Battle With Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

Magic swirled through the room, prickling Penny’s skin.

“Two days seems right to me,” Karen said, her eyes fluttering. The mists in her crystal ball whirled and spun. She slapped her cards down, seemingly at random, then opened her eyes and looked them over. She nodded. “Two days. The elves…” She paused, her gaze flicking from one card to another. She laid down three more cards, two in front of her and one to the side. The third card to hit the table was Death. Her lips tightened. That wasn’t a good sign. “The elves are not ready.”

“You must take the deal.” The Red Prophet stared straight at Reagan, who definitely hadn’t wanted to be there but needed to. It was time for big-girl panties. If Penny had had to go to a demon sex club, Reagan could deal with Seers.

The Red Prophet’s eyes twinkled. “Take the deal and holster your magic. Make the call.”

“She’s doing it again.” Penny’s mom rubbed her temples, breathing in through her mouth and out through her nose. “Before you ask, no, I don’t know what that means. I am not getting any of that. Also, no, I still don’t know what the villain’s crown is crooked from yesterday means. She’s talking gibberish half the time. I think the stress is addling her brain, I really do. She simply cannot keep up.”

“She can be eccentric, but she does have power,” Romulus said. “She has never let us down.”

“Just so I have this straight.” Reagan held up her hand. “You want me to take the deal to save myself…and put everyone else in danger?”

“Put everyone else in danger, yes. That is the ticket.” The Red Prophet gave her a grimace-smile.

Reagan narrowed her eyes but didn’t respond.

Penny spoke up. “That wasn’t the choice the demon gave, though.”

“Leave it,” Reagan said softly. “She’s putting on theatrics. She can’t hang out at a person’s house for a while, terrorize the neighborhood, and expect the shifts in her personality not to be cataloged.” Reagan paused for a moment. “She’s fucking with me. She knows a secret about what will happen, and she’s not telling.”

“What kind of secret?” Roger asked roughly.

“I have no fucking idea, but given her level of nuts right now, it’s a doozy.” Reagan stared at the Red Prophet for a long, tense moment and then tilted her head. The Red Prophet was clearly communicating with her by thinking. “I would not have guessed that, no. So you’re playing both sides too?”

“I am on all sides,” the Red Prophet said with a knowing smile. “And so are you.”

Reagan retied her ponytail, something she did when she was readying for battle. “Keep your secrets. I don’t need them.” She turned and walked toward the door. “Don’t worry so much about turncoats, Roger.” She paused when she neared the door. “The Red Prophet made those circles, and it’s a safe assumption Ja called the demons. If you see Ja, kill her.”

“Now I get why my mother is beside herself annoyed,” Penny said, catching up to Reagan as she pushed out of the conference room and went down the hall, heading outside. Penny’s watch said dawn was just around the corner, but deep night covered the area. Reagan had really come along with her magic.

“This is bigger than just a war between the worlds, somehow,” Reagan said, turning toward the open fields and clear sky.

Darius hadn’t followed them, and neither had the others. They were clearly going to stay behind and hear what Penny’s mom had to say, in the hopes her Seeing was more coherent. And reliable.

“That won’t change my role, I don’t think,” Reagan murmured, walking out to the edge of her magical night to peer up at the budding dawn. “I miss my quiet life. This has all gotten to be too much.”

“I don’t miss mine,” Penny said. “This is a lot, I grant you, but it is a means to an end. It will be worth it. I can feel it.” She patted her pockets, where a couple of her power stones were nestled. Her Temperamental Third Eye had a moment of clarity, the clouds parting to show the way forward. This was right, this path. This was the way of the fates.

That didn’t necessarily mean it would lead to a happy ending, though. So the feeling wasn’t incredibly helpful.

Thanks, Temperamental Third Eye, as always.

Two hours later, they were walking within the patch of magically darkened sky to meet up with Darius and the others.

“Don’t want to know,” Reagan said as they approached.

“You don’t need to,” Darius replied, taking her hand and threading his fingers with hers. “Ms. Bristol had a lot of helpful predictions for how the battle would line up, but she kept running into holes. The Red Prophet refused to fill them, if she even could have, despite Roger asking nicely and Romulus demanding. There is something in the works, and Ms. Bristol isn’t seeing it.”