Demon’s Artifice Series

SARAH

I mentioned my parents had told me about a prophecy. The one my dad spoke of. From what he’d told me, it was fairly simple:

One day, a dream walker who controls the elements will bring unity and a new age to our world.

Now the details were vague, and I never cared to look into it further. Sitting on the kitchen floor, the entire room looking like a bomb went off, well that didn’t change my current outlook on things.

“Dad?” He looked up while still holding onto my mother. “So, when do I have to finish these deals?”

My mother looked up at my dad, still crying, worry etched on her face as he stroked her hair and answered me.

“The demon will be here the day before your birthday. None of us know just how strong the power kick will be when your powers hit their peak point; having him already tied to you will help.”

I nodded a little, then paused. “Ugh… Wait, you tied me to a male demon?”

My dad turned red and held onto mom a little tighter. I knew he was about to say something that was gonna make her mad again.

“The um…bonding spell is a bit…personal, and with you being straight, I didn’t think you would want to…well, with a woman.”

My eyes got huge.

“Wait, Dad, do you mean to tell me I have to screw a demon?”

My mom jerked in his arms like she was about to kick his ass.

“No! NO! Not that, um, it’s just.” He cleared his throat. “Not like intercourse. Just an exchange of fluids, energy, um…”

My mom was fighting in his arms. “David, I’m gonna kill you!”

He hugged her tighter. “Now, Amy, it’s not that bad. I’ve done—” He cut off and paled as my mom froze.

“You’ve what, David?” My dad let go of my mom and scrambled for the door.

“Fuck!”

“David, you get your ass back here right this moment!”

I’d never heard my dad cuss like that, but it’s what he said as he knocked the back door out of his way with a spell that sent it flying off its hinges before he ran off.

My mom scrambled up after him, screaming as she did.

I was left on the floor as my parents ran around the backyard, which thankfully was huge as we lived on a large estate, so no neighbors were in range as mom and dad had a bit of an event.

I looked at the bacon still in my hand, shrugging, and ate some of it as I got up, dusting off my clothes before heading out. I still had to go to school.

It took me about forty-five minutes to get safely to my car and off to school.

Now, this wasn’t a normal school. We had college classes and humans, but the campus also had a magical side; special classes for witches listed publicly for students who were “gifted and talented.”

My first class of the day was a normal advanced human chemistry class. Many of us magic users went for bio and chemistry degrees because we use them so much in magic and potion-making.

Yep, we use those; also, they come in handy.

My chemistry partner was my on-again, off-again boyfriend for the last two years. As of yesterday, we were on, but today I was likely gonna have to break his heart again.

James was about five foot ten, slender frame not like girly but one of those taller skinny guys that can’t really gain mass.

His hair was a dusty blond, and he was the total nerd glasses and all. They worked for him, but the downside was they tended to hide the baby blue eyes.

The teacher had assigned us a simple mixture prep for the final exams in two weeks, but James was not paying attention and wouldn’t stop trying to get his hands where they didn’t belong in a classroom.

“James!” I whisper-shouted at him. “We’re in class. Get your hands off me and behave yourself, damn it!”

He pouted at me and whispered back, scooting closer. “But Sarah, I haven’t been able to touch you in a week. I miss you, baby.

“Let’s skip this; we already know how to do all this. We’ve got the exam in the bag. We can head to my place. My roommate won’t be home for hours.”

His hand snuck up my leg toward my thigh, and I grabbed it before James could touch where the bruise was hidden under my jeans.

“James. No. We are at school. That means hands off, and you have to behave. We are in public. We can talk after class, but we need to get this done.”

I was not the kind of girl that enjoyed public displays. The teacher was sitting behind his desk, thank god, but a few of the students close to us noticed, and it was pissing me off. James didn’t let go, however, and gripped my thigh harder.

“Sarah. You know I love you; I want you so badly right now, I just can’t stand it. It’s been so long.”

He moved as if he would kiss me, and I’d had enough. I put my foot to the bottom of his stool and shoved it. James ended up on his ass the next moment.

“When a girl tells you to take your hands off her James Black, you fucking do it,” I said it clearly, and every head turned my way. The teacher even stood up and walked over.

“Mr. Black, Ms. Stone, I think we should all talk outside for a moment.” I nodded.

“Of course, Mr. Simon. I’d be happy to.” James glared at me, but he got up, and we both took our bags with us.

Once the door was shut, Mr. Simon spoke up before either of us could say a word.

“I know you both are dating or whatnot, but Ms. Stone is right, Mr. Black. At any point, if a woman says hands off, then hands off.

“The fact you had your hands on her in a way she disliked inside my classroom is not acceptable. I will put a formal complaint on your record because of this offense.”

James paled. “Mr. Simon, it’s just a lovers’ disagreement.”

He looked at me pleading, and I sighed. “It wasn’t bad like that at all, Sarah. Tell him.”

“Mr. Simon, I’m sorry I disturbed the whole class and the assignment. I don’t want this to end up on his record.” I wasn’t gonna lie, but I didn’t want this to stop James graduating.

He smiled at me, but Mr. Simon wasn’t done. “Ms. Stone, did you tell Mr. Black before you had to remove his hands?”

I winced because of his wording. “Yes, I did.” James frowned.

“And what exactly happened, Ms. Stone?”

I licked my lips before answering him. “James is a bit upset because we haven’t had alone time in a while and he had his hand on my leg. I told him twice to remove his hand that he needed to behave.”

James looked mad as hell when Mr. Simon turned, and he couldn’t hide his expression fast enough.

Mr. Simon moved to stand between us. “Mr. Black. Is this true?”

James tried to look innocent, but we both had seen his anger. “Mr. Simon, it’s not as bad as it sounds—”

Mr. Simon cut him off. “No, Mr. Black, it’s worse. She told you to remove your hands from her body twice. You refused. She had to resort to physical actions to remove your hands from her.

“Behavior like that leads to rape. It is totally unacceptable at this school.”

James paled, and even I was shocked. I couldn’t even disagree.

“You will come with me to the office now, or I will have security escort you off this campus for good. Ms. Stone, you will come with me to make a formal statement.”

We both could only reply, “Yes, sir.”

***

An hour later, I was finally let out of the office where I’d filed the report. James was suspended from school, and my father was leaning on the wall outside when we were both released.

James was mad but seeing me standing by my dad, and he surprised me.

“Look, Sarah… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that at school. I should have backed off. If you could forgive me, I’d like to take you out to dinner or something later. Maybe meet me for a movie?”

I glanced at my dad, but he didn’t do anything but smile. He was letting me make my choices on my own. I looked back over at James.

“I can meet you at the pizza place on Fourth at about seven?”

James smiled. “Yeah, that’d be great. I’ll make this up to you, Sarah.” He left after that.

My dad hugged me. “Let’s chat for a bit. My next class isn’t for an hour.”

So, I went with him; he handed me a small book when we got to his classroom, which was thankfully empty.

“Chapter eight in there will have the details for the bonding ritual. You can go over it later tonight and figure out how you want to handle your bond with Leo.”

When I looked up at him with a raised brow, my dad shrugged.

“It’s the name he told me to use; during the bonding, he will use his real name as part of the spell, and you will end up using your spell casting name for it.”

I nodded. On their sixteenth birthday, each witch or warlock comes up with a name all their own that has meaning for them.

“Thanks, Dad. When do I need to go do the wolf task?”

My dad rubbed the back of his head.

“Sometime after your birthday. You might want to wait a week until your powers settle, but you can go the day after. It’s up to you. They will likely come looking if it’s longer than that.

“I can send word when you decide.” He looked at me. “I’m really proud of you, Sarah. I know you can do this, but that doesn’t mean I’m not worried. You are my greatest treasure in this life.”

I smiled and hugged my dad. “You went through a lot more than I’ll ever know to give me these chances, Dad. I know you love me. Thank you so much.

“You and mom are the best parents the gods could have given me.”

I felt his chin drop to the top of my head as he hugged me tighter. When he took in a deep breath, I heard the sniff, and I knew he was crying silently, just like I was.