Skaydal - Demon's Forever

Wards Turning Weak

✦Dolly✦

Grayson called the meeting that evening. No one said it was serious. No one had to. When Grayson called a private meeting at the packhouse and asked for my parents, Zack, Mato, Blaise, Ronnie, Sierna, and me, it was not because someone had misplaced a coffee order.

It was because Skaydal was in trouble.

Again.

Or still was.

I sat between my mother and father in Grayson’s office, pretending I didn’t feel like the room had been built around my guilt. Mila wasn’t here, and I hated that more than I expected. She would have made some inappropriate comment by now.

Probably about the chairs.

Or about everyone looking like someone had died.

Which, considering the plants, wasn’t entirely wrong. Grayson stood behind his desk, arms folded, his expression calm in the way only an Alpha’s could be. Sierna sat beside him, her hand resting near his but not touching. Zack leaned against the wall with Mato beside him. Ronnie and Blaise stood near the table where the soil samples had been placed in sealed containers.

Tomato greenhouse.

Herb greenhouse.

Town square flowers.

I hated those labels. They looked too neat for something so awful. Blaise lifted one of the containers.

“Ronnie and I tested the town square soil against the samples from Project Future,”

“And?” Grayson asked. Ronnie glanced at Blaise before she answered instead.

“It’s the same corruption,” my mother closed her eyes briefly. My father’s hand found mine beneath the table. I let him hold it, even though part of me wanted to pull away because I still didn’t trust my hands.

“It’s dark magic,” Blaise said. Suddenly, it felt like the room got colder. Zack straightened.

“Demon?” he asked. Blaise looked at me. I wished she wouldn’t.

“Not quite,” she replied.

“What does not quite mean?” Mato asked, his voice quieter than Zack’s but just as serious.

“It means it carries darkness. Old darkness. It reacts to Dolly, or maybe Dolly reacts to it. I’m not sure yet. But it doesn’t feel like her power,” I stared at the floor. It didn’t feel like my power. That should have made me breathe easier. It didn’t. Because she had also said it was connected to me. Ronnie crossed her arms.

“It feels like something testing the edges,”

“The edges of what?” Sierna asked.

“Skaydal,” Blaise answered. “The land. The protections. The wards,” my father’s fingers tightened around mine. Blaise continued. “It’s almost as if the dark magic is pushing against the ward, seeing where it bends and where it can c***k,”

“Can it c***k?” my mother asked. The silence that followed was answer enough. Grayson’s face hardened.

“Then we start precautions immediately,” he said, and Zack nodded.

“Patrols doubled,”

“Tripled near the affected areas,” Grayson corrected. “No children near the town square beds, Project Future, the vineyard, or any soil that looks wrong. I want guards near the Magic School, too,” I lifted my head and frowned.

“The Magic School?” I asked.

“Precaution,” Sierna said gently. I hated that word.

Precaution.

It meant fear dressed up in something sensible. Mato looked at Grayson.

“What about the humans in town?”

“We keep them away from affected areas without causing panic,” Grayson said.

“How?” Zack asked. Grayson gave him a look, and Zack sighed.

“Right. Carefully,”

“I can close parts of Project Future,” my mother said as she leaned forward.

“No,” I said before I could stop myself. Everyone looked at me. Heat rushed into my cheeks. I hated being the center of attention, and this wasn’t necessarily the good kind.

“Dolly,” my mother whispered as she slowly shook her head.

“No, Mom. Project Future is yours. You shouldn’t have to close it because of this,” I argued. But my mother wasn’t just stubborn, she was also outspoken. Which meant she wasn’t just going to let this go. Especially not because of what I had just said.

“Dolly, crops can be replanted. People can’t,” she said. That was such a mother thing to say. It was such an Amani thing to say. It still hurts, though.

“Look, I hate to even suggest this, but…” Blaise looked sheepishly at me, and I leaned back. Whatever she was going to say, I just knew that it had something to do with me. “Because we feel like you are somehow connected, we think you should stay home while we figure this out,”

“What? No,” my father squeezed my hand, but it didn’t help. Blaise looked calm, but her eyes were sad.

“Not because you caused it. Because whatever this is, it knows how to react around you, and I just want to test this theory,”

“I don’t…no, I don’t want to be housebound,”

“No one does,” she murmured softly. “I just think it’s the safer option,”

“For who?” I asked. “Me? Or everyone else?” my mother flinched, and I regretted it immediately. But I didn’t regret it enough to take it back. Sierna stood and faced me.

“Dolly, this is just temporary. No one is trying to lock you away,” she said, but I shook my head.

“It feels like it,”

“We are trying to protect you,” I glanced over at her.

“Everyone keeps saying that,”

“Because it’s true,” my father said softly from beside me.

“Don’t I get a say?” I asked him. But he didn’t answer. No one did.

“Dolly,” Grayson said just as the silence started to feel heavier than before. I slowly looked over at him, and he shot me a sad smile. “Until Blaise and Ronnie know what this is, you stay home. No Project Future. No town square. No affected areas,” I wanted to argue. I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell them I wasn’t a child, and I wasn’t helpless, and I wasn’t some dangerous thing that needed to be hidden. But my father’s hand was still wrapped around mine, and my mother’s eyes were wet, and Sierna looked like she wished there was another way.

So, I said nothing.

Which was probably worse than agreeing. The meeting finished quickly after that, and I walked outside with my father. We stood on the packhouse porch and stared out at the night sky. The stars twinkled in the distance, but even their beauty did nothing to heal the pain I felt. I knew that they were just trying to protect Skaydal. I wanted to protect Skaydal. But I hated the idea of being locked up. Even at home.

“Everything will be ok, Dolly,” my father said. Instead of looking at him, I stared out at the dark outline of Skaydal beyond the lights.

“You say that, but you don’t know that for sure,” I whispered.

“No,” he softly agreed. I glanced at him, and he squeezed my hand. “But I will do everything in my power to make it true,” I wanted to believe him. In fact, normally I would. But this time was different. This time, there was something out there. Something that was hurting Skaydal. Something that was spreading.

And I was being sent home.

What did it all mean?

I felt like there was so much more going on. So much that none of us understood. Why was this darkness connected to me? Was it because I am a demon? Or is it because this thing, whatever it is, is evil? Aside from the soil, the plants and flowers, no one was being harmed. Was it possible that maybe, just maybe, we were all overreacting?

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