Bitter Demons (13 page)

In my mind's eye, I visualized the strong
current swimming through my veins and into the tree. "Bloom," I
whispered, telling the tree what to do with the stream.

The air around me filled with the sweet scent
of magnolias. I opened my eyes and gasped at the beauty of the tree
with its white buds and deep green leaves. Zara clapped and bounced
up and down on her toes.

"Magnificent," she said. "Such a natural.
It's a shame they aren't providing you with better trainers. I
really should have my mother talk to someone."

"Please, don't," I said. "I mean, as much as
I want to learn more about magic, I don't want start any kind of
drama or get anyone in trouble."

My plea didn't seem to faze her. "You're such
a strange girl. Why do you care if someone gets in trouble? You
should be demanding what is rightfully yours. If you're to lead
this town in a few years, you need to be equipped with the proper
magical knowledge. You should be the best witch in the entire town
of Peachville. How exactly do you expect to get there without the
best trainers?"

Listening to her talk about leading the town
just made me feel ill. I clutched my stomach and walked over to a
fallen log to sit down.

"Are you feeling alright?" she asked. "Was
the magic too much for you?"

"I'll be fine," I said. "Can we sit for a
second?"

"Of course," she said. "And since you
fulfilled your part of the bargain, I will tell you the truth about
this house."

Zara waved her hand in the air and conjured a
chair with a fluffy pink pillow on the seat. I guess the log didn't
suit her. She sat down and crossed her ankles.

"Like I said, this house used to be Brighton
Manor," she said. "It belonged to your ancestors all the way back
to before the first Peachville Prima was even born."

I opened my eyes wide and smiled. The lady in
white. The first Prima. "What was her name?" I asked.

"The first Prima was Clara," she said. "Your
grandmother, Julia Brighton, took ownership of the house when her
mother died in the the early seventies. She was really young when
she became Prima. She didn't get married until nearly fifteen years
later, when she was thirty."

"How come all the women have the same last
name in my family?" I asked. "Didn't they change their names when
they got married?"

Zara grinned and shook her head. "None of the
women in a Prima line ever change their names when they get
married. Your grandmother married a man named James Shadowford.
They had a daughter, Claire"

"My mother," I said.

"Yes." Zara smiled, as if I had surprised
her. "Named for the first Prima. Your grandmother and her husband
died in a terrible car accident when your mother was only seventeen
years old. I guess taking over the role of Prima at a young age
runs in your family."

"Caroline told me that Primas are hard to
kill."

"That's true."

"So how did my grandmother die in a car
accident?"

"The car caught fire," she said. "And she was
trapped inside. No one is completely sure of the details, but at
the time, there was some suspicion of foul play."

"What about my mother? Did she become joined
with the demon at seventeen? Or did the Order wait until she was
eighteen?"

Zara tilted her head and pursed her lips.
"That's not really part of this story," she said. "But yes, they
initiated her early. Sadly, she died when she was only eighteen.
That's when the house passed to James' only living relative, his
mother Barbara."

"Mrs. Shadowford," I said.

"Exactly," she said, clapping her hands
together.

"So how does that make the house mine?"

"Mrs. Shadowford is the caretaker, but the
house and the land all belong to the Prima. That's the way it is in
every demon gate town. The land that holds the gate belongs to the
woman in charge. It's very simple, really."

"When can I take ownership, then?"

"When you're initiated," she said. "It's
technically already yours, but until you're officially the Prima
and the leader of this town, Mrs. Shadowford is a guardian of
sorts."

"Some guardian," I muttered.

Zara giggled. "She's not my favorite person,
either. She's never really fit in with the rest of us."

I thought about my list of people who might
have a motive to kill me. "Is Mrs. Shadowford bound to the
Peachville demon gate? I mean, was she initiated here?"

Zara narrowed her eyes at me. "Why do you
want to know? Do you question her loyalty?"

I shrugged, but inside my heart was beating
fast. "I was just curious."

"She was initiated here," she said. "She may
not seem very nice at times, but she's loyal to the Peachville
coven."

I sighed. Basically, that meant that as much
as Mrs. Shadowford might not like me, she definitely didn't want me
dead. I would have to cross her off my list.

"Come on," Zara said, standing. The chair
beneath her disappeared instantly. "I'm bored of all this talking.
Let's do some real magic."

Zara and I walked behind the house and into
the woods. I recognized the path toward the ritual area.

"Why are we going this way?" I asked. I
tripped on every stray root, but Zara seemed to almost float above
it all. Her long white skirt hid her feet, so for all I knew, she
might actually have been floating.

"If we're to test your power, it's only fair
we go to the source of your power."

I didn't like the sound of that. The last
time I'd pushed myself to the limit of my own power, I'd ended up
seriously ill. Even with the new power I'd gotten from the
confirmation, I knew I wasn't any match for the daughter of a
powerful priestess.

"Can you feel it yet?"

"What?" I asked.

"Your demon," she said.

We weren't quite to the clearing yet, but now
that she mentioned it, I could feel it. Or at least, I felt
something. When I closed my eyes, my body felt all shivery and
alive. It was a subtle change, but now that I concentrated on it, I
could definitely feel my power increasing the closer we got to the
clearing.

"Is my demon here?" I asked. I touched the
necklace at my throat, wondering how all this worked.

"When a Prima dies, and her heir is too young
to be initiated, the demon is confined to a statue of solid white
marble," she said. She paused and placed the palm of her hand
against my chest. "Your demon is always connected to you here, but
it's nothing like what it will be later."

Yeah, once he's inside of me
. I
shivered at the thought. I couldn't let that happen. Ever.

"The statue is close." Zara closed her eyes
and lifted her face toward the sky. "Even I can feel the presence
of the demon. It's interesting. I never would have imagined
Peachville's demon to be so strong. Maybe his long rest has made
him more powerful than ever."

The statue. There were two matching statues.
One was here in the clearing, near the steps down to the ritual
room, but the other was all the way downtown at the high school. I
wanted to ask her about why there was a need for two when there was
only one demon, but I didn't get the chance.

Zara turned to me and smiled. "Let's try
something relatively basic," she said. "As a warm-up."

I took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, show
me."

With a giggle, Zara lifted her hands and rose
at least five feet off the ground. My original thought that she
looked like a fairy seemed extremely appropriate now.

"Levitation is a basic spell," she said. "All
you do is imagine yourself as light as a feather."

I winced at the word. Feather. I should have
been out there searching for Caroline, not playing in the woods
with Zara. But I knew I didn't have a choice. The Order had
assigned her to me as a guardian, and making her angry would just
make everything worse for me. So, I imagined I was light and
feathery.

Nothing happened.

"You're not even trying," she said. She
floated back down to the ground.

"I'm imagining it, but it's not working."

"You've got to connect to the power first,"
she said. "Your mind has to be extremely focused. Your magic comes
from your soul, but it's your mind that must focus the energy into
a single purpose. When you've got other thoughts running through
you, the spell will be weak. That's fine for small things like orbs
of light and such, but for these tougher spells, you must
focus."

"How?" I asked. "I feel like my mind is
always racing in a hundred different directions."

Zara put her hand on my forehead and slid it
down over my eyes. My eyelids closed in obedience.

"Imagine a black space," she whispered.
"Nothingness all around. Then, imagine a single blue butterfly
fluttering through the space. Its wings are a brilliant light in
the darkness. See the butterfly?"

I nodded.

"Good," she said. "Imagine the butterfly
landing on the floor of that black space. He's very still, like a
statue. Concentrate on the blue of its tiny wings. Breathe in and
out, let the power beneath your feet coarse through your entire
body, but never lose sight of that butterfly's wings."

I took a deep breath in through my nose,
feeling the calming rush of air. I let the air out slowly, doing as
she said and picturing nothing but the neon wings of a blue
butterfly wrapped in nothingness.

"Now put your hands to your side. When you
lift them up toward the sky, imagine your body lifting from the
ground, completely weightless."

I let my arms fall to my sides. Without
disturbing the rhythm of my breathing, I slowly lifted my palms
toward the sky. In my mind, the butterfly was completely still and
focused.

Zara squealed and clapped her hands. "You did
it! Open your eyes, silly."

I opened my eyes and gasped. As soon as I
realized what I'd done, I brought my hands to my mouth in shock.
Unfortunately, I also lost sight of the butterfly.

I tumbled to the ground, banging my shin on a
rock as I fell.

Zara dissolved into laughter. She held her
hand to me and helped me stand. "Fantastic," she said. "But don't
ever lose your focus."

"Thanks for the tip," I said. I sucked a
breath in through clenched teeth and lifted my pants leg. My leg
was bleeding slightly, the skin scraped off in a long strip.

"A minor price to pay for what you learned,"
she said.

"Can you teach me how to heal this, too?" I
said, only half-joking.

She shook her head. "Healing people is not
one of my gifts. Trees and plants are much easier, but to be able
to heal wounds on a human is a rare and very special gift."

I thought of Mrs. King's amazing ability to
heal almost any wound if she could get to it fast enough. I never
realized just how lucky I was to have someone like that in
Peachville. She'd saved my ass more than once.

"Thanks for the butterfly trick," I said.

"It doesn't have to be a butterfly," she
said. "Anything would work, but I have a special affection for
butterflies." She gave me a mysterious smile. "Watch this."

Zara did as before, lifting her hands in the
air and floating several feet off the ground. Then, she closed her
eyes and placed her palms together in front of her chest, as if she
were saying a prayer. A shadowy smoke swirled in the air around
her, hiding her slightly from view as it grew thicker. Then, she
disappeared.

Or at least I thought she had. Then, inside
the smoky darkness, I saw the tiniest movement. I stared in awe. A
beautiful blue butterfly like the one I'd been picturing fluttered
toward me. It flew around my head, and I turned to follow it with
my eyes. I couldn't believe it. Had Zara just turned into a
butterfly right here before my eyes? I had no idea that was
possible!

I lost sight of her and walked a few steps
deeper into the woods, searching. A soft tap on my shoulder made me
jump in surprise. I twirled around, frightened. Zara giggled.

"Was that you?" I asked. My heartbeat sped up
at the thought. "Was the butterfly you?"

"Yes," she said. "Pretty, right?"

"Incredible," I said. "How did you do
it?"

"Shape-shifting is a very advanced form of
magic," she said. "I don't know that it's something you should try
at your level, but it's something you might be able to do in the
future. Only witches from a very powerful line are capable of
shifting."

"Can you turn into anything you want?"

"No, just the butterfly," she said. "It's the
same way for most witches."

"How do you know what to turn into? How did
you figure it out?"

"I just knew," she said. "Every woman in my
family can turn into a butterfly. Sometimes they are yellow or red
or black, but our family is a butterfly family. It's the same way
with every line. If it's in your blood to shift, everyone in the
line shifts into a similar form."

"Does my family shift?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said. "That's something
you'll have to ask a local witch. Or my mother might know, if you
get a chance to ask her."

I hoped I could shift. That would be so
awesome to be able to turn into an animal. Something dainty like a
butterfly would be nicer than something like, say, an elephant. I
wanted desperately to try it, but Zara was probably right. I was
already starting to feel a little bit sick to my stomach from all
the magic use today. I didn't need to push it.

Zara laughed that tinkling delicate laugh of
hers, then shifted back into her butterfly form. I smiled and kept
my eyes on her as she flew high into the air and all around me. She
came close to my face and fluttered so close to me, I was scared to
breathe too hard for fear of hurting her.

"Show-off," I teased.

As if taking my words as a challenge, she
dipped low, then circled me. She paused in front of my eyes again,
then took off into the woods. I chased her as best I could. A few
times, I lost sight of her and had to stop, but she always came
back to me, stopping just at eye level long enough to make sure I'd
seen her. She took off again, and I ran after her, determined to
stay with her this time.