Mentored in Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

Darius wasn’t giving up, though. He’d chosen to target a sect that wanted more magical leverage in the Underworld. Right now they weren’t political, so they would be among the last searched (Penny still didn’t understand that bit), but they could be politically incentivized, or so Darius claimed. He had a plan laid out to get them refuge for a few days while he worked out how to get into the inner kingdom, and then what to do once they got in.

They just had to get to the violence sect he’d chosen. At present, he was thinking it would be two or three days.

The good—or weird—news was that they weren’t the only ones that Lucifer was tearing the Underworld apart looking for. A group of vampires had apparently snuck in while the fog was down. Vlad, almost certainly, and surprise, surprise, he hadn’t been caught either. Two masters at strategy, but what was Vlad’s game?

Undermining Lucifer, probably. Laying the groundwork for when the elves were defeated.

“That’s not the same patrol,” Emery whispered, pulling back. His shoulders tensed as he retreated a bit more. His voice dropped and took on a hard edge. “You’ll want to have a look, Darius.”

Goosebumps spread across Penny’s skin, and she shrank down farther into her bush. It was highly uncomfortable, but better that than to suffer whatever horrors Lucifer had in store for them. Darius’s contact had said that the Great Master intended to make a public spectacle of them.

Three dragons rode overhead. The two big ones were much bigger than the typical patrol dragons, so large they nearly blotted out the sky. One had glittering black scales and the other was a metallic blue-gray, both regal in their carriage, as if they knew their riders were important people. Behind them soared a smaller pastel-pink dragon, like a little duckling. The way they lazily soared, the big ones hardly flapping their great, veined wings and the smaller one keeping pace a respectable distance back, it didn’t look like they were in any sort of hurry. Actually, it looked more like a joy ride.

Her throat lodged in her chest and magic coalesced around her.

“Penny,” Emery said in warning.

A human face came over the shoulder of the majestic blue-gray dragon, and Penny thought she might be sick. A familiar face, flying low enough that Penny was positive it was Reagan. It had to be. They hadn’t seen anyone even remotely matching her description the entire time they’d been down here. Even the ones who tried to look human often failed in some way.

All the breath left her lungs. Tears of relief filled her eyes. Reagan was okay. She was safe, as long as she held on to that great beast. She was riding a dragon!

“I can’t figure out if I am incredibly jealous or incredibly relieved.” She wiped her face, shaking the bush. Reagan’s face disappeared, and then the underside of the dragon passed over them, metallic purple and really super pretty. The pink one came next, but no one looked over the side. Penny hoped it was Cahal, looking out for Reagan, being her support system and making sure she kept her head.

As the dragons continued on, Penny could just make out the back of the black-haired man atop the black dragon. Her gaze lingered on him for just a moment before returning to Reagan. Her pose was easy and effortless, her hands braced on her legs or hips as she checked out the landscape below. For all the world, she looked just as regal as the dragons. As the man beside her. Like she was checking out her kingdom.

The wide shoulders of the human-looking man behind her had to belong to Cahal, sure as rain. His pose was somewhat awkward, as though he wasn’t quite comfortable. As though he wasn’t having the time of his life even though he was riding on a mother-dunking dragon.

Was Penny projecting all of this? This seemed crazy. Reagan out for a joy ride, calm and pliant, even though she was basically a prisoner down here? Cahal troubled and tense, even though he was with her? That guy was never troubled. He just minded his business and waited for any unpleasantness to go away.

She had to be projecting.

Darius was at the edge of the trees now, watching them go. Penny turned to him with the question on her lips, asking what he saw with his superior vision.

She felt the blood drain from her face.

Pain flared in the vampire’s eyes as his expression melted into one of obvious fear.

Her heart beat faster. “What is it?” she asked.

“We gotta go.” Emery quickly stuffed his things into his backpack. They’d intended to stay here awhile, since rest stops had rules. Mind your business. No fighting. No canoodling. Demons went out of their way not to notice other demons. With the various types of sects, it was a necessary rule to keep the peace.