Mentored in Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

Before he’d found the dragons, he just gaped at us for a solid thirty seconds in shock (and dare I say relief?) that I was A) not dead and B) in his secret hideaway. Then he’d just opened his mouth and spilled the whole complex situation of the elves vs. everyone else.

Well, complex to them. To me, it seemed pretty simple. You were with the elves, Lucifer, or us. If you were with us, you were a friend. If not, you were an enemy—and any enemies who showed their faces in the Brink would get dead. Easy.

But the goody-goody shifters and fae? Oh no, they had a thing for questioning intruders. Giving stalkers the benefit of the doubt. Letting minions hang around so long as they didn’t attack. He’d apparently ignored a few enemy since we’d been gone. Not cool.

Before I helped him see the error in his ways, we needed a little downtime. Some of us, and I wouldn’t name names—cough, Penny—needed to fix our brains.

“Seriously…” I waved my hand through the air, indicating the dragons as Cahal stepped out of the sliding glass door and onto the patio. He had a snifter with brown liquid swaying within his grasp. It was hard to rattle that druid, but our stint in the Underworld and our very close call at the border had done a good job of it. “Aren’t they amazing?” I held up a finger. “Before you answer that, remember that we will gladly kill you if you insult them.”

Roger shook his head, not fazed. He knew I wouldn’t kill him; I’d had lots of opportunities and never pulled the trigger. It used to be because we needed him, but now it was because I kinda liked him. He was a good, solid guy, even if he was something of a goody two-shoes.

Extraordinary, he thought, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure if he’d let the thought slip or had meant to communicate with me. They are truly magnificent, he continued. I find myself incredibly jealous. His dual-eyed gaze hit mine, one blue eye, one as green as a faded dollar bill. I want to hear about the Underworld. About the elves. I want to know what you’ve been through.

“You don’t need to add that to your list of burdens, Roger,” I said, softening my tone.

Darius exited the house with a snifter like Cahal’s. I half wondered if he’d proposed this place to show Roger that he had one of Roger’s secrets, much like Roger knew of Darius’s secret island.

Roger studied me for a moment. It’s important to know…

He didn’t finish the thought, but I knew what was troubling him. Leaving me behind had probably been almost as hard for him as it had been for Penny. It wasn’t his fault, but to him, it felt like it had been. He wanted to hear my woes so he could shoulder the burden himself. I didn’t understand how he could live life like that, but I knew him well enough to understand his motives.

“I’m not fragile. And I will get my vengeance.” I said it as blasé as I felt it. I wasn’t, and I would.

Oh how I would claim my vengeance.

“Don’t trouble yourself about it, Roger. If anyone is to blame, it’s the Seers. They’re the ones who told us we needed to go there. How are they, anyway? Feeling guilty, I hope. God I hate that craft.”

He silently studied me for a moment longer. “They have been doing readings constantly… On where we should be settling…what we should be doing…” He paused for a beat again. “Trying to get information on you. You have been a black hole in their readings. They never got a single thing about you. Not about the dragons, showing up on my property…nothing. They do not know why.”

“Good. Hopefully it’s the cosmos telling them to butt out.”

He took a deep breath and turned back toward the dragons. It was clearly an easier topic to bear. I had no doubt he’d been sitting in on a bunch of those readings, hoping for a sign that I would make it out. That Penny and Emery would, too. All while worrying about his people, and the fae, and whatever other burden he probably thought was his to bear.

“You’re a good man, Roger,” I said, and meant it. “A good leader.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Now I know I’m dreaming.”

“Yeah. Everything has gone totally tits up. I know, it’s ridiculous.”

“What are they going to eat?” he asked. “Where are they going to…fly?”

“Um…” I frowned at him. “They hunt. You should understand that, right? As a shifter? And, oh, I don’t know…over the trees on your massive property, which is flanked by a bunch of other massive properties of rich people who probably dress a whole lot better than you… Why do you always dress like a hobo, anyway? Are you skimming off the top or something? Do you not want the other shifters to know you’re corrupt and making a bunch of money off them?” I quirked an eyebrow.