I woke up in the middle of the night. My powers were on, riding me hard. It was as though my body was on fire. Power surges at night had been a problem for me when I was a teenager. Now they could only mean one thing: demon. Bob never activated my power, which was odd. Teagan said it hadn’t alarmed hers until she’d been practically right on top of it. Something had significantly changed if I was feeling the demon now.

That meant this was something else. I was in my pajamas, long cotton pants and a long sleeve shirt since I’d fully expected—and was right—that the fire would burn out in my room overnight and I would be freezing in the morning. The room was cold as ice. That might also have indicated the demon’s actions. I slipped shoes on and ran down the stairs toward Krystal’s rooms. Surely, she felt it, too. We could work through this together. We didn’t have Guards, but we had each other.

Krystal had been sound asleep in her bed but sat up straight as I burst through the door. I stared at her. Where were her powers? Why weren’t they on?

I saw the second it registered on her face that my power was on full blast. I shook my head. “How?”

“I don’t have powers. I haven’t since Teagan pulled us back from that place. I’m truly useless.”

What? She was telling me this now? “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I thought perhaps you were having the same problem, and I kept hoping they would come back.”

I clenched my fists. Obviously, I wasn’t. Now it looked like I had to handle this alone. Rain still assaulted our old, broken home. Whatever was happening, I would be soaked by the time I finished. Ignoring the evil wasn’t an option. The thing about a Sister, once our powers activated, there was no resisting the need to use them. They rode me until I used them.

I didn’t bother with the umbrella or something to cover my head. My years in the hood had made me practically allergic to having anything on my head. The rain struck me. It was cold, violent, and unforgiving—as were most things in life.

I saw the demon in the distance. He was at our gate, shaking at the door. It wasn’t like demons had to ask to come in, so I wasn’t sure what it was doing exactly. It also lit up the night in a red glow that must have been visible for great distances.

Alexander, the boy who rang our bell to alert us when people needed help, rushed out to me. “Ma’am?”

He’d been in my class the last few weeks. With everyone else coming and going so much, I was the only teacher remaining. He was a sweet boy. “You need to go far back from here. Far, far back. Okay? Stay away from this. You can’t help me.”

I didn’t have to tell him that. He’d come to live with us after being possessed. Teagan had saved him. She was amazing like that.

The closer I came, the more I realized how completely outclassed I was.

“Mika.” Krystal’s shout behind me caught my attention. For one second, I hoped beyond hope that she might have suddenly had a power surge, but she remained un-lit. “You can’t do this. You don’t have Guards or any help.”

As though I needed the reminder?

“I have no choice. This thing has presented itself, and it’s mine to deal with.”

Above my head, three ravens cawed and the spirits danced. I raised my head to look at them. “A lot of help you were in this. When I die, I expect you to take me back in your arms and explain to me what I did so karmically wrong to deserve to be so utterly without help in this moment.” I glanced over my shoulder at Krystal. “Stay back. If you’re powerless, you’re as much at risk as Alexander. Stay with him. If it gets past me”—when it gets past me—“you’ll need to run, fast. Get all the babysitters with the kids, the help who work for us, and don’t forget the guys in the guesthouse. All of you will need to flee.”

She shook her head. “You can do this.”

Both she and I knew I likely could not. Alexander ran to Krystal.

“Mika?” Neil’s voice called to me, and I turned to see him running toward me with his four other friends. The five of them should have stayed on their isle.

I didn’t have time to waste. Soon, that thing at the gate was going to realize he could come right in. “Please stay back. I’m going to have to take care of this thing. If I can’t, you’ll all need to escape via the back gate. In fact, go now.”

The tallest of them—Gordon—he shook his head. “No, we can help you. What do you need?”

“For you to stay back and not get hurt. Only Sisters can handle demons. Lesser demons can sometimes be struck down by Guards, but there’s nothing lesser about this.” Under the red glow of the demon on his face, Neil’s expression fell. It almost made me wish I could give him something to do.

None of them moved. I almost hollered to the ends of the earth for all of them just to run and hide. Instead, I decided that with the exception of Alexander, who had listened to me, they were all adults. If they didn’t want to be sensible, there was nothing I could do about it at all.

I had a task to do and a gift to use.

The demon was huge. It took me half a second to realize that I stared at an Original. When I thought it was just powerful, I’d been worried, but utter dread filled me now. I’d never been rated above a level two in terms of demon fighting. No one would have ever sent me out here to deal with this thing.

Yet, here I was. I looked up at the sky again. “Clearly, something has gone wrong. You must have meant to send this thing to Anne or Teagan or Daniella. But seeing as they are not here, you are stuck with me. So, I want stories told about how brave I am. Do you hear me? I want epic Sister Mika tales to swarm through the world.”

Having made that declaration to the universe, I returned my attention to the demon. “Why are you here foul creature?” I spoke to it in the old tongue. The language sounded like gibberish to most people, but on a Sister’s tongue it came naturally. “Why would you come and bang on my gate tonight? Ready to die?”

“Why, Sister Mika, we heard you were lost to the darkness that is your own mind. There is nothing quite so scary as what we think ourselves.” He pointed at the house. “I want to be where he is. How am I being kept outside?”

I had no idea, but I wasn’t going to tell that to this eight-foot demon trying to take down the gate. I also hated—detested, loathed—when the demons knew my name. I was hardly that important of a Sister that the demons should have been talking about me. But they always seemed to know us and that was a special kind of disconcerting.

He wanted to get into where Bob the demon was. Why? Not that I planned to ask him. I raised my hand toward him, my power flaring inside of me, dying to be let out.

“There, and there,” I heard Neil behind me saying, but I couldn’t focus on what that was right now because if I took my eyes off the Original, it would kill me. Out of the corner of my vision I saw two people moving to the sides of the gate. What were they doing?

Boards were being moved. Why? I didn’t know. I had to answer the Original demon and think of something significant to say to get him to go away. “Haven’t you heard what happens to demons who bother us these days? They end up destroyed. Even you Originals. Feel like being killed tonight?” I raised my hand higher.

“I am not as easily bested as my brothers, particularly by a little girl.” The demon sneered.

The way he said girl infuriated me. It was a better emotion than fear. I hated this thing in front of me. The demons had destroyed our world, possessed our people, and left most with a helpless and hopeless existence. I wouldn’t be either tonight.

I shot my power through my fingertips, hitting him so hard he flew backward a step. He quickly rushed toward me, slamming against the gate. I didn’t understand why he was so solid when he should have been able to get through it by simply dissolving. Although, I didn’t know everything about demons. This was why I needed to not be left alone for days on end as the only working Sister.

The gate didn’t budge. A drilling sound came from my left. Gordon and Lennon were reinforcing the gate. That was incredibly nice of them, considering the risk. If I lived through this, I’d thank them.

I shot my powers at the demon again, and this time his energy sucked me forward. Both of us disintegrated into nothingness, cells, energy, drops of power. This was why Originals were so difficult to take care of. Other demons could be sent back to where they belonged. But the Originals could become pure energy. Only the same would undo them.

We floated through time and space, and I saw universes unfold around me as we wrestled for survival. There were no beginnings, no ends. And only power—those who had it, those who wanted it, those who would destroy universes for a chance to possess it. And beneath my house was…

I slammed back into my body. The Original melted into nothingness. His red glow disappearing while I watched it happen, shock rendering me mute. I stumbled backward. Strong arms stopped me from hitting the ground.

Ren, the one who had made the comment about the horns, spoke to me. “I’ve got you.” His original comment must have imprinted on my brain. Where had he come from, and what had the others been doing with the gate? I had so many questions to ask, but instead, I fainted in his arms.

Fading to blackness was unfortunately part of our lives as Sisters, whether we liked it or not.

I woke up cold, shivering under my blanket. It took me a moment to realize I was in the guesthouse, the third bedroom to the left down the hall from the kitchen. I knew it well. I’d cleaned it to get it ready for the contractors. I’d even put pictures on the walls that I’d bought from a local shopkeeper so it looked homier.

“Easy.” The last person I’d seen had been Ren, but now Wayne was there. How long had I been out? “I think you might be in a little bit of shock.”

I shook my head and forced myself to sit up. “No, that’s the demon. It’s a freezing cold creature. So c-c-cold that it burns with heat. I know that doesn’t make sense.”

“Doesn’t have to, to me.” He picked a bowl off the table next to the bed. “You’re up right around the time that other woman said you would be.”

The other woman? “Krystal. Yes. She’s a Sister.”

“Not like you are.” He spooned some liquid toward my mouth, and although I should have been humiliated—he was a relative stranger—I let him feed me like a baby. “That was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure I understood it, but you battled for the world and won. I’m honored that I witnessed it.”

That was… not something anyone had ever said to me before. My own Guards had complained about having to drag me around half dead to get me home. They’d certainly never seemed impressed with my abilities.

He spooned another bit of broth into my mouth, and after I swallowed, I took the spoon. The longer I was awake the more I recovered my faculties. I wasn’t a baby in need of that kind of care. We were taught to be self-sufficient as fast as we could be.

“Thank you.” I nodded, and he handed me the bowl. He had beautiful blue eyes to go with his dark-brown hair. I’d not noticed earlier because I’d only given them all a cursory glance. Small details were starting to come out. Like Neil’s cheekbones, Ren’s biceps, Gordon’s determined stride, and Lennon’s expressive mouth. Wayne had blue eyes that I bet I would always notice.

He ran his hand down the blanket, smoothing it out. “Sorry about the feeding you. My mother was sick from the time I was ten until she died when I was twenty. I get into a caretaker mode, and I… that’s just what I do. I didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything. You just took out a monster; you can obviously feed yourself.”

I’d made him uncomfortable when he’d been nothing but kind. I touched his arm, and he raised those blues to meet my gaze. “Thank you. I need food when I wake up from a mess like that. Most of the time, I have to practically crawl to get it. You’ve done me a great kindness.”

A small smile crossed his lips. “Would it be okay if I asked you some questions?”

I answered his grin with my own. “If I can ask you some, too.”

“It’s a deal.” He put out his hand, and I realized he meant for us to shake. I clasped his offering, and we made a quick movement of cementing the question asking with physical contact. “Go ahead, ask me anything.”

I hadn’t realized I’d have to go first. “What is your skill? I mean, do you work on plumbing?” I really, really hoped he did. Getting hot water had become such a preoccupation in my life that I was rather fixated on the subject. Even thinking about my cold showers made my already frozen self worse. I tugged on my blanket a little bit.

“I’m a master carpenter.” Okay, so I couldn’t pester Wayne about the water. Still, that was an amazing skill set.

“So you’ll be the one who makes everything work, fit, and look incredible.” We’d had craftsmen at the other Sisterhood. We never spoke to them; it was forbidden. But they’d been there.

He smiled. “Hope so. My turn. The legends about you guys—obviously some of them are very wrong—but you always have helpers, Guards. Where are yours?”

How much to explain? “Boy did you just ask a loaded question…”

“You don’t have to answer.” He squeezed my knee, and a slight band of heat traveled from the spot right up my spine, warming me just a little bit. “I didn’t know it was bad…”

I shook my head, effectively cutting him off. “It’s not a bad question. Let me see how quickly I can sum this up so you don’t have to listen for hours and hours. We were born to be Sisters, with the powers that we have. Yet, we agreed to our existence in the life before. Chosen by divinity and matched to men who are meant to be our loves, our Guards—our forever. It’s a joint destiny. All in, together. But there was a woman running things for a long time who ruined everything. She’s fallen in with the demons. So I don’t have Guards who love me. I should, but I don’t.”

He scrunched up his nose. “Well, I mean, if they agreed in some other world to be born and do this, shouldn’t they be here doing it? What kind of guy would leave a woman like you to face this alone?”

“Anything could have happened to them. Death. Assigned to someone else. Turned away from the Sisterhood. Maybe they took one look at me and changed their minds. I don’t know.”

He squeezed again. “Mika, if I may overstep, no man would look at you and change his mind.”

I shook my head. “I spent most of my life covered in robes and a hood that you couldn’t see my face through.”

“What a terrible waste. A face like yours? The world deserves to see it. Beauty should never be covered up like that. It’s a gift. From divinity.”

I had nothing to say. No one had ever offered me such a compliment before. After a second of absolute quiet, he scooted up on the bed to stretch out next to me. His body heat did what his hand had earlier: it started to warm me. I was never so grateful to have someone lying next to me. I couldn’t remember it ever happening before.

“We had a Sister come to our island once. She took a baby. It was devastating. Said the child had been called. Some Oracle had looked and seen her. The father fought back. I wasn’t quite born yet. Another two months until I would be. Dad died and Mom was left a mess. Ms. Miranda. She was never fine after that. My mom used to bring them eggs and things before she got sick. We made a law on the island that Sisters intent on taking children would not be welcomed again. We don’t have a huge military, but we’d handle that.”

I tried to picture it. I didn’t want to argue. But the truth was that before Anne went and weakened Katrina by calling her out publicly as a sham, the other Sisterhood had been so powerful and the Guards so well trained that I had a hard time imagining anyone on Peter’s Isle defeating them. But what did I know? I hadn’t even realized such a place existed. People fought harder for their homes than anywhere else in the world.

“That’s how I was taken. I don’t know from where or any circumstances. But that’s my story, too. All Sisters have the same story. We were all, at one point, taken from our families.”

He nodded. “And there’s been a big change? That’s what the townsfolk were telling us.”

“Now, that is too long a story.” I beamed at him. “Besides, it’s my question time. What were you doing at the gate? I told you guys to stay back.”

“Reinforcing it. None of us realized you were about to suddenly become like a ghost and not have physical shape. You and the demon. But we thought we could help keep it back.”

I leaned inward. “That was the nicest thing anyone has ever tried to do for me.”

His eyes widened. “Really? Are all the people you know terrible?”

The question made me laugh. “Not at all. I should probably say it’s the second nicest thing.” Teagan had pulled me out of the darkness. For now and always, that act would win any contest in kindness.

“Hey.” Lennon poked his head through the door. “She’s up? Why didn’t you tell us?”

Wayne gave him a slow smile. “Because I wanted to talk to her all by myself.”

After a second, Lennon scowled at him. “That’s not fair. I think we’d all like to talk to her by ourselves.”

“Then I guess you should have made soup and waited for her to wake.” Wayne shrugged and made no sign of moving. “Ya snooze, ya lose, brother.”

Lennon strode further into the room. “Well I might have thought to do so, but I was, instead, checking all the roofs to see which ones leaked and where.”

His words made me aware that it was still raining. I hated the sound. Goosebumps broke out on my body with each pit-pat. I looked at myself. I wasn’t wearing my pajamas but a blue shirt and flannel pants I didn’t recognize. “Who changed me?”

“Krystal. She shooed us out of the room. We had to take care of you,” Wayne spoke quickly. “You saved all of us. It was the least we could do.”

“Oh, don’t make it out like you didn’t hover like a hen over her chicks.” Lennon sat on the other end of the bed. “Wayne’s a healer at heart.”

With a quick smile, Wayne kicked Lennon who swatted away Wayne’s foot. “And Lennon’s a pain in the ass.”

Lennon ignored the jab. Or at least he seemed to. “I’m so glad you found us, Sister Mika. This place is going to come down around your heads if we don’t get started on it soon.”

“Who does the plumbing?”

It was finally Lennon who answered, “That would be Ren and Gordon.”

I would start to pester them as soon as I had the energy. Wayne uncrossed his arms and pointed toward my bowl. “Eat before you pass out.”

I did and managed to hand him my bowl before sleep took me back under. I’d never fallen into dreamland with two strangers watching before. But they were calm, and I believed, maybe naively but what did that matter really, that I’d never been safer than I was right in that moment.