AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Relax. He knows what he’s doing,” Peter reassured but I was suddenly too distracted by his hand on me to pay attention to Clay.
When I finally managed to bring my attention back to the demon warlock, he was staring right at me, wide-eyed, his expression uneasy.
“You’ve been marked by a demon,” he whispered, and my throat tightened.
“What does that mean?” Peter sounded worried.
“I saw a malevolent presence. It was demonic in nature,” Clay replied, and something about what he said reminded me of the night I visited Angela. She’d said she sensed demonic energy in her mystery garden visitor. “And it’s placed its mark on Darya.”
“I didn’t know demons could mark people,” Peter said, rubbing his chin.
“They can’t. At least the kind who live on this plane can’t. The demon who marked Darya isn’t from here.”
“They’re from another dimension?” I asked, more things falling into place. Whatever my mother and Rita had sensed entering the city had marked me. It was gunning for me, and I had no idea why. Was it because of the prophecy?
“Yes,” Clay replied. “But that’s not all I saw. You asked if there’s a prophecy about you. There is. I couldn’t decipher all the details, but I can tell you that you were destined for something truly great. Now, though …”
“Now what?” Peter asked, looking concerned.
“Now, whatever plans this demon has for Darya have derailed the prophecy.” He brought his attention back to me. “They’ve cast a shadow over your future, and it’s unclear where your path will lead. I’m so sorry.” Clay looked genuinely apologetic for being the one to deliver such upsetting news.
My chest started to hurt, my pulse pounding like crazy. I felt like I was about to have a panic attack as Peter came and helped me off the stool. “Don’t worry, Darya. Whatever this is, we can fight it. Your mother is a sorceress, and your father is an invincible vampire. They aren’t just going to let some demon from another dimension come and destroy their daughter’s future.”
“What if they aren’t powerful enough to stop it?” I whispered, and Peter’s eyes turned fretful.
“I don’t know,” he whispered back, and he looked almost as upset as I was. Did he care about what happened to me, or was he merely caught up in the moment?
I turned away, reaching into my pocket to retrieve some money for Clay. I placed the cash on the table. “Thank you for the spell.” With that, I left and went to wait outside. Peter and Clay spoke for a few minutes before Peter emerged through the curtains.
“I’m sorry. That probably wasn’t what you were hoping for. And we still have no way of fixing our telepathy problem.”
“It’s not your fault, and it looks like I have much bigger problems on the horizon.”
Peter fell quiet, his expression thoughtful as we left the market. We passed through the sewers again, and Peter helped me up through the manhole. I checked the time when we arrived back on the street.
“I should go. I told my dad about my dream earlier and he kind of freaked out. I need to talk to him.”
“Sure. Let me know if I can help in any way,” Peter said.
I glanced at him curiously. “It’s so strange, isn’t it?”
“What is?”
“How we’ve spent our entire lives ignoring each other because of things that happened between our families before we were even born,” I said and met his gaze.
His eyes gentled. “I’m willing to set that history aside if you are?”
A warmth filled my chest, despite the lump of worry that had been gnawing at my insides ever since Clay told me I’d been marked by a demon.
“I am,” I said and reached my hand out to shake his.
We stood on the empty street, sharing a moment of solidarity before a beeping car horn in the distance broke it.
“I should go. Talk later?” I said, stepping away from him.
“Sure,” Peter replied before he turned to walk in the opposite direction. I knew his house was somewhere on the north side of the city, but I didn’t know exactly where he lived. It could’ve been a long walk or a short one. I, however, had a long walk to get back to my house, so I opted to take a taxi. When I arrived, several cars were outside, signalling my parents had called in the cavalry.
I quickly paid the fare and hurried inside, where a cacophony of voices all spoke over each other, an air of panic filling the house. In the kitchen, I found both my parents, Rebecca, Alvie, Gabriel, Rita and my aunt, Delilah.
“Darya, there you are!” Mum said with relief as she came forward, pulling me into her arms. I realised why they were all panicking when I spotted Grace in the corner. Shite, I should’ve texted her to play along with my lie that I would hang out with her.
