Demon Day by Penelope Fletcher (best novels in english .TXT) 📕

Reaching the sacred ground Devlin usedto sacrifice Alex, I let the energy of the place soak my pores. Thevibration of magic was strongest here and I shivered. It was just aplace, nothing to be afraid of, right?

My eyes landed on the altar and thebody wrapped in green vines and flowers that lay a top it. Standingbefore it guilt and loss flooded my heart. Gathering my courage, Iplaced my palms on her chest. The dim hum of energy from the bodywas unexpected, and my hands lifted off her in shock. Browsfurrowed, I cocked my head. Focusing, I pushed my influence out andsent it down into the cold flesh not sure what I was doing orexpecting to find.

“Rae.” The sharp callsnapped me back into my own mind, and the connection, the sense ofconsciousness lost.

I swallowed and looked down at myhands then the body. “I think … it felt like she–”

“You should not play withthe dead.” Breandan took my hand and pulled me away from Lex’sbody.

Letting myself be pulled away, I shookmy head in confusion. “But I felt her.”

“We are all connected tothe Source on some level or another. As fairy we can tap into thisenergy and seek out minds that are not our own. That is howLochlann keeps track Maeve’s state and mine. That is why you canfeel Alex when you touch her body. It takes time for the energy tofade after the life has ended, more so when the death is sudden.”He sighed. “Rae, what in the heavens did you think you were doingbefore using your magics to craft such perversion?”

Damn. All of a sudden my toes were themost interesting thing to stare at. “I– I don’t know what–t you …m–mean….” My tongue tied into a knot, and my stomach crampeduncomfortably. I avoided his eyes as yet again I tried tolie.

“You tried to make azombie.”

My mouth fell open. It was out there,the word I had not even said to myself. “That’s not possible. It’sa legend told by Vodoun to scare witches and otherdemons.”

“Yet that is what you triedto do to as she lay awash in blood at the altar. I felt it in theair. You called on the Loa, Rae, and they were answering you. Youdefied natural order and that is not your purpose.”

I bit my lip, hard. “It was you? Youstopped me?”

“If you had truly wanted totie her to such a repugnant fate I would have let you finish.” Heheld up his palm to stop me from speaking. “But I think I stoppedyou in time.”

I grabbed his hand. “You think? I sawher twitch, but I thought it was her body being zapped with magic.”I looked back to the body and thought of the energy I could feelwithin her. Was it possible? Was there a way to bring her back tome?

A shadow of a nameless emotion passedhis face, like clouds over the sun, but it was gone in an instant,smothered by that expressionless mask he hid behind. “To completethe resurrection you needed to lock her soul in her body. She didnot awaken, she was set free.”

My excitement died and Iloosened my grip on his hand. Tears welled in my eyes to run downmy face. “I miss her,” I confessed and scrubbed at my cheeks.“She’s only been gone a few hours and I– I’m struggling to acceptit. She doesn’t feel gone to me.” I tried to make him understandthat her loss was not something I could rationalize. “She shouldnever have been dragged into this. She suffered. They humiliatedher and abused her body. I want … wanted to give her somethingback.”

“You tried to give her lifebut it was not for her wellbeing.”

I jerked like he had backhanded me andstared at him. “How could you say that to me?”

“You tried to reanimate herfor yourself. No one would want to live such a wretched existence,least of all someone as vibrant as I sensed your friend to be. Shewould have become a killer, Rae, and consumed with thoughts offlesh and pain. A slave to the urges and whims of the dark magicshe was reborn from. Her flesh would be cold and dead. She wouldnever change or grow. You would have given her life, but lost thefriend you knew.”

“You don’t know her. Shewould have been fine. I would have helped her, zapped her with goodenergy or something.”

I looked inward, seeking answers to myown questions and complicated thoughts. In truth, I’d not thoughtof the repercussions when I had tried to reanimate Lex. How wouldshe have felt becoming a zombie? Created and kept alive by darkmagic pumping through her body. The knowledge of how to createzombies had supposedly died out alongside the Vodoun; Bokors andMambos who practiced voodoo a decade before. Lex’s own mother wasthe last known voodoo sorceress known to humankind – hunted down bythe Clerics and executed. Her mother’s power was the reason why Ithought calling on the voodoo deity would save her from death. Butwould Lex have forgiven me? Could she have ever beenhappy?

“It was selfish,” Iadmitted and my shoulders slumped. “But it doesn’t matter. Itdidn’t work. I swear to never try it again.”

As I said the words magic crackled,and a heavy constraint wrapped around my neck and settled. Then thecollar of air disappeared. I blinked, placing my hands around myneck.

“Uh, whathappened?”

Breandan stared at me like I was mad.“You made an oath.”

I rubbed my neck. “By saying Iswear?”

“Our words are bound bymagic. If you swear to do something, you must keep the promise.” Hepulled my rubbing hands down from my throat and placed them at mysides.

I shifted, fidgety. I plucked at mybottom lip instead, knowing yanking on my hair, or rubbing my nosewould be too big a giveaway to how uncomfortable I was feeling.“This goes hand in hand with the whole speaking the truth thing,right?” He nodded. “So if I break an oath–”

“You die.”

I gaped at him thenspluttered; “You didn’t think to tell me this before?”

His shoulders lifted and fell. “Youwould not break an oath lightly.” His eyes darted to the shadowedmound to the side of us