A Demon's Wrath: Part II (Peachville High Demons) Read Free Page B

to
follow.”
    Andros looked across the field of black, his eyes
growing darker and more distant, as if he were remembering some great
pain. “That’s where information get complicated,”
he said. “And privileged. I’m taking a very big risk
showing you these things.”
    “I need to know.”
    “Once you’ve seen what I’m about
to show you, you’ll never be able to go back to life the way it
was before,” Andros said. He looked from me to Lea, meeting our
eyes. “It will change everything. Are you sure you’re
ready for this kind of truth?”
    “My world has already been changed forever,”
I said. “The moment my twin brother was torn from me, it was
like I went over some kind of cliff. I fell into the deepest kind of
darkness. How could my life ever be the same after that?” I
shook my head and ran a hand through my hair. “I’m going
to follow this path as far as it goes, and believe me when I say that
whoever is responsible for this is going to pay for what they’ve
done. It’s the one thing I can say with complete confidence. I
won’t rest until they’ve paid for this with their life.”
    Andros lifted and eyebrow and laughed. “You
sound like one of us.”
    “Who’s us?” Lea asked.
    He ran a hand across his cheek, studying her. “The
Resistance,” he said. “It’s a small group for now,
but it’s growing.”
    “What are you resisting, exactly?” she
asked. Her tone was biting. Untrusting.
    “You really are sheltered, aren’t
you?”
    Andros walked toward a black bag laying on the
ground. He picked it up and slung it over his shoulder, a look of
amusement on his face.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “I mean, how is it possible you’ve
never heard of The Resistance?” he said. “Only someone
who’d been sheltered deep within the castle walls could be so
blind to what’s been going on in the outerlands.”
    A hollow feeling took over in my stomach. “Yes,
we’ve been sheltered,” I said. “But I’m here
to find out the truth.”
    Andros paused and turned around. “And what
about you, Princess?” he asked. “Are you ready to find
out the truth? Even if it means finding out that your father is not
as honorable as you think he is?”
    Lea’s jaw tensed and her hands clenched into
tight fists at her side. “I’m here to take a look at the
facts with open eyes and make up my own mind about what’s real
and what isn’t,” she said.
    Andros made a face. “Inviting you into my
world and sharing my knowledge with you is either the smartest thing
I’ve ever done,” he said. “Or the dumbest. But if
the two of you are to be our leaders someday, I think you have a
right to know what’s going on. I think you have a right to see
what your king has worked so hard to keep hidden from you and the
rest of the citizens inside his precious gated city of gold.”
    His voice trailed off and he looked out across the
roses again.
    Finally, he squinted up at the moons shining
above.
    “Come,” he said. “It’s
time.”

Dark Purpose
    Andros shifted to pure black smoke and I knew the
time for questions was gone. It was now or never.
    I looked to Lea, making sure she was truly ready
to follow where this would lead. She gave me a sad smile, then
shifted and followed the trail of smoke Andros had left behind.
    I followed them through the dark forest, then out
across a field of firegrass that sparked across the backdrop of the
night sky. We came across a worn path and followed it for a long
while, then suddenly split off from the road and cut through another
dark forest full of thorned trees and nightwhispers.
    I could barely keep up with them. Without my night
vision, they would have lost me miles ago. I had no idea how Lea was
following him with such ease, but I was impressed. And jealous.
    When we broke through the trees, the Sea of Glass
stared back at us, the moons’ glow dancing on the black surface
of the water. True to its name tonight, it was as still and
motionless as