Mentored in Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

“Great Master!”

The urgent voice knocked me out of my concentration, midway through building a purple elephant that I planned to surprise Cahal with (he wouldn’t be amused, which would amuse me more). A lady-demon with incredibly long legs—too long; it was weird—and a short torso glided to a stop at the edges of the garden in which we sat. If it had been anywhere else, she would’ve been panting. As it was, her carefully composed face and too-far-apart eyes conveyed perfectly well that she considered it an emergency.

“You guys need some pictures of what humanoid creatures actually look like,” I murmured.

“Great Master,” she said with more decorum, clearly because she hadn’t expected me to be sitting with him.

“Yes, Victoria, what is it?” he asked curtly.

“There is an issue that…needs your attention,” she said, a little too fast. “Greatly.”

He studied her for a moment, her frame tense and shoulders tight. It didn’t take a genius to know something had gone gravely wrong in his domain.

“Of course.” His gaze slid my way. “Forgive me. How about dinner tonight—”

“No, Great Master, I do not think that would be possible,” Victoria cut in.

“Is it because you will be sewing, since no one sells pants to fit those gams?” I murmured.

A smile drifted across Lucifer’s lips. Victoria’s eyes cut my way.

“Now is not the time,” he told me.

The chastisement was slight, but it felt as though the teacher had slapped my hand with a ruler.

I furrowed my brow, surprised by the uncomfortable pang in my middle. I wasn’t sure when I’d started to value his good opinion enough to affect me, but I needed to tone that down right quick. I was technically a captive. Stockholm syndrome had to be a thing between teacher and pupil. Or else he was just really good at manipulating emotions in a very short period of time.

“The issue is…rather…large in scope,” Victoria said, back on track, eyes narrowed. She hadn’t liked that comment very much.

Lucifer nodded stiffly, and I could tell he was confused and not used to hiding that fact. “Of course,” he said, a little drawn out this time. Standing, he put out a hand to keep me put. “Please, enjoy this lovely garden. Practice. Be at ease. I’ll have the whiskey—our likeness, anyway—sent to your rooms. Tomorrow we will see the garden I fashioned after your mother.”

My heart gave a mighty leap and my stomach swirled, but I was careful not to show any of that on my face or in my body. Hopefully.

“Sure, sounds good,” I replied, blasé, settling back. I wanted to see how much I retained of his teaching. Then I needed to go find Cahal so we could figure out a way to get a message to Penny and the others, telling them to turn back. To stay safe. That I would get out of here somehow, without their help, and didn’t want them making this situation worse.

Because if there was anyone in all the worlds who could create an issue that needed the Great Master’s direct attention, a situation that was “very large in scope,” it was her. And while I didn’t have proof directly, I could read the room.

She’d be in incredible danger—they all would.

Seven

What…

Lucifer’s mind stuttered to a stop when he flew into the vicinity of the river. The water boiled below him, this area home to some dangerous rapids that would overturn boats twice as big as those carrying his navita. Rough-hewn rock loomed above them, exposed. What should be the beach on the other side was melting away into the rocks and weeds and ugliness of the natural landscape.

Who… What…

He couldn’t form a coherent thought. He’d never seen this before. Never, in all his years, had something dissolved his illusions to this magnitude. The elves had tried. The angels had tweaked and manhandled. But nothing had acted like a disease, like acid, and burned it all away.

What sort of being had this kind of power? This kind of magic? While the vampires who’d infiltrated his kingdom peddled magic, it wasn’t to this magnitude.

Gathering himself, he flew forward over the river in his demon form, Tatsu flying alongside. Victoria, also in demon form, rode her dragon, a shimmering green spectacle that usually caught the light.

Not so, now. There was no light. The sun had dissipated with the rest of the illusion. It would take days to fix, as it had been one of the biggest illusions, servicing a vast area.

Anger boiled within him.

Was this retaliation for what he’d done to the elves’ castle? Could they be so stupid?

He could lay waste to their illusions. He could shelter the vampires in the Underworld. They’d come fleeing from the real sun, which would be exposed if the Realm’s network of magic came crashing down…and they’d stay so they could reproduce.

In fact, he might just do that anyway. War was imminent, and the vampire Vlad was having some trouble wrangling all of his recruits. Lucifer might be the guiding shove they needed. They would join him out of necessity and help him tear down the elves, once and for all.