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

never
too late to tell someone the truth, no matter how scared you are."
    He turned to watch her dancing. Even after a
hundred years, his eyes still shone with his love for her. I really
don’t know how I didn’t see it all those years ago.
    "Lea and I don’t belong together,"
he said. "We didn’t a hundred years ago, and we still
don’t. Telling her about the stone would only open up old
wounds."
    "Maybe reopening those wounds is the only way
to ever really heal them," I said.
    Aerden swallowed and lowered his eyes again.
"Lately I’m beginning to think her pain is the only thing
holding her to this life," he said.
    I drew in a deep breath. He was still trying to
protect her.
    Or maybe he was trying to protect himself.
    Before I could ask him more, a hand slid around my
waist. A slow smile crept across my face as Harper lay her head
against my chest.
    "When did you sneak down here?" she
asked.
    "Only a minute ago," I said. "Having
fun?"
    She looked around at our friends. "I think
this is the first party I’ve been to where no one was murdered
or kidnapped or dying. I call that a win, don’t you?"
    I laughed and wrapped my arms around her. "Yes,
I do," I said.
    "The night is still young," Aerden said,
an eyebrow raised.
    Harper rolled her eyes and leaned over to punch
him in the arm. "Don’t you jinx this, mister."
    "Who? Me?" Aerden lifted his palms in
the air and laughed. "If I remember correctly, I’m the one
who saved you on more than one occasion such as this."
    "Don’t remind me," Harper said.
Her hand absently gripped her blue pendant. It was nothing more than
a pretty blue stone now, but she said it served as a reminder of how
far she’d come and how much work was still to be done.
    I think she just wore it to feel close to her
mother.
    "Well, I’ll leave you two love birds
alone," Aerden said. He pushed off the door frame and walked
into the main hallway.
    "Wait, where are you going?" I asked.
There were still some things I needed to talk to him about before the
night was over.
    He shrugged and glanced toward the dance floor,
sadness flashing in his eyes. "I need some air," he said,
then took off toward the back door, leaving a trail of black smoke
behind him.
    "Do you think he’s okay?" Harper
asked, watching after him.
    "I don’t know," I said. "Every
time I try to talk to him about the past, he brushes it off and then
manages to avoid me for days. I wish he’d open up to me and
tell me what he’s thinking."
    "Give him time," she said, taking my
hand in hers and kissing the tip of my finger. "I can’t
imagine what it would have been like to be trapped inside someone
else’s soul for a hundred years. He’s been through so
much, Jackson. You can’t expect him to get over all that in a
matter of a few months."
    I leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You
really are amazing, you know that?"
    She blushed and turned her head to the side. "So
you keep telling me," she said. "I’ll believe it when
we’ve defeated the Order of Shadows for good."
    I pulled away enough so I could see her eyes and
know that she was truly listening to me. "Tonight isn’t
about them, okay?"
    She was always so hard on herself. She’d
managed to put the weight of two worlds on her shoulders as if she
was personally responsible for saving every human and demon who had
been hurt by the Order.
    "It’s Halloween. One hundred and one
years since the Peachville gate was first opened," she said.
"How can it not be about them?"
    I smiled and and brushed the back of my hand along
her soft cheek. "Because for the first time in over a hundred
years, my brother is free and the gate is closed forever," I
said. "You did that, Harper."
    She leaned into my hand, closing her eyes as a
tear escaped and ran a jagged path down her face. "It’s
not enough," she whispered.
    "Look at me," I said.
    Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing brown eyes
shining with tears.
    My heart overflowed with love and I pulled her
tight against my chest. I