Piper stood in the middle of the courtyard, her hands clenching nervously, while Ethel, Alfred, and Ophelia looked on. In front of her stood Beatrice, looking almost like a clone of her sister Ethel. The woman was a tiny bit taller but had the same angular face, blond hair, and arctic blue eyes.

  “Are you ready?” Beatrice asked, raising her hand slightly.

  Glancing over at the others, Piper watched them nod encouragingly and then turned back to Beatrice. She signaled for the illusionist to start her spell. Earlier, she had done her best to describe how she used to look and the color of her hair. The woman had told her that she wasn’t sure if her spells would work on a demon, but she was willing to try her best.

  Piper watched intently as the minor illusionist mumbled a few words and then the surrounding air shimmered slightly. Tiny motes of light descended around her almost like flakes of snow and splashed against her skin. She lifted her hands and gasped at the sight. Her skin had transformed to a healthy pink color.

  “How do I look?” Piper called out to the others.

  Ethel grinned at Piper. “You look like a beautiful young woman.”

  “And my horns…?”

  “It’s like they were never there.”

  With her horns hidden by the illusion, and her tail tucked under her dress, she almost looked human again. She couldn’t stop grinning at being back to her old self.

  “Thank you!” Piper cried out, leaping forward and wrapping her arms around Beatrice. The woman stiffened at her touch but then relaxed and patted her back.

  “You’re very welcome.”

  Piper disentangled herself from Beatrice with an embarrassed look. She’d gotten a little carried away, since most people probably didn’t to hug a demon.

  Beatrice stepped back and smoothed down her dress. “I’ve used my skill [Enduring Casting] on you. Until I cancel it, the illusion will remain in effect. I should have enough mana regeneration for it to last until around sundown. But you’ll need to be out of the village well before then. Do you understand?”

  “I understand!” Piper said happily, once again glancing down at her skin. She couldn’t believe she looked human again. This was amazing.

  Beatrice had been coming to the farm for a few weeks now, showing her the basics of illusion magic. Most of it was pretty simple stuff, but after a few visits, she had come up with an idea which would allow Piper to visit the village. She could cast several of her spells—[Hide Blemish], [Healthy Skin], and [Hair Dye]—to make Piper look more human. Then she could tie off the magic with one of her skills and make the illusions persist. Ethel had promised that if the spell worked, she would take her to the village for a day trip.

  Piper looked over at Ethel hopefully. “Does this mean we can go?”

  “Yes,” Ethel said, beaming. “We’re going on a trip to the village.”

  Clapping her hands excitedly, she froze as the illusion shimmered. With a sheepish smile, she dropped her hands to her side. “I guess I shouldn’t do that.”

  “No,” Beatrice said. “You should not. The illusion is delicate. Try not to move too much or do anything overly athletic in town. If you just stand around for the most part, you should be fine.”

  “Got it,” Piper said, trying her best to look serious. But she couldn’t stop smiling. “I’ll stand around and look boring.”

  Ophelia snorted. “You should have no problem doing that.”

  Ethel gave her daughter a death glare before walking over and handing Beatrice two copper coins. Her sister made the money disappear into her purse almost like magic. And with her class, maybe there was some magic involved. It might be handy for an illusionist to be able to hide their money.

  Piper waited impatiently as Ethel gathered up baskets of wool and a bundle of candles, while Alfred loaded firewood onto the cart. Since their farm was a fair distance from the village, they had a much larger supply of deadwood than most in town. Every week, Alfred went into town to sell a wagonload of wood.

  She knew she should help load the cart, but she was too excited. Instead, she chewed on the tip of her claw as she watched them work. Recently, black claws had begun to sprout from the ends of her fingers. She hated how they looked, but she couldn’t complain too much when she’d been given a second chance at life. And a pretty sweet healing ability on top of it.

  “Ready to go?” Ethel asked Piper from the wagon driver’s seat.

  “Yes,” she almost shouted, vaulting over the side of the cart. Along with her horns and claws, she’d also noticed some changes to her body. She could do things she’d never dreamed of doing in her previous life—even before she got sick.

  Piper settled down beside a pile of firewood, almost vibrating with excitement. Besides the farm and the hospital, she hadn’t been anywhere new in ages. A few years earlier, her dad had taken her to a beach on Lake Erie in her wheelchair, and it had been one of the best days of her life. But after that, her disease had worsened, and she couldn’t travel far from the hospital.

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  Today was going to be awesome. She already knew it.

  Once Beatrice had taken a seat next to her sister, Ethel snapped the reins to get the oxen moving. Both of the women waved at Alfred, who was holding his daughter tight. Ophelia had complained bitterly about not being allowed to go into town. But ever since the ooze incident, her parents had kept her on a tight leash.

  Ophelia stuck her tongue out at Piper, her fresh red scar crinkling around her eye.

  Piper stuck her own tongue out in return, making Ophelia giggle. She watched as Alfred facepalmed at her reaction. She knew it was childish to stick her tongue out, but she was too excited to care. Today was going to be so much fun.

  Lifting her arm, she poked the skin and watched it shimmer. If she became an illusionist, she’d have to work hard to learn more powerful spells. She wanted something that would be impossible to see through.

  It took a bit more than an hour to reach the village, and she watched with rapt attention as the forest fell away, revealing fields filled with crops and grazing animals. At the center of the farmland, a wooden palisade ringed a large group of thatch huts. She couldn’t wait to see what it was like inside the walls.

  Piper tried to take in all the sights as they trundled down the rutted road. A few farmers lifted their hats to wave at the cart. She also spotted a group of girls her age strutting through the field. Maybe she’d make a second friend here. The thought filled her with unbounded joy. She couldn’t believe she might have the chance to make another friend.

  As she drew closer to the village, she kept checking her illusion to make sure it hadn’t failed. If anyone saw that she was a demon, everything would be ruined. But Beatrice didn’t look worried. She assumed the woman had some way to track her spells. Otherwise, what was the point of [Enduring Casting]?

  Piper held her breath as they approached the gates. A sudden, irrational fear seized her that they would somehow know she was a demon. The guards would find out. They would have some sort of way to sniff out non-humans. And then she’d have to give up her day in town with Ethel.

  And I’ll probably get chased by a mob with torches and pitchforks.

  Two men wearing padded jackets and holding spears approached the wagon. One nodded at Beatrice while the other looked in the back. His gaze passed right over Piper without stopping. The guard waved the cart through before sauntering back to his post.

  Piper exhaled, sagging forward. They’d completed the hardest part and gotten through the gates. From here on in, there was nothing to worry about.

  Not that either of the women had expected them to have a problem. Apparently, trouble rarely found the village of Alderwick, even though it was a border village in the Bloodviel Empire. Aside from the occasional fae raiding party or monster, living here was mostly peaceful.

  Except for the bloodsuckers drinking your blood.

  Piper grimaced at the thought of a vampire sucking her blood. Alfred had explained the blood rent to her only recently. A few centuries ago, a powerful group of vampires had conquered this land. Now they kept all the humans as cattle. She’d immediately told Alfred that she thought it was wrong to feed on humans.

  Surprisingly, he had disagreed with her. Before the vampires, there had been five kingdoms constantly at war. The stories told of armies ravaging and pillaging the countryside, leaving no village untouched. After the vampires had defeated the combined forces of the Five Kingdoms, they had brought peace and stability to the land. And all they asked in return for their protection was that humans pay a yearly blood rent.

  While Alfred seemed to believe whole-heartedly in the story, Piper had her doubts. Who was to say the vampires hadn’t made up the history to make themselves look better? While there might be some truth in the tale, she was willing to bet the vampires had tweaked it over the years. Still, she had to admit that most people seemed pretty happy here.

  The wagon rolled through the gates, and a group of children ran along behind it for a short distance. She smiled at them, and a little girl waved at her enthusiastically. Then they spotted something else more exciting and peeled off in another direction. The group of kids disappeared down the alleyway between two houses with thatched roofs.

  Piper watched the houses and shops go by as they headed deeper into the village. By all accounts, Alderwick was a small settlement. According to Alfred, it didn’t have much more than eighty houses. But he hadn’t mentioned that it had so many shops. As a jewelry stall passed by, she suddenly wished she had some money.

  Ethel caught Piper looking and patted her arm. “Maybe for your awakening, we can get you a little gift.”

  “Oh no,” Piper said quickly. “That place looks way too expensive. I couldn’t ask for anything like that.”

  “You saved my daughter,” the older woman replied, “and someday you and Alfred are going to find that tomb.”

  Piper giggled at the idea of them finding the tomb. The search for the place where she’d awoken had become something of an obsession for Alfred. Every time there was a day of rest, they went searching for it up in the hills. But there were kilometres of ruins, and she’d crawled out of a tiny hole. So far, they hadn’t found any sign of it. But the thought of those aetherstones kept them looking.

  The wagon lurched to a stop, and Ethel stood up. She brushed some hay off her dress before climbing down the side of the wagon. Pointing at Piper, she said, “Wait here while I work out a deal for these things.”

  Piper nodded and watched the woman enter a large building. A few minutes later, a couple of men came out and started to unload the wagon. One of the younger men kept sneaking glances at Piper. She couldn’t understand why and kept checking her illusion. Her heart raced as she wondered if he could somehow see through the spell. Otherwise, why would he be looking at her?

  “He thinks you’re cute,” Beatrice whispered, almost as if she could read Piper’s mind.

  Her mouth dropped open, and then she blushed to the roots of her hair. No boy had ever thought she was cute. Her heart sank a bit as she realized he didn’t think she was cute—he thought the illusion was cute. But she didn’t mind him sneaking a few more glances before one of the other men cuffed his ear and told him to pay attention to his work.

  “I’m sure my sister will find a suitor for you someday,” Beatrice said. “If you are given an illusionist class, no one will ever need to know about your condition.”

  Piper furrowed her brow at Beatrice's words. She’d never thought of getting married in the past. No one had expected her to see her 20th birthday, never mind settle down and have kids. But now that she had decades in front of her, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to get married. At least not until she experienced a lot more living. There was so much she wanted to see in this world.

  Once the firewood, wool, and candles had been unloaded, Ethel reappeared from inside the building. She carried a jingling coin purse in her hand and had a smile on her face.

  “Why don’t we go buy you some sweetmeats?” Ethel said, climbing back into the driver’s seat.

  Piper nodded her head. The idea of meat that had been sweetened didn’t sound all that appealing, but she couldn’t turn down the offer of a gift. And if Ethel liked them, then she was willing to give them a try.

  This was going to be the best day.