Mentored in Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

The demon waited until I’d had my fill of looking, saying nothing about my pulling down the illusion. When I turned, it began walking again.

“Emery would do just fine in this place. His jokes would be commonplace,” I mused, revealing a hidden pocket in the hallway and the creepy little demon that hid inside—not the one that had waited on me but of the same variety. It caught sight of me looking at it and took off running. When I found the next little pocket, I ran my hand through it first, making sure it wasn’t solid. They weren’t trapping the little critters in, they were just creating places for them to retain their invisible status.

I ripped it down and then grinned when another creature took off running.

“You think that is funny, but you didn’t get the gold room joke?” Cahal asked, not even glancing at my antics.

“How is sticking me in a hideous gold room a joke? The rest of this place is gorgeous—why even have a gold room? Is it a throwback to the elves’ gaudy decorating?”

“Probably, in a way.” Cahal studied a mural of a battle as we passed, a robust demon ripping a wing off an angelic creature. Blood spurted from the creature’s back. Fire crawled along the edges of the painting, near the frame. Bodies littered the ground.

“Salt-of-the-earth people around here, huh? Sugar and spice and everything nice,” I said, leaving the next little alcove alone. I didn’t want to stress them out too badly on my first day out of my room. I would give them a chance to get used to me.

“Is only Lucifer—” I stopped when Tits McGee hissed.

“When speaking to his underlings, you are to use his title,” Cahal instructed me. “Either the Great Master, his highness, or Father.”

“Is your Great Master the only one who can create these illusions?”

“No,” it answered in a disapproving tone. “Those in the top echelons of power can construct the designs laid out by the Great Master.”

We traveled up a wide, curving staircase, and then another, nearing the top of the castle now.

“Where is Father Dearest’s room?” I asked, marveling at the great decorating and elegantly appointed halls and rooms, dotted here and there with some lovely paintings, some sexy ones, and some incredibly gruesome battle depictions.

“The Great Master occupies the Northern Tower,” it said.

“That is a change since I was here last,” Cahal said, his eyes snagging on a painting of a type of flower I’d never seen before.

“A lot has changed since you were here last, druid.” The demon nearly spat the term.

“I don’t think they like you very much,” I murmured as we crested the last set of stairs and paused.

“They blame me for things that I did not cause,” he replied.

The demon hissed softly but did not comment. “This level has access to three sets of lodgings that would befit someone of your station.”

“Three? Luc—Father Dearest was hoping for a brood of kids, huh?”

“Once upon a time, elf royalty or other members of the royal court in high standing used to visit,” Cahal explained. “After the last war, though, the castle is only host to the lesser.”

“The lesser, and then below that…you, it would seem,” the demon said.

“Oooohh, burn. Don’t worry, I won’t be moving you down to the dungeon, bud.” I winked at Cahal.

“We shall see,” the demon muttered, turning toward a section with columns on the outside of a balcony-style hallway. Beyond and down a corridor sat rooms. “Would you like me to show you to the various collection of rooms, or would you prefer to explore for yourself? Everything in this area is as it seems. The pathways stay constant.”

“The pathways everywhere stay constant if you tear down the magic,” I replied.

The demon didn’t comment.

“I’ll find my way, thanks.” I turned left and started walking, then stopped when the demon trailed behind me. I quirked an eyebrow at it.

“I will be on hand should you need anything,” it said.

“Can you make yourself scarce?” I asked.

“Of course.” It took one step to the side and then looked away. I had a suspicion it still intended to follow me, just at a distance. That would take some getting used to. And it would likely chase me out of here quicker.

“Have you ever been up here?” I asked Cahal, intending to walk only as long as it took me to find a door. I’d stake a claim on the first set of rooms.

“No. The last heir took up a collection of rooms in the south section of the castle.”

“Huh.” At the end of an open hall flanked by columns and large windows looking down at the kingdom below, I found a large hearth with two double doors to either side. Chandeliers with tiny, flickering fairy lights swooped down between the doors, in front of the hearth. I hadn’t seen their equal in the palace. I wondered how Lucifer had created them, because electricity didn’t exist in this world.