Rival Demons (11 page)

The purpose of the Underground was becoming more
clear to me as we spoke. From where I sat, I could see a good
portion of the marketplace. As Mary Anne and Essex changed the
subject to his work and how he learned to be a tailor, I studied
the demons of the Underground as they traveled from shop to shop or
did their work.

Some had come here to fight back, but most of
them had only come to seek safety from the Order of Shadows. This
was more of a refugee camp of sorts than a staging ground for an
army.

No wonder the Order of Shadows had such free
reign to take the demons in this world. Very few demons were
willing to stand against them. They wanted their safety, but they
weren't willing to risk their lives to insure safety for all of
their people.

Was this really any different from the human
world? Many of the members in the Order didn't agree with the way
they did things, but no one would speak out. They either didn't
want to lose their power or they didn't want to risk losing their
lives.

And so the cycle continues forever.

Without an organized army of demons and witches
willing to die for the freedom of future generations, the Order
would continue to rule us all.

Later that night, back in my room, I couldn't
get the idea of an army out of my mind. Was it impossible to think
demons and human witches could work together to defeat the Order?
Isn't that how this all began? Not with slavery and death, but with
a demon and a human woman falling in love and working together?

Somewhere along the way, it had all become
corrupted, but what if we could go back to our roots? What if we
could work together by choice instead of force?

Of course, my mind wandered to thoughts of
Jackson. There was a part of me that still hoped someday we could
be together again.

We could change the world. Both worlds.

Another week passed, and even though I had the
freedom to explore the marketplace, I still felt trapped down here.
No sunshine. No fresh air. No one to talk to.

Mary Anne and Essex had hit it off immediately
and when he wasn't working, he was in our suite or they were
walking around and talking. I tagged along a few times, but mostly
felt like I was getting in their way.

I scoured the marketplace for something I could
read or an equivalent of an mp3 player so I could listen to music,
but entertainment items weren't exactly a priority down here. Most
of the shops were for more practical items like weapons, clothing,
food or other necessities.

The demons in the Grand Hall slowly became used
to seeing me walking around, and I got a few smiles here and there
instead of threatening looks. I had become friendly with some of
the food vendors, but I hadn't met anyone I would really consider a
friend. Not the way Mary Anne had anyway. Sometimes seeing her with
Essex made me even more angry with Jackson. If this stranger was
willing to risk ridicule from his fellow demons to spend time with
a human, why wouldn't Jackson spend any time with me?

Of course, wasn't I the one who'd been pushing
him away ever since we got down here?

It was a survival tactic. I believed that being
close to him and pretending to only be casual friends would be
harder than simply cutting him out of my life. Now, however, I was
missing him like crazy.

Every time I saw him these days, he was deep in
conversation with Andros or some demon I didn't recognize. I had no
idea what they talked about, but I guessed it had to be about the
Order and Jackson's hope to free his brother. At first, when we'd
see each other in the marketplace, our eyes would meet and he would
hold my gaze for a split second longer than he should. I was always
the first to look away and now, he'd practically stopped looking
all together.

To try to push the worry and sadness from my
mind, I started writing in a leather-bound journal I bought from
one of the vendors. I spent my afternoons at the small cafe
brainstorming possible ways to fight back against the Order.

Human World:

1. Find a way to expose the Order's lies to all
of the Primas around the world.

2. Find proof that the Order killed its own
people and then lied about it.

3. Educate future candidates about what
initiation really means.

4. Search for a way to break the spell between a
Prima and her demon without killing either of them.

Demon World:

1. Talk to Andros about forming a joint army
between demons and humans.

2. Try to convince the King of the North to
fight back.

By the end of a week, I had a notebook full of
ideas but wasn't really any closer to coming up with a true
solution. As I looked over my notes, I realized just how crazy I
was to think I could do this all on my own. These were huge dreams
that would take years of planning and training. I needed help to
really accomplish anything important.

I was tired of sitting back and doing nothing
proactive or productive. Without something to occupy my mind, all I
thought about was Jackson. And that only made me sad. I needed a
project or a plan. Something I could do that would make a
difference.

The items on my list were big, but maybe the
difference needed to start somewhere smaller. Closer to home. Maybe
the change needed to start within me. No one cared to listen to a
young human witch without any real battle experience or knowledge
of how to fight with magic. Yes, I had managed to end a few lives,
but only in the most desperate of situations and only with help
from Aerden or Jackson.

If I truly wanted to make a difference, I needed
to learn how to fight.

What little training I'd had with Zara back home
in Peachville was so minimal, it hardly counted. Besides, I knew I
couldn't trust anything the Order's witches had taught me. After
what Lea showed me in Aldeen, I knew the High Council of the Order
was capable of a lot more than they ever taught their fellow
witches. They preferred to hold on to the secrets of their most
powerful magic so that if need be, they could use it against anyone
who dared to voice opposition.

They were afraid that if everyone knew just how
powerful they could be, they would rise up and overturn the leaders
of the Order. So instead, they taught their Primas just enough to
scratch the surface of their power, but never enough to make them a
real threat. Never enough to allow them the strength to fight
back.

Well, this was one Prima who had her eyes wide
open. I knew exactly what witches like me were capable of, and I
desperately needed to learn how to access that magic and power
within myself. I might not have the same kind of strength and demon
power as a Prima who had already passed through initiation, but I
knew there was a reservoir of untapped power inside me.

I had seen it that day we came through the
portal. I still didn't know what had come over me when I killed the
sister tiger. I wasn't thinking. I was only acting on instinct, but
the power that had raged inside of me was foreign and terrifying
and incredibly strong. If I could find a way to access that kind of
power but still have control over it, I would be capable of so much
more.

I touched the strip of white cloth around my
wrist, feeling a rush of certainty fill me.

No matter how helpless I felt down here, there
was one thing I always had access to. My own power.

It was time I learned how to use it.

Alone in my room, I started working on my magic.
Nothing fancy, just learning how to reconnect to my power. I
practiced glamours, lighting candles, going invisible, moving
things from one side of the room to another. My skill had
definitely gotten rusty, but slowly, it all came back to me.

When I'd nailed down the basics of what I'd
learned in Peachville, I started experimenting with slightly more
daring magic. For example, I spent a few hours learning how to make
my leather jacket hover high in the air, then quickly dive-bomb
into the floor at breakneck speeds. Of course, a soft jacket was
harmless at those speeds, but what about a brick? Or a knife? If I
could learn to control both the speed and direction of any item,
then I could almost always find a weapon no matter what situation I
found myself in. Hell, what would stop me from learning to lift an
entire person high into the air and then send them into a wall or a
rock?

Despite hours of practice, I'd still been unable
to match the speed and power of the rocks I'd thrown at the tiger.
I was making progress, though, and that was all that mattered.

With my limited materials and space, I was only
able to get so creative with my own magic. What I needed was a good
teacher and a good place to practice. Essex said they had training
grounds here in the Underground where they took their best students
of the Resistance and taught them techniques to fight against the
Order. I wondered if there was any way I could find those classes
and watch what they did. I doubted the demons would want me
learning their fighting techniques, but what if I could make myself
disappear and observe them from some hiding place?

Then again, all demons seemed to have their own
unique powers and abilities. All it would take is one demon who
could see through my invisibility glamour and my fate down here
would be in serious danger. Hiding out to watch their secret
training sessions would definitely make me look like a spy. It was
too risky.

I pushed the doubts from my mind and instead,
channeled my frustration into my magic. I stood with my back
against the door and slowly chose several items one after the other
and lifted them into the air. My jacket. The backpack. A hairbrush.
My pillow. One of my black boots. It took every ounce of my
concentration to keep all five items lifted and controlled.

Slowly, the jacket began to fall toward the
ground and I switched my concentration over to it, lifting it back
into the air. As soon as I did, the other four items collapsed in a
heap on the floor. Damn. I sighed and leaned against the door. I'd
been trying to perfect this one skill for at least an hour. I did
okay when it was just four items, but the second I added a fifth,
everything fell apart.

I knew that if I ever wanted to have a chance to
defeat the Order, I was going to have to bring my focus to a whole
new level. I needed to develop a concentration so sharp that no one
and nothing could break it during battle. Right now, my mind was
still too scattered.

In the other room, I heard the front double
doors open. I froze, listening for who had come through. Mary Anne
giggled, and I relaxed, glad it wasn't Jackson. If he discovered me
in here practicing magic on my own, I knew he'd be pissed.

I poked my head out my bedroom door and saw Mary
Anne and Essex sitting on the couch, heads huddled together looking
at something.

"Hey guys," I said.

They turned toward me, then separated like kids
caught making out in their parents' living room.

"Hey," Mary Anne said. "I didn't realize you
were home. Essex just got off work so we came here to hang out for
a while. Hope that's okay?"

I shrugged and came deeper into the living room,
curious about what they'd been looking at so secretively. "Sure," I
said. "I don't mind."

Essex turned shyly toward me and put up his hand
in a half wave. On his lap, I could just make out a blue book with
a tattered binding. "Hello Harper, I trust you are having a
pleasant day."

"It's been fine so far," I said. "I just wish
there was more for us to do down here. I mean, even just a place to
exercise or a small library or something, you know?"

He fidgeted and moved the book under his thigh,
looking nervous. "Yes," he said. "It can be quite dull down here if
you don't have a trade."

I moved around to the front of the couch and sat
down on the large white marble coffee table. "What's that you've
got there?"

It was obvious he hadn't wanted me to see the
book, and maybe it was rude to call him out on it, but I wanted to
know where he'd gotten it and what, exactly, was in it that he
didn't want me to know about.

Mary Anne shifted her feet underneath her. She
looked around, double checking that the doors to the suite were
closed. "Is Lea here?" she whispered.

I shook my head. "I haven't seen her since
yesterday afternoon."

She bit her lower lip and seemed to make a
decision about the book. "Show her," she said finally. "She won't
tell anyone, I promise."

Essex kept his eyes trained on the ground. In
his lap, his left hand trembled slightly. I realized I'd misjudged
how important this book was to him. He wasn't just nervous. He was
terrified.

"Hey," I said, leaning my head down to try to
catch his eye. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just saw the book and
was curious. Is it something important?"

He nodded slowly and looked up at Mary Anne, as
if asking her if she really did trust me.

"It's fine," she said. "We're like sisters. I
swear you can trust her."

Essex took a deep breath in, his chest puffing
out. He finally released it, allowing his shoulders to relax a
little. With a nervous twitch of his hand, he lifted the book and
set it out on the couch between the two of them.

"What is it?" I asked.

He glanced toward the door again, then finally
turned and met my gaze. "What I am telling you is restricted
information," he said. "I heard some members of the Resistance
talking a few days ago about a mission from which they had just
returned. They spoke in quiet voices, telling the story to a
soldier who had not been at the battle. They spoke of a hunter they
had fought in one of the many battles on the surface. Sometimes in
battle, the hunters are killed, but most of the time, if the
Resistance is able to defeat them, the hunters still manage to get
away with only a few wounds. They are very much difficult to
kill."