Battle With Fire

by Breene, K. F.

  I smiled and maybe cried a little and possibly tried to sink to his level. He stood so that I would too.

  “Yes,” I said, allowing him to take my hand and slip the rings over my finger. They fit perfectly. Of course they did.

  “I love you,” he said, and kissed me so deeply it dried up all the air in my lungs.

  Sometime later, we sat on the gazebo bench and looked out over the flowers. “When I was in the Underworld, I wished you could be there with me to experience the garden Lucifer had made. It was nothing like this. Close as far as the overall layout, but Romulus gave it something that…” I shook my head, tears swimming in my eyes once again.

  “I’ll explain that gold now. I’m from a different time than you—”

  “Understatement.”

  “During my time, marriages were typically arranged, but when they weren’t, it was customary for a man to ask permission from the father of his intended.”

  I pulled back and studied his face, seeing nothing but love, a sentiment mirrored through our bond. “You asked Lucifer for permission to marry me? The same guy who suggested I sex you away the day before he planned to go kill you?”

  A smile tilted his lips. “I asked for his blessing, not his permission. If he had said no, I wouldn’t have mentioned it.”

  I blinked at him for a moment. That was a lot to unpack. “You asked Lucifer, the man that was going to kill you—”

  “That seems to be a sticking point with you.”

  “And he said yes?”

  His smile was flawless and my heart was going too quickly.

  “He did. He also refused my plans to furnish you with a bank account solely in your name that you can manage yourself. Instead, he thought it fitting that you should have the stones he stole from the path leading to the elf castle. He’d planned to give them to you anyway. He was laughing when he said it. He thought this was a good occasion, whether you said yes or no to me.”

  “Perfect,” I said, laughing. Maybe still crying. Today was starting to be too much.

  “Yes. As soon as he said it, I knew that it was the perfect solution.” He took my hands. “I want you to be independent of me. If you need to leave at a moment’s notice, or if something should happen to me, I want you to have enough assets to help you disappear. I do not want you to rely on me for money. I don’t want anyone to be able to corner you into taking a job, or something else you don’t want to do. I will help you set up that gold to ensure it is so. In addition, once we are married, I’ll put your name on my solid assets—the ones that are sure bets. The less…solid issues will come when you are either up to speed with them or they stop being risky.”

  “What kind of risky?”

  “‘Someone showing up and wanting compensation for a deal gone wrong’ kind of risky. Or ‘the government putting a lien on your assets’ kind of risky. I am not always…by the book in my endeavors.”

  “Heard. Just the gold is fine.”

  “No.” His eyes took on a severe cast. “I want you to be a part of me in every definition of the word. You will take half of my assets or more. You will be the mistress of all my holdings and estates, provided they won’t come back and bite you on the ass.”

  I just nodded. We could fight about that later.

  “I probably don’t have to tell you so, but with that gold, you can buy this house from the bank. You can do with it as you wish.”

  I nodded again, needing to process that and wanting to store it away for later.

  He nodded back, as though catching that thought, before standing. “Would you like to see what comes next?”

  “There’s more?” I asked, a little afraid to stand with him.

  “Yes.”

  We entered the Underworld at a different place than before, this section actually quite orderly. No walls separated the creatures from one another, and the stalls for trading and commerce were open, the energy calm. I was a little disappointed.

  The steps lit up as we started down, and Darius stopped a few steps in, looking back at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You aren’t skulking this time. You aren’t hiding. You’re coming home.”

  I scanned his expectant face and felt a grin bud.

  I dug into the magic around us, deciding to have a bit of fun. The area strobed, disco-style, a couple of times before the stairs lit in flame. I ensured the flame was low heat but high volume, just to look cool.

  Darius and I descended hand in hand, like royalty, and I felt like a douche. Still, appearances were important. I needed to put on some sort of show to get a buzz going about my arrival. Or at least to let them know that I had enough arrogance to match Darius. Nearly.

  At the bottom, the various creatures gawked before bending. If they didn’t bend? I made them. Because I could.

  The smile grew on my face.

  I knew this. I was comfortable with this. Forcing my hand. Being an ass. I could do this in my sleep and, moreover, it was damn fun. Way more fun than chasing shifters.

  Well… Okay, it was fun in a different way. I missed chasing shifters. I wanted another go at Cole. That were-yeti was so fun to infuriate.

  The beach before the river was mostly the same, just newer. A few embellishments from when Lucifer or whoever had had to rebuild after our crew’s last visit. One exception, though: rose petals littered the ground in a path leading away right.

  “Please.” Darius gestured me that way, taking my hand again.

  We followed the path, and I legit felt like a princess. I’d never much wanted to be a princess, but right then, with Darius by my side, doting on me and enjoying my reactions to each thing he’d obviously planned, I couldn’t imagine feeling more special. I felt treasured.

  The roses led to a dock, also covered in petals. Within, the boatman was wearing a rose wreath, devoid of thorns. It was very odd, but I didn’t comment.

  “Hello, your heinous,” it said to me, and I wondered who had reprogramed this sucker. “Hello, Darius, most treasured and welcomed guest.”

  I frowned at Darius.

  “Lucifer is making it clear that my station will only be elevated through your good humor,” he told me.

  “But aren’t you guys moving your lair down here?”

  “Yes. The details haven’t been arranged.”

  “Ah.”

  The river journey was just as awful as I remembered, with flat-looking water and little bumps and whorls that signified it was a lie. At least there hadn’t been any random splats of water on my head. I didn’t know if that had been fixed or I’d gotten lucky.

  When we disembarked, Archion was waiting on the other side of the river.

  “Hey!” I ran a hand along his leg. “Good to see you again.”

  Did you say yes? he asked as I hovered Darius and I onto his back.

  I did.

  Good. That vampire is good in a bind. He’ll protect you when I can’t.

  Why is everyone suddenly worried about protecting me?

  It gives us something to do. Otherwise it’s just females doing all the work.

  I laughed as he lifted into the sky.

  “I wonder if vampires can find dragon companions,” Darius said as we flew over the kingdom.

  I looked down with pleasure, having missed this place. Wanting to get more familiar with it. Wanting to be part of it. What a change from all of the time I’d spent hiding, trying to avoid coming down here.

  I passed the question on to Archion.

  I have never heard of a vampire bonding a dragon, but I’m young. I don’t see why not. They are tamer than some of the demons that develop a bond.

  They are probably more conniving than those demons though, I replied.

  I’ll speak to Tatsu. She’ll know how to go about it.

  I probably should’ve excluded Darius in that comment about vamps, in the spirit of openness, but…it was still true.

  Archion landed in front of the castle, and Tits McGee walked out to greet us, followed
by a host of attendants.

  “Good…time, your heinous,” Tits said, its boobs as ridiculous as ever, its voice deep and sonorous. The huge beard was a nice touch, equipped with insects.

  Good time? Darius thought.

  “Slang is tough for them, but…that one I’m not sure of.” I looked at the dawning sky, lighting gradually.

  “I was going to say good morning,” Tits said, “but I wasn’t sure what time it was where you came from. I didn’t want to confuse the heinous.”

  “Ah. Well, I think we’re in about the same time zone.”

  Tits nodded and turned, walking up the steps at a measured pace. I glanced at Darius, and he jerked his chin. I was supposed to follow.

  The way through the castle was the same. My floor was the same. The doors to my rooms stood closed and locked with such an intricate weave of fire and ice that it could only have been done by my father. Only the two of us could break it, which meant he’d kept this place for me.

  I might’ve smiled. Or laughed. Maybe cried again. It was really hard to understand the happiness that was drowning me. It was making me very unpredictable.

  With some work, I pulled down the spell and kicked in the doors. They slammed against the sides. I grabbed Darius’s hand and yanked him in after me, heading to that one window. That view.

  Once in front of it, I stopped, winding our fingers together. His shoulder grazed mine.

  I took a deep breath and let my gaze roam the beautiful scene.

  “This is very you,” Darius said softly, once again reading the moment. “There’s air now, too.”

  “I did that when I was here last. My dad obviously chose to leave it.”

  “Hoping you would return.”

  “Yes,” Lucifer said, and although his voice made me jump a little, his entrance didn’t surprise me.

  I turned to him, keeping hold of Darius’s hand.

  “Hey, Pop,” I said.

  “Hello, Reagan.” His gaze dipped to my joined hands with Darius. “You said yes, then?”

  “What was your first clue?”

  “Hm, him still being alive cemented it.” His gaze cut to Darius. “And that loose thread? Is he still alive?”

  “Her previous vampire lover has been extinguished,” Darius answered. “By demons, it would seem.”

  Lucifer tilted back and laughed. “Guilty. My informant”—he put his hand to the side of his mouth—“Ja, obviously… She told me about that whole situation. She’s not half as good at intrigue as she seems to think. My new hobby will be fucking with her. Vampires can be horribly arrogant, present company occasionally excluded.” He winked at me. “That ex-lover vampire seemed like a sticking point with you, and for no reason, really. I figured I’d just take care of it. What’s one more infraction against me, right?”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle and shake my head. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “So.” Lucifer came to stand beside me, encouraging me to turn and look out at the view. “What’s next?”

  I took a deep breath and felt utterly confident in what I was about to say.

  “I learn how to rule a kingdom, and we make this the best damned kingdom in all the worlds.”

  Lucifer nodded and then laughed. “Welcome, daughter. Welcome home.”

  I felt a mix of contentment and excitement.

  Home. That’s exactly what it was. It had taken me a very long journey to find my home, which wasn’t a place—it was a feeling. It was me. I would buy my family home and fix it up in a way that my mother would’ve loved, I’d keep my NOLA home for when I wanted a place to crash in my favorite city in the Brink, and I’d learn this new role. This new purpose. I’d find balance, and with Darius and my father on my side, we would indeed make this place the best place to live in all the worlds.

  The angels could suck it.

  ***

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  Check out Sin & Chocolate, the first book of the Washington Post & Amazon Charts bestselling Demigods of San Francisco series…

  Some people are ordained for greatness…

  Those people usually have a lot of drama in their life. Drama I happily do without. I live in a forgotten corner of nowhere for a reason: there is safety in anonymity. I have enough problems just trying to get by.

  But when Kieran, a sinfully sexy demigod at the pinnacle of power, crashes into my life, suddenly my whole world is turned upside down.

  He’s harboring a deadly secret, one that could destroy all he holds dear. He thinks I’m the key to his salvation, and he wants me to help him claim vengeance.

  He also wants me with a passion that burns my body from the inside out.

  To ignore him is impossible, but to give in to my desires, even for a night, would thrust me into danger I might not survive.

  Remember what I said about drama? Now I’m in it up to my eyeballs, and I’m not sure if I should run…or fight.

  Try it here

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  About the Author

  K.F. Breene is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, Amazon Most Sold and #1 Kindle Store bestselling author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy and fantasy novels. With millions of books sold, when she's not penning stories about magic and what goes bump in the night, she's sipping wine and planning shenanigans. She lives in Northern California with her husband, two children, and out of work treadmill.

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