Battle With Fire

by Breene, K. F.

  Ja sat quietly for a moment, watching Darius, who watched her back. It looked like they were silently communicating, but they couldn’t—not like I could. Still, they were probably communicating with looks and body language.

  “That information changes nothing between us,” Darius finally said. “It does not help me in any way.”

  “Doesn’t it?” she asked.

  Did I detect a little annoyance in her tone?

  “I assume you are referring to the agreement between Lucifer and Reagan, whereby Lucifer will hand Vlad over if she requests it?”

  Ja didn’t comment, but her eyes had taken on a keen edge.

  “What good would it do to kill Vlad?” Darius asked with an indifferent tone, though his anger hadn’t subsided. “It won’t disband his followers or quell their delusions of greater representation within the Realm.”

  “Which they should have anyway, and we need to see that everyone is represented in the ruling tier,” I cut in, because I’d forgotten that bit, and it should be included in this great plan of balance that I did not, in any way, want to institute. What a stupid position I’d found myself in. This was so not my jam, why had no one realized that?

  “Vlad and Lucifer have the unicorns now, with Reagan’s blessing,” Darius said, ignoring me. “They are building their forces as more and more creatures leave the Realm, searching for someone who will tear the elves from power. With Vlad or without him, Lucifer is setting himself up to sweep through that battlefield and take the prize.”

  I lifted my eyebrows and studied him. I didn’t know what to say. No one had told me the scales had tilted that far in my father’s favor. Would we even be able to stop him?

  Ja was silent for a long moment, the two back to staring at each other, a game of silent chess. Her eyes slid to me.

  “You know, of course, that it will be easy to kill all the vampires fighting with Vlad?” she asked.

  “Because the elves might fight during the day and pull down the illusion of the fake sun that protects them, right?”

  A glimmer of rage flashed in her eyes.

  She thinks you are intentionally being belligerent, Darius thought. She thinks you are mocking her.

  Little did she know I wasn’t smart enough to read her subtlety. I was honestly asking if there was something I was missing.

  “Well, then.” She uncrossed her legs, still holding her clutch. “I will leave you with a surprise gift, Darius. You will collect it in the next couple days.”

  “If you wish,” he answered, noncommittally.

  She stood, and Darius did the same, so I followed suit. I wasn’t polite often, but when I was, I was annoyed by it.

  Her stare bored into me. “Lucifer has issued orders to remove you from the battlefield—or possibly before. He doesn’t want you harmed. Be on your guard if you hope to join the battle.” Her eyebrow arched. “You do still hope to join the battle?”

  “Yes,” I replied. “And he won’t be taking me anywhere. Someone has to stand up to him.”

  Her smile was slight. “Good. It wouldn’t be wise to grant the Realm’s throne to Lucifer. That kind of instability would lead to another war that might bring the worlds to their knees. The last thing we want is to be sequestered to the human lands forever. Their short life spans make them much too volatile as companions.”

  I scowled at her as Darius showed her out, and then kept right on scowling at her through the door.

  “What’s the matter?” Darius asked, returning. He lowered into the loveseat and took my hand again, gently pulling me down with him.

  “I don’t like that she’s thinking along the same lines as I am in regard to the Realm. It makes me think I’m missing something.”

  “Then you won’t be getting your revenge on the elves?”

  He laid his arm along the back of the loveseat behind me and leaned closer, skimming his lips against my neck. Delicious shivers coated me, and I fluttered my eyes closed.

  “I will, somehow. Either on the battlefield or some other time. I’ll definitely get revenge. But…I just think it would be selfish to potentially trash a whole world because of my issues. It isn’t fair to them. I’ve had a lifetime of thinking of nothing but myself, and it hasn’t gotten me very far. I need to think of others.”

  He kissed my heated skin, sucking a little. His teeth scratched pleasantly, and his hand trailed up the inside of my thigh. “You are exactly right, and your determination to do right by them can only help your standing within the worlds when you step into your role as ruler.”

  I widened my legs, breathing heavily. “What do you mean?” I asked, drunk on his proximity, burning from the inside out.

  “Lucifer has issued you a compromise.” His tricky fingers reached my apex and rubbed. Waves of pleasure washed through me as his lips trailed a line of fire down to my throat. “He is opening the Underworld for you and allowing you the decision to rule or not, live there or not. It’s what you wanted, correct?”

  “Yes,” I said, and it was both an answer and a reaction to his ministrations. The sensation built, tightening me up.

  His lips closed over my nipple and he bit through the fabric lightly, enough to apply pressure but not hurt. I groaned, gyrating my hips against his clever fingers.

  “I saw you force that powerful conspector into submission before we fled the Underworld. You were born to rule, Reagan Somerset, and I don’t think it’ll take long for you to realize that. You have sacrificed yourself for your friends, put the wellbeing of other creatures before yourself and your plans, and listened to those around you. You are planning to act in a way that benefits entire worlds.”

  I cried out as I orgasmed, arching backward.

  Darius lifted up and kissed my neck again, over my pulse, before shifting his attention to my mouth and running his tongue over my bottom lip. “In such an incredibly short time, you are growing to fill the seat Lucifer has offered you. You will be an amazing ruler, and I will be proud to call you mine.”

  “Don’t be so confident,” I said as he yanked the fabric and unbuttoned my jeans. He pulled the zipper down slowly, now kissing along my jaw. “As soon as I get new digs, I’ll dump you and level up.”

  I felt his lips curl into a smile. “There is no leveling up from me, and in just a moment you will scream out your agreement.”

  Infallible confidence to the last. He was right, though, the bastard.

  “I can ask for Vlad, if you want,” I said as he pulled my shirt off and tossed it behind him. He stripped my bra next, and his shirt with it. He kissed me, deep and sensual, and I ran my hands up his smooth, cut torso.

  He paused for a moment, backing up to look into my eyes. “It would do no good, and I honestly don’t know if I could best him. He might kill me instead.”

  “I’d never let that happen,” I whispered.

  “I wouldn’t let you interfere. But what I said to Ja wasn’t to be taken at face value. She wants me to kill him. Or him to kill me. Both of us are powerful players in the vampire hierarchy, more so than any of the other elders. We have a delicate balance, even now, after choosing different sides. We have helped keep each other at this level for more than half of our lives. I was telling Ja that I would not take the bait and end him, thereby allowing her to move more freely in her pursuits. We will band together to stop her, if need be, and after this, that might be necessary.”

  “You said all of that while using completely different words?”

  His lush lips curled up into a smile. He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me closer, claiming my lips and my desire. His tongue swept through my mouth, and I pulled open the fly of his jeans. Reaching within, I claimed his hard length and ran my palm along it before gripping firmly and stroking.

  He groaned into my mouth, backing off a little, his eyes hooded. “Yes, mon ange. I said all of that. She is incredibly dangerous. More so than anyone I have ever met. I knew she’d been a powerful player back in the day, but I had no idea what it might mean. I
should not have put her in a position to want to re-emerge into our world in a significant way. Now I will need to put my grievances with Vlad aside and monitor her closely.”

  He grabbed the edges of my jeans and yanked them off before ripping away my lacy red panties. He pushed his pants down and then my knees apart, leaving me spread and bare while he lowered his knees to the carpeted floor.

  “You’re really mad at Vlad, then?”

  He ran his tongue up my slick center before enveloping my clit with his hot mouth and sucking, rolling his tongue around. My breath hitched, and pleasure consumed me before he quickly backed off and blew softly, the effect like a light tickle, driving my anticipation to incredible heights.

  “I’m not mad about how he turned me. I’ve done worse, myself. To Moss, as a matter of fact. To many. I do not understand…” He sucked in the sensitive skin on the inside of my upper thigh before moving back to my core. Vampires were incredibly good at having conversations, deep or shallow, while in the throes of passion. It was madness, but did make his history lectures very enjoyable.

  I arched, groaning, drinking in the pleasure, my desire pumping higher. My body wound up, right on the edge now.

  He pulled back, leaving me teetering there. I whimpered, of all things, throbbing, desperate to spill over into orgasm.

  “I do not understand why he kept it from me. He is my maker, regardless of how.” He pushed to standing, and I looked at him like he’d grown two heads. Where the hell did he think he was going?

  He scooped me up, walked me to the bed, tore back the covers, and set me down gently.

  “It is something I will ask him one day.” He bent between my legs again and flicked my clit with his tongue. Again. I climbed right back to the edge, pushing my hips up to his mouth, wanting deeper contact, more friction.

  He blew again, then flicked.

  “Damn it, Darius, fuck me, please,” I said.

  “Your wish is my command,” he whispered, once again leaving me right on the agonizing edge and kissing up my stomach. He sucked in a nipple, right on the point of pain. I yelped then moaned, gripping his back, pushing up against his body.

  He ran his lips up my chest, all the way to my neck, before pausing just over my mouth. His erection rubbed against me, and I angled myself, trying to capture it with my body. No such luck.

  I whimpered again. This was what he did to me, time and again. I loved it as much as I hated it. He was so good in the sack it should be a crime.

  “I never did love Ernesta, the woman who betrayed me,” he murmured.

  “I know,” I replied softly, pulling my thighs up high on his hips. My core throbbed almost painfully. “Please, Darius.”

  “But I held on to her memory all through this life,” he went on, pulling back a little to look me in the eyes. It felt like I was looking straight into his soul. “I held on to the image of her beauty, the memory of her voice, and of my desire to wed her and finally tip into love with her. And then I met you. Everything she was pales in comparison to you. I am nothing without you. Ja thought I would be enraged to find out Ernesta was playing me at Vlad’s behest. She thought I would hate Vlad for his role in that betrayal, but I haven’t thought about her once since the night I told you of her. Since the night we were first together. I let go of her, then, and held on to you. Loving you came so easily. So quickly. And I’ve fallen deeper and deeper in love every day since. I will protect you with my life until the day I fall into eternal rest. My love for you will never yield, and my desire to serve you will never waver. I am yours, for all eternity.”

  I blinked my glassy eyes, my heart swelling with love. He kissed me then, with such feeling and passion that it swept my breath away. He lined up and thrust, filling me completely, body and soul. Almost immediately I exploded and then fractured into a billion little pieces, the sensation spreading through my body. He moved to my neck and bit. I groaned, and then I was building again, wild, ravenous for him. I moved with him, unable to speak but knowing my feelings were pouring through the bond to him.

  The next explosion caught me by surprise, and I cried out. He kept going, though, reaching between us to manipulate my clit as he thrust, helping me climax again and again until it felt like we were bonding all over again. I shuddered but kept going, eyes squeezed shut, and held on for dear life.

  Thirteen

  Shouting pulled me out of sleep, reverberating through the walls and crowding the space. I sat up in bed as Darius sprang up, dressing in a moment.

  “What is it?” I asked, throwing back the covers and rushing to the window to answer my own question. My magic still held, the dark sky stretching above us to protect the vampires. Except for all I knew it could be night. I’d lost all sense of time.

  A harried knock sounded at the door, and Darius opened it to a stern-faced Moss. Behind him waited the beautiful Marie and a team of Darius’s better-equipped vampires.

  “What has happened?” Darius asked as I hurried to get dressed.

  “Demons,” Moss said, his gaze cutting to me. “A host of them showed up, coming this way. The shifters and fae have stopped their progress, but it’s clear they are here for Reagan. They attempted to sneak in, donning human appearances, clearly not realizing shifters can scent the difference.”

  “It’s not like my father to forget something like that,” I said, pushing through them and glancing down the hall of the weird apartment building. Penny and Emery came running, their eyes puffy with sleep.

  “One of them tried to barter with Roger,” Marie said, wearing a pair of Gucci track suit bottoms and a snug top showing off her curves. It was an outfit I never would’ve thought to put together, but it worked super well. The woman was too fashionable for her own good, especially in the midst of a bunch of shifters who did not care. “They want to take the princess to safety, per Lucifer’s instructions.”

  I rolled my eyes and followed Darius as he and Moss started down the hall.

  “Did he honestly think he could come in here and kidnap me?” I asked as Penny made it to my side. “I’m not a broken mess this time.”

  “It seems they want to…appeal to your sensibilities,” Moss said in a deadpan tone.

  “It sounds like you don’t think I have any,” I replied with a grin.

  “Is it that obvious?” he murmured.

  We both knew he wasn’t totally joking, but I still laughed as we pushed out into the crisp night. No light glowed in the distance, suggesting it was after sundown. Wolves and other creatures ran to the north, headed toward the fight.

  My magic thrummed, and I could feel demon magic close by, but it wasn’t limited to the direction the group was heading.

  I slowed, brow furrowed, and picked apart the feeling.

  Charity ran toward us with Wolf Devon at her side, her rumpled clothes and hair suggesting she’d been woken up too. She did a double take at me before halting, turning my way.

  “What is it?” she asked, Devon slowing.

  I shook my head distractedly, focusing on the feeling. There was a second location, and it practically vibrated with strength. The demons were much higher on the power scale, indicating the other group was nothing but a distraction.

  “This way,” I said, and everyone followed me, including Charity and her growing group of fae. Devon’s pack found him a moment later, filing in as more and more vampires joined us. Clearly I wouldn’t be confronting the second group without a posse.

  “Reagan.” Dizzy and Callie hurried my way from the right. Dizzy held up a piece of chalk as he neared. “I have this.”

  “What will you do with that?” I asked, curving around the next building and then going straight. The second presence didn’t move, just stayed in the same location, waiting for me.

  “I can lock you in a circle they can’t penetrate,” he said. “Theoretically.”

  I grimaced. Good thing I had developed more control over my magic in the Underworld and mastered the highest power level—I didn’t really want to l
eave my safety up to theoretically.

  “The demons that showed up first were clearly sent to die,” Charity said, following close with her sword in hand.

  “Or they correctly assumed that Roger is a softy,” I replied, the thrum of magic stronger now, pulsing within me.

  “Roger might’ve been hesitant to kill anyone when we first came back from the Realm, but that was only because of where we were in the Brink,” she replied. “If anyone breaches his territory here, they go down. He’s done playing. Dad is, too.”

  I could’ve guessed considering the way they were handling people trying to sneak in through the portal. I’d heard that if someone came through, they didn’t return home.

  I saw the shapes standing just behind a cluster of trees, five of them in all. They’d chosen humanoid forms that weren’t very well proportioned, something I’d seen a lot of in the Underworld. They clearly hadn’t been up here in a long while, although none of the demons I’d met seemed too concerned with getting it right. Maybe they just liked being different.

  “Why are you here?” I asked as I approached, putting up a hand to motion for those behind me to stay back.

  The demon with orange hair sticking straight up turned a bit to face me. Its boobs fell down to its waist, moving within its “I heart San Francisco” sweatshirt. Tan shorts stopped at creamy thighs that didn’t match its deeply tanned face, and its knees were red as though from the cold.

  “Cute,” I said, running my finger through the air over it. “A summer tourist to San Francisco, right? They think it’ll be warm and instead it’s freezing so they have to buy a sweatshirt?” Darius had taken me a while back, and I’d seen that scenario played out a few times over. “But what are you doing here?”

  “Hello, your royal heinous. The Great Master has a few things he’d like me to relay to you. He would’ve come in person, but he is aware the shifters would not enjoy the joke.”

  “They wouldn’t get it, no,” I replied, wondering what he’d actually considered doing to warrant calling it a joke. Simply showing up where he wasn’t wanted? Hard to say with him.