Darkness Rising by Mary Jennifer Payne

Author:Mary Jennifer Payne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2019-04-26T16:00:00+00:00

JASMINE

“What the hell?” I say, making sure to keep Atika’s weight steady on my shoulder. “How did you get away from the police?”

“That’s not for you to worry about right now, Jazz,” Raphael answers, his voice low. “You’re all in extreme danger. Between the legion of demons heading here right now and the lost souls that are trying to merge with this world by inhabiting corpses in various states of decay, the situation is critical. A state of emergency is bound to be called. There are two cars waiting around the corner on the high street. We need to leave here immediately.”

“But we don’t know where Fahima is,” Susie interjects, as Kiki and Dani follow Raphael down the stairs. “We can’t just leave. What if she’s still somewhere in the flat?”

Raphael pauses. He briefly glances back at Susie, his face grim. “She’s definitely not in the flat,” he says.

It doesn’t take long for us to find out how Raphael knows this. As soon as we step outside the front door of the building, we discover the reason for her disappearance.

Her crumpled body is lying almost directly under the living room window. In the shadowy dawn light, I can just make out the shape of her body, her long dark hair spilling out over the sidewalk like water, the strange ninety-degree angle of her obviously broken neck. I’m glad Atika can’t witness this. A halo of dark blood has spread out from Fahima’s head. Thankfully, she’s face down against the sidewalk.

Did she jump? Or did one of the demonic creatures toss her out like a rag doll?

I look away, tears filling my eyes. No one should have to die like this. And certainly no Seer.

I can’t help feeling like this is somehow my fault. Just like I feel the deaths of Vivienne and Penelope (the little girl in the climate change refugee camp) were also preventable. And I have no idea if Cassandra is even alive right now. It brings back the intense guilt I felt for all those years after Jade was abducted and believed to be dead.

“Bloody hell,” Kiki says softly, putting a hand over her mouth. Her dark eyes are wide with shock and sorrow.

“Jesus, poor Fahima,” Susie says, tears rolling down her cheeks. “We should’ve gotten to her sooner … as soon as the knocking started. We should’ve been more defensive — the way we’re trained to be.”

She’s right.

I also can’t help but think that if I’m the Chosen One, and I’m here now in London, why don’t they — that is, whoever is behind all of this, whoever is planning this Final Battle, this Darkness dude or whatever — why doesn’t he or it just show up? I mean, why leave such a heartbreaking trail of bodies before this confrontation actually happens?

“Where are you taking us?” I snap at Raphael, trying not to make eye contact with him. I don’t want to get those butterfly feelings. I’m the Chosen One, and it’s about time I begin to step up.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.