by K. F. Breene
“Let me join you, master.” Its words were sweet and syrupy, echoing through the quietness.
“Join me for what? A game of Parcheesi? Give me a break; everyone knows demons cheat.” I handled my sword, letting it pull more power. My legs wobbled.
“Banish the demon.” Darius shadowed me. “The mage escaped through the front. We must follow.”
“I can’t banish it. It’ll tell my dad on me. That is a war I do not want to fight.”
“Let me worship you, master. I will be your servant in the underworld.” A bug crawled out from a crack in its black, gooey skin.
“Ew. No. Don’t you have a human form?”
“It’s not powerful enough to change form.” Darius put his hand on my shoulder. “If you strike, and you do not have the ability to kill it, there is a good chance it will bleed you of your power. Banish it. If your…creator hears and comes to the surface, we can negotiate.”
“He isn’t my creator, he’s my father, and I don’t negotiate with terrorists.” I slashed my sword through its middle, its weakest point going by the lack of horns and nobs. My blade ate through flesh. Fire burned up and turned into smoke. My sword sucked more power from me.
I pulled the blade out and stabbed, spearing the demon in the neck. It didn’t move to thwart me, but then, it didn’t have to. I could chop it up into a hundred pieces, and as long as it still had magic, it would continue living in this world, hoping to find a body to possess.
My head drooped as my diminishing power fought with the demon’s. That human sacrifice had allowed him to call a level-three demon, and while before the hellfire and the blood-fire I would’ve been fine, I surely wasn’t fine now.
“Reagan, pull out,” Darius said, his voice laced with worry.
“That’s what she said.” Dizziness came over me, but I let my sword take more. I depleted my ugly brooch. “Almost there.”
“Reagan,” Darius said again, a plea in his voice.
“How cute that you care,” I mumbled, holding on. Feeling the demon’s power sapping. Overcoming the magic that had brought him out of the underworld.
“Here.” A warm wrist bumped against my mouth. “This will help. Drink.”
I sank to my knees, feeling the blackness coming.
I could do it. I could overcome this demon. But I might have to sacrifice my life to do so.
The alternative was banishing it, easy to do. If I did that, I’d be giving up my freedom.
Banishing it was not an option.
I sucked.
The taste of Darius’s blood infused my senses. It wasn’t the explosion of unicorn blood, but something about it was almost more appealing. It was like him—smooth, decadent, and silky, winding through my body in a delicious way.
I moaned as my eyes fluttered closed, lust and desire igniting my body. My head turned of its own will, toward him. Wanting his touch on me. Relishing in the sultry taste of his blood.
“Hang on to the sword, Reagan.” His other hand drifted down my arm, spreading goosebumps in its wake. His fingers closed over mine, making me hold on. His lips grazed my cheek before slipping down to my neck. “That’s right, mon cherie. Drink.”
Unexpectedly, power surged through me, more savory than the demon’s had been. Vampire blood was only supposed to revive magical people, not affect them like it did humans, but it boosted me. I fell into the feeling, pumping magic into the sword, hearing the demon screech and beg in the distance. All I could focus on was Darius’s heartbeat pounding in my ears. His touch on my body, like velvet. It felt so good. So right.
The blade of my sword fell to the ground, the demon vanishing in a fiery ball followed by billowing smoke.
I barely noticed.
I pushed his wrist away and turned toward him, capturing his face in my hands. His lips pressed against mine. Our tongues entwined. I pushed forward, laying him down and straddling his hips. His hardness pushed against me, large and ready. I slid my hands up his muscular chest and moaned into the kiss. So hot.
“Let me bond you, Reagan,” he whispered against my lips. “Become one with me.”
It was a terrible idea. Worse than bad. I’d just avoided one form of slavery—I didn’t want to embrace another. But oh God, in that moment, I wanted nothing else in the world.
I’d opened my mouth to answer, not quite sure what was going to come out, when I felt soft but insistent hands clamp down on my shoulders. They yanked me back.
Darius was up in an instant, dragging me with him and shielding me with his body. He hissed out a warning, his fangs and claws elongating, ready to shift to his stronger monster form.
The fresh air away from his heated breath cleared some of the haze. If only my lady bits would calm down. They were throbbing so hard that it was painful.
“Reagan!” Callie braced her fists on her hips. “Have you lost your ever-loving mind? Size isn’t everything. He’s a vampire!”
Dizzy, standing behind her, blushed and glanced away at the door, probably wishing he were back in the middle of battle rather than standing there.
I knew how he felt. This was more than a bit embarrassing.
I stepped around Darius. “That wasn’t what it looked like.”
“Well, it looked like you were straddling a naked vampire with the intent of indecent behavior in the middle of a church full of dead werewolves and witches, at the end of a battle that will be extremely damaging to your future should knowledge of your real magic leak out…”
“Okay, it was exactly what it looked like.”
I wiped my hand over my face, trying to get back on track. But good-night, I felt good. My body was weak, but his blood was singing through my veins, making me feel powerful. Strong. Untouchable. I wanted to climb back on top and ride this feeling to its natural conclusion.
“I’m in a bit of a pickle,” I muttered.
“I’ll say.” Callie pursed her lips.
“Can you at least drape a piece of pant leg over that thing or something?” Dizzy asked in a pained voice. “This is extremely awkward.”
“You’re not helping, honey.” Callie patted his shoulder.
“Focus, everyone, cripes.” I scrubbed at my eyes and kept my gaze at eye level. “Here’s where we are. The demon has been destroyed, so he can’t rat me out to any of the higher-ups downstairs.”
“Good.” Callie and Dizzy nodded.
“First problem is that we have a magically created werewolf on the loose. It’s a danger for the rest of the night, and then with each full moon.”
“That is not my problem,” Darius said, looking around the ground. Probably for pants. His body was at least starting to…relax, so that was good. Less distracting.
Why won’t this pounding go away!
“Right, focus.” I huffed out a breath. “The werewolf is a present for Roger, then. Someone should tell him.”
“I’ll send a gossipy note to a friend who’s dating a shifter,” Callie said.
“I better do that, hon. They’ll know you’re just reporting something.” Dizzy must’ve caught my confused look. “She tries to solve problems. No one will gossip with her anymore.”
“It’s a relief. Such whiners in the magical community.” Callie rolled her eyes.
“Then that’s taken care of. Kinda.” I glanced at the elevated area by the wall, then the burned and broken podium that had been toppled to the floor. “We need to find that mage.”
“We got the mage.” Dizzy started when Darius and I both beamed our full attention on him.
“You got him?” I asked. Darius stepped toward the door. I threw up a finger. “I am watching you. No stealing my mark this time. I saved your ass. Either I am bringing that mark in, or we’re doing it together.”
“I saved you. We are even.” He took another step.
“You saving me is debatable. We have no proof. Don’t you take another step. If you run, I will tackle you.”
“Promise?” He grinned at me.
“With a knife
, wise guy.” I turned back to Dizzy. “Where is he?”
“Trapped in the other room.” Dizzy gestured that way. “The mage tried to run when—”
Darius started walking. I ran after him, half staggering as I did so. “Don’t you do it, vampire!”
My mouth dropped open when I burst into the other room. All the mages were downed, lying sprawled out across the ground. Black explosive areas dotted various places. Casings lay strewn around, all but a couple opened.
The formally powerful, demon-toting mage stood frozen in the middle of the room, the mask torn off and a look of surprise on her face.
“It’s a girl,” I exclaimed. “It’s that girl! What was her name?”
“Tamara.” Darius stopped right in front of her, his glare intense. “How do we get her out of that?”
“You know who it is?” Dizzy asked, digging in his bag. “I was surprised it was a woman. I didn’t expect that.”
“Me either,” I said. “I don’t get to take down many women. But I’m all for equal opportunity in the crazy department. It’s good for business.” I wiped a strand of hair out of my face. “She lived across the street from one of the mages. We stood in her neighbor’s house and spoke to her. She had that freaking book of John’s! I had no idea. She didn’t seem very powerful. I had no idea!” I put my fingertips to my head and made like my brain was exploding.
“Here.” Dizzy blew some powder from his hand and onto Tamara’s face.
While she was waking up, I bent to her mask, which had skittered away and bumped against someone’s foot. Sure enough, it had a speaker system in the mouth to distort her voice.
“Did you see her face when she captured you?” I asked Darius. “Also, how did she capture you? That is newsworthy.”
His eyes were so hard that they looked like they could punch through walls. “She caught me when I was returning to the Brink. They must’ve been watching me. The spell was invisible. I didn’t know I’d been trapped until it was too late.”
“A real ego crusher, huh? Getting caught by a low-level mage…” I smiled tauntingly.
“She took the mask off to bleed me.”
Tamara blinked as her head came out of the spell. A look of fear immediately crossed her face when she noticed Darius.
“To bleed you?” A surge of jealousy came out of the blue. I took a step back. “Definitely in a bit of a pickle, here. I might need to be slapped on occasion.”
“She wanted to see if my blood would make her more powerful. After that, she tried to force a bond.” Darius’s eyes didn’t waver from her face. A death stare wasn’t the best way to get answers, though. Usually questions were more efficient.
“Right.” I pointed between Dizzy and Callie. “Vamoose, you two. We need to ask some questions you can’t know anything about. Check that side room. There was an extremely powerful mage, one without a demon trapped in her body”—I gave Tamara a look—“who was hoping someone would show her how to do magic.” Callie flashed me a confused expression. I put up my hands. “I didn’t have time to ask any other questions. She was on a retreat. That’s all I know.”
Callie stomped off, followed shortly after by Dizzy.
I turned to Tamara. “Boy oh boy, are you in a bind. We need some questions answered. First, how did you hear about the unicorns?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“She crashed a changing,” Darius said, easing into his cool demeanor. It meant bad things for poor Tamara. “She drank the elixir that readies a human for the change. We are more open at changings. Someone clearly shared information they shouldn’t have. I have an investigation underway.”
“Why would someone crash a changing?” I asked.
“Haven’t you ever wanted to be immortal?” Tamara challenged haughtily.
“I am. Or could be, if I wanted to hang out in the Realm. Wait.” I held up my hand to Darius. “You’re going to give her the special vampire send-off, right?”
“What’s the special vampire send-off?” Her eyes shone.
“Death, Tamara. Horrible death.” I shook my head. “You should know better than to piss off vampires.”
“She will not have a chance to utter your secrets,” Darius said.
“Great. So how’d you find out she was at a changing, and then, how’d she get out?”
“The elixir is not designed for magical people,” Darius said. “It doesn’t react with their blood the same way, and they can stay conscious. They’d die during the change, but a dosed witch or mage would be left with enough presence of mind to leave beforehand. She should’ve been noticed when the elixir didn’t work, but someone was not doing their job. I discovered this when I went back to the lair, dug into our records, and questioned some of our faction. It is being looked into in more depth.”
I sat on the ground, dead tired despite Darius’s blood still surging through me. If not for him, I’d probably be unconscious. “So she learned of the unicorn blood, which not even newbies usually know about, and figured out how to get more?”
“I reached a stalemate trying to find out where they keep the unicorns,” Tamara said. “Luckily, their deal with the demons helped me out.”
Fear shot through me. “What deal with the demons?”
“Vlad is working on something.” Darius’s eyes left Tamara for a moment and landed on me. “I am not a part of it.”
“How do the demons know about the unicorns?” I asked. “And, Tamara, why did you need to wipe out the—” It all came together. “You wiped out the footprints because you drew a circle in one of those meeting places. Using a sentry as your sacrifice, you summoned a demon there. You didn’t want to leave any more clues than you already had.”
“Clever girl.” Tamara smirked. “Those serpents in the water are helpful for getting rid of bodies. Then there is my smaller foot size. Everyone always assumes the leader of a movement is male. It has helped me fly under the radar. Even the people in my neighborhood—my own coven—overlooked me. I was a mage in my own right, but they treated me like a witch. They didn’t bat an eye when John was supposedly chosen instead of me. Everyone always assumed John had more power because he threw his weight around. He was louder, that was all. I had the most power. I should’ve led. Should’ve been respected. Not him. I was planning to do away with him, but you took care of it for me. Thanks for that.”
“That’s what you call sleeping with a black widow, I guess.” I grimaced. “But covens aren’t about a leader. They’re about the unity of combined power. That’s what makes witches great. They develop a community and share the bounties. Mages tried that, and the corrupt Mages’ Guild is the result.”
She analyzed me for a moment. “You and I could rule the world. With your connections and my ability to amass a magical army, we’d be unstoppable.”
“You’re an idiot and your army is dead.” I glanced up at Darius. “But still, how did the demons know about the unicorns?”
Darius shook his head slowly. “That is a question for Vlad. There must be a leak of information somewhere. It could be disastrous if the demons know how tied we are to the unicorns.”
“I bet Vlad is setting himself up to rule,” Tamara said. A spark of opportunity lit her eyes as she looked down at me.
“Vlad most certainly is,” I said, ignoring the look. She wouldn’t be around to use me. Darius, on the other hand… “But not by giving the secret of the unicorns to the demons. Ruling means amassing a larger number of vampires, and losing the unicorns would be detrimental to that need.” I rested my hand on my chin, thinking. “You would’ve created a circle based on the need for information at the start, right?” I asked, looking up at Tamara.
“I don’t understand,” Darius said.
I slowed down. “Circles don’t just call demons. They can be used to call all sorts of things. In this instance, what she really needed was information. So she did a calling based on her need for information, in the form of a demon. That’s pretty vague, though. It would call a demon with an
y sort of information that might be useful to her. Clearly she got lucky and called a demon that knew how to get to the unicorns.”
“I didn’t get lucky at first, except with where to steal those magical books,” Tamara said. “I got all sorts of useless information until I found the right demon. Calling a demon is only dangerous if you don’t know how to properly set up a circle. And after finding those books, I had that down. Then I found the right demon. Another character switch and I was getting lucky while I was getting lucky.”
“This just got gross.” I grimaced. “Demons are asexual until they take on a body, by the way. Just so you know.”
“Vlad would have the upper hand in his negotiations if he had you,” she said, turning her attention back to me.
I met Darius’s eyes. “She’s a lunatic, so I’m not worried about her. You, on the other hand, have some very sensitive information that Vlad could definitely use. I will end you if you try to go to him with that very sensitive information.” I really should’ve made that threat when I could stand without assistance.
“If it got out that I helped you defeat a demon, it could upset Vlad’s plans,” Darius replied. “He is the only one who can destroy me. What you are—what you can do—is safe with me. You need never fear me, Reagan. And if you bond me, I can give you the protection of our entire faction. Your demon creator will think twice about seeking you.”
Tamara started to laugh. “You don’t get it, do you, vamp? This isn’t some incubus demon spawn. This is Lucifer’s daughter. The Lucifer, master of the underworld. You think a demon spawn can levitate?” She cackled this time. “She’s the real thing. She summoned the demon from my body to hers, then pushed it out so it materialized on its own. Do you know how much power that takes?” She licked her lips. “She has a throne waiting for her for all eternity. Anyone who brings her to Lucifer will receive the highest honors. We can make a deal, vampire. Do you think Vlad is talking directly to Lucifer? No way. He’s talking to an assistant, if that. But you could. You could take your place above Vlad. I could get us through the gates of the underworld. With her blood, we’d be granted safe passage. You could speak directly to Lucifer himself.”