Read A Demon's Wrath: Part I (Peachville High Demons) for Free Online Page A

time?"
    "Would you have accepted me anyway?" I
asked, not wanting to answer her question. "Even if the stone
hadn’t been as bright?"
    She smiled and threw her arms around me. "Yes,"
she whispered. "I have wanted you for as long as I have lived.
Even the dimmest light from you would have meant more to me than the
brightest stone from someone else."
    I leaned my head against her shoulder. Her words
cut deep into a part of me I hoped she would never have to see.
    Aerden had been right, then.
    Even if I’d told her the truth about his
feelings, she would have chosen me instead.
    But being right didn’t justify the lie. The
stone was a betrayal of the worst kind. I knew it the second its
light reflected in her eyes.
    I knew that someday, our desire to protect Lea
from the truth would cause her more pain than truth ever could have.

A Black Hole In My Heart
    In the tradition of our people, the veil can only
come down once the couple inside makes their decision about whether
to part or to promise their future to each other.
    If, after viewing the heart stones, either one of
the couple decides to look for another partner, they are supposed to
lay their locket on the floor at the other’s feet, then turn
their back. At this, the veil will fall into ash and they will both
be released from their promise.
    If they both choose to move forward with their
engagement, the couple inside the veil must seal their promise with a
kiss.
    It’s the final step in the engagement
ceremony and the one I’d been dreading the most since my mother
explained it to me.
    Not that Lea wasn’t a worthy mate. She was
perfect and any demon in the kingdom would have been glad to trade
places with me.
    But in my mind, kissing her was like kissing a
sister.
    After the love she’d seen inside the stone,
she’d be expecting something magical and passionate. A kiss to
end all kisses. How could I possibly fake something like that?
    I knew that our first kiss would be a lie and that
every single kiss from here until eternity would be a betrayal. I
would be lying to her, but also to myself. The weight of the future
stretched out before me, but I knew we couldn’t hide inside the
veil forever.
    Outside our cocoon, everyone was waiting.
    I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry.
    "Lea..." I started, but couldn’t
finish.
    She reached for my hands and I clung to her.
    "Yes?" she asked.
    I shook my head, feeling that I couldn’t let
this moment pass without trying one last time to reach out to my
brother. I wanted him to know that even though we’d already
exchanged stones, there was still time to tell her the truth if
that’s what he wanted from me. It wasn’t too late.
    I closed my eyes and lowered my head. When I
exhaled, I sent a piece of myself out toward him, searching for that
connection I’d never lived a day without.
    I wasn’t expecting to find him. Part of me
knew he was long gone—disappeared to some place that had taken
him farther than our bond could reach so that he wouldn’t have
to feel the pain of this day.
    But there, at the very edge of my reach, I found
him.
    I was struck by the same terror I’d felt on
the steps before. But this time, it didn’t fade.
    I felt his agony, but it was distant. At first, I
was sure it was his loss of Lea that I was feeling. But when I
reached further, my gut twisted and I was struck with a vision so
powerful, it knocked me off my feet.
    I fell to my knees and cried out as I felt the
shackles around his wrists. The inside of them was filled with spikes
that cut deep into his flesh. The pain was keeping him from shifting
into his shadow form.
    "What’s wrong?" Lea’s voice
was panicked.
    I was still holding tight to her hands and she
knelt by my side, pulled down by the weight of my body.
    Another vision struck me. Thorns pierced my
brother’s knees as he knelt on the ground. His clothing was
ripped and bloodied. I pushed to the very limit of my ability,
focused on nothing but the bond we shared as twins,