Revealed in Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

Me.

“Hey, Vlad,” I said, and sauntered toward him casually. If he wanted to do this now, we’d do it now.

Eight

“Hello, Reagan.” He smiled that flawless smile. “So nice to see you again.”

“The pleasure is all yours.” I stopped in front of him. “What brings you to a shifter bar? Wait, lemme guess. Me?”

“Jimmy,” Trixie called, perched at the end of the bar on the counter. Shifters were slowly getting to their feet, eyes on the newcomer.

“I apologize.” Vlad glanced at Trixie. “The merman is currently indisposed. He wasn’t planning on letting me in.” He clucked his tongue. “Very rude. I’m afraid I had to force the issue.”

“You realize how incredibly stupid that is, right?” I asked, tucking the parchment into my pouch and pulling out a casing containing a concealing spell. I’d throw it in front of the bar and have a nice little time with this meddling vampire. He no longer scared me, not in the least.

“John, Kim, get the humans out,” Trixie barked.

Vlad’s smile reminded me of a sharpened blade. “I’ve learned some things in the Underworld—”

“You weren’t in the Underworld, Vlad,” I cut in. “You were loitering around the Edges. You have no idea what it’s like down there.”

He nodded as confused patrons were shuffled toward the door. “True. Let me rephrase. I’ve learned some things from the powerful demons that reside in the Underworld. Some defenses. Some offenses…”

He let the threat linger.

I matched his sly smile. This clown had no idea. He hadn’t even hit up the more treacherous places along the Edges—the places Darius and I had been forced to go through to get around him. He didn’t know what kind of power existed in the airless inner reaches of the kingdom. He certainly didn’t know what sort of training I’d been doing. Darius was plenty strong, and he’d stopped being able to combat my more robust magic. I was no match for Lucifer yet, but I was more than capable of dealing with an elder vampire of Vlad’s caliber.

Something I was about to show him.

I waited for the last of the humans to leave. I didn’t miss the sense of anticipation in Vlad’s velvety brown peepers. A squat shifter built like a brick house grabbed the door to close it. I closed a fist and let my magic swell. Claws elongated from Vlad’s hands.

A hand caught the door. It swung back in with enough force to make the shifter stagger backward. The smallest of wrinkles marred Vlad’s perfect face, but he didn’t turn around. I got the feeling he didn’t want to take his eyes off me. Wise.

Darius strutted through the door wearing a pristine suit with gold cuff links and shoes polished to a mirror shine, his hair a stylish sort of messy. His broad shoulders swayed with his elegant movements as he passed Vlad and stopped beside me, his gaze roaming my face for just a moment before he turned and slipped his fingers into mine, making me drop the casing. Not the best approach for fighting—

Ah. That was the point. He didn’t want me to publicly spank Vlad. How annoying.

“Vlad, good to see you again,” Darius said, ever polite.

“Darius.” Vlad inclined his head just a little. His gaze flicked to our entwined fingers. “It seems you’ve made a choice.”

Another form came through the door, robust and burly. Roger was on the scene. One of the shifters in the bar sucked in a startled breath, and everyone went unnaturally still. The guy was a celebrity for the shifters.

His gaze lingered on me and then swept the bar as he turned and took up a position on my other side, facing Vlad.

Vlad’s eyes narrowed. “Mr. Nevin. How quaint. Tell me, do you ever take a break from your honorable duty?”

“My pack will stand with Reagan Somerset,” Roger said, his tone rough and low. “We will stand with Lucifer’s heir, against Lucifer himself, if need be. Against you.”

More gasps this time. He’d just stolen my thunder, the jerk.

Vlad’s eyebrow ticked upward, and his eyes sparkled as his gaze shot back to Darius. “Think very carefully, old friend,” he said softly. “You are aligning yourself with shifters…against your faction. It’s been a long life, Darius, and you’ve navigated wars, feuds, and political upheaval. You’ve always played the odds, just like I taught you. How do you think this choice is going to play out for you? Tensions are high between the elves and Lucifer, just like they were before, only this time the other magical creatures are restless and ready for change. They’ve been brutalized by the elves for far too long. The time is ripe to step in and create a better play for vampires within the Realm. With Lucifer’s help, we can claim control of our destiny. I understand the closeness that comes with a bond, but you must be rational about this. She is not worth your eternal demise. Think.”