by K. F. Breene
“Underworld,” I repeated. It didn’t seem like he could hear me.
“—because a chick like you, as mean as an alley cat and as crazy as they come—you’ll come back. Ain’t no one able to keep you down.” He spat off to the side. “I’ll watch your stuff.”
“Aw. That’s nice. I should probably mention, though, just off the cuff.” Where was my finger going now? “This is all up in the air. I don’t even know if the rumors are true. This could be all for nothing. The booze, the worry, the chasing of the shifters…all for nothing.”
Mikey stared at me for a moment before shaking his head and stepping away. He muttered something that sounded like the Lord’s name in vain. “You need to go to sleep.”
I held up the nearly empty bottle. “Almost there. Then tomorrow, after a miserable hangover, I’ll get an answer, good or bad.” I sighed and wobbled. “It’s going to be bad. I know it’ll be bad. Ain’t that a bitch?”
“Sounds like it.”
“Yes it does. It does sound like it. Oh, how’s Smokey?”
“He’s fine. Home. Not up to prowling the neighborhood yet, but it’s just kidney stones. Not like he got stabbed.”
“Remind me not to ask you for sympathy.” I tripped on the first step and splayed across the rest. My bottle of Jack bounced before rolling, spraying liquid as it did so.
Mikey didn’t bend to help, or even laugh. He grunted, turned, and headed off down the street.
“No, no, I got it,” I called. “I don’t need any help.”
“Amateur,” he yelled back.
If only he knew how much I’d drunk, he’d be saluting me.
I grabbed the bottle, groaned at the realization there was only a drop left, and made my way inside. In twenty-four hours the wait would be over, and the most dangerous journey of my life would surely begin.
Chapter Seven
“Reagan, you look terrible,” Dizzy said as I made my way to the circle in the middle of the warehouse. Darius stood where he had a couple days before, watching me without comment or expression.
“I wrestled a couple bottles of whiskey and didn’t fare so well. I got through it.” I halfheartedly raised my hand. “Yay.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Callie said, compassion on her face. “Then we’ll plan what’s next. You’re not alone in this, Reagan. You’ve got us, and we know people. Even if they don’t want to help, we’ll make them. I have dirt on at least a dozen powerful mages.”
“Oh yes, my wife keeps track of those sorts of things. She can really call the troops when she needs to.” Dizzy patted me on the shoulder.
I held out my hand. “Do you need blood?”
Out came the wicked-looking dagger. Why they couldn’t use something normal, like a Swiss Army knife, I didn’t know. That thing looked cumbersome. If they slipped and sliced a hand off, then where would I be?
We went through the same steps as last time: pain, stooping while walking around the circle and shaking my bleeding hand. Not long after that, they chanted the demon into the circle. It was the same one, which Dizzy and Callie expected, and I was impressed by. They did know what they were doing.
“Heir,” the demon said, wasting no time in looking past the dual mages. It held a scroll.
“You guys have paper down there?” I asked, amazed.
“Of course, heir. How else would we write things down?” It unfurled the scroll. “I have some of the answers you seek.”
“Tell me,” I commanded.
I listened quietly as the demon told a story of a badly wounded demon that was treated in the edges and then moved across the river by one of the powerful sects. None of those who’d treated the demon had been left alive.
“What was the sect that took the wounded demon?” Darius asked from the wall. I wasn’t sure why he didn’t want to come closer.
The demon barely spared him a glance. “The Noctis sect. They are one of the more ambitious sects in the Dark Kingdom.”
“Are they traveling to Lucifer?” I asked.
“No. They brought the demon to their territory. There is no notice of their sect requesting an audience with the Great Master.”
“Is there any speculation about what they wanted with the wounded demon?” I paced beside the circle as anxiety ate away at my stomach.
“No one seems to know, but there is a rumor of many dead in the wake of the sect moving through. They are trying to keep something silent.”
“Me. They are trying to keep Agnon’s knowledge of me a secret.”
The demon bowed. “If that is the case, they have a mighty prize. I can feel great power within you, heir. The Incendium magic rages, begging you to flare it higher. I feel it calling me. But a dark pit within you prevents it. That is the Glaciem magic, if I am not mistaken, correct?”
“Yup. You nailed it. I’m ripe for the training. Agnon made that clear when I spoke with it.” I ground my teeth. “I am going to yank its knobby little head off.”
“Why wouldn’t they take that to Lucifer?” Callie asked me.
“They want to grab me, train me, and present me to my father. They hope to gain favor by doing all of that, and probably make me an ally. Joke’s on them, of course. I’ll make them all very sorry they got mixed up in my business.”
The desire to cry had dried up with the challenge fully presented to me. Now I wanted to storm the gates of hell and blot out the threat. Which was good, because that was exactly what I’d have to do. I knew that as surely as I knew I could control the demon in front of me.
“Fine. The rumor was right. How do I cut them down?” I asked the demon.
It unraveled the scroll, then focused on a spot of nothingness in front of it. “I have maps. Routes. I can guide you. It would be my honor, heir. But you must find your way to me. I cannot cross certain areas. I don’t have enough power.” It focused harder on the spot of nothingness. “You have to burn away the circle so I can pass over the scroll.”
“Routes into the underworld? Now that’s just asinine. Right, Reagan?” Callie demanded. “Tell it it’s talking nonsense.”
“Don’t burn away the circle, Reagan,” Dizzy said in warning. “Those things are tricky. It’s up to no good.”
I ignored them both, because while I wasn’t crazy enough to trust a demon asking me to deliver myself to it, I was crazy enough to give it an opening in a controlled situation so that I could get that scroll. A risk, but not a huge risk.
Fire crawled up the circular wall in front of me, burning away the invisible barrier. I felt the demon’s magic pulsing within my own, then saw it create a sort of bridge between the newly created edges, keeping the rest of it intact. I latched on to its efforts, realizing that it was helping me. Showing me how to work my magic with greater intricacy. His mastery of weaving the magic together was awe-inspiring.
“Why are you helping me keep you trapped?” I asked as it reached the scroll forward. It did not make a move to cross the divide, though it could have tried.
“When you assume your intended throne, remember your allies. Remember those who helped you ascend.”
“It knows you could easily kill it if it tried to run,” Callie said dryly. “And you’d still get the scroll.”
I knew that, but I’d wanted to hear its response.
I wrapped my fingers around the scroll and then held it out to the side. Darius was there in an instant, taking it from my hand. “You have a better memory. Read it now in case it’s written in invisible ink or something. Demons are tricky. I’m not taking any chances.”
“I speak for my sect when I say that we are here to serve, heir. We will join you. Will fight those who might oppose you, and help you ascend to—”
“I got it, thanks,” I said as I concentrated on weaving the fire magic to stitch the circle back together. Wherever I grabbed the spell, though, it unraveled, leaving a larger hole that my fire magic had to bridge. I tsked. “Tricky, tricky, tricky. The circle only appears complete. It isn’t structurally sound.
The demon would be able to escape.” I huffed out a laugh. “I may not know the extent of my power, but I’m not a complete idiot.”
“Yes, heir. I knew you’d discover that, heir.”
Of course it did, I thought sarcastically.
I tried to work at the ice magic, see if that would create a patch for this particular demon. It wouldn’t rise, though. It stayed lodged deep in my gut, pulsing in time to my heart. Taunting me.
Frustrated, I scoffed. “Darius, how is that scroll looking?”
“I will remember everything on it. The maps are detailed. Vlad’s connections are not.”
“Do you want more on that?”
“If it is possible, yes. If not, I can work with what is here.”
I threw out more commands to the demon, eager to get out of there and think on my next moves. When I was done, Callie stepped forward. “Do you want us to send it back?”
“Yes, thanks.”
“I will be ready for your next summons, heir,” the demon said even as the dual mages started their incantations to send it back to the underworld. I put my hand out for the scroll. Darius passed it over without hesitation, and I unfurled it as the demon disappeared.
“Ink is still there. No trickery yet.”
“I must speak with you, Reagan,” Darius said softly. “In private.”
“Do you have somewhere in mind where the dual mages won’t know to follow me? Because there’s going to be a fight, and they won’t want to let me out of their sight afterward.”
“Reagan Somerset,” came Callie’s low voice filled with warning. “You had better not be thinking what I think you’re thinking. That is the very opposite of why your mother spent all those years hiding you. The very opposite. She would be turning over in her grave if she could read your mind right now.”
“Told you,” I muttered to Darius.
“Reagan, you aren’t honestly considering going into the underworld, are you?” Dizzy asked hopefully. “That is a horribly bad idea.”
“Horribly bad,” Callie said.
“No one could go with you. You’d be on your own. That is quite possibly the most dangerous plan that you could come up with.”
“Horribly bad,” Callie said again.
I walked from the warehouse to my car, knowing they would follow me. When they did, I paused by my door. “I can’t hide anymore. It was fine when everyone thought I was just weird, but now Vlad is interested, not to mention really powerful demons. How much longer do you think I possibly have to live in relative freedom?”
“We just need to get you trained up. Then not even Vlad would be a threat,” Callie said stubbornly.
“That level four just taught me how to work my magic more intricately than I have ever done. Level four. And that is with the type of magic I thought I knew. I can’t even call the ice magic on command. I don’t have time for the training that would help me escape this. You must know that.”
“So your plan is to go into the underworld without any knowledge at all?” Callie jammed her fists onto her hips. “At least in the Brink, you have other magical people who can help you. Shelter you.”
“And die for that privilege.” I laughed sardonically and shook my head. “No. I’m not going to ask people to do that, and I’m not going to hide. It’s time to face my fate. I’ll sneak in there, find the sect with dirt on me, and kill whoever knows. Then I’ll sneak back out. In all honesty, I’ve had worse plans in my life.”
“You’ve never had a plan worse than that, no.” Dizzy picked at his satchel. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a worse plan, and I’ve heard some really bad plans in my day.”
“What do you have to say about this, vampire?” Callie demanded, turning to a silent Darius, who was standing to the side.
“I think she will go regardless of your bullying,” he said softly, his eyes delving into mine. “And I will go with her.”
“You can get through the gates, but you won’t be able to go much farther,” Callie said. Her expression was imploring me now. “Let’s give this a few weeks and think about it, Reagan. Weigh all the options and figure out what we can do.”
I sighed and felt a weight settle on my heart. I knew what I had to do. I hated that it would hurt those I loved in the process.
But at least they would live, even if I did not.
“Okay.” I sank into the driver’s seat of my car. “Two weeks. But I need a few days on my own to let this settle before you start trying to convince me I’m ridiculous.”
“Come over to our house when you’re ready, Reagan,” Dizzy said. “I’ll cook you dinner and we can chat. We’ll figure this out, just you wait. Callie and I can be pretty resourceful when backed into a corner.”
“Okay,” I said.
Callie sagged in relief, and I felt more guilt in that moment than I had in years. The dual mages hurried to their car, thinking they had a promise from me.
I hoped I was around to beg forgiveness after this was all through.
Chapter Eight
“That was necessary,” Darius said as the dual mages drove away.
“Oh good. I’m taking ethics advice from someone who hoodwinks humans so he can feed off them.” I started my car and went to pull my door shut.
Darius was there before I could, catching it. “I would like to speak with you. My residence in the French Quarter?”
“That depends. What do you have to eat?” Since I knew Darius didn’t plan to stop me, I figured I might as well let him help where he could. Lord knew I needed someone smarter and savvier than me to help plan this trek into the belly of the beast.
“Anything you want. Shall I surprise you, like usual?”
When it came to food, I’d never received a bad surprise from him. “See you there in a while.”
He hesitated. “Do you plan to go straight there?”
“Wow. I didn’t peg you for the insecure type.” When he didn’t move, I grinned. “Yes, darling, I will go straight there. I promise I won’t heed the call of the bar and the challenge of catching that danged were-badger.”
“You were thinking about it,” he said, flashing me a smile.
I laughed and shut my door, because there was no denying it. I needed to take my mind off this awful situation for a while, regardless of whether that was a good idea. Food had a stronger pull, of course, and Darius put on the best spread in town.
“All this in under an hour, huh?” I stood in the doorway to his dining room, a large space with a huge table laden with a feast. All the chairs except for two had been removed from the room. This was due to the fact that I had once mentioned the twenty or so empty chairs weirded me out, and could I please eat in the kitchen? That had been just one of the many reasons I’d begged to eat in the kitchen, but it was the only one he’d latched on to. He didn’t seem to get that it was the unreal finery of the room that put me off.
“I knew I would be speaking with you tonight,” Darius said, holding out his hand to insinuate I should have a seat. “I also knew you would be hungry. I had this prepared in anticipation.”
“But how did you know I would come here?” I took off my dirty boots and left them on the rubber mat set out just for me. I slipped into the cozy slippers next to it, also there for me. I’d eaten at Darius’s a time or eight since I’d met him. He knew I was afraid to get the cream-colored…everything dirty.
“I didn’t. My staff was standing by, waiting for my order. I would’ve had the meal taken to wherever you were comfortable.”
“Crazy,” I said, sitting in my chair.
“Crazy amazing, I think you would say.” He grinned, and I blinked at him for a few seconds, because when we both let our guards down, I couldn’t shrug off how G-D handsome the guy was. A real panty melter.
I blew out a breath and stood with my plate. My lady bits were growling as loudly as my stomach. Waiting around for one of Darius’s staff to serve me was not in the cards.
“I will allow you to have your way, this
time, as relates to the server.” Darius rose and moved to the door. It closed with a soft click.
“Aw, whadda guy.” I perused the options.
“But I will not allow you to fill your plate like a peasant.” He took the fine china from my hand. “Go sit down and be attended to like a lady should.”
“Ladies don’t do what they’re told. Callie says so. Of course, ladies aren’t fools, either.” I laughed and did as he said, because why not? If he wanted to wait on me, so be it.
He finished loading my plate with a bit of everything, obviously knowing I wasn’t picky when food was handed to me. He placed it in front of me with a small bow.
“Thank you,” I said.
He sat gracefully. “May I speak to you regarding our present situation while you eat, or would you rather wait until after?”
I glanced at my empty crystal wine glass. Then looked around for the wine bottle I hoped loitered just out of sight.
“Forgive me.” Darius stood smoothly and disappeared from the room. My mouth was full of mashed potatoes when he returned with a bottle of red. “Here you are.”
“No cognac for you?” I asked as he finished pouring my wine and sat.
His gaze was deep and open. “Not just now.” He paused for a moment, and a surprise wash of tingles raced across my skin. “You didn’t answer me earlier. Would you be open to speaking about our situation?”
“Sure.” It was hard to swallow. Something in that look, in his open regard and the depth of his gaze, made me want to run. It also made me want to melt into him while he carried me away.
“Yesterday I spent time with one of the oldest vampires I could easily track down.” He leaned back, his eyes taking on a keen edge. “She resides in the Realm like a hermit, mostly removed from the rest of my species, and only visits one or two other magical people when she needs to feed—which is not often, given her age.”
“Is she much older than you?”
“Yes. A great deal, from what I have heard.”
Darius was nearly a grand, a term I used because a thousand years old sounded too ancient to comprehend. So she must’ve been crazy old. Crazy, silly old. Too old to put numbers to, surely, which was why I didn’t ask for specifics.