to follow Jackson through the Underground with this power, a sort of mental projection that allowed me to extend my consciousness beyond my body.

I sent my power out to search for her, my body firmly here in this room but my mind exploring the house below. I tried to remember the layout of the house from the time I was here before. I imagined walking down the large staircase and onto the second floor. I mentally searched the hallways, but I knew my sister wasn't being kept there. My connection to her urged me down, farther into Winterhaven.

The grand staircase led down to an opulent first floor. Everything was so clear in my mind, as if I had sent a ghost of myself down throughout the house. So far, I hadn't run into any other energy. If anyone was home, they had to have been asleep or in another part of the house.

I searched the main floor and my instinct brought me to another staircase off the kitchen. It led down to the basement. I remembered this path because it was the same one we had taken down to the room where my Heritage ritual took place all those months ago. Was my sister being kept somewhere in the basement?

I took a slow breath in, centering my mind so that I could push my vision further into the bowels of the Winter's home. My magic extended, snaking down this third staircase like a long tentacle.

My arm erupted in goose bumps and a tingle went through my core. I was close to her. She was definitely somewhere on this basement level. My mental image of her strengthened and I chased the feeling of her down the hallway, past the ritual room and finally to a narrow wooden door. For some reason, I couldn't push my vision through that door, but I knew she was there. I knew I had found my sister.

The more I focused on her energy, the closer I felt to her. Even though I couldn't see through the final door, I could feel her fear. Terror gripped her spirit and I winced, almost losing our connection. I struggled to hang on as her fear intensified. Something was definitely wrong. I needed to get down to her fast.

Quickly, I pulled myself back through the space, retracing my steps and mapping out the path I had to take.

"I know where to find her," I said, standing. "She's all the way down in the basement, but I'm pretty sure I can get down there."

"Is she okay?"

I frowned. "I couldn't see her," I said. "There was a doorway I couldn't push through, but I need to hurry. Jackson, something down there had her completely terrified."

"Maybe we should shift and just get down there as fast as we can," Jackson said. "As long as we can get close enough to her for one of us to make contact with her skin, we can shift and bring her with us."

"I've thought of that," I said. "But if we go down there and it's a trap, then the Order has us both."

Jackson ran a hand through his hair. "So what are you suggesting we do?"

I knew he wasn't going to like this next part of my plan, but for me, it was the only thing that made any sense. It was the safest way.

I moved my weight from one foot to the other. "I need to go down there alone."

Jackson stepped toward me, eyes narrow. "Absolutely not. We're doing this together," he said. "I'm not going to let you go down there by yourself. We don't have any idea what kind of traps they might have set up."

"Listen, I know this isn't what you want, and I know we were planning to go together," I said. I placed my hands on his biceps. "But I didn't expect her to be all the way in the basement. It's too far. There's no way we're going to just walk through the house with no one noticing us, and it's too dangerous to shift into demon form and fly down there. It would pull too much energy from the life in this house. Someone would feel our presence too quickly and we'd be caught for sure. Besides, if it's a trap, then at least they'll only have one of us. If I don't come back, you can go for help."

"You can't do this on your own," he said. "If we can't both go, then let me go by myself."

"How is that better? You only have access to demon magic," I said. "Any magic you cast is going to be detectable. I can use the human side of my power to go invisible. It's our best chance. Besides, you don't even know how to get down there."

"I don't want you to go alone," he said. "How will I know if something's gone wrong?"

I walked over to him and placed my hand over his heart. His heartbeat was strong against my palm. "You'll feel it," I whispered.

The room around us was silent except for the pounding of my heart in my ears. I waited, watching the confusion and struggle in his eyes as he tried to decide what to do next. I knew he didn't want to let me go alone, but he had to also see the logic in my plan. If we both went down there, we'd be putting everything at risk. But did he believe in my strength enough to let me go?

He lifted his hand up to cover my heart and we stood there for more than a hundred heartbeats, our eyes locked.

"If I feel even for a second that you're in trouble, I'm coming down there," he said. He leaned toward me, then pressed his forehead against mine. "Please be careful."

I threw my arms around him. "I will."

I kissed him, then turned to the door that led downstairs and into the main part of Winterhaven. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, feeling my shoulders rise and fall as I relaxed and drew my witch's power into my body.

A blue energy poured into me and it felt so familiar as the glamour took hold. So much like home. I opened my eyes and lifted my hand in front of my eyes, watching it disappear.

Where Guests Were Not Allowed

I didn't see a soul on the second floor.

I walked with the lightest of steps, careful to keep far away from anything I might bump or knock over. The last thing I needed right now was for my clumsiness to get me into trouble. I kept my magic on full alert like my demon training had taught me. Ready to act and embrace both sides of my magic if I had to.

At each turn, I paused to make sure my connection with my sister was still strong. I had a map in my head, but I also knew I couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

I made it down the grand staircase and headed toward the kitchen. As I looked around, I noticed that everything in this house was white with pops of blue. The floors were normal wooden floors for the most part, but all of the walls and ceilings were painted a pristine white. Almost every piece of furniture was white, and despite the number of children who must have grown up here, there wasn't a single marred edge or flaw to be seen.