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

satisfied, and wiped my mouth on the back of my hand.

Something bright and golden caught my gaze in the glassy waters reflection.

My skin glowed. Ear tips slender, and elongated to points peeked through my wild halo of hair. I took out the twig holding it up, and it cascaded down, the inky tips resting slickly across my back. My tail snaked through the air over my shoulder, and my wings rustled. They were gold. Not a light brown or pretty hazel but dark, powerful gold that matched my eyes and wrapped around my shapely body. My mouth opened to gasp and I saw the brilliance of my teeth, sharp and fang like. The small whimper of sound that escaped sounded like chinking crystal. My eyes, sparkling pools of light, widened. I hesitantly ran a finger over my shapely jaw, and tilted my head slightly to the side. My profile was sleeker, yet softer and more regal. I looked beautiful and I took my own breath away. I was scary, a demon.

“Rae.” Breandan’s voice was smooth and warm. He waited for me a few paces away.

It was this moment I realized how much I needed him safe. He was in danger, because Devlin wanted him dead. There had to be something, some way to keep him safe. The thought sent an icy chill down my spine. It was the first time in my life I had ever thought of someone else’s wellbeing before my own, and how was I supposed to protect him from forces I barely understood?

He jumped over the pool and landed on the other side, dislodging a few pebbles that rolled down and plopped into the water. The ripples that fanned out distorted my reflection.

Breandan’s face was lit up, glowing with excitement. “Enough doom, follow me,” he said.

I lost myself. We raced the thunder to where the lightening had struck. It was Breandan’s favorite game. We pushed each other about playfully, and played a demented game of hide and seek. Demented, because we could sense each other. There was nowhere to hide. I came to a stop, my chest heaving and breath coming hard. I pressed my front against a tree and waited. Strong arms enveloped me from behind, and I forgot I was in the embrace of a powerful demon as the storm raged around us. I pushed Breandan away and twirled. Hands spread, head flung back, I giggled as I tripped over my own foot. He caught me before I fell, and chuckled, cradling me in his arms.

Was being a demon meant to be fun? I still felt like me, like the Rae I always had been, just with a few extras.

“Thank you for explaining,” I said, genuinely grateful. I gripped his shoulder to beam into his luminous face. For the first time that day, everything didn’t look so dark.

“I know you wish to be normal, human, but soon you will see there is nothing better than what you are.” He set me on my feet and scrubbed a hand over his head. “When Lochlann returns we will be able to spend more time together, having fun.” His eyebrows pulled together and his face became thoughtful. “I worry I’m not doing this thing properly. I’ve never been bound to another before.”

Biting back a smile, on an impulse I pressed my fingers to his face. He lifted my other hand to press it to his heart.

“It’s not bad,” I admitted. “I thought it would be, but the more I think about it, the less scary being tied to you seems.”

The, thing between us was complicated and tricky. I still hadn’t told him about Maeve or the vampire-boy in my wardrobe. The thought distracted me, and tugged me from the dreamlike state I was in. I needed to get back to Temple. Tomas was probably beyond pissed off right now and pacing my room like a caged predator.

Breandan smiled wickedly, clearly delighted. He stole a kiss and jogged backward. His face filled with mischief.

“A race,” he suggested and crooked his finger at me playfully.

I grinned; skipped to join him then ran, hearing his laughter behind me. I noticed my sense of direction since I had become a demon was stellar. My centre of gravity was rooted to everything around me. I moved and it shifted in relation to the direction of north. I knew how far I was from water, a deep cave or from a high place.

I got back first and wondered if he had let me win. Stomping my boots, mirroring the pound of my heartbeat, I did more happy spins, waiting to get dizzy and for Breandan to come catch me. Round and round I spun.

A figure, darker than the coming night stepped from the gloom and motioned to me.

I stopped dead.

Head spinning, a cry of panic was already bubbling in my throat. I drew in a deep breath, and reached to the Source. Not the best of ideas since I was hardly proficient, having only used it a few times before, but I was facing evil and it was no time to be scared of what I was, or what I could do.

A warm hand closed around my waist and pulled me back, shielded me.

My lungs collapsed, and a squawk of alarm was replaced with knee watering relief. I released my hold on the energy I’d gathered, felt it flow in a warm stream of power from my fingertips.

Breandan, eyes flashing blue fire stepped forward.

Devlin’s laughter made my skin scrawl. “Breandan, you always were overprotective of your toys.” He eased into a comfortable stance. He moved closer then I could see his face better. The sparkle in his eye seemed devilish now and the curve of his lips sinister.

“It is not overprotective to defend what is yours,” Breandan replied and glanced over his shoulder.

I tried to do him proud and look less terrified. Yeah right. I was shaking like a leaf. Devlin had worked magic on me a few hours ago, and it had worked. I remembered the mumbling, quivering mess I had been and felt sick. If Breandan and Conall hadn’t come along, I would have probably given him my amulet and agreed to go wherever it was he was trying to lure me to.

Losing his patience, Breandan shifted, easing his feet apart and asked, “What do you want?”

Devlin pointed to me. “She has spoken to the most powerful Seer of our time, the white witch. She is a fairy born of this region and by rights part of my Tribe unless she swears fealty to a usurper. I have a right to know what her future holds.”

“Touch her and I kill you.”

“By doing this, denying me the right to see her, you are naming her a prisoner or of your faction. If she swears fealty to Lochlann she will be named a rebel. She already has had a hard life at the hands of her mother. Will you truly subject her to a lifetime of being shunned by the majority of her true kind too?”

Breandan’s face was ashen. He swallowed hard and looked at me over his shoulder, expression torn. I understood what Devlin was saying. Because I hadn’t chosen a side I was automatically a Tribal fairy, but since Breandan had claimed me as his own he’d sentenced me to a life filled with death and destruction. I would have to always be cautious, always have to hide the amulet and myself. I was beginning to think even if I lost my piece I would still be tied to it. It would explain why Devlin did not grab the thing a month ago and take off.

Like Breandan said, there were rules to this thing. I just had to learn them.

In that moment I also realized it didn’t matter what Breandan wanted or what Devlin wanted, but what I wanted. My moral compass was crooked at best, but I would never choose to be evil. But nor was I so saint like, that I wanted to be part of a fairy revolution. I cared deeply for Breandan, maybe it was impossible for me not too, and so I stepped closer to him. If he let his nature rule him, Devlin could over power him easily. He needed to keep a level head, for what I had planned. I placed a hand on his shoulder and looked up into his face, my eyes pleading for him to calm down.

“Know you have forced my hand, cousin.” Devlin’s voice twanged with power and I turned in time to see his glamour drop.

His hair ignited, blazing with white light. His ears were elongated and had the point of fairy I found fascinating, but his face was so sharp, pristine in its formation my eyes found it hard to settle on one feature. His eyes were aflame, cold green flames. His hands and feet were clawed, wickedly spiky. I saw clearly now the difference between him and Breandan in their true forms. Devlin was a leader, powerful in his righteous hate for the rebels who threatened his authority. Breandan had his own power, but it was not born of dominance.

I caught the glint at Devlin’s chest as he shifted to set his feet apart, and my suspicion was confirmed. The colour and shape of it was too distinctive to be anything else other than an amulet piece.

Blinded by the urge to take it from him, I lurched forward. Breandan, confused by my behavior, pulled me back and tucked me under his arm.

Emerging from the shadows behind Devlin, fairies unsheathed their weapons. His eyes narrowed and skipped around the trees.

“Tron and Loki are dead,” said the willowy male to his immediate left. Lanky, his grey hair flowed on and on until it hit his knees. With pinched eyes and scraggly grey beard, his wrinkled face reminded me of the crushed velvet I had once seen decorating a Temple Priests robes. Clutched in his hand was a halberd. He jabbed it toward Breandan. “He caught their scent.”

That explained why Breandan had been delayed in racing me. I felt a surge of pride.

“No matter,” Devlin grated, a trace of irritation flickering across his expression. “Lochlann was always the better fighter. Four against two is more than enough. Wasp, my love?”

The wraithlike fairy-girls face blazed adoration and lunacy as she turned to him. Her long hair was a tangle of claret dreadlocks that seemed alive, like snakes writhing around her face. Wide eyes glassy, her pouty green lips parted, waiting.

“Would you do the honor of taking Rae? Be careful not to break her, she can be quite temperamental.”

Mouth curling sadistically, she licked the edge of her blade. A flash of memory showed Ana pulling up her top to expose the scars carved into her flesh by this very demon. My stomach heaved and my lungs sucked air in heaving gulps.

Another male fairy slid closer, eager. An acre of green chest bared his copper Mohawk stood high from his head in stiff spikes. His almond eyes focused on Breandan, and his pierced tongue flicked out in anticipation.