A Demon's Wrath: Part I (Peachville High Demons) by Sarra Cannon Page B

said.
“I thought I might find you two out here playing around.”
    I cleared my throat and pulled her arms away from
me, but when I turned back to Aerden, I saw his eyes lingering on her
soft hands.
    And then I knew.
    The realization of it took my breath away, leaving
a heavy feeling in my chest.
    I stared at him and when his eyes flicked up
toward mine, I saw what I’d been missing all this time. All
these years. How could I have been so blind?
    Aerden wasn’t upset I was going to be king.
    He was upset I was going to marry the woman he
loved.

Torn
    “Come on,” Lea said. She grabbed my
hand and squeezed, but when I saw jealousy flash in my brother’s
eyes, I realized he saw every touch as a betrayal.
    I released her hand as if it were on fire.
    “Aerden and I were just finishing up a game.
Can I meet you later?” I asked.
    Lea’s shoulders fell and worry wrinkled her
forehead. “Is everything okay?”
    I glanced toward my brother, who had turned his
back on us.
    “Everything’s fine,” I said.
“There’s just been a lot going on lately, and I wanted to
spend some time with Aerden today since it might be our last chance
to do this kind of thing for a while.”
    She shook her head. “Denaer, there’s
no time, your mother said she needs to see you right away,” she
said, then bit her lower lip and smiled. “She needs to give you
something.”
    Aerden’s head turned toward us and I
swallowed hard.
    “Hold on,” I told her.
    I walked over to my brother. “I need to talk
to you,” I said. “Can we meet up later?”
    “I have a lot going on right now, too,”
he said with a shrug. “Let’s just wait and see what
happens.”
    I wished we had more time. Why didn’t he
tell me he loved her? If he’d said something years ago, or even
months ago, maybe we could have done something about it. Maybe we
could have switched places.
    Lea’s eyes met mine and she sucked in a
breath. “Are you coming?”
    A strange twinge tugged at my heart.
    What choice did I have?
    I took her hand, suddenly torn between duty and
loyalty.

Heart Stones
    When I got home, my mother was waiting for me in
my room.
    “Where have you been?” she asked. She
wore long red robes with ribbons of silver embedded in the fabric. On
her head, she wore a crown of silver adorned with red and yellow
stones. It was a mark of nobility, earned through my father’s
position on the king’s council. “There’s still so
much that needs to get done before tomorrow.”
    “I was sparring with Aerden outside the
city,” I said.
    “You know you don’t have time for
things like that anymore,” she said with a frown. “You’re
going to have a lot of responsibilities coming up.”
    I sighed. “That’s exactly why I wanted
to spend some extra time with him,” I said. “He hasn’t
been himself lately.”
    I didn’t say anything about his feelings for
Lea. I wanted to talk to him about it first.
    Worry flashed in my mother’s eyes for a
moment, but it disappeared just as quickly. A smile spread across her
face and her shoulders straightened. “You know your brother,”
she said. “He’s very strong. He’ll be fine.
Besides, Aerden should be the least of your concerns right now.”
    I sat down in a chair beside the window, suddenly
feeling so tired.
    “I’m glad you’re here now,”
she said. She placed her hand on my shoulder. “There’s
something very important we need to talk about.”
    She reached inside her robes to retrieve a small
golden case.
    My stomach twisted and I cleared my throat.
“What’s that?”
    Mother smiled and held the locket out to me. “Open
it,” she said.
    I took it in my hand, expecting the metal to be
cool to the touch. Instead, it was warm and smooth. I turned it over
in my hands, searching for some kind of clasp, but it was smooth like
a stone. “How?”
    “Set it in the palm of your hand, then wave
your other hand over the top of it like this.” She showed me
the motion.
    I imitated her and the