A Demon's Wrath: Part II (Peachville High Demons) by Sarra Cannon Read Free Book Online

shook my head. “If he
already knows the truth, he’s not going to suddenly stand and
fight. He’s done nothing to help us find answers about Aerden,
and I don’t think telling him what we know is going to change
that.”
    “Maybe not,” she said. “But I
feel like I need to at least give him a chance to tell his side of
the story.”
    I took another deep breath. It was hard to know
which path to take. There was no doubt the king’s army would be
much more effective against the Order of Shadows, but why had the
king refused to fight?
    “Let’s just let it sit for a while,”
she said, moving closer to my side. When she put her hand in mine, I
tensed. “Maybe after we’ve put some time and distance
between us and what we witnessed last night, we’ll have a
better picture of what we want to do. I don’t want to lose you,
but I also don’t want to betray my father. We’d lose
everything, Denaer. He would never forgive us if we joined a rebel’s
army.”
    “I know,” I said. I pulled my hand
away. “But every day that goes by is another day Aerden may be
in danger. What if he is still alive on the other side? What if he’s
being tortured? What if—”
    Something moved at the corner of my vision. A
streak of orange and white flying through the air toward me.
    I turned and placed myself in front of Lea as a
creature pounced on top of me. I cried out as its claws ripped
through my side.
    “Run,” I shouted to Lea, but she
didn’t run. She raised her bow toward the beast.
    I pushed against the soft coat of the
orange-striped beast as it bared sharp white teeth in a horrible
hiss.
    Lea’s arrow sliced through the air toward
us, but before she hit her target, a second creature jumped out of
nowhere, pushing her toward the ground. Lea managed to shift before
her body touched the ground. The beast passed through Lea’s
smoke, then skidded against the dirt and grass, disoriented.
    I managed to push the first beast off of me, but
the pain in my side kept me from being able to focus enough to shift
into smoke. I reached for the axe I now carried with me everywhere.
Aerden’s axe. It had been his favorite weapon and wearing it
had helped me to feel closer to him. I was grateful I had it with me
now.
    Lea and I moved toward each other, pressing our
backs together, weapons ready.
    The two orange beasts looked almost identical
except that one was adorned with black stripes while the other had
white stripes that ran the length of its body. I’d never seen
anything like them before in all my travels.
    “What are these things?” I asked.
    “I’m not sure,” Lea answered.
“I’ve never seen them before.”
    We moved together as the beasts circled around us,
their teeth dripping with saliva as they growled at us.
    There was only one explanation as to who had sent
these beasts after us. The cloaked witch who had seen my face during
the ritual last night. She must have sent them to find me.
    Blood flowed from the wound in my side. That was
the second time in two days that I had been injured, but I already
knew that this was much worse than the burns I sustained during last
night’s ritual. This wound carried poison through my body. I
felt it seeping into me, weakening my magic and flushing me with
fever.
    I stumbled and clutched at my side, feeling weak.
    “Are you okay?” Lea asked, her voice
panicked.
    “I don’t know,” I said. “I
think it poisoned me.”
    I coughed and fell to my knees, barely able to
hold the axe up any longer.
    Lea kept her bow raised, pointing it between the
two beasts as they circled.
    Anger tightened my chest. Andros had warned me
that I was in danger and yet we had stopped in the middle of a field
to argue. How could we have been so careless? How could I be so weak
and useless?
    If I made it through this, I would dedicate myself
to training. I would become a warrior so great no beast could
overcome me this easily.
    If I made it through.
    I placed my hand against the bleeding wound,