Shadow Demons (19 page)

Beside me, Mrs. King fainted.

My legs felt weak, but I would not fall to my knees. I kept my eyes straight ahead as several witches rushed to Mrs. King’s side, moving her to the stairs. I was glad she wouldn’t have to see what was coming next.

The tension in the room was so thick, I felt that I could open my mouth and breath in the taste of it.

I knew in my heart that there were a lot of people in the room who didn’t approve of the High Council’s decision, but they were too afraid to speak up. As individuals, they were powerless. It would take an army to defeat the Council.

Mrs. Ashworth clutched the cup tight in her greedy hands. Excitement glimmered in her eyes as Priestess Winter lifted the silver ritual dagger.

“Do you have the spell books with the ritual in them?” the priestess asked.

Lydia Ashworth nodded and looked to Mrs. Harris. Brooke’s mother reached inside her robe and pulled out the crow’s spell books.

I took a deep breath, knowing it was now or never. The fire at my core was weak, but it was there. I drew from that fire, giving everything I had to release the spell that held my voice captive.

“Wait,” I said. “I deserve a moment to speak before the sentence is carried out.”

The sound of my voice sent a ripple of excitement and shock through the room.

Mrs. Ashworth’s grip on the chalice tightened. “Absolutely not,” she said. “You are a traitor condemned to death for your betrayal. You don’t deserve to speak.”

“Please.” Zara touched her mother’s arm. Tears filled her eyes as she finally lifted her head to look at me.

I held my breath, praying that this one word from Zara would make a difference.

Priestess Winter looked at her daughter and nodded. “I will allow it,” she said.

“Thank you.” I swallowed, ignoring the burn in my throat. I looked at Mrs. Ashworth. The fear in her eyes was beautiful. “You speak to me of betrayal?”

I opened my palm. The diamond earring glittered in the torch light. “I have learned more about betrayal here in Peachville than I ever dreamed possible.”

I threw the earring down on the stone floor at Brooke’s feet. Her eyes grew wide with tears. She turned away from me, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

“My mother was murdered by the same witch who destroyed this ritual room a few weeks ago,” I said. “But that’s not the whole story. The crows had an accomplice all those years ago. Someone in the Order.”

The energy in the room shifted.

“Lydia Ashworth was my mother’s best friend,” I continued. “Most of you probably remember how close they were. But Mrs. Ashworth didn’t believe my mother deserved her position as Prima. She plotted with the crows to steal the Prima line. She helped them kill my mother here in this room nearly seventeen years ago.”

Voices whispered in the semi-darkness. Priestess Winter shook her head and looked to Mrs. Ashworth.

“That’s a lie,” Mrs. Ashworth screamed. “She’s grasping at straws, trying to save herself.”

“It’s the truth,” I said, looking at the priestess. “I feel I owe my mother that much at least.”

Priestess Winter lifted her hand in the air, commanding us to be silent. “There is an easy way to settle this,” she said.

She stepped forward and placed both of her hands on my temples.

My eyes were forced closed. At first, I didn’t understand what was happening, then images began to flash before my eyes. My life in Peachville played over in my mind in fast-forward. She was searching my memories. The images slowed down as she reached the memory of Mrs. Ashworth’s betrayal. She knew the truth now. I expected her to let me go.

But she didn’t. My memories continued to flash.

Suddenly, I was in Aldeen with Lea again. The image of Priestess Winter’s knife slicing the throat of the Aldeen Prima froze in my mind, then went black.

My heartbeat roared in my ears. She knew that I had seen the truth of what happened in Aldeen. Priestess Winter stumbled backward, her eyes wide.

I started to speak, but she quickly raised her hand, sealing my lips shut.

She took a deep breath and regained her composure, but I could see the distress in her eyes.

“She is telling the truth,” the priestess finally said. She motioned to the red-haired twins. “Take this woman to the dungeons.”

Mrs. Ashworth screamed out in protest. Zara took the chalice from her hands as the twins dragged Mrs. Ashworth from the room.

The whole time, Priestess Winter did not take her eyes off mine.

The room erupted in chaos.

Priestess Winter held up her hand and demanded silence from the coven.

“The High Council will deal with Mrs. Ashworth later.” She looked to me. “I’m truly sorry about what happened to your mother, but that still doesn’t justify your actions or your words against the Order.”

Sounds of protest went up, but the priestess would not hear them. “Silence,” she said. “The High Council’s decision is final. Is there anyone here who wishes to go against the decisions of their leaders?”

No one spoke.

She turned to Mrs. Harris.

“With Mrs. Ashworth gone, we will need another family to step forward and serve as the town’s Prima,” she said.

Mrs. Harris’ face lit up with a radiant smile. She made Brooke turn around and face the priestess.

“We would be honored,” she said, stepping forward.

My hands trembled by my side, and I balled them into fists so that no one would see my fear. I couldn’t speak and no longer had the energy to fight. Now that the priestess understood what I knew, she would never let me live.

“Harper Madison Brighton, you have been sentenced to death for betrayal of loyalty,” Priestess Winter began. “Will the members of the Harris family step forward and take a place on each of the five points of the star?”

Mrs. Harris and her two older daughters stepped forward and each took a spot on the star etched into the floor. Brooke reluctantly joined her family on the fourth point. Priestess Winter took the fifth and final spot. She handed the chalice to Mrs. Harris and lifted the ritual dagger into the air.

As the rest of the coven began to chant, the blue stone in the floor glowed deep within its core. The portal opened with a flash of blue light.

My heart was heavy in my chest. I tried to find some small power burning inside me, but it was too late. I was too tired and too broken.

I closed my eyes as the dagger moved through the air. I held my head high and prayed for it to be over quickly.

I wondered if I would be welcomed into heaven.

I wondered if my mother would be there waiting for me.

An icy chill passed through me as I waited for the end to come.

Under my bare feet, ice spread across the cold floor like a wave. My eyes flew open in confusion.

The silver dagger was frozen in place inches from my neck. Priestess Winter screamed as the ice stretched up her arm. I turned in time to see Jackson, Mary Anne, and Lea race down the stairs behind me.

Time seemed to pass by in slow motion. All of the other witches in the room were frozen in a block of ice, but the priestess was too strong even for Jackson’s magic. White crystals formed along her shoulder, then quickly began to thaw again. Water dripped down onto the floor.

Panic seized me. I had to do something or she would kill us all.

I reached deep inside the core of my power, finding a strength I never knew I had. It was a strength full of love and hope and truth. I connected to that strength, like dipping my hand into a stream of pure energy.

Lifting my bruised hands into the air, I created a shield between me and the priestess just as she pulled free of the ice, her dagger slicing through the air. The silver connected with my shield and broke into a thousand pieces.

The priestess stared at me in shock as the force of the explosion pushed her back against the stone wall.

Jackson reached for me, and I braced myself for the twisting and turning of his shadow form.

Only he didn’t shift. Instead, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me forward toward the open portal.

We tumbled into a pool of blue light, leaving one dimension and entering another.

“Block the portal,” Jackson shouted. “Now.”

It all happened in a blur. My shoulder hit the ground with a crack.

In a daze, I saw Lea casting some kind of black mist that hid the blue light of the portal from view. Mary Anne rolled to her side, cursing as she held her leg.

Jackson touched my face. “Are you okay?”

We lay together on a sheet of smooth obsidian glass. I looked up into his eyes, never so happy to see anyone in my life. The tears I’d been holding for so long finally flowed freely.

“I can’t believe you came for me,” I said, tears streaming across my temples and into my hair. “You could have died.”

“Without you, I wouldn’t want to live,” he said. He brought his lips to mine and pulled me into his arms.

I smiled up at him, still unable to believe I was alive.

I sat up and looked out at the endless terrain of black rock and lavender skies. “Is this heaven?” I asked.

“No,” he said, helping me stand. “This is the shadow world.”