Author's Preface
Felix wasn’t sure how much faith to put in Arisa. She carried herself with a lot of confidence. All he could do was hope it wasn’t misplaced. He still didn’t buy that Sebastian actually wanted them to be here, but maybe this was his chance to prove he was worthy of training with the Guardians.
“This is the place,” Arisa said, stopping in front of a small office building. “Since the Guardians are pretty sure the demon is in this building, they put up wards around it. It traps the demon inside and prevents ordinary people from going in.” She held up a hand. As she moved it forward, the air shimmered. “If we can lure the demon out, we could kill it here at the edge without putting ourselves in danger.”
“What about the people who work here?” Felix asked.
“The Guardians in charge of the case probably came up with a story to keep them out. Black mold or a bug infestation or something.”
“And wards are sort of like sigils?”
“Not exactly,” Arisa said. “You can make wards with spells, but like with pretty much everything else, we Guardians make them from sigils. If you searched the property carefully, you’d be able to find the sigils used to form the wards.” She knelt down and opened her bag. “Now, let’s do this.”
Her hands moved into the backpack and pulled out a few pieces of paper covered in sigils, along with a small dagger. After setting them on the sidewalk, she picked up Clementine and set her inside the bag. “Hang out in here for a little bit, okay?” She zipped it up.
Felix elected to set Helena’s sword and his bag on the ground too, for the time being. “Were you planning to do this the whole time?” he asked as Arisa arranged the pieces of paper in a circle.
“I thought there might be an opportunity.” Arisa slid one of the papers a few inches to the left, grabbed the dagger, and rose to her feet. “Okay, they won’t work until we activate them. I brought a lighter, but it would work even better if you used your mom’s fire—”
One of the building’s doors swung open. A boy stepped out.
Felix frowned. “Is that a demon? I thought they’d be scarier.”
“Well, some of them can take on human forms to trick people, but this might just be some kid.” Arisa squinted. She hid her dagger behind her back. “Unless…”
The boy jogged toward them. He looked about their age, but he was several inches taller than Felix. His clothes were surprisingly warm, given the weather. He wore a backpack, ripped black jeans, a dark purple sweatshirt, and hid his hair under a red beanie. Most of it, anyway. A few pieces of straight black hair peeked out on his left side, nearly reaching his shoulders. The hair poking out on the boy’s right nearly matched, but it was pale lavender in color instead.
“What are you guys?” the boy asked when he reached them. “Witches? Sorcerers? Magicians?”
“Bright Guardians,” Arisa told him.
“Magicians, then.”
“Yeah.”
“Wait, I thought the Bright Guardians were a secret organization,” Felix said.
“Only to the public,” Arisa replied. “The local magic community knows about us.”
“If by local you mean the entire Pacific Northwest, then sure,” the boy said. He tipped his head back, letting the sun fall across his light brown skin. “So, can you take these wards down? I’m trapped in here with a bunch of demons. Not exactly fun.”
A jolt of alarm coursed through Felix. “Wait, a bunch of demons?”
His question was ignored. Arisa put her free hand on her hip. “If you’re not a demon, you should be able to leave.”
The boy hesitated a moment before reaching his hand out. His fingers grazed the invisible barrier. He yelped in pain and jumped back.
“I knew it!” Arisa pointed her dagger at him. “He’s a demon. Let’s kill him and—”
“Wait!” The boy held up his hands. “Listen, I’m not—all the other demons here are trying to kill me.”
Despite the barrier, Felix took a nervous step back from the boy. “Why’s that?”
“Because I’ve been trying to kill them.” The boy grimaced and rubbed his forehead, where a horizontal scar cut across the skin a few inches above the center of his eyes. “I thought there were only three in the building. But there turned out to be a dozen more that were somehow masking their magical energy.”
“A demon killing other demons?” Arisa asked skeptically.
“I’m not a demon,” the boy insisted. “I mean, I’m not like the other demons. I was born a human.”
“Nice try, but you’re thinking of vampires. Demons can’t turn humans into demons.”
“Well, at least one of them can.” He sighed. “Seriously, you can look me up. My name is Mason Briggs. I was a normal human up until a few months ago.” After a moment, he added, “Well, technically I was a witch, but I wasn’t born with innate magic.”
“I don’t believe it,” Arisa said. “I’ve never heard of that happening before.”
“Doesn’t mean it can’t.”
“Why are you killing other demons?” Felix asked.
“Because they’re killing people! And I’m strong enough to stop them.” Mason held up a hand. “Do you want to watch me kill them to prove I’m on your side?”
“That sounds like a trap,” Arisa said.
Felix glanced at her. “You don’t think we can trust him?”
“Definitely not.” Arisa sighed. “But if he is telling the truth, I guess we shouldn’t let him get killed, either.”
“Wait, I have an idea.” Felix turned to Mason. “What have you been using to kill demons?”
“This.” Mason drew a large dagger from under his sweatshirt. The blade was engraved with sigils.
“Whoa, where’d you get that?” Arisa asked as Felix took the blade from him.
“My parents.”
The sigils on the blade were different from the ones the Guardians used. They were made up of more circles and loops, with few hard angles like the ones on Helena’s sword. Felix ran his thumb over the dark purple handle.
“No holy water?” Arisa asked.
“I’d rather not carry around something that burns me.” Mason folded his arms. “Even if it’s not enough to kill me, it hurts like hell to touch.”
Felix held up the dagger so that sunlight glinted off the blade. “You said you’ve been killing demons with this?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s see if he’s telling the truth.” Felix sat down on the sidewalk and closed his eyes.
“Uh, what’s he doing?” Mason asked.
“Psychometry,” Arisa said. “I think.”
Dad, Felix thought. I need your help.
Dad arrived quickly. You want to try psychometry? he asked.
Felix held the blade out in front of his face and opened one eye. Yeah. How do I do it?
It’s going to be difficult finding a specific event on your first go, if that’s what you’re hoping for.
I have to try, Felix told him.
Well, it’s hard to put into words, but I’ll do my best. Focus on the object and the pull of my ability. You’ll be able to feel its history living inside of it.
Felix let the pull in his chest take over. Before he could attempt to guide it in any way, he was sucked into darkness.
He stood in the middle of a void, hands suddenly empty. He turned around and found an unfamiliar man nearby holding the dagger. As soon as Felix’s eyes landed on him, the man swung at the air in front of him. A transparent figure materialized long enough to crumble to dust as the blade passed through it.
The man swung again. This time, the being that appeared was a demon. At least, Felix assumed it was. Pale gray skin over muscled limbs, spiraling black horns, clawed hands. A second demon followed, one with deep purple skin and short horns and glowing yellow eyes.
As the weapon cut down monster after monster, Felix got the feeling he’d gone back too far. Dad? You still here?
“I’m with you.” Dad’s voice didn’t come from inside Felix’s head, but from his right.
Felix’s head snapped toward him. His eyes widened. “How are you here?”
“You brought both of our souls into the object’s memory,” Dad said. He smiled. “This is good, for a first try.”
Felix beamed. “Thanks.” He turned his attention back to the man. “But I think I went back too far. I need to find that guy I met. Mason.”
“You can use mental tricks to navigate the timeline,” Dad told him. “For example, imagine winding up a stopwatch.”
“I’ve never done that before.”
“Okay, uh, how about scrolling through your tweeter feed?”
“It’s Tw—never mind. I’ll try that.” Felix closed his eyes and imagined that the story in front of him was something he could touch and move. Not a phone screen, like Dad had suggested, but more along the lines of a giant tapestry. He imagined it sliding past him.
“You’re going backwards,” Dad told him. “The man’s moving in reverse.”
Felix imagined the tapestry sliding the other way.
“Good. Try going a little faster.”
Felix pushed time even farther forward, until he felt Dad’s hand touch his shoulder. “I think this is what you want,” Dad said. Felix opened his eyes.
“Take this to protect yourself while we’re gone.” The man who’d been using the dagger to fight handed it to a younger version of Mason with short, completely black hair, who materialized from the darkness as he took the weapon.
A woman emerged from the void next to him. She took Mason’s hand. “Whatever you do, wherever you go, we’ll always be proud of you. Just promise me one thing.”
Tears brimmed Mason’s eyes. He nodded. “Anything.”
“If we fail, you have to get the Ironwood Wand back,” the woman said. “I know it’s too much for us to ask of you, but it’s too dangerous to let that thief keep it. You need to protect it, okay?”
“I’ll get it back,” Mason promised.
The man and woman disappeared, leaving Mason to stare at the weapon in his hand.
“I need to go farther forward,” Felix said.
“Try keeping your eyes open this time, so you can see where you are,” Dad told him.
Felix moved the timeline forward again. Mason became a blur. Felix slowed down and stopped when he saw Mason running, dagger in hand, throwing terrified glances backward. He looked much closer to his current age. Asphalt appeared beneath his feet as he ran out into a dark street. And then—
“—hit and run,” a nurse said as she stepped out of the darkness. “I’m sorry, the police said the chances of finding the driver are slim.”
Mason sat in a hospital bed, hooked up to IVs and covered in bandages. “How long—” His voice came out hoarse. He sucked in a deep breath. “How long have I been out?”
“A week.” The nurse lowered her voice. “It’s a miracle you’re awake right now. The doctors thought you were gone for good. I was able to get you out of the coma, but you don’t have long. You have a decision to make.”
“What?”
The nurse held up the dagger. “You hunt monsters?”
“Hey, that’s mine!” Mason reached for the weapon, but the nurse easily moved it out of his reach.
“I know.” The nurse examined the blade. “What do you kill? Vampires? Spirits? Demons?”
“Anything that gets in my way.” Mason coughed, pressing his hand to his mouth as he did. When he pulled it away, blood stained his skin. His eyes went wide with panic. “What’s happening to me?”
“You’re dying.” The nurse set the dagger on the table by his bed. “I can save you, but you might not want to be saved.”
“Of course I want to be saved!”
“There’s a catch.”
“I don’t care what it is,” Mason said. “I made a promise. I have to see it through.”
The nurse leaned forward. Her irises turned red, and her pupils narrowed to slits. “I’m a demon,” she said plainly.
Mason recoiled. “What the hell are you doing in a hospital?”
“Hiding. Listen, boy. I have the power to save your life with my blood, but you’ll be transformed into a demon.”
“That’s impossible,” Mason said.
“It’s true.”
Mason shook his head. “I know what demon blood does to humans. You’re trying to turn me into a mindless, bloodthirsty monster.”
Before the nurse could respond, Mason broke into another coughing fit. One of the monitors beeped rapidly. Mason pressed a hand to his chest and sucked in a deep breath.
“I rarely make this offer,” the nurse continued. “It’s not easy for us, blending in. Other monsters have found ways to fit into society without drawing attention to themselves. But demonic power is hard to hide.” Her expression darkened. “And unlike with vampires or werewolves, hunters tend to assume that every demon deserves to be killed.”
Mason wiped blood from his mouth with his arm.
“You only have a few minutes left,” the nurse said. “You can feel it, can’t you?”
The fear on Mason’s face was plain. He turned his wide eyes to the dagger, then back to the nurse. “You can’t bring back people who are already dead, can you?”
The nurse shook her head. “No. But would you really want to doom your loved ones to the fate of a demon?”
“No,” Mason said, his tone bitter. “But like I said, I have a promise to keep.” He closed his eyes. “Do whatever it takes to save me.”
Felix pushed even further down the timeline. Demons burst from the void around Mason and swiped at him with sharp claws. One by one, he cut them down with the dagger, moving with superhuman speed. His hair was longer now, and half of it had turned lavender. Short, dark purple horns protruded from his head. A black stripe circled each horn near the base, with a white stripe just above it. The scar Felix noticed earlier had appeared on his forehead.
One particularly large demon survived the first strike and growled at Mason. Mason hissed, exposing sharp fangs. His brown eyes flashed purple as he swung again and turned the demon to dust.
Felix’s eyes shot open. The transition from standing in the void to sitting on the ground was disorienting, and it took him a moment to find his senses.
“Did you see anything?” Arisa asked.
Felix climbed to his feet and reached back through the barrier to return the dagger to Mason. “We can trust him,” he said, his eyes meeting Mason’s.
“Thank you,” Mason said.
Felix squinted at Mason’s teeth as he spoke. No fangs. Did they only come out when he fought?
Mason looked back at the building. “By my count, there are ten more demons inside. They’re all weak. Easy to kill. But that also means they’re good at keeping hidden. The Guardians are going to have a hard time finding them.”
“What if we went in?” Arisa asked.
“They’d pounce on you in a heartbeat.”
“Perfect!”
“No! Not perfect.” Mason waved his dagger as he spoke. “You two clearly aren’t fully fledged Guardians. You can’t take on ten demons.”
“Right. And how old are you?”
“Sixteen,” Mason said. “But I’ve been training my entire life—”
“What do you think, Felix?” Arisa asked, cutting Mason off.
Felix picked up Helena’s sword and slid it out of its scabbard. “Well, Mason made it look like striking down weak demons was pretty easy.”
“Let me see that sword,” Mason said.
Felix handed it over. Mason grabbed the handle, careful not to touch the blade, and examined the sigils running up and down the metal. He didn’t look impressed.
“You know how to use this?” Mason asked.
“Uh, kind of?”
Mason scowled. “That doesn’t sound promising.” He held it back out to Felix. “The sigils on it will be fine for these demons, but you should really have it strengthened. I see a few places where I could fortify it.”
“So, are we going in?” Arisa asked.
“He did say there are ten demons,” Felix said. “We were expecting one.”
“We were also expecting it would just be the two of us. He’s got tons of experience killing demons!” Arisa glanced at Mason. “Right?”
Mason nodded.
Felix gave the sword a few test swings. Mason had looked pretty proficient in the dagger’s memory. “Yeah, I bet the three of us together could handle this.”
“If you insist,” Mason said.
Arisa drew some pieces of paper from her pocket. They came to life in her hands, folded themselves into airplanes, and circled the air around her and Felix. “These will warn us if any demons get close.” She eyed Mason. “I think I can keep them from picking up your magic, but try to avoid touching them.”
Mason nodded and turned around. “Follow me. They’re all hanging out on the same floor.”
Arisa caught up to Mason on his right, while Felix moved to his left. “So,” Arisa said. “How exactly were you turned into a demon?”
“I was in an accident. One of the nurses at the hospital was a demon with the ability to transform humans with her blood. It was the only way to save my life.”
“Her blood?” Arisa asked, surprised. “Demon blood is supposed to give humans demon sickness.”
“I was terrified that would happen to me,” Mason said. “But I turned into this instead.”
“What’s demon sickness?” Felix asked.
Mason shot him a sideways glance. “It sends you into a murderous rage. You didn’t know that?”
“He’s new to the magic world,” Arisa explained. “He didn’t know he had an ability until last week.”
“Really? It took you that long to figure out you had psychometry?” Mason asked as they stepped inside the office building.
“That’s not really my ability.” Felix quickly explained everything that had happened in the past week while Mason led the way to a staircase.
“I’ve never heard of an ability like that,” Mason said. After a moment, he added, “But I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Yours too.” Felix hadn’t caught exactly what had happened to the people in Mason’s memory—Mason’s parents, he assumed—but he suspected it had something to do with the wand he was after.
Mason’s gaze lowered. “I didn’t want to come back,” he said. “Not as a demon. But I promised my parents I’d find something that was stolen from them.”
“The Ironwood Wand?” Felix asked. He quickly added, “I didn’t see much besides you killing demons, but I did hear that.”
“It’s an extremely powerful wand,” Mason said, nodding. “My grandmother made it herself from ironwood she collected in the Arizona desert. Up until her death, she said it was a mistake. She hadn’t expected to create something so powerful.” His tone turned bitter. “I guess she was right, since it got my parents killed. And me.”
“Where is it now?” Arisa asked.
“A man stole it from us. When my parents tried to steal it back, he killed them.”
Felix glanced around as they stepped out of the stairwell onto the fourth floor of the building. “Sounds like we’re both after revenge, then.” Seeing a place that should have been busy so empty was eerie, but he felt oddly calm given the circumstances.
“Guess so,” Mason replied as the three set off down the hallway. “You might have it worse, though. One man is nothing compared to an army of magicians.”
One of Arisa’s paper airplanes burst into orange flames and dropped to the ground. Arisa lifted her dagger. “Something’s nearby,” she hissed. Felix’s calm evaporated in a heartbeat.
A raspy voice spoke behind them. “So, the demon killer is back.”
The three whirled around as a demon emerged from one of the open doorways. It stood over six feet tall, with skin a shade of deep emerald, and a thin tail ending in a black arrow-shaped tip that swung back and forth behind it. The black horns on its head resembled an antelope’s.
“Oh, you brought friends?” The demon chuckled as it swept its gold eyes over them.
“It can’t pass through my circle of sigils,” Arisa told Felix. “Sorry, Mason, you’re on your own.”
Mason adjusted his grip on his dagger. “That’s fine.”
“Such confidence.” Two leathery black wings stretched out behind the demon.
“It’s got wings,” Mason warned.
“I can see that,” Arisa shot back.
“That means it’s more powerful than the others I saw here.”
The demon lunged forward with outstretched claws. Mason easily dodged, stepped behind the demon, and swiped at the back of its neck with his dagger. He grazed the demon’s skin, drawing gold blood to the surface.
It wasn’t enough to kill the demon. The demon hissed and swung at Mason again. It struck the side of Mason’s head and sent him flying into the wall.
“Mason!” Arisa exclaimed.
Felix lifted Helena’s sword. “Helena, can you hear me? I’ve got a demon to kill.”
I’ve got something better than a sword, May said.
“May?” Felix frowned. “No offense, but I think Helena’s going to be the best bet here—”
No, trust me, my ability’s going to be way better. Take out a water bottle.
“What?” Felix watched Mason jump to his feet in time to dodge another attack from the demon.
You brought water, right? May asked.
“Yes, but I don’t see how that’s going to be helpful. It’s not holy water.”
Doesn’t matter, take it out. And my rock. The one with the sigils on it.
No time to argue. May knew what she was doing. Probably. Felix set down the sword and reached into his bag.
Arisa sent a few of her paper planes flying at the demon. While it was distracted, Mason managed to deal another blow, leaving a gash on the demon’s upper arm. The demon lifted its hands. Green flames appeared in its palms, shooting up high enough to torch the paper planes assaulting its face.
Felix pulled out his water bottle and May’s rock. “Okay, what’s your ability and how do I use it?”
Just throw the rock in the water bottle.
Felix did as he was told. Arisa shot him a weird look. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Felix replied.
The demon swung its arm. Mason stepped back far enough to avoid its claws, but they snagged his beanie and ripped it off his head, exposing the purple horns Felix had seen in the dagger’s memory. The movement also exposed Mason’s pointed ears.
“May, could we hurry this up?” Felix asked.
Ten more seconds, May replied.
“Ten more seconds?”
With another swipe of its hand, the demon knocked Mason’s dagger out of his grasp. Arisa sent three more planes at its face to distract it, but it burned them away easily.
Okay, May said. Drink all of the water in the bottle.
“It’s almost full!” Felix exclaimed as he held it up.
Just do it!
Black claws appeared at the tips of Mason’s fingers as he launched himself at the demon. He slashed at its face, leaving thin gashes, before hitting the ground and rolling to avoid the demon’s flaming hands.
“You might be bigger,” Mason hissed between breaths. “But I’m faster.”
Hey, wait, I can feel the pull of my ability, May said. Like I could when I was alive.
Felix rubbed his forehead, eyeing the absurd amount of water she expected him to chug. “What are you talking about?”
“Felix, what’s going on?” Arisa asked.
“Sorry, my sister’s being a pain in the ass.”
As Mason rose to his feet, a dark purple tail swished through the air behind him, ending in a tuft of lavender fur the same shade as the right half of his hair.
“Aw, that’s kind of cute,” Arisa said.
“Are you two going to do anything helpful?” Mason growled.
“Working on it!” Felix called. “May? What are we doing here?”
Here, let me just—I think I can do this for you!
“What, wait? What are you—?”
Felix was no longer in control of his body. Something threatened to pull him down into darkness, and it took all his focus to stay in his own head. What the hell is going on? He could hear the words, but his mouth didn’t move.
“I’m killing this thing.” This time his mouth did move, but it was May’s voice that came out.
“Uh, is that normal?” Mason asked.
Arisa’s eyes widened. A faint grin touched her lips. “No idea, but this is starting to get good.”
Felix’s hand picked up the water bottle, uncapped it, and held it to his mouth. May, who was apparently in control now, downed the entire thing in a shockingly quick amount of time.
The demon turned toward him and snorted. “Ready to fight now that you’re hydrated?”
“Yes,” May replied.
Felix’s entire body turned to water.