A Demon's Wrath: Part I (Peachville High Demons) (5 page)

When Princess Lazalea appeared, my eyes widened.
From where I stood, I saw her before the rest of the crowd, and I
understood their gasps as she made her way to the light in front of
her parents.

She looked like a being from another world. Her
gown was a deep red velvet adorned with golden rings that shimmered
when she walked. On her head, she wore a golden circlet with a single
red jewel that hung down between her eyes like a teardrop.

When she was in place, she lowered her head, then
slowly lifted her eyes toward the archway where I stood.

Her eyes met mine and a smile played at the
corners of her mouth.

For a moment, I couldn’t react or respond.
The joy and adoration in her expression was one of a lover. I’d
never seen her look at me that boldly before, and I didn’t know
if it was new or if my eyes were finally seeing what had always been
there.

That was when I fully understood why Aerden
wouldn’t let me tell her the truth.

The truth would have destroyed her.

The trumpets stopped and an orchestra of strings
began to play. I recognized the music from rehearsals, and I had to
force my feet forward.

As I passed the council members, I kept my eyes
forward, only stopping briefly to bow to my father out of respect. My
father lowered his head toward me, then set his hand on my shoulder.
The weight of it was heavy, reminding me of my duty to my family and
my kingdom.

Aerden should have been sitting in the front row,
but I didn’t allow myself to look at his empty seat.

I had to be strong now for both of us.

When I got to the center of the room, I stopped at
the bottom of the steps and knelt down before the king and queen. As
I bowed my head, I thought of Aerden. I tried again to reach him
through our connection.

This time, instead of the vast emptiness I’d
felt earlier, I was overcome by a violent fear. But as soon as it had
come, it was gone again.

I nearly stumbled as I tried to stand. A few in
the crowd gasped and I felt my father’s eyes bearing down on
me. I lifted my eyes to Lea and her smile faltered. She shook her
head in confusion, but I couldn’t tell her what I’d
experienced. All I could do was push back my fear and ascend the
steps toward her.

Her chest rose and fell with long breaths as she
placed her smile back on her face.

My eyes flickered to her hands. She had her fist
clasped around something small, and I knew she was holding onto her
locket with the heart stone inside.

What would I see when I opened it?

All I could think about was how much I wished it
were Aerden standing here instead of me. I wished he had been chosen
instead of me.

When I took my place at Lea’s side, all I
wanted in the whole world was to rewind to a time when it was just
the three of us playing in the fields as friends. I yearned for a
life with no expectations or responsibilities.

But as her hand reached for mine, I knew that we
couldn’t stop time. We would never be able to hold onto the
days of the past. Life kept moving forward, for better or worse and
the best any of us could do was try to find a way to be happy with
the life fate had handed us.

The ceremony continued in a blur. Some part of me
must have heard the words, because I felt my body going through all
the right motions. I answered at all the right times. I smiled when
Lea smiled, reassuring her even as I myself needed reassurances.

I felt the eyes of every demon in the room on the
two of us, their hopes and dreams of a prosperous future affixed on
our joined hands.

I was both there and not there.

And when it came time for us to exchange truth
stones, I handed her mine with the confidence of a demon in love. My
hands did not tremble. My eyes never wavered from hers for a second.

But inside a hidden part of myself, I guarded a
dark secret. The most terrible lie a man can tell a woman.

A part of me changed that day. Even before I knew
the truth about what had happened to Aerden, I knew the course of our
lives had gone severely off track. One wrong decision led to another
and another until I found myself standing in front of a princess,
promising her something that was never mine to give.

She took the golden locket from my hand, her eyes
shining with hope.

Lea, the confident girl I’d grown up with,
someone who never showed a single weakness or moment of doubt,
shivered with fear as the priestess summoned the veil that would hide
us from the hopeful eyes of the crowd around us.

A shimmering light surrounded us, flowing up like
a curtain of stars.

We stood facing each other in the light. Our
lockets were clasped tight in our hands, but our eyes were locked
together in anticipation.

In the days leading up to this moment, Lea and I
had rarely spent any time alone. There had always been maidservants
and family around us, preparing us for the ceremony. We hadn’t
had a chance to talk about what things might be like after we’d
pledged our lives to one another.

But in the tradition of our elders, we were given
this cocoon of light in which to confess our doubts and dreams. It
was known as the last chance to reveal our true feelings and
intentions. We could speak to each other without anyone outside
hearing us or ever knowing what we’d shared.

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.

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.