Heart of a Demon (The Dark Angel Wars 1)

She unfolded the Rapid City Journal and laid it flat on the table, throwing out the sections she didn't want to read. The first section to hit the waste basket was always the comics. I liked to dig them out later and save the best ones in my top dresser drawer.

"Okay, Granny. I'll be happy to put in some extra hours next weekend." I poured a mug of steaming hot coffee and slid it in front of her on the table.

She eyed me over the sports sections she was about to drop into the trash. "You're not usually this compliant about working extra. What do you want?"

I swallowed hard. Typical Granny. She couldn't even give me time to butter her up. I'd have to make my request directly.

"I wanted to talk to you about the college slot," I started. "It's open and I'd like to be considered for it..."

"And what makes you think you deserve that slot?" Granny leaned forward to fix me with her dark brown eyes. A wisp of gray hair fell across her forehead.

For as long as I could remember, Granny had been gray and wrinkled. I couldn't imagine her as a young girl my age. It didn't seem natural.

"I was a good student in high school. You remember? I got straight A's my senior year."

Granny nodded, but I could see she wasn't convinced yet.

"And I plan on getting a degree in business, so I can help with stuff at the gas station. Learn about taxes and financials.”

She picked up her mug and sipped it slowly. This wasn't going as planned. I'd had a whole speech prepared on my qualifications, but I couldn't remember a single sentence of it. Instead, I felt like a child trying to convince her parents to get a puppy.

"Please, Granny," I continued. It was time to pull out all the stops. "I promise I'll make you proud. I’ll make the town proud. I’ll make the Goddess proud. You won't be sorry. I'll learn so much."

There was a heavy moment of silence as she set her mug down, and shuffled the papers in front of her. The crime beat laid on top. It was her favorite piece. She loved to tell me about the stories she read in there, and point out what a terrible place this world had become. There was danger everywhere. The world was full of sinners and murderers and rapists. Everywhere, but Hanna.

"I'm not sure a cursed child, like yourself, deserves to go to college," Granny growled in her rough voice. She hunched her shoulders and leaned forward, forcing me to look in her eyes. "Do you think a killer deserves to go to school?"

I gave her a helpless shrug. Ever since I was a baby, Granny reminded me on a daily basis that I was cursed. I'd killed my own mother during birth. Killing a woman was an unforgiveable offense in a town like Hanna, even if I hadn't meant to do it. In her eyes, I was a murderer.

Granny sat back in her chair. I could feel her eyes on my face, searching out every flaw. I'd purposely left off the makeup this morning. She didn't like it when I wore even the tiniest hint of mascara. It made me look like a painted lady, she'd say.

"Tell you what," Granny said, pulling a Virginia Slim out of her pocket shirt. "If you behave this month, do your chores, work extra at the gas station, and perform extra sacrifices for the goddess, I'll see what I can do."

I nearly squealed with glee, but clamped my mouth shut when Granny raised her bushy eyebrow at me. Instead, I grabbed the Zippo and held it out to light the cigarette dangling from her mouth.

I had this in the bag. In a few weeks, I'd be Lizzy Redding - college freshman.

Chapter Three

I gave into the seducing call of the forest after only a week. By the time the Memorial Day tourist rush at the Pump N' Go had ended, I was needing some alone time in the quiet southern woods. Tourist season drove the residents of Hanna nuts. Although to be fair,

the town made most of its money due to those vacationers flocking to the Black Hills.

The moment I stepped into the forest, the quiet enveloped me like a comfortable blanket, softening the noises of traffic on highway 196. My feet automatically pulled me in the direction of my favorite spot in the woods – a small stream just a mile south of town that cut through the pines and rocky ground.

Oftentimes, I would take off my shoes and wade upstream through the creek, watching the tiny minnows darting through the water. The elk herds around here didn’t seem to mind. They’d watch me while I walked past, slowly chewing on leaves. Even the black bears that came to drink at the stream would ignore me, as if I were simply a part of the landscape.

Today was unusually scorching for the Black Hills. By the time I got to the stream, my shirt was beginning to stick to my back and a thin layer of sweat had formed on my face. I rushed to pull my tennis shoes off and sunk my feet into the cool water of the creek. Instantly, it felt like I'd cooled off a good ten degrees.

Granny had left early this morning for the gas station. She'd flip if she knew I was here. But I'd gotten away with exploring these woods hundreds of times. There was no reason to think she'd catch me this time.

That being said, I still felt a tad bit guilty. She'd agreed to let me go to college in the fall as long as I followed the laws of Hanna and worked hard. But what Granny didn't know, wouldn't hurt her.

I was struck by the sudden silence of the woods around me. Only moments ago, the robins had been trilling in the trees and a hawk circled the air high above. Now, an eerie silence fell on the forest. I pulled my socks and shoes onto my sopping wet feet and crept to an outcropping of rocks on the opposite bank of the creek.

Something was happening. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I had to see for myself.

When I climbed over the rocks, my belly scraping against the boulders, I caught a glimpse of what had disturbed the forest. The Green Eyed demon was back. This time, with a tall dark-haired friend dressed in brown khaki pants and a t-shirt that hugged his massive biceps. They both stood over the carcass of an elk which had been shredded to pieces, its throat torn out. Green Eyes kneeled next to the animal, his handsome face tense with worry. He looked up at his friend and sighed, shaking his head.