“Our friendship with Karen has certainly been…strained since we got back,” Dizzy said softly.
“I’ll say,” Callie grumbled, thunderclouds on her face. She and Dizzy tried to brush it off, but they hadn’t fared much better than Penny when it came to leaving me behind. I heard thoughts that slipped, felt it in their tight hugs, and saw it in their sorrowful eyes. I was physically tortured, but they’d been tortured emotionally. It had probably left a bigger scar on them than on me.
“Let’s talk about what you said earlier,” Darius said smoothly, and I braced myself, recognizing that cunning gleam in his eyes.
“Which part?” I asked suspiciously.
Emery drained his beer and pushed it in front of him. Callie moved to the fridge to get another. Clearly this would not be a sober affair.
“Roger manipulating you,” Darius responded, suddenly on point.
I waved it away. “He didn’t. Penny was just overreacting.”
“That’s what’s so fascinating,” Emery said, studying me. “If it was Darius, or me, or even Lucifer, who’s supposed to be the master of lies, you’d clue in to what we were doing. You might not even register it as manipulation, but you’d instinctively know someone was trying to tell you what to do, and you being you, you’d push back. I’ve seen it time and again. But Roger so obviously turns you in the direction he desires and pushes, and you bat your eyes like a lost lamb and go with it.”
“First, I did not bat my eyes. When have I ever? Second, I didn’t agree to anything other than showing up on the battlefield with them. Honestly, you guys, he isn’t trying to get anything besides help. His reasoning was…reasonable. My logical side gets it completely. I just have to work a little to keep that side of me in control, that’s all.”
“Ah.” Darius’s lush lips wrapped around the edge of his glass, and I tore my gaze away. Now was not the time for randy thoughts.
Emery nodded like Darius had actually said something meaningful, and I wondered if suddenly I wasn’t the only one able to read thoughts.
“What ah?” I asked, feeling incredibly stupid and very annoyed because of it. It had been so much easier when I didn’t have friends to confuse and annoy me. So much easier. And less painful. And less conducive to feelings of impending doom.
“Lead by example,” Emery said, accepting the full bottle from Callie. “He explained his reasoning, which is backed by his morals, and sold it to you with his personal guarantee that he will follow the same set of rules. You know he’s a trustworthy guy who will put his life on the line for you, if need be. He drew on your trust to elicit an assurance that you’ll abide by his moral code. That you’ll fall in line and act like a team player.” Emery turned to Darius. “It works because of the whole a pack is mightier than one wolf mentality. She’s never had a pack, so she has never confronted that sort of mentality.”
“You guys seem to be missing the point where I didn’t actually agree to anything,” I said.
“She is used to people manipulating her for their personal gain, and not for the gain of a group as a whole,” Darius murmured, and I could see the wheels turning.
“No, no.” I waggled a finger at him. “Don’t you get any ideas.” I turned to Callie for help. Maybe Roger was trying to get me on board with the team, but he had been reasonable. I still didn’t see the problem.
She was looking at me with a thoughtful expression. “You’re so used to being surrounded by the likes of his kind”—she pointed at Darius—“that you always assume people’s motives are to use you. Roger isn’t trying to use you—”
“That’s subjective,” Emery cut in.
“He’s trying to unite you with the rest of his team, and I’m sure that feels good to a person with your…background.” She was about to say “issues,” I knew full well. “You don’t pick up on that kind of subtle maneuvering, because he really is trying to look out for you, in the best way he knows how. Your primal urge with a guy like him is to let him protect you.” She dropped her voice to a mumble. “I’d want to let him, that’s for sure…” She dabbed her forehead.
“I can see that,” Dizzy said, frowning at her. “I probably would’ve said yes to that shifter too. Then again, he’s the sort of guy you don’t really want to say no to.”
“The problem, of course, is that he doesn’t understand his enemy,” Darius said, watching me acutely. Damn it, I shouldn’t have said anything.
“Exactly,” Emery said, war in his eyes. “The elves in charge are morally bankrupt. They do not care about anyone, save themselves. They aren’t stupid, either. Roger is naive when it comes to the really dirty, gritty places of the Realm. Places the elves have cultivated with their longstanding mistreatment. He can’t possibly know the extent of the vileness he’s about to face. He’s not prepared for it, and if he tries to chain you to his cause like this, he’ll get a rude awakening right before his forces are completely wiped out. He might be trying to do the right thing, but he’s not fighting fire with fire in this case.”
“I agree, mon coeur,” Darius said to me. He moved his words to his thoughts.
I did not realize your desire to be part of a greater unit. I should have, with your reliance on Penny and your growing esteem for Roger. With the loyalty you’ve cultivated with Cahal. I was shortsighted. Soon we will establish some roots and build us a life like the one you crave. I promise you.
“But for now,” he continued out loud, leaving me confused and touched and longing for a life that didn’t involve hiding, the fear of discovery, or constant feelings of impending doom. “For now,” he said, capturing my attention again, “we need to get past this last hurdle. And to do that, you need to work the way you always have—and that means being headstrong and impulsive. You know every player in this war. Now you have but to act, and let us help you bring about change.”
“Curse breaker,” Callie said softly.
“Yes, but…” Dizzy rubbed his temple. “Charity had that vision that said we were supposed to stop the two leaders from killing each other.”
“Charity had a vision of the shifters and fae standing between the leaders, true enough,” Darius said. “They all stood together, as you recall. But Reagan and the natural mages, and my vampires, were separated out. The shifters and fae have their interpretation of what that vision meant, but that doesn’t mean it is ours. We weren’t Seen to be standing with the rest of them for a reason. Reagan has different motives, and she needs to hone down what those are.”
He was right, though my motives were still a bit hazy at the moment. Things had gotten so big, so confusing, that I wasn’t handling this whole situation the way I usually would.
Although, in my defense, this was a situation unlike any I’d ever imagined. A situation born of pain and confusion. We were all flying by the seats of our pants, not just me.
We’d better figure it out soon, though. Time was running out.
The doorbell chimed.
Knock, knock… I heard, and my blood ran cold.
Five
“Nobody move,” I said softly, a whip crack of command in my voice.
You are supposed to say, “Who’s there…”
I knew who was there. Lucifer.
My breath came in short bursts. Emery pushed up from the island, his body tense in places and loose in others, ready for action. Darius stayed perfectly still, watching me closely. Callie and Dizzy put down their glasses. Clearly no one intended to heed my command.
Oh, it seems you have some friends coming to call, I heard.
“Penny!” I burst into action before my thoughts could catch up with my legs. I didn’t know whom I was rushing out to protect, Penny or Lucifer, but I did know that if I didn’t get there in a hurry, someone was going to die.
“What’s going on?” Callie yelled as I sprinted down the hall toward the front door. Darius kept pace behind me, with Emery hurrying after.
I reached the door and ripped it open, finding Lucifer on the front stoop, wearing the w
hite button-up dress shirt and jeans he always did, turned to face the person who’d stalled on the walkway leading to the house.
Penny stood within a gathering cloud of magic, spells twisting and turning around her, vicious, pumped full of power, and ready to do some serious damage. Rage shone plainly on her face, burned brightly in her eyes.
At the edge of the property, Veronica peeked out from behind a bush and a wall of spell, sectioned off from the battle that was about to unfold.
“Wait—”
Penny loosed the spell, which she sent surging and twisting through the air, straight for Lucifer.
I flung out my hand, but Lucifer had already whipped his hands out to react. His magic ballooned out, a complex weave of fire and ice, so finely wrought and artfully crafted that I wanted to sulk at my paltry attempts.
Her spell slammed into his wall, sizzling through parts and sliding off the rest. He braced, the muscles in his arms bulging, his body shaking slightly with the onslaught. He heaved forward, pushing his magic toward Penny, fighting her spell back toward her.
“Stop!” I shouted, my magic slicing into the mix. I halted my father’s efforts and then latched on to Penny’s spell. I followed it home with my magic, unraveling both it and the churning cloud of magic above her. “Emery, go calm her down.”
Are you here to wage war? I asked Lucifer.
“No. I come in peace.” He paused, and a little smile twisted his lips as he magically wrestled with me, pushing back at my efforts to cut through his magic. “Take me to your…leader,” he said, grunting as he thwarted my attempt to punch through his barrier.
His magic speared at me, and I flung it away at the last moment, continuing to work at his push, now aimed at me. Wanting to crush me. To wipe me from the earth.
He was teaching me, even now.
Sweat beaded my brow and determination steeled me as I fought back, figuring out how to work around him. Loving the feeling of fighting with my magic. Of sparring with death threats instead of the equivalent of a wooden sword.
“She’s still fighting him,” I heard, the words barely registering through my focused attention. “Damn it, Emery!”
A concussion of air pushed me. A body hit a car in the driveway—probably Emery—and then another stream of Penny’s magic sliced through the air. This time, it wasn’t just rage behind the spell, but fear and hurt and vengeance…laced with love and devotion to our friendship. To me.
She was also borrowing heavily from Lucifer’s and my demonic magic.
The spell boiled and fumed, twisted and grew. The stream turned into a gush, and hellfire erupted in the air and washed over Lucifer, cutting through his efforts and blasting him back into the doorjamb. It crackled across his skin and turned to fire along his scalp, burning away his hair.
“Penny, whoa!” I stepped in front of him and held up my hand, meeting her hellfire with my own to stop the onslaught.
She cut off, panting, rage still burning brightly as she beheld Lucifer. “Why are you stopping me?”
“Hellfire won’t kill him, remember?” I paused to make sure she wasn’t going to throw another spell. “Also, I was just sparring with him. It wasn’t for reals. Sorry, I should’ve said something.”
She dropped her hands, and her body sagged a little. “Are you shi—” She scowled. “Suck a toe, Reagan. You could’ve let me know.”
I almost pointed out that she had been about to swear, but I pulled back. “I know, I’m sorry. Hang tight, though—we still don’t know why he’s here. We might have to kill him yet.”
“Yes, that possibility is never out of the question.” Lucifer laughed and straightened up, smoke curling from his head and his eyebrows wiped clean off his face. “Mighty magic. You have earned your place at my daughter’s side.” He offered her a bow. “I must ask…can all mages do hellfire?”
“No.” I didn’t leave my place, mostly between him and her. “She has a rare gift. If she’s close enough, she can…borrow someone else’s magic, essentially. She can tap into the kind of magic they do and weave it into her spells.”
His brow twitched upward. “Fascinating. And the angelic magic…where did you acquire that? After killing that accursed druid, I hope.”
I answered for her again. “No, she robbed it off a disgusting little Redcap goblin we killed a while back.”
“Oh, fantastic.” He beamed at her. “Horrible little creatures, those. Almost as bad as the wretched angels.”
Callie and Dizzy stood just inside the door, capsules in hand, ready to throw some spells. Darius was off to the side, the wariness I felt through the bond not showing on his perfectly composed face.
I squared off with Lucifer again and met his eyes. “Why are you here?”
He put up his hands. “I was telling the truth a moment ago—I come in peace. Alone. I wanted to speak with you again. See where you live and what you’re doing. That is all. I understand if you don’t want to see me.”
He was the enemy, at least one of them—everyone agreed on that. He was one of the powers I’d have to fight on the battlefield. That I would have to best in order to keep the worlds somewhat balanced. I should send him away, or maybe even try to kill him.
But instead I let out a breath, looked at Callie and Dizzy, and lifted my eyebrows. “Can you fix his hair, and also can he stay for a minute, or should we move this to my house?”
“You cannot be serious,” Penny said on a release of breath.
“Babe,” Emery said softly, trying to subdue her.
She stuck out her arm toward Lucifer. “He trapped her down in the Underworld, planned to kill us, chased us with the intent of kidnapping her again, and we’re supposed to invite him in for tea and crumpets?”
“Let Reagan handle it,” Emery murmured.
“Your loyalty to her is commendable,” Lucifer said to Penny. “And you’re right, of course. I am a deplorable specimen. I’m best watched at all times. I simply cannot be trusted…except when it comes to my blood. Reagan is my daughter, my heir, and I hope to make amends. As much as can be expected, of course, since war is coming. It seems we won’t be on the same side. As for my hair…” He ran a hand over his head and then down his face. Thick, dark hair sprouted and grew, covering his head and forming perfect eyebrows. “Easily remedied.”
Penny’s brow lowered. She cocked her head at him. I doubted she was used to the villain coming right out and saying where he stood. Vampires certainly never did. Apparently shifters didn’t either, that tricky bastard Roger.
Or maybe she was just jealous of Lucifer’s ability to grow his own hair back. What I wouldn’t give for that trick…
“You know what…” I nodded, looking at Darius. “Let’s move this to my house. If things go south, and Penny has to blow it up, it’ll give Darius a reason to make it even bigger.”
“I’d like that,” Lucifer said, and stepped back. “I’d also like to try some of your Brink whiskey. Let’s see what the Underworld failed to live up to.”
“A lot.” Penny crinkled her nose at Lucifer. “A whole lot, that’s what. It’s a mind bender down there, and I don’t mind saying it.”
Unable to help a laugh, I walked toward Darius. “The Underworld broke Penny’s brain.”
“The elves did, actually,” she said. “The painting Cahal drew certainly helped.”
I quickly explained what Cahal had apparently painted.
“Ah. Yes, the state she was in…” Rage and anguish flickered in Lucifer’s eyes. Fire curled into the air around him. “The elves will see retribution for that. But that is for another day. I will meet you at your house, Reagan. I was there earlier in the day, but you’d gone out. The Seer told me to come back later.”
I slowed as I reached Darius, turning back to face my father, but decided I didn’t want to ask questions. The Red Prophet had been hanging around my place, which was fine because she never mentioned her prophecies. I didn’t mind her weirdness—it was growing on me, actually, especially considerin
g how much it irked everyone else—but I could not tolerate her magic. Not anymore. I was a person who held grudges, it turned out. Torture could do that to a person.
Into our cars we went—Darius, Penny, Emery, and me in my car, followed by Dizzy and Callie, who’d refused to stay behind. Poor Veronica had been left at their house alone, guarded by an impenetrable ward, which was definitely for the best in case things went pear-shaped. I took a couple deep breaths and prepared to invite my father into my world.
Darius slipped his hand onto my thigh. “It is encouraging that he decided to visit. He does not seem to harbor ill will.”
“He’s always like that,” I responded, clicking on my turning signal. Somewhere above us, Lucifer flew in his demon form, a very handy way to get around town. “He’s chill until he isn’t.”
“He probably wants to talk you into helping him take down the elves,” Penny said, looking out the window. She held Emery’s hand.
“Probably,” I replied, getting onto the highway.
“So he can find you anywhere?” Penny asked. “There is no hiding from him?”
“Not unless she uses that spell we did,” Emery murmured.
He was talking about a spell that could magically make me disappear. I could assume a new appearance, wipe out the feel of my demonic magic that allowed my father to track me, and drift into the shadows. If my mother had had access to that spell, I knew she would’ve used it on me to give me a normal life. After she’d passed, I likely would’ve used it on myself. But now?
No. I liked who and what I was. Even if Lucifer and I didn’t end up getting along, I wasn’t going to hide from him. I wasn’t going to slink away and turn into someone else. I’d worked hard to become me over the years, and I wouldn’t change because of some daddy issues.
Battle With Fire Page 6