Author's Preface
Thursday morning, Felix and Arisa barely had time to finish their breakfast before Sebastian showed up, clapping his hands together.
“I got the king’s permission to take you kids to Everett,” Sebastian announced, as if the two would understand why that mattered.
“What’s in Everett?” Felix asked. The city wasn’t far from where he lived—well, used to live—but he had never been except to drive through it.
“The site of a demon killing,” Sebastian said. “The demons were weak, but there were two of them, which is unusual.”
“Even weak demons are really rare, though.” Arisa looked to where Clementine sat on the table. The bear nodded in agreement.
“They’re supposed to be.” Sebastian rested his arms on the back of one of the table’s many empty chairs and leaned forward. “There was actually a more powerful demon just south of Seattle, but the king didn’t want us going that far. That one was killed a couple weeks ago, so the site’s probably stale, anyway.”
“Uh, is this safe?” Felix asked.
“Perfectly safe. The demons are gone,” Sebastian said. “All that’s left is a trace of their magical energy, and that’ll fade over the next few weeks. But this is a great opportunity to learn about handling demons, even if you won’t be running into them anytime soon.”
“Will we be gone all day?” Arisa asked.
Sebastian shook his head. “There’s a party of sorts for the Guardians tonight. We’ll come back in the afternoon so that I can get ready for that.”
“A party?” Felix perked up. “Are we invited?”
“Sorry, it’s for graduated Guardians only,” Sebastian replied. “We’ll be discussing missions and whatnot, anyway. You’d be bored.”
“Is it here at the castle?” Arisa asked.
“Nope. Some rich Guardian’s house.” Sebastian straightened up. “Guy named Ernest Abernathy. He throws these parties all the time. I think he just likes having people around to gossip with.”
Felix frowned. “Abernathy? As in Eliza Abernathy? From the council?”
“Yeah, she’s his cousin. The Abernathys kind of suck as people, but they are rich, so I enjoy stealing their food.” Sebastian stretched out his arms. “Anyway, I don’t anticipate any trouble today, but bring weapons just in case. Standard protocol. I’ll meet you at the front of the castle in half an hour.”
Once Sebastian was gone, Arisa leaned forward toward Felix. “Everett is where my parents were last week.”
“What were they doing?” Felix picked up his glass of orange juice.
“They were also looking for a demon.” Arisa shook her head. “It’s weird. Like Seb said, demons are supposed to be really rare. Even the weak ones.”
“Hm.” Felix finished the last of his juice. “Do you think we should be scared?”
“Not as long as we’re with Sebastian. I just feel like there has to be a reason this is happening.”
They dropped off their empty trays and went their separate ways to get ready. On his way out of the dining hall, Felix found himself staring at a group of students that passed by him. The kids laughed with each other as they carried their food to their table.
The Bright Academy students tended to steer clear of Felix, or at the very least pretend they didn’t see him. He wondered if it was because of his family’s deaths, or because of Gideon’s soul. He also wondered if under different circumstances, or if he weren’t on probation, he’d be friends with any of them.
After picking out a green shirt and changing into his uniform, Felix grabbed Helena’s sword, even though he still had little practice with it. He also wore Mom’s ring around his neck, as usual, and brought along Gideon’s necklace, though he kept that in a plastic bag shoved way down in the bottom of his backpack.
He also brought May’s sigil-marked rock. Over the past few days of training, Sebastian had only had Felix focus on using Helena’s lightning, as well as some careful practice with daggers. Felix had yet to touch May’s ability—whatever it was—and he hadn’t had a chance to ask what the sigils meant, either. Well, he probably could have squeezed in, but he felt like he’d bombarded the adults with too many questions already.
Felix met up with Arisa and Sebastian at the front of the castle, and they walked to the parking lot. Sebastian led them to a sleek, dark blue car.
“Ooh, this is nice,” Felix said. He circled to the other side of the car and jumped when he saw Archer waiting.
“King Atticus said he approved a field trip,” Archer said.
If Sebastian was startled by Archer’s sudden appearance, he didn’t show it. “You surprised?”
“I wasn’t expecting him to let you take them anywhere so soon, but it sounds safe enough,” Archer replied. “Though it’s a little early to start teaching Felix about demons.”
“Maybe, but I don’t want to waste such a good opportunity.” Sebastian opened his door.
“I’ll be in Everett this morning, too,” Archer said. “I have to follow up on a few details in the Tamuras’ mission report.”
“This isn’t you asking for a ride, is it?” Sebastian asked with a smirk.
Archer turned around. “No. Just letting you know I’ll be nearby if anything happens.” He walked off without another word. Felix wasn’t sure if that was an offer of help if they needed it, or a warning. Either way, Sebastian was completely unfazed as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
Felix and Arisa slid into the back. “Oh, I’m a bit late on this, but I’ve been meaning to thank you,” Felix said as he pulled his seat belt into place. “I heard you helped buy my house for me.” He only seemed to remember that fact after their training sessions had ended.
“Ah, it’s no trouble,” Sebastian told him as he started the car. “I have a bunch of extra money lying around, since my parents thought it would be a good idea to run off and leave everything behind.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Felix glanced at Arisa, who shrugged. “No idea,” she mouthed as she buckled Clementine into the center seat. The uniform shirt she wore was the same shade of orange as the bear.
Arisa and Felix spent the drive going over words in ASL, while Sebastian occasionally dropped fun statements such as “I killed a wraith in that town over there when I was a teenager,” and, “That mini golf place is actually run by a vampire. Nice guy,” and, “Hey, I almost got turned into a vampire in that creepy warehouse!”
Their destination in Everett was a rundown building a short walk from where Sebastian parked the car. The faded letters above the front doors indicated it used to be a grocery store.
“This place shut down a few months ago but boarding it up wasn’t enough to keep people from sneaking in,” Sebastian said as the three approached the store. “The Guardians who killed the demons are pretty sure they were already on Earth and found their way here to prey on people. They weren’t summoned inside the building.”
“Did people die?” Felix asked.
“Yeah. Demons don’t mess around. I think the total was three deaths.”
Felix’s chest tightened. Three people. How many deaths had he seen in the news that were actually the result of monsters like this?
Sebastian pointed out sigils that had been spray painted on the building’s walls. “The authorities will assume teens did this graffiti, but it’s the work of Guardians,” he said. “Once they knew the demons were killing people inside, they put these sigils around to trap them.”
They circled to a rear door at the back of the building, where Sebastian lifted a hand. A beam of light burst from his palm and struck the handle. There was a crack, and the door swung open.
“Are we allowed to be here?” Felix asked.
“We shouldn’t run into any trouble. If the police show up, I’ll handle it.” Sebastian stepped into the darkness.
An orb of light appeared above Sebastian’s hand as Felix and Arisa followed him in. It drifted up toward the ceiling and expanded, illuminating the store’s interior. The entire building had been cleared of shelves, leaving a massive open space inside. The three walked to the center.
“Okay, you two stand here and close your eyes.” Sebastian pointed at a spot on the floor.
Felix stood with his back to Arisa and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt Clementine’s fur graze his neck as Arisa shifted her weight. “Now what?” Felix asked.
“See if you can feel anything,” Sebastian said. “One of the biggest challenges as a Guardian is learning to sense magical energy, but it’s also one of the most important things to learn.”
“I can feel it,” Arisa said.
“What? How?” Felix opened his eyes and turned to look at her.
“It takes focus,” Sebastian said. “And time. I’d be surprised if you got it right away.”
Arisa’s eyes opened. “I’ve only done it a few times before, and that was always with other Guardians.” She made a face. “The energy here feels…bad.”
“That’s demons for you,” Sebastian said. “As you get better at it, you’ll be able to identify what produced the energy you’re sensing. It’s very important to know what you’re dealing with before you walk into a fight.” He clapped his hands together. “Now, let’s talk about killing demons.”
Felix shifted nervously. He wasn’t sure if it was magical energy or just nerves, but he was starting to sense something off about the empty building. “Maybe Archer had a point,” he said. “Shouldn’t I start smaller? I still don’t really understand how ghosts work.”
“I’ll find you a ghost as soon as I can, but I didn’t have time to track one down this week. We’ll talk more about them at our first formal lesson,” Sebastian told him. “And most vampires and werewolves around here are law-abiding citizens.”
“What?”
Sebastian rubbed his chin. “There are rumors that a witch nearby is serial killing people with curses, but witches are tricky, so we’ll let a more experienced Guardian handle that. And I wouldn’t want to pit you against a siren yet, either—”
“Sirens?”
“—all the big obvious monsters like dragons went extinct centuries ago—”
“ Dragons? ”
“—and most of the other creatures around here are likely native, rather than brought over from Europe. But the Native magicians handle those—”
“All right, all right!” Felix threw his hands in the air. “Tell me about demons.”
Sebastian launched right into a lecture. “Demons come in a variety of forms, some more powerful than others,” he said. “They’re rare, but they occasionally turn up to hunt and kill people. They’re fast, strong, and regenerate quickly when injured.”
“Don’t demons make deals with people?” Felix asked. “Or is that not real?”
“Ah, those are the extra rare ones,” Sebastian said. “Powerful demons are more sophisticated. Rather than chasing people down, they take on human forms and trick people into giving up their souls. Makes them harder to find, too.”
Arisa yawned. “So, what? They’ll still burn up if you drench them in holy water or hit them with powerful enough sigils, right?”
“That’s the same way Kendra and Archer were trying to get rid of Gideon,” Felix remembered. “Does the same stuff that gets rid of ghosts work on demons, too?”
“Sort of,” Sebastian answered.
“Are demons worse than ghosts?” Felix asked.
“Worse is a complicated term, but yes.”
“Ah.”
“Ghosts are easy to banish,” Sebastian said. “For starters, salt is usually enough to keep them away from you. One spray of holy water, or a touch from an object marked with banishing sigils, and they’ll be gone for good. If you have them trapped, you could also draw banishing sigils around them.” He snapped his fingers. “Arisa, what does it take to get rid of a demon?”
“Demons are also killed by holy water, but it takes more. Stronger ones have to be completely drenched, otherwise they’ll eventually heal their burns,” Arisa answered. “If you’re going to use weapons with sigils, you need a lot of sigils, and they have to be strong.”
Felix folded his arms. “So, you just draw sigils on blades, and they can suddenly kill demons?”
“Bit of an oversimplification, but yes,” Sebastian said. “The process of creating sigils takes a lot of time and magical energy, though. You won’t be able to just slap some on a sword and be ready to go.”
“So, that stuff in the movies about chanting in Latin to exorcise demons isn’t real?”
“Nah, that’s real. Exorcisms are for demons that are possessing people, though, and they don’t outright kill the demon,” Sebastian replied. “We magicians aren’t the only ones fighting monsters. Others have come up with their own methods of dealing with them, and we use what works for us.”
“You said there are a lot of law-abiding vampires and werewolves. Are there any demons like that? Maybe the kind that have human forms?” Felix shook his head. “Sorry, I have a lot of questions.”
Sebastian chuckled. “It’s understandable. And I’m happy to answer all of them.” He paused. “But I’ve never heard of anyone meeting a good demon.”
“Cool,” Felix said. “Now, can I ask an existential question?”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Go for it.”
“We’ve got demons and holy water,” Felix said. “Doesn’t that mean there’s a heaven and hell?”
“Ha, yeah, you think that we’d have life’s big questions answered, wouldn’t you?” Sebastian shrugged. “Unfortunately, the answer is just a ‘maybe.’ Demons are infamously tight-lipped about where they really come from.”
Arisa nudged Felix in the side with her elbow. “Don’t get too wrapped up in it,” she told him. “You look like you’re going to give yourself a headache.”
“Okay,” Felix said. “How do you make holy water, then?”
“That’s just the common term for it,” Sebastian said. “You can make it with spells, for example specific prayers. We use sigils, though. There’s a sigil set that uses magical energy to convert regular water to holy water.”
Felix sighed. “So, I don’t just have to learn how to use my abilities. I also have to memorize a bunch of sigils? And all the different ways to kill monsters?”
“Pretty much,” Arisa said sympathetically.
“Once you’re strong enough, most monsters can be killed with your magic, too. It just takes a lot of energy. Besides that, a lot of the classic stuff applies.” Sebastian began counting off on his fingers. “Salt hurts ghosts, silver kills werewolves, iron kills fairies… Hm, vampires are tricky, but if you can keep ‘em out in the sun long enough they’ll eventually burn up—”
“Should I be writing this down?” Felix asked.
“Oh, and beheading! That’s good for a lot of things that can otherwise regenerate.” Sebastian lowered his hands. “Or complete obliteration. But even if you can’t kill something with your magic alone, you will be able to hurt it. In fact, you should do that first to weaken it before you move in with water or sigils.”
“So, would garlic salt repel both vampires and ghosts?” Felix asked.
“I—” Sebastian paused. “Huh. Let me get back to you on that.”
Sebastian’s phone buzzed. He pulled it from his jacket, unlocked it, and frowned at the screen. “Hm.”
“Is something wrong?” Felix asked.
Sebastian brought the orb from overhead back down to his hand. The light made every color of the rainbow shine in his dark hair as it descended. “I have to check something out nearby. Here.” He reached into his other pocket, pulled out his wallet, and removed a twenty-dollar bill. “Go get yourselves some ice cream or something.”
Arisa eagerly snatched the bill from his hand.
“We’ll come back in a little bit to practice energy sensing again,” Sebastian continued. “And I want Felix to try something after.”
“Uh, sure,” Felix said.
The three exited the abandoned grocery store together. Sebastian left Felix and Arisa at the street corner next to the building. Once he was out of earshot, Arisa turned to Felix. “I think we’re close to the building my parents were checking out last week,” she said. She pulled out her phone and opened the map app.
“Weren’t your parents looking for an active demon?” Felix asked.
“Yep.” Arisa looked up. “Two blocks from here.”
“Great. How about we go look for ice cream in the opposite direction?” Felix asked. “Oh, or maybe a coffee shop. I could go for an iced coffee.”
Arisa waved her phone in his face. “Or we could see some real action.”
“That sounds like a bad idea,” Felix said.
“Okay, this might sound crazy, but I think Sebastian wants us to check it out,” Arisa said. “Why else would he bring us here?”
“To practice sensing demon energy?” Felix suggested. “Like he said? Everything he told us in the grocery store seemed pretty reasonable. Why send us to face a live demon alone?”
“He doesn’t have the most conventional teaching methods.”
Felix hesitated. “Even if he did want us to go, can we…trust Sebastian?”
“Why wouldn’t we?”
“Archer doesn’t seem to.”
Arisa shrugged. “Archer has trust issues. Sebastian takes the worst of it, but Archer doesn’t really have faith in anyone. Other than the king.” She placed a hand on Felix’s shoulder and lowered her voice. “Look, I know you’re new to this, but I actually went on a few missions before they put me on probation.”
“Did you ever run into any demons?” Felix asked.
“Well, no, just a few ghosts and an escaped pet griffin. But how much more of a challenge could a weak demon be? I have a couple bottles of holy water and papers marked with sigils, and you have your sword!”
“My sister’s sword,” Felix corrected. “And if this demon were really so weak, wouldn’t the other Guardians have killed it already? Your parents could have dealt with it while they were here, right?”
“They didn’t kill anything. They told me they were having a hard time tracking it down,” Arisa replied. “When Guardians show up, demons hide. We have an advantage because we’re young, so we don’t look like much of a threat.”
“But we’re not much of a threat.”
Arisa ignored the comment. “Also, in the library, I found a method of luring out demons that are already on this plane of existence that most Guardians don’t know about. All you need are weaker versions of sigils used in summoning rituals.”
Felix still wasn’t convinced.
Arisa sighed. “Okay, Felix, look at it like this: Gideon killed your family. You don’t know how to banish his ghost yet.” She held up a finger.
“Uh huh,” Felix said.
Arisa raised a second finger. “Gideon was working for someone. The leader of the Uprising. If you want to be allowed to fight them, you have to prove yourself to the council.”
“Uh huh.”
The hand dropped. “Defeating a demon would show that you’re gaining control of your powers!”
“I guess that’s true,” Felix said. Who knew how long it would take him to gain the council’s trust at the rate he was going? “But what are you hoping to accomplish?”
“I want to go on missions again. I’ve barely been able to leave the castle since they put me on probation.” Arisa sighed and adjusted the bracelet on her right wrist. After a moment, she shook her head and met Felix’s eyes. “I have a plan. Trust me, there’s a way to do this without putting ourselves in danger. I think.”
Felix turned in the direction of the supposed demon. “Okay,” he said after a moment. “Let’s check it out.” He glanced back at Arisa. “But I’m not making any promises about going inside.”
“It’s a start.” Arisa grinned. “Let’s go.”
