Mentored in Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

“The good news is, the metal on the gate isn’t hot,” Penny said, sandwiched between Emery and Darius. One looked just as haggard and bedraggled as she did. The other was somehow still pristine, in his stupid designer sweater and styled hair. It was like he’d just turned up to take the next shift, rather than being the saving grace that had led the way and kept them alive through some extremely hairy situations. Sure, Penny and Emery had definitely pulled their weight, and Emery’s gift of foresight had saved their butts a few times, but Darius was the mastermind who kept them moving in the right direction, who changed strategies at a moment’s notice to keep them just on the right side of harm’s way.

“How do you know?” Emery asked.

“It’s steel, I think. Or iron. Those metals glow a reddish color when they are very hot. It is not very hot.”

“Exactly,” Darius whispered, his forearms on his knees, his gaze acute as he looked out over the burning fields. He’d reckoned it would take too long for them to go around, upping the odds they’d be discovered, and was hoping there was some way through. The sect they were going to was on the other side of Hell’s Gate. A name she’d made up, which fit a little too well.

“So the flames are not hot,” he continued.

“Well, wait…” Penny held out her hand, her nails chipped with dirt crusted beneath them. She lowered it again. “I didn’t say that. Just that they weren’t making the gate hot. So if we needed to close it…we could.”

“I don’t feel any heat,” Emery said.

Penny’s gaze roamed across Hell’s Field. Blackened rocks in front of them led to the flat ground covered in flame. They were only about ten feet away from the open fire. If it was as hot as normal fire, they really should feel some of it.

“Don’t you say it,” she murmured.

“We can probably walk across,” Emery said anyway.

“I have some ability to withstand the heat of fire because of my bond with Reagan.” Darius adjusted his backpack, obviously getting ready to try what Emery was suggesting.

“I thought your bond was…muffled or broken or something.” Penny licked her lips. She’d done a lot in this past week. A lot of running. A lot of spells. A lot of swearing. She didn’t think she was ready for fire walking. Fighting was one thing, but fire walking? She had to draw the line somewhere.

They all did.

“Hey.” Emery looked at her before slinging his arm around her shoulders. “We’re almost there, okay? We’re going to make it. Somehow, someway, we’re going to make it. And if we get caught, we’ll get to see Reagan rescue us again. Because she will, remember? She’ll risk anything to rescue us.”

A tear slid down Penny’s cheek, and the memory of Reagan’s last stand resurfaced. The feeling of walking away from her.

Penny choked back her fear and the desire to sob, hardening herself yet again. She fisted her hands and nodded. “Yes. Okay. Dogs dumping, okay. We can do this.”

“Your swearing has certainly gotten much more…colorful after this past week,” Darius said, standing slowly and looking behind them. “It will still annoy Reagan to no end. And no, the bond itself is not…subdued, just our awareness of each other. I retain her gifts, and she retains mine, I am certain of that.”

“We’ve got the concealment spell going strong. No one should be able to see you,” Emery told him.

“I think your spells will need to be tailored to the different demons we face. They aren’t like humans.” Darius checked over his sweater, of all things, like he was going to a meeting. “The suspicion has been growing since we passed through the first sect. I am not certain, of course. That is not my domain. But…think about it.”

He stepped forward as what he’d said pulled at Penny’s mind. Different spells for different demons?

Darius reached the edge of the fire, glancing behind him again. Seeing no one, he stepped out.

“Huh. That makes sense, since they don’t all have the same magic. Some have ice, some have fire.” And Reagan and Lucifer had both. The vampire tensed and lifted his hands away. “That means it hurts.”

Her brain skittered off in another direction. She could make fire, even without Reagan present. She should be able to do the opposite…

She pulled down elements from her magical cloud, always hovering above her head, organized and ready for use. Darius stepped back onto the part of the ground that wasn’t dancing with flames and bent to check his leather-clad legs. Emery saw what she was working on and leaned toward her somewhat, analyzing. In a moment, he jumped in, adding little fixes, plugging little holes. They worked so incredibly well together; it was miraculous. He was miraculous.