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Chapter One

North America, 2051

Not all huood Not all demons are evil

Jade Deville had heard those words uttered by her mother on more than one occasion Never publicly, of course, for that would incite much controversy

Yet she would whisper the sentiirl, had asked her to talk about the deht better understand the creatures that ruled their world Many of whom made residence within and outside the castle walls of the Dee that overlooked the sh, in northeastern Maine, not far from the New Brunswick border

Jade had never been able to take solace in her mother’s compassionate opinion History books and the sparse re the ten-year demon wars that started in 2016 provided sufficient proof the deerous and much deadlier than the threat of bio-weaponry and nuclear bombs had ever been—could ever be, were they still in existence

The terrorization humans once inflicted upon each other in their quest for supre obsolete—and child’s play in comparison to the demon warfare tactically employed, which nearly decimated the huht back

The only thing that could kill a demon was another de spell The last tere extres, which weren’t commonplace because of various pacts and alliances that banded ades existed and sometimes they wreaked as much havoc on the human populace as they did the demonic one

Noenty-six years old, Jade still had a difficult ti herevil It made no sense to her After all, it had been olves who’d viciously attacked and killed her parents fifteen years ago

As she left her cottage on the banks of the narrow river that snaked its way along the outskirts of town, she zipped up her black leather jacket against the chill of the crisp, autulistened in the darkness surrounding her, catching the occasional ray ofpine trees and the spindle-fingered cloud cover overhead

Jade wove her way along the worn path that led to the heart of the village The ground was hard beneath her feet, frozen, and with a light dusting of white that would likely turn into a foot or two of fresh powder by the time she returned home If she returned hoe, and Jade in particular