Page 12 of Forgotten Monsters
We are clearly outnumbered, and yet, none of them dare to attack Mal. The demon sits in the center of her circle with her lids closed like a fucking yoga instructor, and the creatures skirt around her with wide eyes.
Jules stands right behind her—probably hoping the snakes won’t hurl weapons at her while she’s so close to the demon.
“Mal?” Barron shouts. “Now would be a good time to help!” A nasty cut runs from his pectoral to the space beneath his left arm, his shirt drenched with fresh blood.
Mallory squints harder, multiple lines creasing her forehead. “I can’t transform.”
“Ye better.”
Mal tugs on her long curls and growls. “I can’t. Jules, what are you waiting for? You’re our only shot.”
Jules spreads her arms wider. A perfect, tempestuous purple orb—its shade identical to Barron’s blade—roars to life between her hands.
What in the Dark Mother’s name is this shit?
Life keeps throwing me curveballs, and they are all shaped like my sister, who apparently draws infernal magic from the ether like a magician pulls rabbits out of a hat. The snake-men recoil—hell, even Barron pauses mid-fight to stare at her.
The purple orb stretches into four globulous, deadly spheres that bury inside the four closest snake men. Their bodies hit the ground a moment later, tongues spilling out of their mouths, eyes vacant.
Acid simmers at the back of my throat. First the healing, and now this? Is she even my sister? For the first time since I saved her life, I wonder if it’s really her, or if the Jules I grew up with was somehow replaced by a shape-shifting creature strong enough to fool me, but I dismiss the thought immediately. One look at her, and my blood boils with pride—and jealousy. She’s my Jules, whether she’s still human or not. Did her marriage to Cole change the very fabric of her? That seems like a more reasonable explanation.
The shock caused by Jules’ power ripples across the snake-men, and they slither to the edges of the boat. Guttural clicks and hisses reverberate across the fiberglass, but with a knowing look, they wiggle past the railings and slink back to the sea.
Barron yanks a limp body from the deck and dumps it into the water. “Well. Wouldn’t ye know. We have a second demon aboard.” His pointed glare lingers on Mallory, and I detect a hint of reproach.
Mallory lifts her chin up. “We all have our secrets. Jules’ true nature wasn’t mine to share.”
I land near the cockpit, eyes fixed on Jules. Purple highlights already freckle her hair, and I observe her closely. “A demon? How areyoua demon?”
She bites her bottom lip. “Dad lied to us about my mother.”
“Your mother…”
“Was a demon, yes.” Unshed tears glimmer in her blue eyes.
The tremble of power emanating from Barron wears off, and the black cloak and gloves dissolve into smoke. He staggers past us to the cabin.
I swallow hard, the lump in my throat thick and dry. “How long have you known?”
Jules grazes the demonic circle Mallory drew on the bridge with the tip of her shoe. “Not long. He told me over Christmas break.”
I’m…baffled. Flabbergasted. Shocked. My jaw hangs open, and, while I expect to feel angry at being left out of the loop once again, I can’t believe Dad lied to her for so long about something so…profound. I spent my entire life yearning for my mother’s affection, but that Jules was denied the chance to even meet hers—
“Wait. How could he do this to you? Is she alive?”
Jules shakes her head. “He said she died right after I was born.”
I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. “I’m so sorry.”
A hiccup quakes her chest. “Err—You’re not worried about what it could mean for you? If people learned the truth…”
My sister is half-demon and married to a Fae prince…Clearly my political aspirations are doomed, but on this bizarro boat, in this savage realm filled with fog and monsters, I can’t bring myself to care.
“I don’t care.”
A part of me simply…breaks. Despite mother’s claims, I trust my sister. I love her. I’m never good enough for Piper anyway, never lady enough, never smart enough, never shrewd enough. Darkwood is a two-timing bitch, and Daniel lied to me formonths.
I grip her hands tightly in mine. “You saved us, Jules. Demon or not, you saved us. And you looked so bad-ass doing it I could cry.”
