I twisted in my chair to see Diana studying the conjuring of Hell intently.
“Absolutely,” the professor agreed. “Black witches who make a deal with demons for additional powers are one example.”
“Yes, but that wasn’t what I meant,” Diana said, not about to let the conversation move on until she’d said her piece. “While I find the circles of Hell interesting, Professor, I was wondering if we might detour into talking about demon stones for a moment? In the last Spy Games event, they charged us with finding one. Odette discovered it, and we hunted down the fae who held it, but we never got a thorough explanation as to what they do. Or who distributes them.”
A few of my classmates’ eyes darted to me—most of them, people who had been standoffish all year. While I appreciated Diana asking the question, I sort of wished that she hadn’t credited me.
Although I’d signed up for the Spy Games to show those same students that I deserved the rank of spymaster, I found that my motivation for the Games had changed. Now the camaraderie that the events brought drove me because I recognized that these relationships would be what helped us defeat the demons.
Of course, beating the pants off the vampires would be great too, but the validation of my classmates? Almost half an academic year had already flown by. They would either accept the fact that I earned head spymaster or not. I no longer had the energy to work on convincing them.
“Demon stones . . .” Professor de Spina trailed off. “Yes, I suppose considering recent events, that would be a worthy side topic.” He twisted to face the visual of Hell again, and a gray pointer stick appeared in his hand.
“Demon stones, along with many other enchanted dark objects, are born in Hell. From what we know, they are fired in the flames of this circle for at least a millennium.” His pointer moved to a circle about five away from the center. “And once savvy greater demons have found a person willing to do business with evil, they bring the stones to a royal demon for a blessing.”
“Blessing?” Kira asked. “That sounds good, though.”
De Spina arched his eyebrows. “Are we not always the hero of our own story, Miss Johnston? When the demons bring the royals stones to bless, they believe they are doing it for the good of their kind. So yes, they call it a blessing.”
“What does the blessing entail?” Mina Köhler twisted her long, black hair thoughtfully.
De Spina’s lips flattened for an instant. “That depends on what the human or magical wants most. Many desire power, money, or fame, but a blessing is not limited to any of those. As long as the bearer will fight for the demons and give their souls over once they perish, the royals of Hell will promise anything.”
My mouth went dry. Despite having found two stones this year, I hadn’t realized how truly powerful they were. That a stone could give the person who possessed it anything—and that they gave their soul to Hell for one—made it an object worth dying for.
An amazing bargaining chip.
For the first time, I dared to wonder just how many demon stones there were in our world.
The Physical Conditioning room was packed as always when Hunter, Eva, Alex, and I walked in. Although I was behind on my exercise requirement for the week, I didn’t care. There were more important things to consider. Like making sure we knew how to use the dagger that Prince Elran had gifted me.
Bypassing the treadmills and weights, my friends and I went straight to the back room, an open space where magic and physical sparring was allowed.
Two third-years, one of them Diana’s ex-boyfriend, sparred in the far corner, but that was fine. The target boards were on the other end of the room, in the opposite direction of the students.
“So this bad boy can kill any demon, huh?” Hunter asked, twirling my hell blade in his hand.
I smiled at his flagrant display of skill. Of the four of us, Hunter was easily the best at wielding blades. His totem was an emerald encrusted dagger, and he practiced with it often. “Yup. Says Prince Elran of the Snowcap Court. As far as I can tell, it’s not much different from any other dagger, but I still want you three to work with it. Just in case.”
Diana had actually brought up the idea that our closest friends practice with the demon blades too. Even though there were only four blades, she had a good point. The more people who were familiar with the blades, the better. What if something happened to me during a fight? More than anything, I’d want my friends to scoop up the dagger and use it to the best of their ability.
“It’s light—like it weighs nothing,” Hunter commented.
“Good thing you’re practicing with it,” I pointed toward the target, “because you’re up first, Wardwell.”
Hunter grinned and strutted over to face the target. Gripping the dagger in his hand, he pulled his arm back and hurled the blade toward the target.
It missed, hitting the wall with a deafeningclang.
He groaned. “If that were my totem, I would have sunk it.”
“But you didn’t, babe,” Eva said, not one to sugarcoat things. “Which is why we need to practice. Go again.”
Hunter hurled the blade a dozen times more. By the end, he seemed to have gotten used to the weight, and actually sank a bullseye.
We rotated through with the demon blade after that, one person hurling it, while the others practiced sparring with blades of a similar size.
When it was my turn with the hell blade, I was the worst at throwing it, never hitting the target once. I wasn’t terrible at fighting with daggers, but since I didn’t relish the idea of getting too close to demons, I made a resolution right then and there to practice dagger-throwing daily.
