Read Online A Demon's Wrath: Part II (Peachville High Demons) by Sarra Cannon - Free Book Online Page A

the
cave.
    This couldn’t be the place where my brother
disappeared. In my vision when he was taken, he had been in an open
field, much like the one near Klashok.
    Still, finding any portal was a victory.
    “How did you find this?” I asked.
    The young demon’s name was Jericho and he
was relatively new to our group. “I grew up near these caves
and like to come here sometimes when I want to be alone to think,”
he said. “So when Andros told us to start looking for signs of
portals, I thought maybe this would be a good place to hide one.”
    “Good job,” Andros said. “I had
no idea the roses could even grow this deep in the rock.”
    “The area here looks abandoned,” I
said. “Is it possible this portal hasn’t been used in a
long time?”
    “Anything is possible,” Andros said.
He walked around the small circular area here at the end of the cave
that housed the portal.
    “Do you feel it?” he asked. “Any
type of pull toward these roses?”
    I moved closer to the circle of black and shook my
head. “Not even the slightest bit of magic. And look.” I
pointed where our footprints had disturbed the dust covering the
rocks. “No one has been for a very long time. Years. Maybe
decades.”
    “Why would the Order abandon a portal?”
Andros asked.
    I knew he didn’t expect an answer, but it
brought up all kinds of questions in my mind. Had something happened
to the witches on the other side? Or maybe the hunter who was
supposed to be protecting it? Without the hunter, maybe the portals
went inactive?
    Frustration ate at my insides. I was so tired of
only having these tiny little pieces to the puzzle. We’d been
searching for so long. Where were all the answers? What were we
missing?
    When Andros had said a blue portal had been found,
I’d gotten my hopes up, thinking maybe we had found something
that would make a difference. Maybe I had finally found Aerden’s
portal.
    But what good was an abandoned portal? An inactive
portal was nothing to us. We might never know why the Order abandoned
this place.
    I paced the area, my anger building with each
step. The power inside of me roared to life and I felt like I was on
the edge of losing control. I’d been so patient for so long,
but at this rate, we might never find the truth about my brother. I
couldn’t take it anymore. I was so tired of disappointment.
    Ice gathered on my fingertips and even though I
tried to push it down, it continued to grow until my entire fist was
covered with frost.
    “Denaer, it’s going to be okay,”
Lea said, touching my shoulder. “We’re going to find it.”
    “When?” I shouted. I pulled away from
her, nearly knocking her backward. “When will we find the
answers? It’s been twenty-five years since Aerden was taken and
we’re no closer to finding him than we were back then.”
    In my frustration, I slammed my icy fist against
the back wall of the cave, putting more strength into it than I
intended to.
    The blow thundered through the corridor as my hand
punctured the molten rock. Ice spread in a circle around my fist, the
rock crackling and splitting as it froze.
    I pulled my hand away and backed up, watching as
large cracks tore through the icy walls, then shattered like glass.
    For a moment, I was afraid the whole place would
come down on top of us, burying us inside this cave like a tomb.
    But only the back wall tumbled to the ground. A
thick spray of fog rose up from the remains of the wall as the warm
air in the cave began to melt the ice-encased rock.
    I stared ahead, shocked by my own strength.
    “Let’s get out of here before the
whole place caves in,” Andros said.
    “Wait,” I said, just making out the
image of something glowing beyond the debris.
    I lifted my arm to shield my face and stepped
forward, stepping carefully over the rubble.
    “What is it?” Lea asked, coming up
behind me.
    “Do you see it?” I asked. “That
blue glow?”
    “I do,” Jericho, the demon who brought
us here, said.