by Amy Sumida
“Yeah, but it's just so . . . cliché,” Killian made a face, squishing up his mouth as if he'd tasted something foul.
“Says the fairy,” Nassar, one of the Demons, drawled.
“Hey, I'm not just a fairy; I'm half-witch, and not just any witch, I'm half-Flame and half-Storm. I'm all kinds of weird, buddy. Ain't nothing cliché about me.” Kill waved his hands over himself.
“Ask him about his penis,” Conri urged the Demons.
“Could we not?” I growled at Con.
“What's wrong with your penis?” Sallales, one of the female Demons, asked warily.
“Nothing's wrong . . . with either of them.” Killian winked at her.
I groaned as the Demons gaped at Killian with shock, fascination, and—in the case of the men—envy.
“No way,” Apitron, another male Demon, scoffed.
“I'm a snake-shifter, dude.” Killian's grin went smug. “Snakes have two dicks—google it.”
“Really?” I grimaced at Killian. “Can we not get into a pissing contest over who is more unique?”
“Sure, babe,” Kill drawled. “But if we did get into a pissing contest, I would out piss all of them with my two dicks.”
Conri chortled as several other male fairies snickered.
“That is quite enough of that!” I snapped. “We have a law-breaking Demon with a cursed dagger to catch. A dagger that nearly killed me, Killian. So, if you wouldn't mind keeping your hemipenes in your pants, I would appreciate it.”
We had told everyone about the Sakeen, without telling them precisely what it was or who it belonged to, just a general description. It was a compromise I'd made with Astar because I had to explain what had happened to me, and I also had to warn my team to run like hell—pun intended—if Varcan pulled out that glowing dagger again.
Killian sobered to say, “Sorry, Twilight. I got carried away.”
I rolled my eyes and when I brought my gaze back down, it landed on Astar. He widened his eyes at me and glanced pointedly at Killian's crotch. I bit back a laugh and nodded in confirmation. He blinked, his expression bewildered and bemused. On the confident Demon Lord, the look was adorable.
“I was imprisoned by a Demon,” Drostan whispered, still trying to process it. “Huh. I don't know why, but that makes me feel a little better.”
“Look, uh.” Wayne ran a hand over his face—the humans seemed more disturbed by the existence of Demons than the rest of us. “I'm all for the additional help, but what exactly can you do for us? What are you bringing to the table?”
“It's what we can do for each other,” Astar said in a tone of authority. “My team and I can track Varcan, but only when he uses his magic. He's been protecting himself with the hakhil—the magical barrier you saw him use in the apartment—and although, we can sense him set it into place, we only have a few moments to track him after that. The hakhil dampens his aura, making him harder to find. But if we can get a general area for him, Queen Seren should be able to pinpoint his exact location. Once we find Varcan, the hakhil ceases to become a problem. Every member of my sayadi is powerful enough to break hakhils.”
“And once his hakhil is broken, we can kill him,” Raza concluded.
“I'd prefer to keep him alive, but yes, you can kill him, if you feel the need,” Star agreed. “After all he's done, I'm certain his soul will return to Hell for punishment.”
“Hell. Wow.” Lance Sloane shook his head in amazement.
“We have the same God, Extinguisher Sloane,” Astar said. “And we're on the same side. Perhaps it's time that everyone knew it.”
Lance snorted a laugh and nodded. “Fair enough, Lord of Hell.”
“This is surreal,” Conri muttered. Then he asked me, “You really saw Hell? And it was all, brimstone, and lakes of fire, and shit?”
“Well, I didn't see any shit, but yes to the rest,” I said dryly.
“Oh, there's shit there too,” Nassar drawled.
Conri barked a laugh, as in really barked. The Demons smirked at him.
“What?” Conri growled at them.
“You sound like a hellhound,” Antaura said. “That's exactly how they laugh.”
“I'm going to choose to take that as a compliment,” Conri declared.
“It kind of was one.” Astar looked Con over, lingering on his horns.
“Okay, so you guys can take down their shields,” I got us back on track. “And you said you can track him to a general area but how am I supposed to find him?”
Astar crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. “You can sense us—sense him. We just need to get you close enough.”
“Yes, obviously.” I grimaced. “But I thought you might have a better option than just driving around a neighborhood while I hung my head out the window like a dog.”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“You're sounding very cavalier about putting my queen in danger,” Nightblade noted.
Raza nodded at him in approval.
“No one wants Seren hurt,” Astar said.
I glanced at Antaura, and she grinned viciously at me. Yeah, I don't know if she was included in that all-encompassing 'no one.' The Demon woman looked stunning in her black gear, and she seemed to know it. She posed seductively, as close as she could get to Star without actually touching him.
“But,” Star went on, “Seren's our best bet of finding him. In fact, it might be faster to lure Varcan to us than to try to get a general read on his aura.”
“We're not using my wife as bait,” Daxon snarled.
“We would all be there to protect her,” Astar said reasonably.
“Yeah, because that's worked out so well for us,” Daxon countered.
“You didn't have us working with you before,” Apitron said smugly.
“We did at the apartment,” Raza growled, the bones of his face starting to shift. “And now my wife is bound to your lord!”
“Raza!” I hurried to my husband and took his hand before he went all dragony on us. “It's just temporary. He's an ally now, nothing more.”
“You said that you have some of his soul inside you!” Raza snarled at me.
“Okay, I see that we should have discussed this privately before I shared it with everyone,” I said primly. “Let's go. Kill, Dax, Tiernan.” I waved toward the door. “You too, Astar.”
My husbands and I left the room. I looked back to see Star following, Antaura on his heels.
“Antaura.” Astar stopped and put a hand on her shoulder. “No.”
“I deserve to be there.”
“Who is she?” Raza asked me.
“His lover,” I said. “Does that help?”
“Moderately.” Raza grimaced. Then he said to Star, “Let her join us. It sounds as if she's involved.”
“She is not,” Star said crisply, including both Antaura and Raza in his look.
“Star!” Antaura hissed.
“No! Enough, Antaura!” Star suddenly became Astaroth, Lord of Hell.
The instant the shift came over him, I felt it, but then Star's features sharpened to confirm it. I automatically took a wary step back. Astar had restrained himself with me, but now I felt the full extent of his power—and it was staggering. As in I literally staggered under the press of it. How Varcan had eluded this man, this Lord of Hell, for so long was mind-boggling.
“I am your lord, not your husband, and you will stop treating me with such familiarity. I've let it go on for far too long, Antaura. It ends now. You are sayadi; you will obey me or you will be banished!”
A heavy silence spread from Astaroth into the room beyond. I felt the Demons stir anxiously. Banished, it sounded pretty bad, but judging from Antaura's horrified expression, I'd say it was far worse than that.
“You would banish me?” Antaura gaped at him. Then she straightened, lifted her chin, and glared. “I understand, my lord. It won't happen again.” She turned and strode stiffly back into the other room.
Astaroth's jaw clenched as he ste
pped over to us, his boots thudding on the carpet. Then he met my disapproving look and paused. The Lord of Hell fell away and Star returned, his expression pleading and a little wounded. He needed me to understand that what he'd done was necessary. Antaura was threatening his authority by taking liberties with him, and he needed to stop her before he looked weak. I didn't sense all that through our connection but rather the feeling of it, enough for me to come to a conclusion.
I nodded to Star and turned away, leading everyone through the foyer and then into the dining room. “Sit down.” I waved at the table wearily.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?” Tiernan asked as he trailed a hand over my hair.
“Tired, but I'll be fine.” I kissed his cheek.
“Would any of you like some coffee?” Ana offered hesitantly from the doorway, her stare wide and locked on Star.
“Oh, sweet Danu! Ana, I'm so sorry.” I went to her. “I should have included you in the meeting.”
“That's okay.” She gave me a gentle smile. “I overheard.” Her stare went back to Star. “Demons and Angels.” She sighed. “I can't say that I'm surprised.”
“Why is that?” Astar asked.
“The way humans are.” Ana shrugged. “There's too much of an extreme between pain and pleasure with humans for there to be no magic involved.”
Astar cocked his head slightly. “That's an interesting way of putting it. Did you know that humans used to think that fairies were a type of Demon?”
“Really?” Ana asked, her fox tails twitching. “So, we've been your scapegoats?”
Astar chuckled. “The belief didn't last long, and the classification was of spirits who prophesy for, consort with, or transport humans.”
“That's kind of accurate,” I muttered.
“I would love some coffee, Ana,” Tiernan said pointedly.
“Oh! Of course.” Ana looked around. “Anyone else?”
We all agreed to coffee, and Ana hurried back into the kitchen.
“All right, Twilight,” Killian drawled as he sprawled on a chair. “Lay it on us. What's going on with the Demon Lord?”
“I can sense his emotions and he can sense mine,” I said. “I can read him—his face and body, all of those tiny movements.”
“Microexpressions,” Killian said.
“Yes, those,” I agreed.
“It's more than that,” Astar took over. “My magic healed her—not my soul, Dragon King; let's get that straight right now. Nothing can touch your wife's soul. She is utterly incorruptible.”
Raza grunted as if he knew that already, but Tiernan lifted a brow at me.
I grinned. “I'm a pure soul, just like the Devil.”
Tiernan made a choking sound as he gaped at me.
“It's a good thing, babe.” I patted his shoulder. “It means I'm incorruptible.”
“Of course, you are,” Killian snorted.
“Go on,” Daxon urged Astar.
“I've weakened myself by giving Seren a small piece of my magic,” Astar said. “But it was the only way to heal her. I had to convince her body that she was a Demon Lord. The magic took some of my aura with it, and her body responded, healing itself.”
“And?” Tiernan lifted a brow and narrowed his silver stare on Star.
“And while healing her, our essences briefly glimpsed each other. If you want to call them souls, so be it, but they didn't touch or exchange anything,” he explained. “This connection we have now is a side-effect of being briefly close in a profound way, but it should go away soon.”
“Should?” Raza growled.
“Let me make myself very clear,” Astaroth's voice dropped into the tone he had used with Antaura. “I don't like this any more than you do. But your wife is special, you all know that, and the alternative would have been to let her die. I did the only thing I could to save her.”
“I told you I was going to use that line,” I huffed at Star teasingly.
Astar chuckled, cracking his Lord of Hell mask.
“This is troubling.” Daxon looked back and forth between us.
“But he's right; he saved her when we could not,” Tiernan pointed out.
Raza made a grumbling sound that was hard to read. He could be agreeing or he could be preparing to pounce.
“Raza, when I saw Astar—his essence or whatever—I saw all of it, including his weakness,” I said sharply. “He basically handed me a knife and bared his chest. I can kill him; I know exactly how to do it. And I know you felt his power back there, so you must realize what a huge sacrifice that was for him. He rules a portion of Hell, yet he made himself vulnerable to me so he could save my life. He trusted me. Maybe you could offer him some trust in return?”
Raza sighed deeply.
“It's just that it feels a little like Drostan all over again,” Killian said.
“But it isn't,” I insisted. “For one thing, Astar isn't trying to get into my pants.”
Astar's lips twitched, but I was the only one who caught it, to everyone else, he looked aloof. Utterly unaffected.
“Coffee!” Ana said brightly as she entered the room. She set the tray of mugs, cream, and sugar down, then fled.
As soon as Ana was gone, Daxon demanded, “So, you feel nothing for him, Seren? There isn't some kind of magical, romantic connection between you?”
“I can sense who he is, Dax,” I said gently. “He's a good man, and we can trust him. But this isn't the Call of Danu. I like him as a person, that's it.”
“Thank the Goddess,” Tiernan groaned.
“They're just a little twitchy around other men because of Varcan,” I said to Astar.
“Yes, of course.” Astar inclined his head. “Shall we tell them the rest?”
Raza started rumbling again.
“Easy, Dragon.” I got up, went to Raza, and draped myself over his shoulders from behind. “Take a breath.”
Raza inhaled slowly, then, on his exhale, demanded, “What's the rest?”
“There might be the slightest chance,” I drew it out as I might with one of my kids, “that I could end up with Demon magic.”
“He made you a Demon?!” Raza roared.
Chapter Forty-Four
The entire house went silent at Raza's roar; the murmur of voices from the living room cut off abruptly.
“He didn't make me a Demon,” I said calmly.
“If anything, it would only be a partial change,” Astar added.
I glared at him as I straightened, letting Raza go. “I am handling this!”
Astar held up his elegant hands in a placating gesture and inclined his head.
“No,” Raza growled at me. “I want to hear him explain it.” He set his burning gold stare on Star. “Tell us exactly what will happen to Seren.”
“I don't know exactly what will happen to Seren,” Astar said. “That's the point. I'll need to monitor her for any changes. Magically speaking, she is part Demon now. But, hopefully, it won't affect her beyond making her immune to the cursed dagger.”
“Hopefully,” Killian muttered. “Hope is a bitch who likes to yank the rug out from under you and then kick you in the balls.”
Astar chuckled grimly. “Indeed, Witch-Fairy, it is.”
Daxon snorted at Kill's peeved look. “You're the one who went off about not being merely fey. Serves you right.”
“Call me Killian,” Kill said to Astar. “Or Kill, if you're feeling sassy.” He winked at the Demon.
The Demon Lord blinked, frowned, and leaned back in his chair.
I giggled.
“I'm not bisexual, dude. It was a joke. Relax.” Killian rolled his eyes.
Astar relaxed.
“Or am I?” Killian waggled his brows at Star.
I laughed my ass off.
“This isn't funny,” Raza growled at me.
“Sorry, babe.” I schooled my expression but my lips still twitched.
“Your wife is alive and well,” Astar said to Raza. “That is what's important. It shou
ldn't matter what magic she holds.”
“It doesn't,” Tiernan answered for Raza. “We will love her until the end of time, regardless of magic or anything else. However, we are concerned about the ramifications of your actions. Should Seren show signs of possessing Demon magic, what will it mean in regard to the Demons?”