Demon Soul (Crossroads Witch Book 2) Read online

  Chapter 1 - Amaya

  Chapter 2 - Amaya

  Chapter 3 - Amaya

  Chapter 4 - Amaya

  Chapter 5 - Cassie

  Chapter 6 - Amaya

  Chapter 7 - Cassie

  Chapter 8 - Amaya

  Chapter 9 - Amaya

  Chapter 10 - Amaya

  Chapter 11 - Amaya

  Chapter 12 - Amaya

  Chapter 13 – Cassie

  Chapter 14 – Amaya

  Chapter 15 – Amaya

  Chapter 16 – Cassie

  Chapter 17 – Cassie

  Chapter 18 – Amaya

  Chapter 19 – Amaya

  Chapter 20 – Amaya

  Chapter 21 – Cassie

  Chapter 22 – Amaya

  Chapter 23 – Amaya

  Epilogue

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  One chance. That's all I’ll have. Along with a choice I can't possibly make.

  In just a few weeks, I’ve gone from living in a psychiatric hospital, to learning I have magic, to joining a secret society of witches. I've also had to come to terms with both what I am and where I came from. Half demon, half witch, born in the demon real—a magical mutation created for sacrificial purposes. It's so nice knowing that the woman who raised me only did so because she was planning to spill my blood on her sacrificial altar. So, yeah. No wonder I went crazy.

  Since joining the ranks of the Shadow Order, I’ve made friends and enemies. I also fell in love with a kind and sexy guy named Kai. Now, that love has been stolen from me by the same monsters that want to steal my magic. With the clock ticking down on what’s left of Kai’s life, I need to come up with a solution fast. So far, I've got nothing. Meanwhile, werewolves and vampires are turning up dead, seemingly at the hands of witches. Not surprisingly, those other tribes are calling out for blood. Like that’s not enough, witches are being exposed and threatened by a new group calling themselves the Hunters. And what do they want, exactly? Just the eradication of our kind entirely. Then there's the deal I make with a Fae goddess, which at first looks like it might provide me with what I need to defeat my enemies. Instead, it leaves me facing an impossible choice. I'll have to either leave Kai to his fate or doom everyone else.

  Chapter 1 - Amaya

  I stand outside at night, surrounded by shadowy forms and flickering torches. In the distance, moonlight shines down upon a river, a city skyline rising beyond its banks. In just moments, this world will be forever altered, at my hands, while I remain helpless to stop it. Within me, he grins, and a grin spreads across my lips. He raises my arms and light flares at my fingers. Wings spread from my back, as the puppet I’ve become lifts into the air.

  The deep growl of his voice echoes through me, my own voice now muted. This is your purpose, Amaya. That for which you were born.

  He thrusts out my arms and the seam opens, a jagged wound torn through the fabric of reality. The gap widens, shimmering and iridescent, as it transforms into a doorway. Soon, they start to spill through. First come more of his kind, those he’s been waiting to release from their prison. A swirling mass of dark vapor separates into writhing plumes that streak out toward the city. Then come the others—a legion of the dead, bearing with them a thousand years’ worth of seething malevolence. Through me, the end has begun and all I can do is watch the destruction he just used my powers to unleash.

  I gasp and sit bolt upright, my heart pounding in my chest. No sooner do I draw in another breath than someone knocks upon my door, a swift series of insistent raps. “If you’re not up, get up! It’s time to get moving!”

  I run my hands through my hair, pulling it back. “Yeah. Thanks, Regina,” I mutter. “Trust me, I’m up.”

  She barks back at me from out in the hallway. “What was that, New Friend?”

  Oh my God, I should have waited to hear fading footsteps. The problem being that Regina’s feet never touch the ground. “Nothing!” I call back. “Thanks for the reminder.”

  “Uh-huh,” she responds gruffly. A moment later, she raps at the next door. “It’s moving day, so get your ass moving!”

  I swing my legs out of bed, my feet touching the chilly floorboards. Apparently, that chill doesn’t bother Bean, who sits staring up at me. Must be nice to have an ass covered in fur.

  Wait. Did I just think that?

  Bean meows, not for the first time I realize. I was just too immersed in my psychological hellscape to have responded before.

  “Okay, I’m up,” I say. “Geez. How long have you been sitting there?”

  Bean meows again and narrows her eyes.

  I narrow my eyes right back at her. “You have not, you big liar. You probably jumped down from your comfy chair when you heard Regina coming.”

  I glance over at what will soon be my ex-reading chair, where it sits bathed in the morning light beaming from the window. Sure enough, it’s covered in cat hair, one small strand of which is still spiraling to the floor. No wonder Bean didn’t seem chilly. She just got moving too.

  All the same, she strides toward me and raises a paw.

  I jump up off the bed. “Scratch me and I’ll kill you.”

  She blinks a few times, but lowers her paw back down again. Not because she’s intimidated, I’m sure. Instead, because she got what she wanted. As I get moving, she nuzzles the back of my ankle, her little head butting me forward.

  “Bean, I know where the bathroom is.”

  She bumps her head against the back of my other leg.

  I glance back down at her. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

  She squeezes her eyes shut and they crinkle at the corners. She quivers her whiskers and I can’t help but laugh at her little smartass cat smile.

  “Okay, you are funny,” I concede. “You win this round.”

  Actually, she wins every round. As I head toward the bathroom, I watch as she shoots across the room and jumps back into her favorite chair. She raises her face to the sun and licks at her paws, giving herself a cat bath. Suddenly realizing she’s being watched, she stops and stares back at me, as if to say, “Go on, now. You’re supposed to be doing this too.”

  So, I do as I’m told and go take a shower. Less than half an hour later, I walk through a long, dark corridor alongside Maeve and Sophie, our duffle bags slung over our shoulders. Within them are just a few things to help us get settled, the rest of our belongings to be delivered later today.

  “Into the breach we go,” says Maeve.

  Sophie sighs. “If nothing else, this is going to be interesting.”

  She sounds nervous and I have to admit I’m nervous too, considering where we’re heading. Of all places, a Richmond-adjacent Shadow Order facility. At first, the idea seemed crazy. But after thinking about it a little more, I came to accept the logic behind the plan. As Beatrice explained, first and foremost, there’s the Richmond coven to consider. Given the recent threats, this is hardly the time for the Shadow Order to be absent. As Beatrice also pointed out, distance only provided the illusion of safety. The threat still managed to find us—well, me, to be specific—and pretty quickly at that. Clearly, hiding up north didn’t prove to be a solution.

  As for those of us in training, we were given a choice. We didn’t have to go if we didn’t want to. And, yes, that choice also applied to me. Which, I suppose, meant that the Shadow Order was willing to try isolating me again. While I was thankful for the offer, I never truly considered it an option. I’ve spent enough of my life running. First, from Nepheras and the fate she’d planned for me. Th
en from the memories of my own life during that time. So, no. This, I decided, is the time for me to face both what I am and what I have to do to make things right again. After all, the threat started because of me. So, I have to be the one to end it.

  Maeve grumbles, “You’d think we’d at least have had breakfast.”

  “The café is closed,” Sophie reminds her.

  Maeve huffs with frustration. “Okay, then just some freaking coffee. Couldn’t a few skeletons have pulled one more shift?”

  “I know, right?” Sophie says. “I mean, would it have killed them? They’re already dead.”

  I have to laugh. “But are they? Those were the liveliest skeletons I’ve ever known.”

  Sophie raises an eyebrow. “How many skeletons have you actually known?”

  Right, good point. My experience with skeletal baristas is indeed limited. But, of course, thinking about them makes me think of Kai when I first met him. After all, he was the one who told me their names. Well, really, the names he’d made up for them. Rattles, Slim and Skully. I think about how he claimed he could tell Skully was female by the way she swayed her hips. I think of his face going red when Sophie teased him about checking out skeleton asses. I find myself smiling, but then the smile fades just as quickly again. Kai won’t be coming with us, of course. He’ll remain in the care of Zachary and the healing mages, who’ll be taking him to a different location. They didn’t say it, because they didn’t have to—I could see it in their eyes—but it won’t be long before he’ll be beyond saving.

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  I snap out of it to see Maeve watching me, her brow creased with concern. “Oh, sure. I’m fine,” I claim. “Just sort of spaced out there for a moment.”

  She adjusts the strap of her duffle bag on her shoulder. “Just being sure.”

  I can tell she doesn’t believe me. In the weeks that have passed, Maeve and I have gotten to know each other well. She knows when I’m lying. I’m sure she knows who I’m thinking about.

  Soon, we reach the end of the corridor and step out into the courtyard behind Elmhurst, the morning light assaulting our eyes. I wait for my pupils to adjust, then see Beatrice and Cassie where they stand waiting. Beatrice looks us over and does a quick headcount, then turns to Cassie. “Eleven. Looks like they’re all here.”

  Eleven is all that’s left of us now, with Minor Arcana gone and both Devin and Vanessa having opted for leaving. And, of course, my old pal Chloe is gone now too. Good riddance, wherever she might be.

  Beatrice turns our way again. “I know it’s early and I’m sure you’re all still just waking up.”

  “Coffee,” Maeve mutters softly. “Somebody, anybody, please.”

  “Not to worry,” Beatrice says. “You’ll be having lunch before you know it.”

  Maeve exclaims, “Lunch? What about breakfast?”

  Caught off guard, she forgot to keep her voice down. Now, all eyes turn to her.

  “I’m afraid there won’t be time this morning,” Beatrice says. To make her point, she taps her index finger against her wristwatch. “After all, it took nearly an hour to get all of you out the building.”

  I make the mistake of glancing down at Bean by my feet. She looks more than a little smug. Yeah, not buying it. She would have slept until noon, given the chance.

  “Damn it,” Maeve says, remembering to lower her voice again. “I had my heart set on French Toast.”

  Beatrice raises her eyebrows as she looks us over again. “Does anyone have any questions?”

  Maeve whispers, “I do. Can the new skeletons make brunch?”

  “Well then, no questions,” Beatrice says. “So, without further ado...”

  She turns to Cassie, who, with a quick flourish, opens a portal—a shimmering, spinning circle of light that soon widens into a passage. One by one, we step through. And just like that, we exit Canada to find ourselves in the deep woods of Virginia. Not exactly what I expected. On top of that—since I totally forgot about the bi-polar nature of Virginia weather—I’m bundled up in a coat and sweater while suddenly it’s at least seventy degrees.

  “God, it’s muggy here,” Sophie says. “Is that normal for September?”

  Right, I forgot about that part too. Neither Maeve nor Sophie have ever been here before. How to explain that there is no “normal for September.” Sure, it might be forty and breezy or it might be beach weather. By mid-October, fall may have finally kicked in, but there’s no real guarantee of that either. You just never know. Still, something seems weird.

  “Not usually this muggy,” I say, already breaking a sweat.

  A slapping sound makes me turn to Maeve, who says, “A freaking mosquito just bit me!”

  So, there’s another part I forgot to tell them about. “They’re usually gone by this time of year,” I claim, which is sort of true. In that it happens sometimes.

  Then something occurs to me. Did Cassie’s portal miss the mark? Why are we trudging through wilderness? Where is the Shadow Order headquarters counterpart to Elmhurst? Because, so far I see nothing but a trail leading deeper into the trees. A quick check shows that our unfamiliars haven’t abandoned us, so I guess that’s a good sign. Generally, they’re smarter than we are. As in, I haven’t forgotten when they refused to follow us to Silvermist, where we nearly got roasted by a dragon. Cassie and Beatrice seem unbothered as well as they keep strolling along. Come to think of it, they’re both dressed for the weather. Thanks for the heads up, you two.

  I peel off my coat and keep going as the path descends into a wooded gulley. I flap the hem of my sweater, trying to catch a breeze against my stomach as we cross a bridge over a stream. I mop my forehead with the back of my forearm as the path curves left, and then right again, for no evident reason.

  “Oh, she meant we’d be hiking until lunchtime,” Maeve says. “Now, I get it.”

  Sophie quips, “I just spent two months trying to avoid being eaten by cats. Now, I’m going to get eaten by a freaking bear.”

  Poor Sophie and her ongoing mouse-shifter anxieties. While it’s funny for us, it can’t be easy on her. After all, she once had dreams of transforming into a wolf or a bear herself. In which case, ironically, she’d feel right at home in these woods. A mouse, on the other hand, might not fare well.

  “Fucking mosquitoes!” Maeve slaps the back of her neck. “Sluagh are one thing, but no one said anything about mosquitoes.”

  “And here we are,” Beatrice says, as we round yet one more inexplicable bend in the path. She stops walking and looks back at us expectantly.

  I raise my eyes from my tired feet and my mouth drops open.

  “Is it me or is that a trailer park?” Maeve asks, slapping herself in the cheek.

  “A very old trailer park,” Sophie confirms.

  Which, on one level, I’m glad to hear, because I was seriously wondering if I might be hallucinating due to heat exhaustion. On another level, I was hoping I might be hallucinating, since what I see before us is a collection of very old and rusty mobile homes, each one partly covered in moss. Between some of them, clothes hang from clotheslines. At a glance, I see old flannel shirts, faded jeans, men’s boxers and women’s bras, along with children’s clothes and stained towels that I’d never let touch my skin.

  Kayla points to a sign nailed to a fence creating a barrier between us and this vision of hell. “Um, that says this is private property.”

  “Indeed it is.” Beatrice’s eyes gleam with mirth, no doubt at our expressions.

  Suddenly, a voice barks out behind me. “New Friend! What’s the first rule of magic?”

  I nearly jump out of my sweaty skin, then spin around to see Regina hovering right behind me. Where the hell did she come from? I didn’t even see her fly into the portal, the sneaky little thing. Naturally, I draw a total blank.

  Regina scowls. “Apparently, New Friend’s brain has stopped working. Miss Brewster, first rule of magic. What is it?”

  Maeve shoots me an apologetic l
ook. “Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

  Regina glares at the lot of us. “My God, people, haven’t you ever heard of obfuscation charms?”

  Actually, um, no. But I get the gist. Which is confirmed a moment later when Beatrice’s grin widens to match the glee in her eyes. “As you can imagine, we’d like to discourage anyone who might be passing by. Hence, the sign, not to mention the aesthetics.”

  “Who the hell would be passing by?” Maeve asks. “Sasquatch?”

  Beatrice murmurs an incantation while issuing a series of complex gestures, her hands dancing upon the air. That air ripples before us, then parts like a gossamer curtain. The scene before our eyes transforms entirely, as the rusty old trailers vanish along with the forest around us. Instead, we stand at the edge of a bucolic expanse of smooth green lawn rising in a gentle slope toward what looks like a country estate. The white building is massive, with tall columns rising from the front porch up past the second story balcony to support the gabled peaked roof. Beyond the house, the grounds appear to go on forever before finally meeting the tree line, beyond which a river glimmers in the distance. Suddenly, the temperature drops as well, at least twenty degrees, as a cool breeze drifts through the air.

  Sophie sighs with relief. “Oh my God, so much better.”

  Maeve looks back and forth between us. “Hang on. Was I the only one being bit by fake mosquitoes?”

  I whisper, “I bet Beatrice heard you bitching about breakfast.”

  “Lack of breakfast,” Maeve corrects me. “Not to mention coffee.”

  “Okay, keep it moving,” Regina reminds us.

  On top of that, Bean starts bumping her head against my leg. I look down at her. “Really?”

  She lowers her head and resumes trying to bump me forward. A quick check of Maeve’s and Sophie’s unfamiliars shows that theirs are merely waiting by their sides. I look down at Bean again. “You know you’re ridiculous, right?”

  She meows right back at me, as if to say, “No, you’re ridiculous. Now, get moving.”

  How is it that I suddenly gained magical powers only to be ruled over by a bossy little ball of fur? All the same, I set myself in motion and soon we climb the steps onto a giant wraparound porch complete with comfy looking rocking chairs and slowly spinning ceiling fans. As we approach the front door, my eyes lift to the plaque set above it. It’s simple and small, engraved into it the shape of a crescent moon offset by a star. The Shadow Order sigil. The moon representing that which waxes and wanes, and the star the light which shines constantly even if you only see it at night. In other words, some things will come and go, while the Shadow Order’s vigil remains constant.