I stared at it for a long moment, taking in the demon’s little jacket with large buttons over its decaying and disgusting flesh crawling with bugs. Crisp white riding pants, adorned with a jaunty golden stripe down the sides, hung off what had to be sticky legs. A white top hat adorned its hairless and flaking head, a gold hat band matching the stripes on the pants.
“Is this some sort of joke?” I asked.
“Yes.” Lucifer laughed and stepped forward. “Horrifying, right? Truly a nightmare.” He laughed again, and I cracked a grin because the fact that it tickled him so was comedy in itself.
He handed me up into the buggy and took the cushy seat beside me. “How about your druid friend? I’d planned for him to ride in here with us, but I can always summon another buggy for him and his annoying attitude.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Another buggy would be best.” It would keep me from feeling the guilt that was worming into my chest.
Once we were on our way, I watched out the window as we passed the vibrant green landscape, stippled with pops of color. I didn’t look back to make sure Cahal was in tow. He’d apparently be happier not to be.
“Why were you so eager to make the druid come?” Lucifer asked as we made our way.
I continued staring out the window. “He wants to come. Or he did.” I ran my hand over my face. “I’m just… It’s getting difficult to manage everyone’s expectations.”
“Yes, I can see that.”
“You’re part of the problem.”
“I realize. What can I do? Do you need a break from training? Should we put off the dragons? We have all the time you need. The elves are stirring, building their army, but so far my spies say they are meeting with resistance. The warrior fae have left the Flush—which you knew—but now they have left the Realm, the shifters with them. They are all congregating in the Brink. The elves are trying to accrue enough people who can pass as human to go after them and drag them back. When that skirmish is underway, we will have an opening to confront the elves for what they’ve done. We do not need to rush your training, especially at the pace you learn.”
A rush of anger stole my breath. Yes, I did want to confront the elves. I wanted to show them what true pain felt like. Unending, merciless pain that crawled into every part of a person until they wanted to beg for death. My stubbornness was the only reason I hadn’t broken. That, and knowing Darius would come for me.
I shook my head, forcing myself to remember the big picture. It wasn’t just me and the Underworld that had a problem with the elves. I needed to remember that.
Maybe Cahal was right. Maybe I was starting to slip a little. Roger would likely need all the help he could get, and the natural dual-mages were almost certainly down here with me. Darius, too, and maybe some of his vampires. I had the pyramid of power down with me in the Underworld.
But wasn’t my training incredibly important? I needed to be down here. Why not just enjoy myself while I was?
I nodded, watching as we passed a sect with a large gothic mansion that sprawled within twisted thorns. I grinned at the sight.
“Yeah,” I said, not really sure what that was in answer to.
I sat up straight and looked ahead, my mind churning.
I’d train for a week or two more. That was the plan anyway, wasn’t it? I’d enjoy myself, take me time, and get to know my biological father. After that, I would leave as planned. Darius and the others were obviously taking their sweet time. There was no reason I shouldn’t do the same.
But one thing was for certain.
“I want to send Cahal away. I don’t want to kill him, but I need a little space.”
“How about we put him in a different wing?”
“I don’t want him to be a prisoner. I probably still want to see him. I just need a little space,” I repeated.
“Of course. Easily done. I can give you a viewer screen so you can keep track of him, to ensure I am not torturing him.”
“Like your last heir did?”
“Ah, you know about that, do you? Yes, my last heir grew tired of him. Grew tired of the same push and pull you are experiencing. It…worked out badly, in the end. I clued in quite late.”
“Or did your last heir try to recruit him, and it didn’t work?” That was what Cahal had told me.
Lucifer frowned at me. “Recruit him for what?”
I frowned back and then narrowed my eyes. It was a really good question, actually. What was there for Cahal to do here, really? With all of my power, and all of the forces at my disposal through my father, I wouldn’t need Cahal as an assistant or for protection. He didn’t have the sort of power the top beings here could boast. Nor did he have the know-how to thoroughly navigate this place. He didn’t really fit in here, just as my father was implying. So why would the previous heir have needed him for anything but companionship?