But first, he needed to attend to another vampire matter.
He’d gotten word an hour earlier that they had one of Vlad’s people. How that vampire had eluded him for so long, he didn’t know, but it ended now. He would pry information out of that creature before he broke him. Vlad had had a good run, but it was the end of the road for him. No one snuck into his territory, hid from him, and then received a pardon. No one.
As he stalked forward, he noticed an unusual emptiness in his peripheral vision. Saphira wasn’t in her sleeping area. She should’ve been back from hunting by now. He turned a little, eyeing Archion’s resting place. The dragon was a fierce and fearless fighter with the courage to carry someone like Reagan. He’d been a fine choice.
Expertly crafted trees and canopies blocked his view. Reagan had built up the illusions to give her dragon privacy. She was already taking great care of him. As she should. Soon Lucifer would make room for a habitat for Archion near Reagan’s side of the castle. If it weren’t for Tatsu’s duties overseeing the other dragons, he would’ve made her a place nearer to him as well.
His heart warmed and he continued on, finding Tatsu standing and ready to go. He’d called down to her from the sky, but he’d decided to take the longer route through the dragons’ territory to let her wake up and ready herself. She walked forward, her gaze catching on Saphira’s empty resting area before it turned skyward.
He smiled. Like rider, like dragon.
Early for a fly, Tatsu said, her gaze going to Archion’s space next. Saphira and Archion were hatch-mates, although from different mothers. They were mostly inseparable. Is Reagan out? I can’t see Archion’s nest anymore.
He hadn’t checked on Reagan this morning. He’d gotten word that she told the druid she would not be mercy-killing him, but it was only a matter of time before she gave in. It likely put her in a bad mood, however, and Lucifer didn’t want to disturb her if she had tucked into the demon whiskey, as she called it, last night and needed the day to shed the hangover.
I don’t know, he said as he hovered up to her back.
She blew smoke out of her nostrils, clearly annoyed. She watched over the dragons like Lucifer watched over the sects. She didn’t like unexplained behavior or absences. Although rare, it wasn’t unheard of for a sect to try to kidnap a dragon and use it for their purposes.
You would’ve woken if someone had attacked, he reminded her, situating himself.
She didn’t comment as she spread out her wings and prepared to fly.
She doesn’t typically get up early, especially these last few days, Tatsu thought. She has been depressed, now that Archion has found a rider. She wishes for one too.
It’s hard for a dragon of her standing and power to find someone worthy. Lucifer kept his patience in check. Neither vampire would go anywhere, and the sect that had harbored Vlad in the past had nowhere to escape to, not with the borders closed. He had time to appease his dragon friend.
She understands that, but it doesn’t prevent her jealousy and depression. Tatsu pushed into the sky, but not very far. She pumped her wings, sliding forward, peering over the illusion wall of Archion’s nest. Empty.
That was unusual.
Judging by the deep rumble in Tatsu’s chest, she thought so too.
Reagan probably went for a ride to calm herself, Lucifer thought. Maybe they felt bad for Saphira and brought her too.
Your daughter is worthy of the title of princess. There is no comparison between her and the last heir. She fits in the Underworld. She is strong already, and with more practice and training, she will be incredible.
Yes, I think so too.
Tatsu kept moving forward, looking over the nests, checking who was there and who was not. She is untrained in the more advanced areas of her magic, but in personality and resourcefulness, in deed and duty, she is your equal. And she is cunning.
His patience was wearing thin. He didn’t comment, nor did he look down at the other dragons. He relied on her to watch them, but it certainly wasn’t time for a roll call. The issues with the kingdom right now did not center on dragons.
I saw her truth when she picked Archion over Saphira, she went on. He is an unruly dragon. Wild. He will never be tamed. And she will never try to tame him. They are perfect for each other.
I am growing very fond of my daughter, and I enjoy hearing your accolades, but what is your point, Tatsu? We have business.
She is unruly, too. Tatsu stopped her forward progress. Wild. She will never be tamed. If you try to tame her, she will chew out of her bonds, and you will cry over her loss.
Yes. She’s like her father.
No. Not like her father. The elves trapped you down here, for the most part, and us with you. Like you tried to trap her. You grew used to it, because you love this place. She loves the Underworld too, I can see. I can hear the hum of it from Archion when he speaks of their time together. But she will not be trapped. And she would never kill someone she values as highly as that druid. Look.
She doesn’t value that druid…
The thoughts dried up in his mind. The nest of the pink dragon—he couldn’t remember its name—was empty.
She vowed to protect him, Tatsu thought. She gave him the gift of bonding with a dragon. She rode with him every day, side by side. She is loyal to him. Tell me, what lengths would you go to in order to protect someone you are loyal to?
His rose-colored glasses ripped off, he considered his memories from the last few weeks in a new light. Little things Reagan had said. Little things she had done. Her confusion at how much she liked his kingdom. Her joy in learning, her quick responses as a pupil…
Her flashes of defiance when he chastised her. Her incredible bursts of anger. Her quick wit, able to cut him to the quick after only a short time of knowing him. The look on her face when he’d mentioned sexing away her vampire lover.
That hadn’t been disgust at a father bringing up sex to his daughter. It had been disgust at the suggestion such a thing could be done.
Why did she send the druid away? he wondered. Why did she form an attachment with a dragon if she planned to leave? How did she so thoroughly trick me?
Because he had been tricked. He still couldn’t quite believe her capable of such an elaborate ruse, as a matter of fact. He did not believe she could’ve snuck out in the middle of the night, with the druid of all creatures, and tried to escape his paradise. Tried to escape him.
Rage twisted in his gut.
Go to the castle, he mentally barked.
You won’t find her there.
GO TO THE CASTLE!
Still his mind pored over every detail of their interactions. The nuances he had missed in his eagerness to connect with her.
One thing stuck in his mind: the look she’d given him when he told her not to destroy her mother’s garden. He hadn’t understood that look at the time, but he did now.
Detached abhorrence.
He had leaned into a fond memory, trying to create a deep connection, but she’d seen straight through him. It was then she’d shored up the wall between them—one he couldn’t hope to penetrate with friendly banter and declarations of fatherly love.
She didn’t want a father. She wanted her mother back. If he hoped to gain her trust and her affection, it couldn’t be through calling up his connection to a woman he’d, admittedly, barely known. He’d been entranced by her, incredibly fond of her, but he hadn’t loved her.
She had been Reagan’s whole world. Her sun, stolen from the sky. And he’d played false with that memory. With her pain.
“Vulnerabilities make us stronger,” he said softly, smiling sardonically as they flew.
Reagan’s raw grief for her mother was a huge vulnerability, and it had kept her mind focused in this new world. He hated how right he’d been.
This can’t go unpunished, he thought, leaning forward, knowing that Tatsu would take that as an indication to go faster. If she has lied to me all this time, and fled, it cannot go
unpunished.
The question is, who will you punish—her…or yourself? For you were the one who forced this on her. You were the one who tied the chain around her ankle. Can you really blame her for an action you would’ve taken a couple of centuries ago?
He shook his head as she touched down, blocking out her unassailable logic.
Why hadn’t Tatsu raised her doubts before now? Why had she waited?
He asked her.
I have only known her for a few days. It took the end result for me to interpret her actions.
Not helpful.
He ran through the castle. At her quarters, he quickly studied the magical work blocking the door. It was exemplary. She truly had reached power level —his level—although her magic had a unique twist caused by those infernal angels, may they stay trapped in their “haven” forever.
His mind stuttered.
…like he’d been trapped down here…
Frustration rose. Overcame him. Quickly turned to anger.
He hated when Tatsu was right, which was usually always.
He worked at the blockage as her attendant drifted closer.
“Sire, what is the matter?”
He ignored the demon, tearing down the last bit of magic work before finding the fire spell that lay beneath. Excellent.
“Damn her,” he said, pain eating through him. “Please don’t do this to me. Please don’t turn on me.”
The last bits of magic down, he burst through the doors. A nearly finished bottle of alcohol sat on the table. An empty glass on another surface.
A setup.
If she’d drunk all of that, in the mood she should have been in, she would’ve carved out another hole in the ceiling. She’d missed an important ingredient in her tableau—passion. She carried it about her person like a birthright, and this scene was sorely lacking in it.
He strode to the closed doors of her room and kicked them open. As expected, her bed was made. Not slept in. Her window was open.
He ran at it, looked out, then turned back to run…before pausing.
“No,” he said softly, and chuckled a little to himself as his heart broke. He backed up and stepped out of the window, hovering around the corner of the castle, and to the druid’s wing. So easy to reach this way. So hard to get there through the castle.
She’d orchestrated even that, and he’d bought it. He’d relished the thought that she was casting the druid out.
Not so. She’d tucked him away somewhere he could be easily reached when the time came to escape. The brilliance of her ruse made him chuckle, even as pain lanced his heart. She’d ordered them to let Cahal starve for a couple of days, ensuring no one would check on him.
The druid’s window was unlatched, slightly ajar. Within, utterly empty.
Lucifer stopped in the middle of the sitting room for one solid moment, staring at nothing, feeling the pain of deception. Of trickery. Of regret.
Then, all action again, he leapt out of the window and changed to his other form. She’d left with the druid, obviously. There was only one place she would go.
He didn’t drop down to Tatsu. He couldn’t stomach her telling him, I told you so. He flew past, and she followed, blessedly silent.
How long had Reagan been planning this? Since day one? When had she cultivated such a plan, playing him at every turn?
Fire kindled in his gut.
Cahal fucking Druer.
The druid must’ve helped her in this, just like he’d hastened the other heir to ruin. That cursed druid, favorite of the angels, had never stopped being her safety blanket. His daughter had only wanted Lucifer to think that.
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He didn’t know whether the pounding in his chest was love or hate, pride or sorrow. Which was fitting, because she was a blend of everything the Underworld had to offer, even though she hadn’t been raised here. She was him when he was younger. She was him as he wished he were now.
Damn it. He’d played this all wrong, content because she’d tricked him into complacency.
Fire followed him as he flew, pushing his limits, aiming for the sect that housed the vampire Darius. He couldn’t let his daughter escape. She was his more than any other offspring he’d had in history. Wasn’t that ironic, that the one who was most like him, worthiest of the title “heir,” was also partly made from those cursed angels? Bastards.
She would not leave this place. He’d make sure of it.
Twenty
Here we go, Archion. Finally! I pointed down at the violence sect. Darius’s light and energy pulsed below, waiting for me.
Light was creeping into the sky. We’d lost precious time helping Ja and her vampires escape the inner kingdom. She hadn’t accounted for a patrol, something that wasn’t there when she’d come in. It made me wonder just how long Ja had been spying on the castle.
We’d had to kill the border patrol. We couldn’t afford them running back to the castle and tattling on us. It had thrown our plans all to hell.
Thankfully, Ja’s team was incredibly vicious and effective. It had been a little unnerving to watch, actually. Even Archion had gotten squeamish. Saphira had been altogether useless. Hopefully she’d just been shell-shocked and would redeem herself with future carnage. The vampires were still headed to meet us at the violence sect, but they might be a bit delayed. We’d need to get Darius and the others out while the dragons burned everyone in the perimeter. When Ja finally showed up, she’d join the fray.
What’s our plan? Archion asked.
Don’t have one. I figure…we just dive down and scorch them all.
What if they don’t scorch?
Then I flatten them with air.
Good plan.
My kinda dragon. No plan was a good plan.
Cahal flew right behind us, Saphira behind him.
What about Saphira? I asked, taking stock of the minimal activity going on around the squat stone building. There was an expansive courtyard, but the building itself was only a couple of stories high. Either most of it was built below ground or it simply wasn’t that big. Hopefully it was the latter.
This is new to her and she is on the timid side. She’ll follow our lead.
I looked back at her, not sure how to get her going. With Penny, it was easy—I just shoved her in front of danger. But how did you do that with a dragon?
My foot slipped and shot off Archion’s shoulder. My weight shifted and my body followed.
“Oh crap—” Archion adjusted immediately, but I held out my hand and slowed my fall with a hover.
Why wait? The plan started now.
Burn it all, I thought to Archion. Work the perimeter. Keep the way as clear as you can for when Ja gets here.
I righted myself so that my feet were pointed downward and then released my hover, falling fast. Near the ground, I firmed up the air around me, slowing my descent drastically, and dropped down in front of a very confused demon with five horns on his head, no eyes, and his dick swinging so low he should consider knotting the thing to keep it out of the way.
“Horns and a big Johnson don’t make you better at violence, idiot,” I said.
He startled, his hand slapping toward the sword strapped to a bare, furry hip. I punched him in the face. His head cracked back, and I reached beside him and yanked out his sword before torching him.
His high squeal indicated this sect would not take kindly to fire. Good.
He flailed his arms and ran, a horned torch.
“Stop, drop, and roll, bub.” I looked up as Archion flew by. The dragon opened his great jaws and blew fire at the ground, rolling over me and then scorching everything in its path. Demons came away from the walls, just now cluing in that there was danger in their midst. They clearly didn’t spend a lot of time getting attacked from the air. Or maybe at all. They didn’t seem very good at the violence game, given the way they threw up their hands and just took the fire as it blackened their skin or fur. More good news.
How the hell
had Darius, Penny, and Emery gotten taken by a sect this bad at violence? Maybe there was something I was missing.
“Reagan!”
Cahal shot down from the sky, nearly to me. That was the problem with not having a plan: you nearly missed important moments, like when it rained grumpy druids.
I slowed his flight as his dragon bellowed, a thick wave of depression flowing over the area. It dragged me down for a moment before I labored to shake it off. Archion followed with a roar of his own, but that didn’t impact me at all, probably because of our growing bond.
Cahal wasn’t recovering so easily, though, arms and body stiff from Archion’s paralyzing roar, reaching for the sword I held.
“Come on. Push through it.” I grabbed Cahal around the wrist, the effect like thawing him out. He blinked and shook his head.
“Effective,” he said, and I felt a burst of pride. That was my dragon. I totally got the best one.
“Here. Hurry! If my dad isn’t on his way yet, he will be soon.” I handed over the sword before I sprinted toward the nearest door.
“You called him your dad,” Cahal said, running behind me and scooping me up with one hand. He held me tightly to his uncomfortably hard body, swirling his shadow magic over us.
“Stop. I want to kill people. Also, eat a donut. You could do with a little padding for situations like this.”
“You can kill people after we find the others. This will be faster.”
Annoyingly, he was right.
“Yeah,” I said as he ducked into the door and flattened us against the inner wall. Demons ran by, strapping armor to their bodies, trying to find the fight. What they’d find was fiery death from the sky. “He is my dad, after all. And after this, we’ll be even. If he wants to make up, great. If not, I’ll just call him a deadbeat dad and be done with it.”
Usually people like you have daddy issues, Cahal thought as he stayed near the wall and ran down the corridor. My feet dangled down his side, my toes occasionally touching the ground as he moved and dodged people. His shoulder clipped a demon and sent it reeling into the rushing crowd, which was large enough that this place definitely had more than just two stories.
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