Shayla arrived draped in a white silk gown and no shoes. She moved from table to table, greeting her subjects, before settling down next to the sorceresses and Council.
“We should leave soon,” Egret whispered in my ear. Her breath tickled the soft hairs on my neck, and for a second I could not remember why we had to leave. “Remember? The 2:00 a.m. rendezvous with your incubus father? Meeting with the rebels? Hopefully saving the universe?”
“Right. Of course I remember.”
“You’d better.”
“But it’s well before 2:00 a.m.”
“We should leave the ball early and rest, just in case we go right from negotiations to a battle if things go south. Might as well be prepared for the worst.”
I couldn’t imagine sleeping, not with the blood pumping so violently through my veins, but she made a good point. If I had to battle for my life tomorrow, I needed to be well rested.
“Won’t they notice when we disappear?” I asked.
“Obviously. That’s why we need an excuse. Ready?”
Without further warning, Egret kissed me full on the mouth. Like a vine following the sun’s light, I laced my hand through her green hair and leaned into her body, forgetting all about the ball or the incubi or even my impending death. All that mattered, for one second, was that kiss.
“Good job,” she whispered after she pulled away, reminding me that this was all for show. “Now follow me out of the room, and don’t forget to look enamored.”
Not a difficult task. Like a puppy after the scent of a treat, I trailed after Egret and followed her out of the ballroom. Right before the doors closed I glanced behind my shoulder, and Prince Jeremy’s eyes met mine.
“Sleep well,” Egret told me as soon as we were out of sight. Just like that, we were back to business. “I’ll be at the Igreefee tent, so swing by on your way to our meeting place and pick me up.”
“Did you want to—” I began, intending to ask her up to my room, but she was already halfway to the door.
Chapter Ten
AFTER SETTING VAM to “field and night sky,” I tucked myself into my king-sized bed and lay on my back for what felt like hours. Sleep hovered over me like a gauzy sheet, brushing my face and then billowing away from me every time I tried to drift away. All I wanted was to forget this night, that dance, the kiss.
A floorboard creaked beneath the fake dirt floor.
“Lumi?” Egret’s voice whispered in the dark.
“Egret?” I rose from my pillow. “What are you doing here?”
Egret wore a short green nightgown, which I could barely make out in the dark. Her hair fell around her face, rejoicing in the freedom from hair pins, so her expression was hidden. Her feet were bare as Shayla’s, and I wondered if she’d walked all the way from camp without shoes. She did not explain herself, but climbed on top of the covers and lay with her body parallel to mine. Despite her bare clothing, she radiated heat.
“I thought you said that it was just an excuse,” I said defensively.
“What was an excuse?”
“You know. The kiss.”
“A kiss between us? How could that be an excuse?”
She leaned in and pressed her lips to mine. Something felt different this time, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was. Still, I fell into the rhythm of her kisses, and when she slid into the covers next to me, I did not protest.
“Are you ready?” she whispered as her hand found my nightgown strap.
“Ready? For what?”
She laughed, and again, the sound seemed strange coming from Egret’s mouth. It was as if she had a recording in her belly that played someone else’s voice: too high, too feminine, too not-Egret.
“Wait a minute,” I said, gently moving her hand away from my strap. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
“Or it feels too right,” Egret countered. “But don’t be scared, Lumi. Isn’t this what you want?”
“Yes, but—”
“Get away from her, you fiery demon.”
Prince Jeremy, illuminated by the stars and moon at his back, raised his sword. He must have followed Egret into my bedroom, and he’d probably been watching the whole time.
“Jeremy, what are you doing?” I cried. “It’s just Egret.”
“I do not know the girl as you do, but I promise you, that is not her. Step back, succubus, or I’ll have no choice but to slay you where you lie.”
Egret emitted the same strange laugh, and this time, she threw her head back. Her hair parted and fell away from her face, revealing someone else’s face on Egret’s body.
“Very good, Bone Dragon. I suppose you won’t be a disappointment to your father after all. Lumi, on the other hand… so easily fooled.” Not-Egret shook her head in mock sorrow.
“Who are you, and what do you want with me?” I asked as I scooted to the other side of the bed. “Were you going to eat me?”
Not-Egret rose, revealing something behind her I had not noticed during her entrance: a long, red tail.
“Eat you?” Not-Egret spat. “Unlike our hungry brothers, we do not eat humans. Occasionally we kill them but only after a great night in bed.”
My stomach turned.
“Anyway, I was sent here by the rebels your father’s probably told you so much about.” Not-Egret draped against one of the posters of my bed and wrapped her arm up the wood like a serpent. “They’re hiding with us, and I’m to take you to them tonight.”
“Your father? Rebels? What’s she talking about?” Prince Jeremy asked.
“It’s a long story. Basically my father believes that we can take down the incubi from the inside using resistance, and maybe even kill Eads before he can kill me.”
“Have you told my father of your plan?” Jeremy asked. “Or the Council? Or anybody?”
I looked down at my hands.
“Very well, you want to play the savior. But I’m coming with you.” Jeremy sheathed his sword.
“No, you can’t—”
“Oh, let him come,” Not-Egret said as she wrapped her hand around Jeremy’s neck. “I like his look.”
Prince Jeremy shoved her hand away. “Touch me again and you lose that hand, succubus.”
“I have a name, you know.” She leaned in as close to his face as she could without touching him.
“Let me guess.” I had never heard Prince Jeremy’s voice sound so unkind. “Lilith? Lilin? Lily?”
“Very funny. It’s Norea, though I’ll admit we do have Liliths, Lilins, and Lilys in my family.”
“The succubi are famously unoriginal.”
They could have argued all night, but right then my VAM wakeup call sounded a loud chime. The sun grew out of the right side of the floor, disappearing the stars in its path.
“I’m already awake, VAM,” I called up to the ceiling, and the chimes stopped. “Now you two wait in the elevator. I need to get ready.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to watch?” Norea asked, but Prince Jeremy gave her a look so scathing that she followed him without a word.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, I collapsed back onto my pillow. Sleep-deprived and shocked by my experience with the succubus, I felt even less prepared for the great battle than I’d been the day before. My hands still shook from the combination of hormones and adrenaline, and yet my eyes drooped from fatigue.
It seemed like every time I adjusted, a new form of demon or dragon or danger emerged, all more frightening than the last.
“Shall I select an outfit for you?” VAM asked. Even a magical machine could tell how much of a mess I was.
“Sure. Thanks, VAM.”
The room changed from a half-sunny, half-dark sky to a boutique. An invisible hand brushed through the racks until it settled on a purple combat jacket, black skinny jeans, and black leather boots, which it moved to the unattended service counter.
“Now that’s an outfit that means business,” I said as I picked the clothes.
“Don�
�t forget your coffee.” VAM added a coffeemaker to the counter, and immediately the brew began to boil.
I changed into the clothes VAM had selected and headed out the door with the single-serving mug in-hand.
“Good luck,” VAM called out as I stepped through the elevator doors, and I waved the system a heartfelt goodbye. If this was to be my last time in the Mansion, at least it had been a good one.
Chapter Eleven
PRINCE JEREMY, Norea, and I met Egret outside the Igreefee tent. To get there, we’d had to carefully make our way around sleeping dragon bodies that covered the front yard like so many ships in a seaside’s port. In their sleep the creatures had fallen into one breathing rhythm, the rise and fall of their nostril whistles a train amidst the stillness of the Mansion’s floating land.
“Who’s she?” Egret whispered suspiciously when she spotted Norea. The succubus had taken off her green wig and revealed her flaming red hair, but she still wore her Igreefee reproductions. “And why is she dressed like me?”
“Long story,” I whispered back. “But she’s a succubus, so whatever you do, don’t… you know… with her.”
Egret’s eyebrows rose, but she didn’t ask any more questions.
When we reached the edge of the grounds, we looked down at the clouds and through them to the twinkling lights of human cities.
“So far away,” Prince Jeremy said as he peered over the side. “And strange that up here battles are fought for them, while down there, they continue with the monotony of daily life.”
“Better that way,” Egret responded. “What good would they be in a war of magic?”
“Good shields.” This comment from Norea, who sat on a boulder a few feet back.
“What a terrible thing to say.” Her words scared me, because I knew many others felt the same.
“Is it? From what I’ve seen, humans are the fish and we’re the fishermen. Sure, we choose not to kill them for sport, but if we did, would it really matter?”
“Of course it would matter. We have magic to make things easy for us, but look at how much some humans accomplish without it.” I waved my hand at the twinkling lights below.
“So they built themselves a pretty fancy doll house. Big deal.” Norea examined her bright red nails. “They also built poverty, and materialism, and—”
Before she could say another word, the sound of flapping wings cut her off. My father appeared, and beneath him, a red dragon the size of a Bone Dragon but much more beautiful. The dragon had scales that appeared to flame with an internal fire, and its claws glowed orange and yellow. Every time it exhaled, its snout smoked.
“A Fire Dragon,” Egret whispered. “Where did you find him?”
“They’ve been hibernating in the Earth’s belly,” he said. “Because they were the least involved in the battle for Earth, the Artists allowed them to enter and leave their home as they saw fit. They just didn’t.” My father petted the Fire Dragon as though it were a tame horse instead of a dangerous beast. “And who can blame them?”
“You knew about this?” I asked Norea, whose lack of surprise seemed suspect.
“Knew about it? I am it.”
And with that, Norea began her transition to Fire Dragon. Her red tail stretched and thickened, then grew hundreds of shiny scales. Her body bulked and rose just slightly higher than her human height, and fire bloomed in her belly.
“Come,” my father said as he motioned us to follow him. “Prince Jeremy, carry Lumi; Egret and Norea, follow us.”
I’ll lead, thanks. Norea’s voice was no less sarcastic in my head.
“Whatever you’d like. Just get us to the resistance, and do it quickly. We don’t have any time to lose.”
I felt strangely left out as all of my friends transitioned. Like the burden of a heavy sack on a long hike, I would weigh Prince Jeremy down considerably during the journey. Plus, riding another human, even in dragon form, was embarrassing for both of us.
“Sorry.” I hoisted myself up onto Prince Jeremy’s back.
No need to apologize.
His voice sounded distant, though his words were comforting. Was he upset that I’d left the ball with Egret? Or by what he’d seen in my bedroom?
“And about the ball—”
Please, as I said, there is no need. You are a wonderful girl, and you should do whatever will make you happy. Just don’t do it with a succubus who might try to kill you in your sleep.
“I won’t. I promise.”
We followed the others, who had already transitioned and left us to catch up. Like geese during a migration south, we solemnly flew in a diamond with Norea in the front, my father and Egret in the middle, and Jeremy and I behind them.
Even on dragon back, it took us six hours to get to the volcano where the resistance and their Fire Dragons had gathered to meet us. Mount St. Helens, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, was a snow-covered peak that, because of its eruptions, was largely untouched by the spread of skyscrapers and occasional suburbs of modern humanity. I knew from my studies that the cone consisted of lava rock, pumice, and ash, and the mountain of andesite and basalt, and I also knew that no eruption had occurred since 2096. Somehow, none of this information made me feel any better about plunging into the vent like a swimmer into a deep pool.
The dragons rested on the edge of the vent and looked down. I imagined the smell of sulfur that must have permeated the whole area below us during an eruption, though now there was no smell outside of what the wind carried.
“Are you sure we have to go in—” I began, but before my words could carry to the others, they had already dived down.
Ready? Prince Jeremy asked.
“Absolutely not,” I said, but he dived anyway.
Down and down we went. Like Alice down the rabbit hole, I saw everything blur and grow dark until the vent became what seemed like a never-ending path. The air became stale and suffocating, and I fought down the panic trying to claw its way out of my chest. I wanted to scream out the animal anxiety that came with the fear of suffocation in a small space, but my mouth wouldn’t open.
It’s okay. Prince Jeremy’s voice came through the darkness like the sound of running water in a cave. Just breathe.
My lungs expanded and contracted a few times, and just like that, I could think straight again. Instead of relying on sight, which was just a black canvas of wall, I used my other senses to tell me that the vent was much wider than I’d originally suspected.
Finally, we reached a spiral that ended in a turn. There we flew parallel to the ground for about a mile, then ejected into a monstrous cavern. My eyes would not adjust, and though light shone on my pupils, I could not see a thing.
“Is that her?” a deep, unfamiliar voice grumbled. “Is that the Artist?”
“Yes, sire. Please, we’ve done everything you asked,” pleaded another voice.
“We infiltrated the resistance and convinced Wess to bring her,” begged a third. “We forced them all into your trap.”
“Silence. I will determine whether your servitude shall be rewarded.”
I blinked several times, bringing the scene before me alive. The others were right behind me, being held back by Fire Dragons and incubi—hundreds and hundreds of them in various colors of red. Some of the incubi even looked like normal humans, though they were also captives of the bright red demons. Many were succubi.
In front of me, one particularly red demon stood in a long red cape and matching red pants. His chest was bare, as were his feet, and he held a metal staff with a red orb glowing on top. As soon as my eyes rested on his furious face, I recognized him from the fire.
“Hello, Eads,” I said, forcing my voice down to a steady tone despite my shaking hands. I needed to remain in control if we had any hope of survival. “You’ve brought quite a welcome party. Scared a little girl like me could take down your entire empire?”
His followers twittered, but with a furious look he silenced them.
The only thing you can t
ake down is the Council, Eads said. And you will, before you become tomorrow’s dinner—unless you want us to kill off your friends instead.
We were all going to die, I realized then. No matter what I did, Eads would eat us all like a cheese plate at his own personal cocktail party. Then he would consume the Council, the Mansion, and every human or dragon in his path.
Lumi, listen to me. The voice was Wess’s. You need to use your powers to get out of here. This whole thing was a setup, and if you don’t leave now, you’ll be killed.
I nodded my head very slowly. I can’t leave my friends behind.
Then take Egret and Jeremy with you. Use your pencil to draw a portal to the Mansion, and make sure it’s a one-time connection. Summon the Council and dragons and bring them to battle Eads while you close the portal, which is on this volcano’s floor bed somewhere. Closing it will force all of the incubi back to where they came from. It’s the only way.
My eyes moved to the terrifying incubus and his many henchmen. There was no way they would give me enough time to whip out my drawing tool, let alone form a portal.
I’ll create a distraction. When I say “now,” you crouch and draw, okay? And whatever happens, don’t hesitate.
No. It’s too dangerous.
Dangerous? Nothing is more dangerous than Eads and what he’s about to do. If you don’t act, he will kill everyone on this entire planet. Only you can stop him, and you must do it now.
Okay, I’ll try.
And Lumi? Across the room, his eyes flashed red. I’m so sorry for all of this. But just remember that I’m so proud of you.
Before I could say anything else, Wess yelled, “Now!” and launched himself over the hands that formed a fence around him and barreled toward Eads. Everyone scrambled, and as they all tried to save their master, I crouched in the center of the pandemonium and used my pencil to draw a circle around me on the ground. One-time connection. One-time connection.
As the circle began to glow, I looked up and found my father’s eyes. Ten incubi held him down on the ground, and a hundred others surrounded them chanting Eads’s name. I wrapped my hands around Prince Jeremy and Egret’s ankles, and when they realized what I was doing, they stepped into the circle with me.
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