by K. F. Breene
“You hold back. You don’t give yourself to it. Just now, you pulled back the ice magic until it was manageable, like your fire magic. When it is manageable, it is also greatly diminished. You are trying to find a happy, safe medium with the ice as you did with the fire. It lessens your power.”
“Ah. Well, I’m not sure if you noticed, but I nearly killed you just now. With the fire, I burned half of a forest once. A forest. I’m not safe. I have to find the happy medium, as you said, so the power won’t destroy me or those around me.”
He shook his head. His thumb was now tracing the edge of my bottom lip. “I don’t think that’s it. I think you need to find another way to deal with the power.” He dropped his hand to my shoulder. “I need to get dressed. I want to talk to the dual mages.”
“To get healed faster?” I asked, limping after him. Now that I was back to normal, each injury was trying to pull the diva act so I’d notice it.
Callie’s head, still covered in the helmet, poked in through the doorway. When she saw us walking toward her, the rest of her body made an appearance, decked out in another classic sweat suit. If “classic” meant fluorescent green velvet and obscene messages scrawled across the chest.
“Is it over—” Her eyes widened as she looked past us. “Holy bluebells, Reagan.” Her gaze traveled to the ceiling, then the row of open loading docks. “You’ve never destroyed the place like this. And here Darius worried you weren’t improving.”
“She isn’t,” Darius said. He was great for honest answers, though I rarely wanted to hear them. “She needs near death to enact the other half of her magic, and then she loses herself in the power. Callie—”
“Good God, Reagan, look at this.” Dizzy stepped into the doorway, staring like Callie was. “We heard the commotion, but I didn’t realize all this was going on.”
“Didn’t you see the rocks going through the walls?” I asked.
“Going through the walls, no. I saw the thing with the door and figured it was time to hide behind a tree. I’m glad we did.” He looked in through the door. “This is something.”
“Callie, did you ever meet Lucifer?” Darius asked.
Chapter Two
Shivers slid down my arms as I followed Darius out of the gaping doorway. The way he said my dad’s name was so blasé. Like it wasn’t a big deal that my father was the lord of the underworld, something magical people called the Dark Kingdom.
“I met him, yes.” Callie turned and followed us, leaving Dizzy inside. “Why? And I hope you’re putting on clothes now that the training is over. There is only so much skin a person needs to see.”
“Did you ever see him use his power?” Darius asked, ignoring her comment.
“He unraveled a couple of my better spells. At the time, I thought he was using a counter spell to do it. I assumed he was a mage, one of the more powerful ones I’d ever met, much like Reagan’s mom, Amorette. Other than that, he seemed like a completely normal man. It wasn’t until we tracked Amorette down after she tried to disappear that we learned the truth.”
Darius paused beside his extremely expensive sports car, staring at a dent in the passenger door. His gaze slid mournfully to the rock lying in the dirt below it, then to the hole in the warehouse that the rock had flown through.
“Sorry,” I said quickly.
His lips tightened as he gave me a flat stare. He might not care about any harm done to his person, but I happened to know that he did care about his cars. He took great pride in some of them.
Without a word, he crossed to the other side and took out his clothing. “Did Amorette ever describe how Lucifer acted after he used his power?” he asked.
“Let’s not throw his name around willy-nilly.” I glanced at the wide-open space around the warehouse. Two spots of light traveled along the highway in the distance, a car passing by. “Vampires have those cloaks that make them nearly invisible.”
“We are alone,” Darius said as he stepped into boxer briefs. “No one knows where I am. I was not followed here.”
“You might have a tracker on your car or something. Vlad is wily. You can’t trust him.”
“A great many vampires are wily,” Callie said. “And no, you can’t trust any of them.”
I heard her emphasis on any. That was why she’d never know I was dating Darius. The end result would probably be a dead vampire and a cover-up story.
“Yes. Exactly. His is not a name to throw around.” I pulled out the band holding my hair up so I could redo it. I probably looked like I’d been traveling through the briars.
“Using his name is no different than speaking of Eustace, the elf queen. The two are supreme to their kingdoms and hold both magical and species power, but they are not gods.” Darius grimaced as he lifted his right arm to thread it through the armhole of his button-down shirt.
My gaze shifted from Callie, tapping her finger against her chin, to Dizzy’s head, which had just appeared in one of the holes in the warehouse. “She didn’t describe him so much as marvel at what he could do,” Callie said. “I do remember her saying that everything was done with absolute ease. All the power at his disposal, and he didn’t exert much effort to wield it.”
“Would you view Reagan’s power similarly?” Darius moved to put on his blazer, but hesitated and then put it back in the car.
Callie surveyed me for a second. “When she is in the throes of it, her power is awesome, but her use of it is obvious. She fights it.”
Darius braced his hands on his hips and looked out into the nothingness beside the warehouse, land he’d bought to ensure I could practice without anyone witnessing it. “This form of training is doing more damage than good.”
“And how would you know that?” Callie countered. “Her mother thought it was the right way, and it seemed to work. Her mother would know over anyone. She saw his power in action.”
Darius’s honeyed gaze fell on Callie, and while his peepers were very pretty, the power and confidence in that hostile stare was not. “She saw it, yes, but she couldn’t be expected to know how it worked. How best to train a pupil. She was a mage—she thought like a mage—something Reagan could never be. If Reagan tried to create a spell, her magic would unravel its properties before the spell was realized. Because her father’s magic is ten times stronger than that of her mother’s. Than yours. No, this is wrong. This is embedding the fear deeper into her, I saw it in there. I could see her misery when she tried to kill me, and I see her guilt every time she thinks of it.”
Callie blinked for a moment in surprise at the “killing” bit before she charged back into the argument. “That’s just the thing. Despite the magic issue, she is half human. She isn’t okay with killing a…friend.”
“Lucifer is always described as a sound and just leader. His punishments are harsh, but his rewards plentiful.” Darius glanced to the warehouse as Dizzy shuffled out, his expression pensive. “He has an open invitation to the Realm, which includes the Golden Hall in the elves’ mansion. A rage-drowned killer would not be viewed in a positive light. Therefore, he can’t be consumed with that byproduct of his magic. Furthermore—”
“What is this, a verbal essay?” Callie crossed her arms over the HOT stenciled across her chest. I swore she ordered those sweats specially.
“—if Reagan’s mom, whom I can only assume was a strong woman, since Reagan is her daughter, saw Lucifer wield his power and stayed with him, he must be as charming as the rumors say.”
“Let’s not forget, he is the ruler of demons,” Callie said. Dizzy nodded, clearly on her side. “They aren’t a nice bunch. Or did you forget about the one in Seattle?”
“That is just one type of demon,” Darius said. “There are also demons who lust. Even some who love.”
“Okay, so what are you saying? How do we train her?” Callie asked.
“We could summon a demon,” Dizzy suggested.
“Um…” I raised my hand. “I realize I’m not integral to this conversation, despite it b
eing about me and all, but I think we’ve seen what all can go wrong with calling demons. A lot, basically, not the least of which is that the shifters would reattach themselves to my ass and watch my every move. It’s rather nice being left alone. I’d like to stick with that.”
“Just having a demon in her proximity seems to bolster her magic,” Darius said thoughtfully, still looking at Dizzy. “From there, maybe she’ll push through the consuming need to wreak havoc and see what’s on the other side. I am confident she can come back from the brink of destruction.”
I waved them away. “Thanks for your help, everyone, but nope. Not going to happen. Time to head home. I have dinner to eat.”
Dizzy crossed his arms and looked down at his feet with a wrinkle between his brow. It was his problem-solving look. “My circles can easily hold a level-four demon. That should be enough to get her on the right track.”
“You can banish it with the command to remain silent about what it learned while on the surface?” Darius asked. “That is the most important piece.”
“Seriously, hello?” I rapped on Darius’s car. He flinched as though I’d stuck a sword through his gut. “This isn’t going to happen. Let’s go.”
“What do you take me for, a greenie?” Dizzy scoffed, ignoring me. “I know my way around a circle, thank you very much.”
“I will be there to double-check his efforts,” Callie said, eyes narrowed in thought.
“Callie, you too?” I ran my hand over my face. “Look, you guys, here’s the long and short of it. The only way I would show up to a demon-calling party was if the world was literally about to end and Superman was otherwise engaged. That, or if my dad sent me a letter telling me to prepare the guest room because he’s coming for a visit. That’s it. Okay? So let’s drop it. I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry,” Callie said before pulling her lip through her teeth. It was another indication she was mulling something over.
“No, Callie. Stop it. Darius, congratulations, you are driving me home. Get in the car before I dent it somewhere else.”
“But wait, what about the warehouse?” Dizzy asked, surveying the nearest hole. “The damage is extensive.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Darius opened the driver’s-side door and looked at me across the roof of the car. “Come. Get in.”
“Not only are you not planning to open the door for me, you’re being pushy as well? Good grief. Pain doesn’t suit you at all.” I grinned in jest (and also apology) before pulling open my door.
“Reagan, I am holding the door for you. The car is ruined. You can drive it home if you’d like.”
Joy surged through me. I had gotten a car after our trip to Seattle, but it was more or less a beater that didn’t go very fast. My version of fast, anyway. While Darius had access to the equivalent of fighter jets on wheels, he wouldn’t let me drive them for fear I’d scratch, dent, or otherwise tarnish them.
He refused to believe me, but the one time I’d run a guy over, it had been on purpose. Mikey, my neighbor, had asked for a favor. A guy had been selling drugs to the kids in our neighborhood. The thug had needed a good scare, and everyone knew I was better than Mikey at acting crazy. Had I been behind the wheel of a very pretty Ferrari in pristine condition, I would’ve taken the extra effort to get out of the car to give him a lesson. That was just common sense. I’d taken the lazy route and stayed behind the wheel.
I’d only hit him hard enough to give him a limp, and the ding in my hood from the altercation was very small. Hardly noticeable. If anything, the whole thing showed what a great driver I was. Hitting a guy with hardly any damage to show for it? Just call me Ace.
Darius had not agreed.
I paused with my hand on the door. “Not to talk you out of it or anything, but the dent is relegated to the door. You can get a new door, and everything would be fine…”
He sniffed in a condescending way and continued to wait patiently.
Sold!
“Are you sure you don’t want to ride with us?” Callie asked as I limp-skipped around the car.
Even though she still ardently mistrusted vampires (like all self-respecting people), she’d lightened up a lot when it came to Darius. Everything he’d done for me—buying me the warehouse, getting me a new identity, hiding my parentage from everyone (including his maker), and, most importantly, putting his life on the line so I could practice my magic without holding back—had softened her up just enough that she didn’t complain too loudly when I spent time alone with him.
That didn’t mean she’d be okay with me dating him, of course. Neither would Dizzy. Vampires as old as Darius usually didn’t have much humanity left. They thought in terms of logic and strategy, creating intricate webs with their plans, often at the expense of everyone but themselves, including other vampires. Emotions were not their strong suit.
Something had happened with Darius, though. Ever since my near-death experience on our foray into the Island of Eternal Light, where the unicorns lived, his humanity had been creeping back. He claimed he was falling in love with me. It shouldn’t have been possible, and maybe he was lying, but based on his actions and the changes I’d seen in him, the evidence was hard to deny.
Which put me in a bit of a predicament, I had to admit. I couldn’t deny that I also had feelings for him. I didn’t want to attach any L-words to it or anything, but falling for a vampire was as crazy as it was stupid. His species was known for entrapping prey with their sensuality. For using it to take control. If Darius was playing me for a fool, acting like he was invested in our budding relationship and coaxing me to fall for him, he’d be in a unique position to accomplish his ultimate end game: to bond me, emotionally linking us in such a way that severing the connection would cause great pain.
So while it seemed like he was really into what we had going, and that he was genuine in the sweet nothings he said to me in the quiet hours we spent wrapped in each other’s arms, there was a very real possibility that he’d figured out how to manipulate me into getting exactly what he wanted.
A smart girl would’ve run away screaming. A sane girl would’ve kept her distance. Clearly I was neither of those, because I just couldn’t get enough. The man in him was like a disease without a cure—he ate away at me until I had no option but to submit. He was a sickness I loved to hate.
Even the vampire side of him had me on board. Dizzy was right: our practices had improved his already impressive abilities. He’d gotten faster. Stronger. More skilled. If he wasn’t better than Vlad at this point, he was as good, taking away Vlad’s upper hand physically. I doubted there was anyone in the world that could fight alongside me, complementing my abilities with his own, as well as Darius could. And if the two halves of my magic warred with each other, leaving me defenseless, I also doubted there was anyone who would protect me as viciously and ardently as he would. The girl side of me was totally into that. It was very hot.
“I’m good,” I said to Callie as I slid into the driver’s seat. The leather bucket seat welcomed me like a long-lost friend.
I wonder if he’ll let me keep it…
The door shut with a soft plunk.
I pushed the ignition button, then smiled in glee when the engine purred to life. My soft pump of the gas pedal made the beast rev in a refined sort of way.
“What a beauty,” I said in a terrible Australian accent.
Darius sat into the passenger seat a moment later. The dual mages got into their car as well.
“Do you know how to drive it?” Darius asked as he closed the door.
His asking meant I probably didn’t.
He proceeded to explain the paddle shift gearbox and give me some tips on how to keep from losing control. “Most importantly, Reagan,” he said seriously, “don’t kill us.”
“Do not kill us…” I put it in gear. “Got it.”
I stomped on the gas. The tires spun, kicking up dust and slapping the warehouse walls with dirt and rocks. That poor warehouse r
eally had a hard life now that it belonged to me.
The car shot forward.
It would take a lot to kill Darius or me. Game on.
Chapter Three
“That was sensational,” I said as I neared my house twenty minutes later. I would’ve made even better time if Darius hadn’t insisted I obey the stop lights.
Party pooper.
“Yes. You have a knack for reckless behavior,” he said.
“I feel like that shouldn’t be a surprise for you. I’ve never tried to hide that flaw in my personality.”
His lips tweaked upward into a half-smile. When I’d put it in park, he took my hand, turned it over, and kissed me lightly on the inside of my wrist. “Will you allow me to feed from you tonight?”
Butterflies filled my stomach. I tried not to smile like the idiot I was. “Not if you use the word feed, I won’t. We’ve talked about that.”
“Will you allow me to make love to you in the way I do best?”
The heat rushed to my face, and I shut off the car with a small shrug.
When I got out of the car, I was immediately greeted with “What the hell?” Mince, a resident in the neighborhood and an ex-boxer with the nose to show for it, came along the sidewalk in front of my house. He stopped beside the car and shot me an accusing stare. “What did you do, Reagan? What did you do? And, more importantly, what is he going to do to you for doing what you did?”
“Words, Mince. Use your words. Preferably ones that make a little sense.” I walked around the car as Darius got out, managing to look like a million dollars despite being hurt and missing most of his hair. It wasn’t fair.
Mince shoved his finger toward the dent. Every line of his body screamed indignation. “Are you serious?” He turned to Darius, his expression now pleading. “Dude, for the love of all that is holy, do not let her drive your car. Because she did this, right? She’s responsible for the dent? You don’t have to answer. I already know.” He bent over his phone, his fingers tapping the screen. “We’re going to have to get someone to look after it, or it’ll be stolen before you close your door.”