Battle With Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

“The dislike is strong, yes.”

Darius shut the book with a click and pushed it down to his lap.

“Aw…” I crossed the room, took the book, tossed it onto the bed, and then lowered into his lap. He put his arms around me. “You’re tearing yourself away from the book to focus on me?”

He gazed up at my face. “I nearly failed you. If it hadn’t been for Penny, you would’ve died on the battlefield. I felt your pain, but you didn’t seem troubled by it. I’m sorry.”

I rolled my eyes at him before grazing my lips against his. “I didn’t realize it was as bad as it was. That didn’t hurt as much as the torture.”

“Those who torture aim to cause pain, and they can do that without blood loss. This was a different kind of wound.”

“Oh, so you have twenty-twenty vision on past events, too? Amazing. I thought I was the only one.”

His lips curled upward, and he ran them against my throat. “I feared I would lose you. I couldn’t get up to you.”

“I asked my dad to bring you up so I could say goodbye.”

His arms constricted me, crushing me to his chest. He held me that way for a long moment, his chin resting on my head. Turbulent emotions rolled through the bond, but he didn’t comment further.

I changed the subject. What happened was in the past. Might as well move on.

“How did the battle end?” I asked. “I saw the field but went lights out before the end.”

“One moment we were in the battle, having just decided to force our way off the field, and the next we were coming out of a daze with angels flying above us. They have immense power…which Penny quickly circumvented when she panicked.”

I felt a grin work up my face. “What’d she do?”

“She harnessed their magic and forced the nearest three from the sky. Just ceased their wings from beating. Then she blasted spells every which way, opened an avenue for escape, and tried to drag Emery out. It took Michael to subdue her by landing in her path and speaking reason. Though he got a blast of demonic fire for his efforts, followed by some sort of slicing spell that ruined his outfit with blood.”

I was laughing so hard that Darius loosened his hold on me a bit. “Do not surprise Penny. Now everyone in the worlds knows it.”

“The elves and their people were protected and moved away,” Darius went on. “The angels struck down those they felt wanting.”

“On the spot?”

“Yes. Half of them fell, right then and there. New leadership was chosen.”

“Seriously? Literally right then and there?”

“Yes, though I have a feeling it took longer than the blink it felt like, as with what happened with you.”

“Ah, got it. Yeah, probably. They take forever to get things done. Or, at least, they do when they’re enjoying a good bicker with my father.”

“And I’m sure they did. He had a hand in the end of the battle. He pulled all his people back, although the unicorns stayed with our group. It seems Lucifer—”

“I know. I saw all that from the sky.”

He nodded. “New terms were drawn up. It seems…your desires were the blueprint used.”

I crinkled my nose. “What does that mean? Half-naked cabana boys for everyone?”

His eyes narrowed. Apparently he didn’t find that hilarious.

“Magical people will be free to come and go throughout the Realm, the Underworld, and the Brink,” he said. “Lucifer had already opened up the Underworld, and it will be left that way. The Realm will allow demons within their borders, providing they follow the rules.”

“Each world will have a set of rules?”

“Yes. Lucifer’s code is well established, but the Realm, under new leadership that includes an ambassador from every race, will go into talks to nail theirs down. The fae, as in days of old, will uphold the new rules.”

“Law and order,” I said. He nodded. “Every race will have an ambassador?”

He nodded again, and his eyes sparkled with pride. “The angels agreed that it was a justified desire. Not just in the Realm, though.”

“In the Brink as well?”

“Just so. There is a large magical community in the Brink, and it should be better organized. New rules will be established, and the shifters will do more to uphold them, relying on the Magical Law Enforcement offices when the magical community needs direct communication with human law enforcement.”

“Similar to what it is now.”

“Yes, though they are no longer under the elves’ employ. They are an independent faction that will be paid by all three worlds. They’ll have a separate Brink governing body, the leadership of which has not yet been defined.”

I formed a duck bill with my lips. That made sense, and it wouldn’t require the system to change too much—just who was funding it.

“Lucifer will not be immune to ambassadors,” he said.