I was grateful I could still become pure fire. That was leftover from my guardian days, and I could use it now. I would burn every hiding place a sniper could be if it kept her safe. I might be flesh now, but I would always be her guardian.
I didn’t want to jump into a portal to anyone’s palace until we had a plan. If there was one thing I learned while I was alive was that portalling into the middle of a battle meant people would die. There was always a telltale sign that a portal was being opened, and the enemy always aimed for it because it meant reinforcements were coming.
Amduscias wasn’t stupid, and he knew that. The screens were still up with all the Dukes of Hell that hadn’t gone rogue. The rest of the Dukes clearly knew war strategy too. Gusion lived in a different area than Amduscias did. Amduscias lived by the beach, and Gusion lived in a more wooded area. I didn’t like it. There were too many places for snipers to hide, and they had chastised Serafina and me against burning the forest down because most of the trees were sentient. No one knew if the trees had joined the fight, and we wouldn’t know that until we got there. We also didn’t know whose side the trees would be on.
Everyone was discussing points to portal in where they might not notice us until we wanted to be. Unfortunately, those were the perfect places for a sniper to be hiding. We had to bank on the fact that Gusion wouldn’t have had as much time to network topside as Zepar did because he wasn’t allowed to live there full time. Still, this was war, and you should never underestimate the enemy.
We finally had a place we could agree on. It meant walking on foot, but this is also where I could become of use. Since I could still become pure fire, I could control the size of the flame. I could become a mere ember and scout ahead. I also had permission to burn anyone with a gun as long as I didn’t destroy any tree demons.
Serafina pulled me into a passionate kiss after we stepped through the portal and into a forest. She squeezed me so tight, and I had to enjoy it while I could. We had to stop this before she could have a home here, and if it meant dying to defend her, I would. Of course, I wanted to avoid that at all costs.
“You’d better come back to me, Fergus,” she warned.
I kissed the tip of her nose. I reached out to her with my mind. Even though we had broken every single rule, and she wished me real, I was still linked to her as her guardian, and we could talk telepathically. I reached out to Roman and Skoll too, because I was now connected to them through her.
“You’d better stay put until I give the all-clear, my Ena. If she dies on your watch, I will hold all of you responsible and end you.”
Skoll was still as naked as the day he was born and didn’t seem to care who saw, but he was a shifter, and they liked to show off. Roman had that antsy look on his face like he either had to go to the bathroom or kill someone. Amduscias was casually checking out his fingernails.
“We’ll keep her safe. You don’t have to worry about that,” Skoll growled.
Amduscias started with the eyelashes again. That demon could flirt in the middle of the apocalypse.
“How’d you like to ride a unicorn, Serafina? I’ve got something else you can ride later.”
I knew that shriek that came out of her mouth. She was never a girl who was into sparkly stickers with unicorns on them, but a demon unicorn? That was right up her alley. She probably didn’t even know she liked black unicorns with red eyes until Amduscias whipped it out and started goring people with his horn. She’d never even ridden a horse before, but getting to ride a big demonic unicorn was like getting the best gift she didn’t know she wanted.
I gave Amduscias a curt nod and reduced myself to an ember. We had an unspoken understanding. If she was on his back, she couldn’t come running after me if she thought I was in danger. And she would. She’d run into a sniper infested nest if she felt any of us would be hurt.
I hated tricking her like this, but it was better I get hurt than her. Her life was finally starting to look up. She found her mates, and it seemed like she was willing to get to know her family. Plus, I could shrink myself, and she couldn’t. I taught her to protect herself, but why risk it?
I flew through the forest as barely a spark. It didn’t take long to find the snipers. Everyone was worried about us hurting the tree demons, but it looked like they could take care of themselves. No one knew whose side they were on when we left, and now I could see it wasn’t Gusion’s.
Two shifters, two Vampires, and three warlocks were trapped in a nest of tree roots. The tree demons were quite beautiful. They looked like androgynous, thin beings with elongated arms and legs and cascading leaves for hair. They had a mean set of teeth, though, and a temper to match.
One of them nearly had a warlock racked with her roots and was dangling his gun in front of him. She sneered at him and practically ripped his shoulders out of the socket.
“Who do you work for?” she yelled. “Why are you in our forest with guns?”
I immediately transformed back into a man. I didn’t want to get ensnared in tree roots, but I wasn’t sure the proper reverence to show to a tree demon. Who was in charge, anyway? I just pretended I was at Fae court and gave them all a deep bow. I kept my eyes averted until I was addressed and given permission to speak because that was just how things were done back in the Fae realm when you were just a soldier in a court of kings, lords, and ladies.
“Oh, get up, you silly fairy,” a tree snarled. “You’d better have a good reason for being in our forest, or I’ll truss you up too.”
“These men are assassins hired by Gusion. There’s a coup going on in Hell, and you probably turned the tide capturing these men. I’m a scouting party, and I’m working with the Duke Amduscias. I was trying to find snipers. We know Zepar had seven assassins picked for each king, but we caught Zepar and planned to execute him. A sniper took out Zepar, so we are pretty sure Gusion intended to betray him and hired his own assassins.”
All the trees started laughing, and a tree demon’s laugh was a little creepy. It was like sawing wood, if that could be evil. One of the tree demons that wasn’t stretching a sniper so hard they might rip a limb off got right in my face. I was tall for a Fae, but he towered over me. His face had fine lines on it like tree bark, and his eyes glowed an eerie shade of green.
“Gusion has always treated this forest like it was his. He tramples through this forest hunting game, and he relieves himself on tree demons like we are nothing. He allowed these men with guns to besmirch our sacred woods. If capturing these men hurts Gusion, then good. We will kill them.”
I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be killed by a tree, but I didn’t want to find out. They seemed pretty temperamental about their forest, and I was trespassing. I honestly didn’t care who killed the assassins. They were filthy creatures with no honor. But we needed to ask them questions first.
I bowed my head again and didn’t make eye contact.
“Of course, you have every right to kill these men for bringing guns into your forest. I know I’m asking a lot, but can Amduscias and a few more people come to your forest and question them before you do? Amduscias is back, and he’s claimed several people, including me.”
Every single tree demon started giggling and checking their hair and breath when I asked if he could come. Why was I not surprised he even flirted with a fucking tree? He was a flirt, but he was loyal, I would give him that. He wouldn’t have stuck around Scorchwood for so long if he had commitment issues.
The lead tree demon rustled his leaves.
“Okay, you can send for the handsome Duke now.”
Chapter 29
Serafina
L
ady Godiva had nothing on me. I was sitting on a big, beautiful demonic unicorn in the middle of a forest in Hell. There was even this breeze going that kept blowing my hair back. I had Skoll’s wolf at my right and a Vampire with their fangs out, ready to rip a throat to my left. To say I felt pretty fucking badass was an understatement.
I was tryi
ng to focus on the fact that if anyone happened upon us, we made a pretty impressive tableau instead of the fact that I was worried about Fergus. I already knew I was getting a unicorn ride because they were all worried about me. I knew we had to be quiet and alert because there could be snipers, but fuck me, I really needed to talk my stress out. Where was Fergus? He had been gone too long.
I let out the breath I was holding when I heard his voice in my head.
“The tree demons are on our side. They hate Gusion and have subdued all the assassins. They like Amduscias, and I’ve managed to get them to hold off on killing them so they can be questioned, but tell Amduscias the tree demons think it’s their right to kill the assassins.”
I relayed the message to Amduscias telepathically, and I swear, the unicorn I was sitting on started laughing.
“Vagolin is their leader. If Gusion told his assassins to use that area of the forest, he’s dumber than I thought. That particular grove of trees happened when a tree demon got together with a shadow demon. The children ended up with tree demon powers, but with a shadow demon attitude. They like picking fights. If Gusion weren’t a Duke, they would have killed him by now. They are very territorial about their grove.”
“Should Skoll shift back? We don’t have clothes for him.”
“No. Vagolin will like the display of power that I came in my demonic form. He’ll respect you because I let you ride on my back. He’ll want to see Skoll’s wolf so he can size him up, and he’ll want to check out Roman. And yes, every single tree demon will stare at Skoll’s junk when he transforms back. Best not get too territorial on that one. I dated one of them briefly. It ended on suitable terms, and we are all friends. They like to look and comment, but they don’t fish in other people’s ponds if you get my meaning.”
I let Skoll and Roman know we were moving and following Amduscias. I just enjoyed the ride. I’d never even ridden a horse before. There was something strangely erotic about riding Amduscias’s unicorn. He jostled me in a certain way that was turning me on. Was this why so many girls were into horses when I was topside? Because if we weren’t riding to a bunch of tree demons with nasty attitudes who were holding assassins hostage, I might have gotten off on this.
The tree demons were something else. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but if you had to picture demonic trees in your head, that was about it. They were tall and thin with glowing eyes and leaves for hair. This wasn’t a dryad from Narnia. This was a fucking tree with arms, legs, and really sharp teeth. I had a feeling these weren’t the kindly trees providing leaves for birth control.
They all started giggling when they saw Amduscias. I slid off his back, and he transformed into a man. He said he dated one of them, but they were all acting like he had a group thing going with all of them. A big scary one that must be Vagolin came over and clasped arms with him.
“You bring an impressive array with you, but you used to only keep the company of demons.”
“Things change, Vagolin. We are all in danger. We need to find out which Dukes hired these men. They trespassed in your grove, so their death is yours, but we need to question them.”
Vagolin gave a deep bow.
“Ask away. Any way we can assist. Ask the little fire elemental to keep her fire to herself.”
I could kiss a little tree demon ass if it meant not starting a war with them. We were outnumbered, and it looked like they were about to rip that warlock’s leg clean off. I bowed my head.
“I wouldn’t dream of starting a fire in your grove.”
“Good. The warlock with the snake tattoo is the leader. He was the one trampling through our grove barking orders. It’ll be nice to see the master at work.”
Amduscias clucked his tongue.
“And I don’t have any of my good toys on me. Hello. What is your name?”
The warlock with the terrible snake tattoo on his neck just sneered at Amduscias. He started hocking like he was about to spit a loogie on his face, but Amduscias, punched him in the nose before he could finish. The warlock started choking.
“Let’s not be uncivilized, okay?”
Charley skipped up to the front. She was more awake than I’d seen her in prison. It was like the fresh air in Hell had made her come alive. She was practically sparkling. She had on this trench coat at the execution, and she had pulled the vials she had given me out of it. She whipped the jacket open and looked like some witchy super spy when we saw her coat was lined with all kinds of potions.
“These were leftover from the execution. October and I prepared all of these in case Serafina wanted to get a little creative.”
Charley told me a little about what Zepar had done to October and her coven. Zepar had slept his way through two covens in Hell, giving them all some awful rash. That was the real reason he was allowed to go topside. Bael would not let him until he had two covens ready to curse his cock. I hadn’t had the time to fill Amduscias in on all of that.
“So, you gave Serafina potions to give syphilis and a tiny cock. What presents do you have for me today, Charley?” Amduscias asked.
“You keep that witch away from my cock,” the warlock growled.
I swear, men and their cocks. Amduscias could have tortured him half to death, and he wouldn’t have spilled who hired him. Threaten him with a tiny witch who could curse his cock, and he was ready to sing an entire opera. We could work with that. I didn’t even know if this was true, but the warlock didn’t have to know that.
“She’s got a potion that will make your balls rot right off.”
“I actually do,” Charley said gleefully.
Okay, Charley was officially the coolest witch in Hell. We were going to have to hang out more when this was over.
“That is so cool,” I said, holding up my hand for a high five.
Charley smacked my hand and grinned at the warlock.
“You’re ruining my chance at freedom, asshole. I like it here, and you are fucking it up. You’d better talk, or I’ll melt your balls off. I’ll go through every single one of you until one of you talks.”
“Yeah, you’ll fit right in down here in Hell, Charley,” Amduscias said.
“Just keep the testicle melting potion away from me, okay?” Roman said, adjusting his crotch.
Skoll finally changed back to a man and glared at the two shifters.
“You give us a terrible name.”
Three female tree demons and two males started giggling and checking Skoll out.
“Is the wolf yours too, Amduscias?”
“Knock it off, Banaz. You can sense full well that Skoll has marked Serafina.”
“I know. But he shares her. Does she share too?”
Skoll was preening under all the attention. Fucking wolf.
“She shares, but not with me. I don’t want her to share me.”
“So, I could get a piece of that sexy Vampire?” Banaz said.
What the fuck was wrong with these trees? They had seven assassins restrained with roots, we were trying to put down a rebellion in Hell, and they were trying to get laid. Roman just flashed her a bit of fang.
“I’m her mate too, but the only person I want to be shared with is Amduscias.”
“I’m devoted to Serafina and Roman, Banaz,” Amduscias said. “And before you ask, the Fae is loyal to her too.”
Banaz just pouted.
“Lucky girl. Let’s get on with the testicle melting. I’m getting bored.”
One warlock who hadn’t spoken finally decided to grace us with his voice.
“I’ll talk. Zepar hired us, but he was always an asshole. Gusion offered us more money if we took care of the kings and then Zepar. It was nothing personal. It’s just a job.”
“What is your name?” Vagolin asked.
“Finn. Please, we were told this was a safe place to enter. We weren’t told you lived here. If we knew, we wouldn’t have come to this place. Gusion gave us bad intel. He was the one who didn’t care about strangers and guns in your forest.
Believe us, now that we know Gusion didn’t care about you or us, we want him dead just as much as all of you seem to.”
There was this quote I’d always remembered about there being no honor among thieves. My mates and I could all be viewed as bad guys. We killed people and liked it. I burned down many people’s property and enjoyed the fuck out of watching it burn.
I guess there were two distinct types of villains in the world. There was us, who had our reasons for killing people. We were trying to make the world a better place by leveling the playing field. We knew how to play nice with others, and when it came down to brass tacks, I guess you could call us chaotic good.
Then you had the other spectrum of villains. You had the chaotic evil like Zepar and his cohorts. There was no loyalty and honor there. They stabbed their own friends in the back, and it wouldn’t shock me if any of these people ate babies or something. They didn’t care who they hurt as long as their futile plan worked. At least I had standards about who I murdered, and I didn’t point my fire at someone just for money. That would just be uncouth.
“What do you say, Vagolin?” Amduscias asked.
What kind of deal was he trying to make? These were bad guys. They snuck into Hell to assassinate the kings. Let the tree demons do their thing. They didn’t have any type of honor when it came to killing. It came down to the dollar amount someone was willing to pay. They probably pointed their guns at some innocent people and pulled the trigger with no remorse. If I wouldn’t have set an entire grove of demons on fire, I would have just lit them all up.
“The one who confessed only. There’s more to his story than this just being a job. He just doesn’t want to say it in front of the others.”
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