Rival Demons (13 page)

Around this time in the afternoon, I tried to
position myself in different parts of the market, hoping to get a
glimpse of the soldiers pouring out of some secret corridor or
area. It wasn't until the fourth day that I found myself in exactly
the right place at the right time.

I got to the marketplace a little early and
walked around toward the very back, as far away from the entry
staircase as I could get. I walked along the back wall, which as
far as I could tell, was just a solid wall with no caves or
entrances of any kind. I was actually trying to get to the other
side of the market when part of the wall next to me raised up like
a trap door. Startled, I jumped back and wedged myself between the
fabric of two nearby tents.

Immediately, my fear was replaced with secret
joy. A group of soldiers emerged from the hidden door, talk of the
latest training session on their lips. I stayed hidden for the next
half hour as hundreds of soldiers gradually poured from the
corridor.

When they were all through and the door was
closed for the night, I stepped out of the dark alley between the
tents and took a mental picture of my location. Just across from a
purple and orange tent that sold jewelry with red stones inside. I
memorized every detail of the area, then ran my hand along the
wall, trying to feel the outline of the door, but there were no
grooves or cracks to show it had ever existed. A magic door.

Later, I sat down in my favorite little cafe and
drew a map of the marketplace, marking a special X for the secret
training ground of the Resistance army.

Finding the library was not as easy.

Unlike the soldiers, the scholars and council
members didn't wear matching outfits, which made them much harder
to spot. I tried to remember the faces of the demons I'd seen
walking with Jackson from time to time, but I soon lost my patience
and decided to stop in to see Essex at his work.

"Hey," Mary Anne said with a smile as I walked
into the tent. She was sitting on top of the sales counter watching
Essex direct a bunch of needles to make matching shirts in a
variety of colors. "What have you been up to so far today? I feel
like I've hardly seen you at all lately."

"Oh, just walking around," I said casually. I
had kept my activities from Mary Anne because I didn't want her
mixed up in it if I got caught. I leaned in and whispered so that
Essex's mother couldn't hear me, just in case she was close by.
"What about Essex's mom? Does she still give you the evil eye?"

Mary Anne giggled. "Not really," she said. "I
think she's getting used to me. Look, yesterday she even gave me
this leather cuff. I think it was a sort of peace offering in a
way."

She held out her wrist and showed me a black
leather cuff that clasped tight around her entire wrist. On the
top, it was embroidered with the initials M. A. in silver thread
that sparkled when she moved her wrist from side to side.

"That's beautiful," I said.

A jolt of regret ran through my heart. If an old
woman with obvious prejudices toward humans could accept the fact
that her son had made a very close friendship with a human girl,
why was Jackson so certain no one here would understand our
relationship? It didn't make any sense. Something wasn't adding up
between us. There had to be more to his reasons for breaking up
than what he told me.

For the most part, I'd done really well at not
falling apart about the whole Jackson scenario. I'd thrown myself
into other projects and found goals for myself like finding the
library or working on my own magic. But with as much time as I
spent alone these days, there were definitely a lot of late nights
where I laid in bed just thinking about him.

What was he doing down here every day? Were they
planning something important? Was he going to go back for Aerden?
Why was he keeping so much from me? Did he miss me the same way I
missed him?

"Are you alright?" Mary Anne asked.

I came out of my thoughts and smiled. "Sorry, I
think I spaced."

"You did more than space," she said. "You went
into some kind of sadness coma. What's going on with you lately? I
thought you'd be glad to be out of Peachville and away from all
that crap the Order put you through."

I sighed. "I am glad," I said. "I just think
about Lark and my other friends a lot. I wonder what they're up to.
I hate not knowing what's going on in Peachville."

This wasn't exactly a lie. I did think about
Peachville a lot, wondering if anyone had spoken up about their
plans to sacrifice my life and transfer the line. I knew Mrs. King
didn't approve, and I was sure Lark and her mother were dead set
against the idea. But did they speak out? Had they been punished?
Or did their fear keep them quiet?

Between worrying about them and thinking about
Jackson, it was amazing I was still holding on to my sanity at all
these days.

Honestly, it was the idea of having a plan of my
own that kept me waking up and going through the motions each
day.

Mary Anne put her hand on mine. "I know what you
mean about Peachville," she said. "I thought I'd be so glad to get
out of there that I would never look back, but I can't help
thinking about Courtney. I didn't get a chance to explain anything
to her about our plan. She probably has no idea what happened to
either one of us."

I nodded, ashamed to admit I hadn't been
thinking about Courtney in all of this. "To tell you the truth, I
bet they just wiped her memories of us, like they did with me when
I first got here."

"Well, I kind of hope they did," she said. "That
should at least keep her safe from them."

She had a point. My hope was that all of my
friends and allies in Peachville would be safe and sound when I
finally returned. I couldn't bear it if they'd gotten hurt because
of me and the choices I'd made.

But I hadn't come here today to talk about
Peachville. As much as I cared about the people back there, I also
knew there was nothing I could do for them until I was strong
enough to fight against the Order. For me to find that strength, I
needed two things. Training and information. If I could find the
right spellbook, I could end this whole thing forever. I could free
all of the Primas from their demons and change the entire game in
one instant. In my heart, I knew that spell existed. I just had to
find it.

"Listen, I need to ask Essex something about the
library," I whispered, looking around to make sure there were no
customers in the tent or people lingering outside.

Mary Anne's eyes grew dark. Worried. "Here?" she
asked. "Can't we talk about this back in the room later or
something? I don't want to get him into any trouble."

"It'll just take a second, I swear."

She chewed on her lower lip and finally nodded,
motioning for Essex to stop his work for a second. He walked over
to us, a sweet smile on his face. He placed his hand down on the
counter beside Mary Anne and I noticed her pinky slide over to
touch the side of his palm ever so slightly.

"Ask him quick," she said.

"What do you know about the council's meeting
place?" I asked. "I've been trying to find the entrance to the
library by following some of the council members around, but other
than Andros, I'm not completely sure who is on the council. And
what about the scholars you talked about? What do they wear?"

Essex looked around nervously. Then, he leaned
in close to me. "You'll never see the scholars," he said. "They
never leave the council's wing as far as I know. They are like
monks. Hermits."

I blew out a hard breath of frustration. Crap.
"So how else am I supposed to find the library?"

The question was more for my own benefit. I
hadn't been expecting Essex to actually have an answer for me.

"Follow your friends," he said. "The princess
and the twin. They are going there every day."

My eyes widened. "How do you know this?"

"My shop is in a very good location here on the
end of the row," he said with a sly smile. "Many believe they are
talking in secret, not understanding that those of us inside the
shop can still hear them. I hear many things, and one thing I hear
is that the council and your friends are meeting in the library
almost every single day to discuss a new plan for our people. There
are many whispers on the streets of these events. Follow them and
you will find the library."

A customer walked into the shop, not hiding her
surprise at finding two humans talking so casually to the shop
owner's son. She almost turned around to go, but then changed her
mind and turned back toward us, an attempt to smile coming out as
more of a grimace.

"Hello, Essex, I was hoping you could help me
with a new dress for a party I'm attending this month?" she said.
She kept glancing my way, obviously uncomfortable in the presence
of a human.

"I was just leaving," I said. "Thank you for
your help with the new backpack. I sincerely appreciate it."

Essex bowed to me. "Anything for a friend of
Andros," he said. As I walked away, he turned his attention to the
lady customer. "Now, what kind of design did you have in mind?"

I slipped outside and made my way back toward
the suite.

Following Jackson and Lea wouldn't be easy.
Especially since Jackson could usually sense my presence from a
mile away. But that gave me an idea. He might be able to sense my
presence, but I was usually able to sense him too. The feeling had
been somewhat diminished here while I was so far away from Aerden,
but still, I might be able to use that connection to find
Jackson.

It was too late in the day to try anything now,
but after my magic practice tomorrow, that's exactly what I was
going to do.

My new goal was to re-establish my connection
with Jackson's energy. There had been a time when I could feel him
like he was a part of me. An extension of my own energy. I knew
part of that connection had to do with his twin brother, Aerden.
Since Aerden was a part of me, bound to my family's line for a
hundred years, it was only natural for that to extend to Jackson as
well.

But I knew our connection was more than
that.

No matter what was going on between us now that
we had come to the Underground, it didn't change the fact that I
loved him. We had saved each other's lives. Surely that counted for
something. Wouldn't that kind of thing leave a mystical connection
to someone?

I was counting on a combination of all those
things.

I sat alone in the comfort of my bedroom, my
legs crossed under my body and my palms facing upward. I became
centered, focusing on the feel of my own power coursing through my
bones. When I was sure and solid in my own power, I switched my
focus from myself to Jackson. I sought him out with my mind,
extending my magic like hidden fingers that stretched out to the
entire Underground. I searched for any sign of him, wanting to feel
that connection and hoping to be able to recognize him even in a
crowded space of a thousand other demons.

That first day, despite hours of meditation, I
failed. I couldn't feel him at all. Was he too far away? Meeting
somewhere deep in the bowels of this place? Far from my reach? Was
the soul stone above our heads messing with my focus somehow? Or
was I simply too far away from Aerden to feel any connection to his
brother as well?

The next morning, I spent my typical magic
practice time in meditation instead, with the same bitter
results.

It wasn't until the fifth day of trying that I
finally found him. In my quiet state of meditation, a whisper of
him crossed into my mind. My body lit up like a firefly, the tiny
hairs on my arms standing up. Somewhere, he had stepped into my
range and my body had reacted.

At first, I couldn't tell where he was, only
that he was close enough to feel. I pushed my excitement down to
the bottom of my mind and instead focused on what I knew of the
Underground. I started by imagining the suite, then the hall where
we all lived together. I rebuilt the place in my mind, like a
ghostly map, uninhabited and shadowy, but clear. The process was a
bit disorienting at first. My body was here in this room, but my
mind was floating, free from the restrictions of flesh.

I didn't sense him in any of these places, so I
stretched my thoughts even further, struggling to stay focused
despite the slight dizziness I felt. Finally, near the small cafe
where I liked to write in the afternoons, I saw him.

In my vision, I could see impressions of other
energies bustling past, but Jackson's form glowed bright and
steady.

He stood in the marketplace talking to someone,
but I wasn't good enough yet to identify anyone else by feel. For
all purposes, I might as well have been standing there beside him.
I could feel him that strongly. And the longer I focused on him,
the stronger my focus became.

I swam in it, letting the closeness of his
essence surround me like water.

When he moved, I moved with him, sensing his
path step-by-step with amazing clarity. Then, he stepped into a
cave on the far north side of the marketplace. A cave I had never
been in before.

Like a light switch being turned off, he was
gone.

No matter how hard I tried for the rest of the
day, I couldn't find him again. Was it simply that he'd gone
somewhere my mind's eye couldn't envision? Or was there some kind
of block set up in that particular cave?

That afternoon, I strolled through the
marketplace, looking for the cave he'd disappeared into. The
problem was, it didn't exist.

I ran my hand along the stone wall.

Just like the hidden door where the soldiers
went for training, the cave where Jackson spent most of his days
was equally as hidden. There was no trace of it from the outside.
Similar to the other one, this hidden door was also in a far corner
of the marketplace, tucked behind a few tents where no one would
notice people coming in and out.