The Devil's Due (The Earthwalker Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  The Devil’s Due

  The Earthwalker Trilogy

  Book Two

  Jennifer Siddoway

  JENNIFER SIDDOWAY

  The Devil’s Due

  (The Earthwalker Trilogy #2)

  First Edition

  Copyright © 2017 Jennifer Siddoway

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-10: 1-942623-57-7

  ISBN-13: 978-1-942623-57-1

  Cover Design by Wit and Whimsy Cover Design

  All rights reserved.

  All rights reserved as permitted under the US. Copyright Act of 1976. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without express written permission of the author, as the sole copyright holder. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to peoples either living or deceased is purely coincidental. Names, places, and characters are figments of the author’s imagination. The author holds all rights to this work.

  Proudly published in the United States of America.

  For Jordan

  Whose patience, prudent council and friendship gave me hope when I thought about giving up. Thanks for believing in me.

  Contents

  Fireworks

  Pale September

  Darkest Lullaby

  Kicking and Screaming

  I’ll be Damned

  Web of Lies

  Divine Intervention

  Forget to Breathe

  Wake Me When It’s Over

  Lord of the Flies

  Caught in the Crosshairs

  Tainted Love

  Four Letter Word

  Samhain

  Dark Side of the Moon

  Afraid of Your Own Shadow

  Into the Dark

  About Jennifer Siddoway

  About Duncurra

  Other titles published by Duncurra LLC

  “In spite of everything, I shall rise again.

  I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my discouragement,

  and I will go on with my drawing.”

  -Vincent Van Gogh

  Chapter One

  Fireworks

  My sister is dead.

  I keep expecting to become numb from the pain of loss, but it never happens.

  Even after everything I’ve been through the last few months, it never prepared me to sew myself back together after the sudden and brutal tragedy. In some ways, I’d learned to embrace the pain. As long as I was hurting, it meant I was still alive. As long as I was hurting, it meant that I was mortal, and if I was mortal, Aidan had lost. The harder he fought to claim me, the harder I’d push back. I would never surrender to that filthy, lying demon. My family shouldn’t have been dragged into this feud between us, but digging his claws in like that must have meant he was getting desperate.

  My sandals sat on the dock beside me as I dipped my feet into the water, breathing in the last few moments of the sun before it set over the horizon. I’d been spending so much time outside lately, my hair had become bleached from exposure to the light, fading from its natural red to brilliant orange and tipped with blonde.

  The air was thick and humid in the Alabama heat as we celebrated the Fourth of July weekend. It wasn’t the same without Elyse, but it would have been foolish to think it would be — nothing ever would be again. Life goes on, even when you think it should be impossible. The involuntary muscles of your lungs will expand and contract whether you want them to or not, and the earth continues to spin on its axis, forever pressing onward.

  I glanced up from writing in my journal, releasing a tired sigh when a bullfrog croaked loudly in the distance. Water lapped up against the wooden planks of the dock as tadpoles swam among the reeds along the shoreline. My cousin’s laughter broke the peaceful reverie I’d been having, so I turned my attention back towards the journal. I picked the pen up off the deck beside me and went back to writing.

  Seeing it in black and white like that made the whole thing seem surreal, and even a little ridiculous at times, but it was true. Fantastic and unbelievable as things may be, this was not a fairy tale — it was my life.

  The compulsive need to write had taken over the last few weeks, and I spent hours writing down everything I could remember; all the details of how my mother betrayed me, how the Demon Lord who fell in love with her showed up in my bedroom and tried to stake a claim on me as well. Aidan wanted me to serve him and embrace my demon powers so that I’d come back with him to the underworld, but I hated him more than anything. I let that impulse rule me for the time being, because this feeling was what would help me win this battle; pure, unadulterated hate and the desperate need to avenge my sister’s murder. Elyse’s death had been meant to punish me, but in truth, it just gave my fight a cause.

  It made me that much more determined to defeat him.

  “Elyse! Stay with me. Help will be here soon, you’re gonna be okay!”

  Her skin was already getting cold beneath my fingers. My chest convulsed with hysterical sobs as I held her close against me and called her name into the darkness. “Elyse! You can’t do this to me now, I need you. I love you!! Please don’t leave me. P-please! Please, Elyse, don’t go!”

  Her blood soaked through the fabric of my prom dress and smeared across my hands. My breathing grew labored, and I was nearly hyperventilating when I peered down and saw the bluish tinge at the edge of her lips. My beautiful sister, limp in my arms with her golden hair drenched with blood.

  The sound of fluttering wings distracted me for a moment, and Caleb shimmered to the parking lot in all his angelic glory. “Caleb, thank God! Get over here, she needs you!”

  His eyes grew wide in the darkness and his face went pale. I could tell from his tortured expression that he wanted to comfort me, but didn't move an inch from where he stood. “Wynn…”

  “Why aren't you helping her?” I demanded.

  “Because that’s not why I'm here.”

  I shivered, remembering that awful night. I'll never forget the pain, the agony of knowing she was gone, feeling helpless as I held her broken body, waiting until the ambulance came. It was the moment I swore Aidan would pay.

  Nothing, nothing would rob me of my vengeance.

  The mystic knot of my probationary necklace hung down across my ribcage and glittered in the sunlight, with seven jewels hanging from the charm below. Now that my demon powers had been activated, I’d been given a calendar year by the Celestial Court to prove I wasn’t a threat in the Mortal Realm. Each of the Demon Lords would test me, using the skills from their domain, but none of them had managed to sway me yet.

  I turned the page to continue my thought and found a picture I’d tucked away months ago. My heart began to race, completely unprepared for the onslaught of emotion. It was a pencil sketch I’d drawn of Caleb in History class. His dark, brown hair and crystal blue eyes were impossible to replicate in graphite. It was nothing compared to seeing him in person.

  He was the other half of the story — the other half of me that I hadn't even realized was missing until I found him — my angelic guardian.

  I brushed my fingers across the page and let out an involuntary sigh. In one fell swoop, I’d lost my sister and the man who I may, or may not, have been in love with. As it turned out, my feelings didn’t matter because it ended before it even started.

  There was no one to blame but myself.

  I looked up at the sound of footsteps on the dock and saw my brother walking towards me. “Hey, there,” he greeted me slowly, with a
note of caution in his voice. “Do you mind if I join you?”

  “Sure.”

  As he came towards me, the hue to his lime green aura became more prominent. He gave a withering smile and took a seat beside me on the wooden pier as he began to remove his shoes. “Whatcha doin out here anyways? Everyone’s wondering where you ran off to.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t really feel like celebrating,” I told him honestly.

  Nate and I have an understanding — he knew the truth about me and stepped up with Dad when I completely fell apart. He was our rock. I was strong for the first few days after Elyse’s funeral, but then the emotions caught up with me and I slipped into a deep depression. It was embarrassing to admit that, even to myself, after I’d been so keen on destroying Aidan for targeting her in the first place. I would never stop mourning her loss, but it was time to get back on track again.

  As he approached I hid the journal sheepishly, knowing full well he’d already seen it, and set it on the deck beside me. He scoffed at my embarrassment and asked, “You’re still on that?”

  “Of course, I am! They killed her, Nate.”

  “I know.”

  The pain in his voice was all too familiar, giving me pause when I gazed up at him. His light brown hair curled over the side of his glasses, in desperate need of a cut. We sat there in thoughtful silence, watching the sun set across the water, until his eyes flickered back towards the picture in my hand, “You miss him, don’t you?”

  It wasn’t really a question since both of us knew the answer, but I nodded anyway.

  “Is he coming back?”

  I barked out a gargled sob and shook my head, folding the picture back into my journal and placing it on the wooden planks beside me. “No, before he left I said some pretty terrible things, he will probably never forgive me. I blamed him for letting Elyse die — for not bringing her back. It wasn’t his fault though, I was the one who fell for Aidan’s trap, and left behind the potion that could have saved her. I have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

  Nathan smiled empathetically and put his arm around my shoulder. “Did you apologize?”

  “I wish I could, but I haven’t seen him since that night.”

  For a moment, he looked genuinely surprised. “Really? ... well, I’m sure he’ll come around. I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but it’s gonna be okay. You just have to give it time.”

  “Maybe. Come on, let’s get back and have some burgers. I’m getting hungry.”

  I gathered up my sandals and tucked my journal beneath one arm, pulling my feet out of the water. My long red hair gusted in the wind as we started walking down the pier and I brushed it from my face. Nate carried his shoes too as he trudged along beside me, leaving wet footprints along the way. Both of us had sworn a deep and utter loathing of shoes long ago and went barefoot any chance we got.

  A few of our cousins were horsing around at the side of the house. It was weird seeing them after all this time because Dad and his siblings were not exactly what I’d call “close”. They’d disinvited us to family functions for as long as I could remember, due to petty differences. To their credit, however, they’d been trying to rebuild bridges since the funeral and reached out to us more than once, but a lifetime of ridicule had taught me not to trust them. They’d barely said a word to me since we arrived, so I doubted anyone noticed when I excused myself a while ago. They’d never liked me much, and the feeling was completely mutual.

  I watched them for a minute, their green and yellow auras barely visible in the darkness, and I noticed they had managed to break in early to the fireworks. Missy and Chase always found a way to wreak destruction anywhere they went. I was morbidly intrigued at how adding fireworks to the mix would affect the dynamic of their scheming. It wasn’t their lack of intelligence I found annoying; it was that they didn’t care. Aunt Lydia never punished them for anything, so they felt entitled to whatever they could put their hands on.

  The smells of sausage, hotdogs, and other meats sizzling on the grill grew stronger as Nate and I padded barefoot across the lawn.

  “Mmmmm!” I hummed to myself greedily. “Just in time.”

  Uncle Jack glimpsed over the rim of his glasses when we approached, then turned some of the hotdogs with his prongs. Smudges of meat fat and barbeque sauce were smeared across his apron as he cooked. It was a greasy job, but for some reason men usually seem to enjoy it, probably having something to do with the primitive urge to slap large hunks of meat over an open fire. “Hey, you two. I was wondering when you’d be back.”

  “Sorry, I just needed some quiet time.”

  He nodded absentmindedly. “Could you tell Missy and Chase the food is ready? They should be around back somewhere,” Jack said, effectively dismissing me once again.

  “Sure—”

  Just then the door flew open and Dad came out red in the face, muttering angrily to himself. Neither he nor Uncle Jack even acknowledged each other and Aunt Lydia loomed haughtily in the doorway. She was a tall, demure woman with light brown hair she always kept pulled up in a bun. In all the years I’d known her, none of us had ever seen her smile. She was emotionless at best and bitingly cruel other times, depending on her mood.

  Huh, maybe I’m not the only one having family issues nowadays.

  “Hey, Dad….” I addressed him quietly.

  He turned at the sound of my voice and smiled, looking somewhat relieved to find me standing there. “Wynn, you’re back! I was about to send out the search party.”

  I chuckled and set my shoes down on the porch. “Sorry. I was going to get the others so we can eat.”

  “Okay.” He shrugged and managed to busy himself with the food table.

  I took his ambivalence as permission to leave and shuffled around the side of the house to find my hooligan cousins. When I told them food was ready, Missy and Chase both leapt down from the trellis they were climbing and ran back towards the porch.

  Typical.

  The savory aroma of meat sizzling on the grill had awakened my forgotten appetite, and my stomach began to grumble. I quietly got in line and started making myself a hotdog, throwing some chips and salsa on my plate as well. “Mango salsa?” I asked Jack curiously.

  Our uncle nodded stoically as he tended to the meat and flipped a couple of burgers on the grill. Dad and I both smiled at each other as I put some on the plate and found some chairs on the far side of the porch. “Mom would have loved this,” I told him quietly.

  “So would your sister if you hadn’t managed to get her killed!” Aunt Lydia spat at me from the doorway.

  “Lydia! That was completely out of line!” Dad told her furiously as the celebration came to a screeching halt. All eyes were on me as the porch fell silent and I set my plate back down. At the sound of my father’s outburst his aura swelled with rage and shifted from yellow to green. “How dare you talk to her that way!”

  “If Wynn hadn’t put herself in danger, then Elyse would still be alive,” she hissed in passive rebuttal. “It should have been her that died, not Elyse!”

  “You have no right—”

  “It’s okay, Dad,” I cut him off, putting my hand on his shoulder as his aura swelled with rage. “She’s right. It should have been me. I’ll, uh, be over here if anyone needs me.”

  I could feel their eyes on my back as I hurried down the steps and broke into a run. I didn’t blame them for hating me, I agreed with them. The hardest part was knowing we were upset about the same thing. None of us wanted Elyse to die — we loved her.

  Emotions started bubbling up beneath the surface, and I had to breathe through my mouth when the scene replayed itself repeatedly in my head. All I could see was the blood on my hands as I held her, crying in the street as her soul left its body. She was gone.

  She was gone, and it was all my fault.

  Remembering the bluish tinge around her lips as color left her cheeks, I began to hyperventilate and found it increasingly hard to catch my breath. As the
moment passed, I pressed my hands to the side of Dad’s car and stopped to rest.

  There was so much blood, I thought as the trembling quiver of a sigh escaped my lips. Lydia is right, I killed her.

  Dad and Nate showed up beside me, having left the others’ company, and saw I wasn’t well. Without a single word, Dad wrapped his arms around me as I cried into his shirt. “Do you want to get out of here?” he asked me tenderly.

  I nodded slightly and stumbled blearily to the passenger seat. Nathan climbed in behind us while I was buckling up and asked, “What about the others?”

  Dad slammed the driver’s side door and turned the key in the ignition. “Screw ‘em.”

  As we drove off into the night and surveyed the evening sky, I could see the fireworks had started. You could hear them through the trees and see the faintest burst of color in the distance from the neighbor’s. Each explosion was like a gunshot, rising high into the air with a spectacular burst of color, then fizzling into nothing.

  Neither of them said a word, we all just sat there in silence watching the fireworks as he drove. It was just us now, the guys and me. All we had was each other. The booming sound of gunpowder and erratic display of color was a form of cathartic release. My nerves began to relax, and I just enjoyed it for the time being. I didn’t have to think about my aunt, or Caleb, or my sister’s loss, or any of the heartbreak plaguing me for so long.

  I could just be one with the explosion.

  ~ * ~

  I yawned into the sleeve of my shirt and blinked at the computer screen. Cleo batted at my elbow and purred from my lap contentedly as I pulled my hair up into a ponytail. I scratched underneath her chin and smiled down at her for a moment before turning my attention back towards my research. The laptop had been a graduation present from Nadia that I ended up being extremely grateful for.

  My godmother, Nadia, wasn’t related to us by blood, but she may as well have been. We were closer to her than any of our other relatives by far.