The Demon Girl by Penelope Fletcher (each kindness read aloud TXT) 📕

for me once I’ve done a proper reading on you. The roads of your future will be clearer and we can-” She spaced out, her eyes flickered at something unseen. “Oooh, that is not good. Tell your blonde friend not to go outside on her own in the dark. In most futures it ends badly.”

“Huh?” I croaked feeling a million miles behind.

“I’m trying to get a feel for where we are time wise,” she enlightened. Her tiny palms flew up. “Wait. Has that vampire bitten you yet? You should have met him by now.” She frowned and looked inward. “I’m missing something.”

My heart thumped. She could only be talking about Tomas. I was hyper aware of Conall standing alert beside me at the mention of a vampire. I twisted my hands into my jumper pockets. “Uh, I don’t know what you mean.”

“Maybe if you never meet him you won’t end up at Orchard. That’s a relief. I did a reading on Breandan, and he ends up there in chains. He gets distracted because the vampire wants you.” She frowned. “No wait, I think it’s a humans fault. Damn, I can’t see. Anyway, things get out of control. You know how vampires are once they’ve had your blood. Bottom line is in this future you all died. Sometimes you save him but not the vampire. Or you save the vampire and the human but not Breandan. I can’t see what the difference is between one future and the other. My advice is to avoid Orchard if you can.”

“Say-so,” I said. Not that I’d ever had any plans to be in the company of Tomas for much longer or ever visit this Orchard place. “Y’know what, I’m going to be honest and say I have no idea what to do with anything you just said. I’ve seen and done unreal stuff today.” Sensing its queue my tail whiplashed out behind me. “Nothing is simple anymore and everything frightens me. And you. Your supposed to be a witch and evil by default. You aren’t what I expected.”

“Old woman with a hunch back, raspy cackle and a pimple on her nose?” She asked in a bored voice. “Cauldron and a cave?” I nodded guiltily. “Damn. Stereotyping is a bitch. Yes, witches are bad, but I’m the exception to the rule.” She stepped toward me and I stepped back, wary. She extended her hand and I eyed it warily. “Let’s get this done. Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t peer into your palm and trace lines. Hold my hand, I won’t bite.”

Taking a deep breath, I reached out and clasped the undersized hand in mine. Ana’s pupils dilated into coin-sized black holes, swallowing the whites of her eyes. The skin on my fingers started to tingle.

“Incredible,” she breathed.

Her body became motionless, and her eyes hooded. They flickered rapidly trying to watch a million things at once. My hand grew hot and she gripped me tighter. I flinched to pull away, but she held on, astonishingly strong. She shrieked, a loud, short sound of pain and denial. A pulse of energy shot down my arm, and my hand was wrenched from hers. We staggered back in shock of the connection being broken, and I curled in on myself, blowing on my heated palm.

Ana face was clouded with indecision. “Oh Rae, what have you done,” she whispered.

Conall had a big question in his voice, “What have you seen?”

Ana said nothing, but watched me absorbedly. “Could you give us some space?”

He hesitated, but then nodded. Releasing me he blurred into a sprint and rocketed out of sight. Again, it seemed demons were not big on goodbyes. After a few seconds deep silence, I fidgeted at how intense Ana had become. My eyes darted to and from her gaze that never wavered from its mark.

“Rae, you have many futures but two are clear. You stand at a precipice and I’m telling you, for your own sake you need to step back.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” I made a helpless gesture.

“The vampire, I see him in your future. He hails the end of people you care about and those you have not yet met. Hear me.” Ana stepped forward, hand outstretched and face anguished. “You must stop what you’re doing. Turn away from that future. Plain enough for you?”

Understanding came to me then, and a name slipped through my parted lips. “Tomas.”

She paled to gray. “I warned Breandan he would seek you out. I thought he was deflected. They’ve been hunting him for nearly a month now.” She swallowed, her unsteady breathing plainly revealing her angst. “You must stay away from him. He is bad news,” she said. “You have no idea what he is capable of. If he gets a hold on you we will be lost.”

“You don’t have to worry.” I tired to sound calm and reassuring because she was freaking out. Her face was all red and her hands waved about in the air frantically. “He’s okay. He just wants to talk. I’ll hear him out and then he’ll go.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you? That a vampire has risked his life to come and tell you something then run away into the night and leave you be?”

I flushed. It did sound improbable that Tomas would want to tell me something then leave, but what else could he want?

“You have to tell me what’s going on.”

Ana did not answer. Instead she drew herself up and was glaring at me again.

“There was a decision I did not understand, but now I see.” A sound of frustration gurgled in the back of her throat. “I will not look further down that road, it is a disaster. If you keep this secret about Maeve for much longer, it’ll be the beginning of the end. Breandan may seem cold at times, but he needs to be able to trust you. It is my purpose to reveal what counts, but if I tell him Maeve may be If I tell him everything falls apart.” I said and did nothing. I stood and stared at nothing, because once again I hadn’t a clue what was going on. Ana cocked her head. “He hasn’t explained anything to you, has he?”

“We only met this morning and he’s been busy hunting Tomas.”

Who I’m hiding in my wardrobe, I added silently. Realizing I’d rallied to Breandan’s defense, I pressed my lips together.

Exasperated, a hand flew to her hips, and she tutted. “Lochlann, Breandan’s older brother is the leader of a group of fairies who have broken away from Devlin’s rule, and therefore the Tribe. Rebels.”

My mouth flapped open. “What?” I spluttered. “Fairies have Tribes?”

Ana yawned, rubbed at her ear. “There is only one Tribe, the Tribe, ruled over by the fairy High Lord, Devlin. Lochlann is a lord too, from one of the older families. After disagreeing with Devlin about” Her eyes flicked back to me, and she dropped the ends of her sentence. “He took his family and a few others with him. Then he left a month ago, and didn’t say why or where he was going. He just left us.” Her shoulders jerked once. “Some panicked and started to lose faith. A few even went back to Devlin.”

Shaking my head, I caught up, and frowned. “Breandan took his place?”

She went pink and scowled at the floor. “He was as confused as the rest of us. Lochlann is not weak or fickle. He had a reason for leaving, but it’s hard to keep faith in such times as these. Breandan and Maeve had their own private battle as to what should be done to lead the others until he returned. But neither of them said anything directly to Lochlann’s followers to soothe them. Once, when it was really bad, I touched Breandan trying to get his attention, and I saw his future.” She sighed and rubbed her head. “Before I thought it through I blurted it all out. Naturally the rebels turned to him to lead.”

“What did you see?”

“Breandan standing over Devlin, victorious with a fairy-girl stood beside him. I saw alternates of course, but when the fairy was gone Breandan failed and died. Lochlann comes back to his brother’s body and turns his back on us.”

Of course I was going to ask, “So, who’s the fairy-girl?”

“Seriously? I have to answer that question?”

Pressing a hand to my throat, I searched for the invisible fingers crushing it. “How did you know where to find me?”

“I saw you and Breandan running hand in hand behind the Wall. You wore the green blazer with the Sect sigil. Oh, the fact you are training to be a Cleric went down a treat with the rebels, by the way.” She sighed. “Damn that boy, I’d kick his ass if I didn’t owe him. He played such a dangerous game.”

I sunk to my knees amongst the leaves and settled down onto my bum, legs flopping weakly in front of me. My hands burrowed into the dry dirt either side of me, and fisted beneath the surface.

“What game? How is any of this a game?”

“Wrong choice of words.” She waved her hands in apology. “Breandan sought you out, no matter how much he may try to deny it. The moment I told him what I saw, he wanted to see you, but it’s screwed things up. I always saw you bumping into each other and your love growing. I told him to stay away, that the time for your meeting would happen naturally. Then I found out he was spying on you for the last month.” She smiled. “This morning when you saw him, by the slope before you fell, he didn’t help you up because I called him away. You were not supposed to meet like that. But when you got lost the future changed again, and in pops the vampires chance.” She grimaced and looked down at her hands. “But I guess, it’s my own fault for blurting out the truth.”

“A few things are starting to make sense,” I said, and breathless, lifted a finger to signal time out.

I thought of how Breandan reacted toward me the first time we’d met. He’d been horrified at who I was, annoyed at me, and yet so persistent. Always coming back no matter how many times I told him to back off, so sure that I had to listen and trust him. My wings curled around me, and my tail flicked about behind me disturbing stone and insect. It was daunting to hear someone you had just met and were beginning to feel something for had known you, and what you would become a long time before you knew they existed.

“And Devlin? How did he find out? I doubt Breandan would have proclaimed my existence to the Tribe.” I remembered the reluctance in his expression when he held me for the first time. And I remembered his words, the white witch was right and now I’ll never hear the end of it. “And as much as you tell me he wanted me meet me; I have a hard time believing it.”

Ana pulled her top up and I recoiled. The skin across her stomach was a ghastly sight of lumpy flesh and pink scars. “The Tribe caught me and I was not strong enough to hold my tongue.” Pulling the top back down a tear rolled down her cheek. Scrubbing it away she looked disgusted at herself for showing weakness. “Breandan saved me, and carried me to Conall for healing. But the cuts were done with magic, and Devlin’s consort, Wasp,” she spat the name, “is a tricky bitch with a special gift for knife work.”

I yanked my hair a few times, the feeling of helplessness threatening