Battle With Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

We’d managed to get our affairs sorted in record time, probably owing to our constant on-the-go status for the last bunch of months, and got in a decent-sized nap before we loaded into Darius’s private plane to head out here.

“I’d thought the fae’s quest visions or whatever didn’t change,” Penny said as we walked into the wide hallway and headed out to the backyard. “Hers seems to change at the drop of a hat.”

I checked the knives strapped to my leg and adjusted the pouch around my waist, holding a plethora of spells in casings.

“When are you going to give up that fanny pack?” Emery asked with a groan.

I held out my hands, looking down at it, then scowled at him. “How dare you,” I said dramatically. “Show respect for the pouch. It is a pouch. Not a fanny pack.”

“Do you know what the difference is?”

“Delusion,” Penny supplied. “That’s the difference.”

“You don’t even need it,” Emery continued, obviously having quite the grudge against my useful bodily attire.

I patted it. “In case I need spells, I got spells. Stop being jealous.”

He rolled his eyes. “Your horrible fashion sense aside, the Seers think the Underworld magic is messing with things.” Emery tucked his phone away. “They can’t get a reading on Lucifer. Not even when he went to your house, Reagan. Karen thinks he is changing the game, and Charity’s visions are changing with it. His magic defies the use of Sight, apparently. That’s what Karen says, anyway.”

“I wish my magic would defy Sight as well,” I grumbled, spying Cahal seated at the patio table with an open book. Darius had gotten in contact with him a few days ago, because of course he’d known how to do that, telling him to stick to the Brink in case we had to make a move. He’d made a follow-up call shortly after the attack this morning. Clearly Cahal had wasted no time. “Well, look what the cat dragged in—if it isn’t the great painter himself.”

Cahal picked up a unicorn bookmark from the patio table and fit it into the pages before closing the book and looking at me. “They had a right to know what the elves did to you.”

“Why? What possible good can it serve?” I glanced at the tree line, not seeing the dragons. “Where is Archion, do you know?”

“They are hunting, and then they will digest so they have energy for what’s to come,” Cahal answered. Darius had filled him in on our plan, such as it was, instructing him to tell the dragons if he got here first. “And the good it serves is to let your friends know what the elves are capable of. If they did that to you, they have done it to others.”

“Many others,” Emery said.

“It’ll also help them understand the risk that you might lose your mind and kill them all,” Cahal continued.

“Kill everyone and take the throne, huh, Penny?” I raised my eyebrows at her before turning back to Cahal. “Apparently that is one of the worries.”

“A worry born of ignorance—they didn’t see you in the Underworld for long,” he said. “The Realm is not your home. You’d be miserable there, and you’d make the world worse.”

“Super. Lovely to have you back,” I said. I took a deep breath of clean mountain air to try to still my nerves. It didn’t work. “So the dragons are up for joining us in battle?”

“Yes,” Cahal answered. “I hear Lucifer visited you?”

“Last night, yeah. He was easy and charming and ready to compromise.” I sat down to keep from pacing.

“I think I will make us a little something to eat while we wait,” Darius said, and disappeared into the house.

“He backed down, then,” Cahal asked, studying me closely.

“Not about killing all the elves, but…” With the help of Penny and Emery, I went over the meeting from the night before, not glossing over any of Lucifer’s reactions or words.

When I finished, Cahal nodded as though a question had been answered.

“What?” I asked. “Good, bad…?”

“Good, for both of you, I think. He tried to be overbearing, you rebelled, and now you both know where you stand. If we weren’t about to head into a large battle that might change the shape of two worlds, I’d say great things came of that meeting. As it is…we’ll see what happens.”

“Yeah,” I said softly. “And everyone wants a slightly different outcome.”

“That’s how it always goes, Reagan,” Emery said. “And no one will get exactly what they want.”

I looked at Cahal, tempted to ask about the last heir. Then…I decided against it. The guy had been tortured. The angels had come down to help him—the angels! They’d clearly been on his side, and Lucifer obviously had a soft spot for his blood relations, including my half-brother. Bottom line: it was drama I didn’t need to know about. It was a past that still haunted Cahal. He’d never been anything but good to me and my friends—his ghosts could remain private.