Mentored in Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

“That was a threat, right? If that isn’t my side, you’ll try to kill me?”

“Not at all. We both know I couldn’t. Though…if caught by surprise when your mind is numb from pampering…maybe…”

I scowled at her. That was a good dig. I didn’t have a comeback for it because it was true.

“Well, lucky us, that is what I want,” I said, sitting forward. I was running out of sand in the hourglass. “I don’t want to bother with the fixing-up side of things, in any of the worlds, but I do want to demolish everything so that it can be made better. In order to do that, though, I need to leave. So, again, what do you want, Ja? Other than to ascertain my plan?”

She spread her arms. “I want to help, obviously.”

“Oh yes, obviously.”

“I have a misdirection ready to go. One of Vlad’s people has always been loyal to me. He is deep within Vlad’s faction.”

I nodded knowingly, remembering back to when I’d first helped get Charity into the Realm. Vlad’s people had stood in our way, but they hadn’t been controlled by Vlad. He’d learned of it, and I’d thought he rooted out all the bad apples. Clearly he’d missed a few.

“Soon he will be sacrificed to the cause. Lucifer will be told he is one of Vlad’s people, and Lucifer will then try to torture information out of him. A futile effort, of course.” She smiled, and butterflies filled my belly at the gruesome mischievousness sparkling in her eyes. “I’ve acquired one of Penny and Emery’s spells. The sacrifice will not be able to say anything of use.”

“But it’ll take a while to kill him, I assume?”

She winked. That was a yes.

I took a deep breath to still my suddenly rampaging heart. “You are doing that for your own benefit. You need me, and I need Darius. So if you hoped to get an extra trade out of it, you’re pissing in the wind.”

“I will sort out the terms of all of this with Darius. There is one more thing.”

“Maybe. Keep it within reason.”

“I will help you with Darius. You will need to fight him out of there. They are holding him for Lucifer. They think that’ll give them some sort of boon. And they are probably correct, though what favor they would’ve gotten from Darius would’ve been far more lucrative. Simple-minded fools.”

“And they’ll die for their sins.”

“Of course.”

“What’s the catch?”

“You will then need to help me get out of the Underworld. I can get you to the safest exit point, but you or Penny Bristol will need to tear down the walls that Lucifer has newly erected.”

My smile spread, and it was my turn to pause.

She was trapped here, just like everyone else, and it was only a matter of time before someone turned her in. Without help from Penny or me, she was up shit creek.

“Darius will certainly be sorting out the ‘implications’ of all this,” I said, because she would owe us, big time. When it all shook out, she needed us to save her skin, and that was worth more than what she was offering us: a boost we maybe didn’t need.

“Quite,” she said tersely.

“The only problem is, we haven’t accounted for you in our plans. We have dragons. What’s your mode of transportation?”

“Very fast speeds and the absolute fastest route already cleared.” Ja stood and shrugged out of the dress. She tossed it to the vampire behind her. It hit my air wall, which I then ripped down. “It’ll take time for you to collect the druid and get to the dragons. By the time you get to the sect in question, we won’t be far behind. Clear the perimeter and we should be on hand to head into the fray.”

She’d clearly thought this through.

“Fine.” I stood and looked her squarely in the eye. “If you fuck me or jeopardize my people, I will either trap you here for my father to deal with or find you on the outside and kill you and every vampire close to you. Do you understand me? You might be cunning and incredible at sabotage, but I am a nightmare from which you will not escape.”

Fire lit in her eyes before her eyelashes fluttered. “Oh yes, you will win. Darius Durant found a diamond in the rough. I am absolutely green with envy. Here. This will help.”

A blur was all the warning I had before she was directly in front of me, so close my breath dusted her face. Her hand stopped right before it touched my skin, and a grimace creased her lovely face when I squeezed her with air.

“I’m not sure if you’ve caught up with the times,” I said, holding her there. “But these days, you must get consent before you touch a person’s chest.”