by K. F. Breene
I looked up at Darius. “I bet you didn’t realize they’d planned to sacrifice you, huh?”
“Not his, sweetie. Yours.” Callie moved around the circle, looking closely at each character.
I took a step back. “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of this adventure?”
“We just need a little, Reagan,” Dizzy said in a soothing tone. “Just a scrape, a dozen or so drops around the circle, and you’ll go back to being a spectator. Your blood is the most powerful in the room for these purposes. It will call to the demons.”
Would anyone notice if I took off running?
“Okay. We’re ready. Now.” Callie speared me with her bulldog look. “We are pulling a demon from the heart of the underworld. A strong demon, at that. But don’t you worry—we have triple-checked everything, and are experienced with circles. We aren’t putting you in any more jeopardy than you’re already in.”
“What she means is that this demon won’t go back down and tell everyone about you,” Dizzy clarified. “We will send it back to check on the rumor, and if it can’t do that for some reason, we’ll kill it. We’ve worked that into the circle. It’s kind of like a…self-destruct feature.”
“I didn’t realize you could do that,” I said. “Why doesn’t everyone?”
“Well…” Dizzy’s hand moved back and forth in a so-so gesture. “It’s experimental. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it in case it doesn’t work.”
“Get moving,” Darius said without moving forward. “Reagan is losing her nerve.”
“I’m fine,” I lied, narrowing my eyes at Darius. Because yes, all my bravado from a moment ago was seeping out of me. I needed another door-kicking pep talk. It was a little irritating that he noticed, but more so that he had told on me.
“Of course. Yes.” Dizzy walked quickly to a box against the wall that I hadn’t noticed. He withdrew a wicked-looking dagger and made his way back to me. “Now, we just need some blood…”
One painful slice of the hand later, the dual mages were pushing me around the circle while shaking said hand, dotting the concrete floor in crimson.
“You can head over to Darius, Reagan,” Dizzy said, taking herbs out of his satchel. “You aren’t needed anymore.”
Sweeter words had never been said. I held my throbbing hand as I complied.
“How are you doing?” Darius asked me quietly when I leaned against the wall next to him.
“Hanging in there. Any idea why Vlad is taking the back seat on this one?”
He watched the mages for a silent beat. “I can’t be sure. I would assume he wants you for himself, but for that to be correct, there must be another piece to his plan. Another way he’s working toward his ends, one that perhaps requires him to take a more active role. I haven’t been able to find out what that might be.”
“Any other ideas?”
He shook his head slowly. “Not that fit half as well.”
“Super,” I said sarcastically.
“I will be by your side every step of the way, Reagan.”
I blew out a breath as the dual mages lifted their hands above their heads and sprinkled a green plant down. They began chanting quietly.
“Thanks,” I said, because the sentiment was sweet, and I thoroughly believed he meant it, but if the rumors were true, either he would be volunteering to die for me in battle, or to watch me disappear, alone, into the underworld, since vampires could only get into the edges. One of those I wouldn’t allow to happen, and the other was not within my power to change.
Amazingly, for the first time, I didn’t want to work alone. I didn’t want to take this on by myself. Fat lot of good it did me.
“Just FYI, in case you need a barometer reading on the day’s suckery, it is high. Very high. There is a shitstorm warning in effect.” I leaned my head against the wall.
A crack drew my focus to the circle, where a shimmering blue blob now floated in the center. Purple light sparkled within it, followed by pink. Dizzy threw something at the ground, and a flash of light gave off another crack.
The blue orb took shape. Darius shifted beside me, uncomfortable.
“Not a big fan of calling demons?” I asked.
“I am not looking forward to the affirmation that the rumors are true. We will have some hard decisions to make.”
I bit my lip, because it wasn’t necessarily the decision that would be hard, but the follow-through.
A horned, knobby thing solidified in the circle, complete with scaly gray skin and a forked tongue. Could they not have tried for a nicer looking one?
For a moment, the demon looked back and forth between Callie and Dizzy, who were still chanting and working with their herbs, then it looked at the ground. It stepped forward, and a silent blast of light flared where it had touched the circle, forcing it back.
At least the circle worked.
The demon returned to looking between the dual mages, clearly trying to work out which of them was the high-powered, and therefore higher-ranked, summoner. They were dual mages, though. Yin and yang. They were both equally in charge. It must’ve confused the poor demon, since it was rare two mages of high power could stomach sharing the spotlight.
Callie lowered her hands and blinked, her eyes focusing on the demon in the circle. Dizzy did so next, then beamed. “Well look at you. Wow. You’re powerful, aren’t you? I knew this configuration would work with just two mages and the blood. I bet we could get a five in there if we worked it at a full moon.”
“Why do you call me?” the demon hissed, a sound like snakes sliding over brittle bones.
“Here, hon.” Dizzy pulled a piece of paper out of his satchel and handed it to Callie, not tearing his eyes away from the demon. A small smile still graced his lips. “It’s like college all over again.”
Callie muttered something I couldn’t hear while shaking her head. She took the paper.
The demon switched his gaze from Dizzy to Callie before looking at the ground again. It turned in a circle, its gaze roving.
“We command you…” Callie began before spouting off a list of instructions that essentially would have the demon hunting for our answers. It didn’t seem to be listening. It had bent closer to one of the splashes of blood, as close as it could get without touching the invisible barrier in the air.
“Is it sniffing?” I asked Darius quietly.
“It seems so, yes.”
The demon straightened up slowly, and this time it looked beyond Callie and Dizzy.
“It senses something of higher power than the dual mages,” Darius murmured. “It is searching for its true master. That will always be you, Reagan. Even with a level five, it will always be you. That is why Vlad would move heaven and earth to get you for himself.”
Chapter Six
“This would be a strange way to accomplish that,” I said.
“That is why there must be another piece. He has kept it well hidden,” Darius said.
I stayed perfectly still, but it didn’t matter. In a matter of moments, the demon’s gaze fell on me.
It stared for a while, ignoring Callie’s command to give its name. It then ignored Callie’s command to repeat back its orders.
“You will have to give the instructions,” Darius said, a master at stating the obvious.
I sighed and stepped forward, feeling the throb of fire within me—like recognizing like. “Did you mean to call a demon with the fire magic?” I asked Callie and Dizzy.
“Yes. Did we get it right?” Dizzy was much too upbeat. “That was also an experiment. As far as we know, no one else has figured out how to call one specific type of magic over another. Although it probably doesn’t matter for normal purposes—”
“The faster you make it obey, the sooner we can send it back,” Callie interrupted, handing me the paper.
“And I have to say these words exactly?” I asked, reading through it. My ice magic sparked, though I had no idea why.
“I do not believe my great luck,” the demon
said, bending to one knee. “I feel both powers in you, do I not? That can only mean one thing. The legend in the flesh. But will you survive the Dark Kingdom? The Great Master pines for an heir. None has yet survived. Each failure is a blow to him.”
Ignoring the ugly thing, because I’d heard all of that before, I cleared my throat, ready to read the paper. Sweet heat rolled over me, comfortable and right, reaching through the circle to grab the life force of the demon. “Others may know about me,” I said, falling into the exquisite pain of my magic. Below it, deep in my gut, minimal but there, was the ice, throbbing in time to my heart. “I need to know for certain, and if they do, I will need to silence them. You must find the answers I seek, and if knowledge of my existence is known in the Dark Kingdom, you must bring me a way to destroy it.”
“Why would you want to destroy—”
“Silence!” I commanded. “You will do as I bid, or I will tear your being apart bit by bit.” It was scary how easily that command rolled off my tongue. My power surged on its own, and I knew I was forcing the demon to obey. I just didn’t know exactly how. Story of my life, lately.
“Yes, heir. I live to serve you.”
“If only you were a hot cabana boy, this might actually be cool,” I muttered. Something occurred to me. “And in your quest to find answers, you will learn of the vampire Vlad’s influence in the Dark Kingdom.”
“I have heard his name. He and his followers prowl the edges,” the demon said, anger ringing in its voice.
“Good. Find out more. Who he talks to, his plans, whatever you can. Do not dally. I need this information as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, heir. As you command, so will I obey.”
I crinkled the paper, scanning it again. “Did I miss anything?”
“Well, most of the actual commands, if I’m being honest, but it doesn’t look like you need them, so…” Dizzy shrugged. “I guess that’s it.”
“Do I need to command it not to spread news of this meeting?” I asked, lowering the paper.
“Oh no, the circle will bind it.” Dizzy bent to get a closer look. “Yes, that is taken care of. We drew the characters correctly, I am sure of it.”
“Your command overrides this paltry circle,” the demon spat out. “Mages cannot hold a candle to your greatness.”
“No one likes a brown noser, just so you know.” I fell into the power of my fire for another command. “Knowledge of my existence will die with you. You will be bound as the circle prompts you. Or commands you.” I grimaced. This was getting away from me. “You will adhere to the circle’s binding.”
“I think you’ve got it now, Reagan,” Callie said.
I nodded with authority. “Now begone. Do as I bid.”
“Yes, heir.” The demon struggled against something invisible. A howl of rage and pain filled the warehouse.
“We should help it.” Dizzy grabbed a stick of cinnamon. “It’s struggling to break through the other end of the circle.”
The drops of my blood glowed before spouting flame.
I took a step back, startled. “I didn’t do that. I don’t think.”
“It is using your blood and commands to override the magic of the circle,” Callie said, pulling out a little baggie.
Before they could chant, the demon disappeared, leaving behind smoke pulsing in various colors. The fire from my blood died away, not having changed the appearance of the red on the concrete.
I sucked in air to calm my rapidly beating heart. “That was a trip.”
“The demon was right. Your power over it trumps ours.” Dizzy braced a hand to his hip. “How can we combine all of ours, I wonder? Because that would be unbreakable.”
“Curse breaker,” Callie said softly. “She can eat through any mage’s magic with her own. Clearly she can enable demons to do it, too.”
“Curses imply a certain type of magic. There is bound to be a spell my magic can’t unravel.” I waved the possibility away and headed for the door. “How long should we give that thing?”
“Two days should be enough, I think,” Dizzy said, crouching over the circle. “Oh. Why did you ask about Vlad? How will that help?”
“Me? It won’t.” I thought about kicking the door open, but decided against it. The poor warehouse had been through enough. “But it’ll help Darius.”
Before I got into my car, Darius was at my side, his large hand wrapping around the top of my door. “Will you come to my house, Reagan?” he asked quietly.
“No. I’m headed to the bars. I think I need to drink and fight and torment some shifters for sport. I don’t want to be rational tonight.”
Darius took his hand away, watching as I got into the driver’s seat and threaded the key into the ignition. “Thank you,” he finally said, “for asking about Vlad. It will help greatly.”
“Helping you helps me. It was the least I could do.” I pulled the door closed and stomped on the gas. I needed a big dose of forgetful juice.
The next day I nursed my hangover with more alcohol and ignored texts and calls from the dual mages. I even ran around the graveyard, popping out from behind large gravestones and scaring tourists. Boy did they get a fright. One couple took off running without getting a solid idea of what they were running from.
When night came, I got lucky and caught some wannabe witches trying to call a demon.
“Oh no, a demon!” I staggered out from behind a gravestone. Their supplies randomly combusted, spraying fire in all directions. That was my doing, of course, but it looked totally legit.
“The devil!” a woman shouted.
“Different guy, actually.” I waved that thought away. The fire roared higher. “Oops.” I went with it. “You’re right! The devil!”
The woman hitched up her black skirt and ran away like an Olympic sprinter being chased by a tiger. The rest weren’t far behind, screaming and yelling.
“Shhhh,” I called after them. “People live around here!” I stared after them for a moment before shrugging, then bent at the waist, swaying, to look at the satchel they’d left behind. “What are these, weeds?”
“Since when are you so animated when you scare away the tourists?”
Startled, I jumped and spun. The clump of weeds went flying.
My neighbor No Good Mikey leaned against a gravestone down the way.
“Either you are very quiet, or the rushing in my ears is very loud.” I picked up a small pot they’d also left, and sniffed the contents. “Smells lovely. Can’t be effective. And to answer your question, they weren’t tourists.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“Oh no?” I could’ve sworn it had been. Then again, whatever he’d said had already sunk into the black hole of my memory.
I staggered out from the rubble, pausing as something crunched under my boot, before grabbing my bottle of Jack from behind a gravestone. I held it out for No Good Mikey, but he shook his head. His loss.
“Question.” I pointed at him, just in case he wasn’t clear on who I was talking to. “What would you do if a bunch of demons had knowledge about you that they couldn’t have? Would you, A, hide for as long as possible, work at getting better with your…weapons, and fight when they finally found you? Or B, take the fight to them so they couldn’t tell anyone. Now, before you answer…” I burped and held my finger in the air. I wasn’t sure why. “If you hide, then when they show up to take you, they’ll probably kill a lot of people. So your blood would be on their hands. Wait. Their blood. Your hands.” I paused to regroup. I’d confused myself. “But if you go to the demons, they might’ve already gotten to your father, so really, it would be a suicide mission. Except only you would be screwed, instead of a bunch of innocent people with deaths…on hands.”
I leaned forward, blearily staring at him with one eye closed so I could focus. His face was still too blurry for me to read his expression.
“Well?” I prompted.
“You’re drunk as shit.”
“Yes. It ha
s been an incredible bender, I must say. I bet Roger is pissed. A were-badger doesn’t run as fast as the wolves, did you know that? Not fast at all. I nearly had him. If I could’ve gone in a straight line, I would’ve. But…” Up went the finger. It was like it was operating on its own. “You did not answer my question. I’m not so drunk that I did not notice that.”
“Are you in trouble or something?”
“Wow. You’re great at sussing out the big picture. Bloody good show,” I said in a British accent. “Yes, I am, in case the sarcasm wasn’t clear. British accents do always sound jolly, so the mistake is…”
I didn’t know how to end that sentence, so I just let it hang. I hadn’t had a proper conversation in hours. This was why.
He took a deep breath and shifted. “You’re talking crazy, so I’ll just say this. Even if you were the type of gal to sacrifice people for her own benefit, you’re not the type to wait around and get snatched.”
“That is true. I usually do the snatching, after all. It’s what I live for. To help unfortunate mer-folk like yourself. Poor souls…” I held up a hand and shook my head. “My bad. Sometimes Little Mermaid songs come out instead of words. Sorry. Unless you want to have a sing-along. Then I’m so in.”
“Are we done here?” Mikey asked. I couldn’t be sure, but his voice might’ve sounded pained.
“So you’d chose B. Take the fight to them.” I nodded. “Yeah. But I really don’t want to.”
He motioned me toward him. When I got there, I realized it was so he could take my arm and walk me home, like I was an old woman. I couldn’t tell if he was doing it to help me, or the neighborhood.
“I still don’t know what you’re talking about, but if you need help, ask.” He stopped in front of my porch.
“Well, I could really use a karaoke partner who can sing. I got booed earlier. Besides that, you can watch my house, and if I don’t come back, take whatever you want.”
He nodded slowly. “Let me know when you’re going…wherever you’re going.”
“Underworld.”
“I can watch your stuff. But you’ll come back…from wherever you’re going—”