Battle With Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

Little did she know I wasn’t smart enough to read her subtlety. I was honestly asking if there was something I was missing.

“Well, then.” She uncrossed her legs, still holding her clutch. “I will leave you with a surprise gift, Darius. You will collect it in the next couple days.”

“If you wish,” he answered, noncommittally.

She stood, and Darius did the same, so I followed suit. I wasn’t polite often, but when I was, I was annoyed by it.

Her stare bored into me. “Lucifer has issued orders to remove you from the battlefield—or possibly before. He doesn’t want you harmed. Be on your guard if you hope to join the battle.” Her eyebrow arched. “You do still hope to join the battle?”

“Yes,” I replied. “And he won’t be taking me anywhere. Someone has to stand up to him.”

Her smile was slight. “Good. It wouldn’t be wise to grant the Realm’s throne to Lucifer. That kind of instability would lead to another war that might bring the worlds to their knees. The last thing we want is to be sequestered to the human lands forever. Their short life spans make them much too volatile as companions.”

I scowled at her as Darius showed her out, and then kept right on scowling at her through the door.

“What’s the matter?” Darius asked, returning. He lowered into the loveseat and took my hand again, gently pulling me down with him.

“I don’t like that she’s thinking along the same lines as I am in regard to the Realm. It makes me think I’m missing something.”

“Then you won’t be getting your revenge on the elves?”

He laid his arm along the back of the loveseat behind me and leaned closer, skimming his lips against my neck. Delicious shivers coated me, and I fluttered my eyes closed.

“I will, somehow. Either on the battlefield or some other time. I’ll definitely get revenge. But…I just think it would be selfish to potentially trash a whole world because of my issues. It isn’t fair to them. I’ve had a lifetime of thinking of nothing but myself, and it hasn’t gotten me very far. I need to think of others.”

He kissed my heated skin, sucking a little. His teeth scratched pleasantly, and his hand trailed up the inside of my thigh. “You are exactly right, and your determination to do right by them can only help your standing within the worlds when you step into your role as ruler.”

I widened my legs, breathing heavily. “What do you mean?” I asked, drunk on his proximity, burning from the inside out.

“Lucifer has issued you a compromise.” His tricky fingers reached my apex and rubbed. Waves of pleasure washed through me as his lips trailed a line of fire down to my throat. “He is opening the Underworld for you and allowing you the decision to rule or not, live there or not. It’s what you wanted, correct?”

“Yes,” I said, and it was both an answer and a reaction to his ministrations. The sensation built, tightening me up.

His lips closed over my nipple and he bit through the fabric lightly, enough to apply pressure but not hurt. I groaned, gyrating my hips against his clever fingers.

“I saw you force that powerful conspector into submission before we fled the Underworld. You were born to rule, Reagan Somerset, and I don’t think it’ll take long for you to realize that. You have sacrificed yourself for your friends, put the wellbeing of other creatures before yourself and your plans, and listened to those around you. You are planning to act in a way that benefits entire worlds.”

I cried out as I orgasmed, arching backward.

Darius lifted up and kissed my neck again, over my pulse, before shifting his attention to my mouth and running his tongue over my bottom lip. “In such an incredibly short time, you are growing to fill the seat Lucifer has offered you. You will be an amazing ruler, and I will be proud to call you mine.”

“Don’t be so confident,” I said as he yanked the fabric and unbuttoned my jeans. He pulled the zipper down slowly, now kissing along my jaw. “As soon as I get new digs, I’ll dump you and level up.”

I felt his lips curl into a smile. “There is no leveling up from me, and in just a moment you will scream out your agreement.”

Infallible confidence to the last. He was right, though, the bastard.

“I can ask for Vlad, if you want,” I said as he pulled my shirt off and tossed it behind him. He stripped my bra next, and his shirt with it. He kissed me, deep and sensual, and I ran my hands up his smooth, cut torso.

He paused for a moment, backing up to look into my eyes. “It would do no good, and I honestly don’t know if I could best him. He might kill me instead.”