by K. F. Breene
“Moss,” I said in a thick voice. I cleared my throat. “Maybe don’t break into my house.”
“Clearly.” He closed the door behind him, shutting himself between the revolving ball of death, and…well, a door. “You are needed.”
I pushed myself off the couch, and wine dribbled off my legs and onto the cream rug. Marie, Darius’s designer, was going to kill me.
“Why?” I tilted my head again, like a dog hearing a dog whistle. What was that feeling?
“Vlad has Darius in the lair.” The lair was the underground vampire home in the Realm.
I paused in rubbing my chest where that strange feeling had lodged. “What do you mean, Vlad has him?”
Darius’s heartbeat was strong and steady, so he wasn’t overly concerned about whatever was happening.
“Your bond is illegal.”
“Vlad’s still pissed about that?” I rolled my eyes and tore down the Ball o’ Death. “What’s the problem? Even if they don’t know who I am, they know some of what I can do. Besides, I have an elder to back me, and Vlad wants me under vampire control.”
“Vlad doesn’t want you for our faction—he wants you for himself. He set that war in the Dark Kingdom in motion after he made sure you knew the demons were coming for you.” He gave me a look that was more than a little judgmental, but I was too busy gaping in shock to care.
Vlad had given us cover with that war. He’d made completing my goal ten times easier. If not for him, I might not have successfully made it out. That was some serious maneuvering right there. And more, he must’ve known what it would’ve meant if the sect had come to the Brink to get me. He must’ve known that to prevent a war (which he must’ve not been quite ready for), I had to go to the underworld, and that I’d need help to do it.
All that to get me under his control. He didn’t plan to aid Lucifer; he planned to use me as bait to corner him. Or maybe just hang on to me to see what I was really worth to my father. Vlad did all that to get me under his thumb.
Wow.
I had to give the vampire mad respect for all that.
“Anyone who has met you would know how you would react to such news of the demons,” Moss was saying. “He has orchestrated all of your movements, and everything has been done with an eye toward condemning Darius. He can now claim Darius put you at great risk, illegally. That will allow Vlad to kill him, per our laws, before moving in and claiming you for himself.”
I took the last sip of wine, because why waste it, and thought about the events of the Dark Kingdom and immediately before. The battle so near the castle. All the sects prickly and on edge. My father showing up to quell the rage. The areas Vlad occupied in the edges, lurking. Watching for us.
“Oh, that bastard,” I said under my breath.
Another thought occurred to me. I was no longer a ripe turnip.
If such a thing existed.
I narrowed my eyes at Moss. “Why should I trust you?”
He stared at me with his flat, dark gaze. “You shouldn’t. Ever. You are wild, and fickle, and no one will ever be able to predict which side you’ll choose—with us, or against us. But right now, you can save my employer. Only you. For that, I am here, asking your help. Though I do not like it.”
“Oh, sure. Throw in that last bit, why don’t you.” I listened for his thoughts and was immediately rewarded. Guilt for pursuing his bloodlust instead of accompanying Darius. Fear for what would happen to the kingdom he’d help build if Darius came to harm. Annoyance and anger that he had to ask a ridiculous human creation for help. And beneath all that, a budding bromance for his employer. He simply didn’t want anything to happen to Darius.
It was this last bit that convinced me of his truthfulness.
“Right. Let’s blow shit up.” I set the glass on the coffee table for the minions to clean up and headed for the door.
“Aren’t you going to change?” he asked.
“I smell drunk and look crazy. Trust me. My appearance is the first line of defense.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Moss had an expensive, high-speed car waiting, so he drove dangerously fast to the nearest gate into the Realm. From there he offered to carry me so we could move as quickly as possible.
I put my arm on his shoulder and smugly grinned. I didn’t need it. I was the Flash.
Turned out, he was still a little faster than me, which was annoying.
I made up for it when he suggested circumventing the weird rock forest I’d stumbled my way through on my first visit to the lair. Instead, I used my power and shoved all the rocks out of the way. When the rock man wandered in, pissed beyond belief, I used air to punch him while yelling, “Now ask me weird questions that hurt my brain!” We hadn’t hit it off last time.
“I don’t think you are rational just now,” Moss said in a low voice.
Unlike when Darius accused me of that, Moss was totally right. But seriously, Vlad was trying to creep on my man? No way.
At the entrance to the lair, I put my hand on Moss’s suited chest to hold him back. “Number one, only James Bond wears a suit when going into battle. Number two, I got this. Just follow along and don’t get burned.”
I kicked the door open. “Lucy, I’m home!”
The darkness engulfed me, but I didn’t pay it any attention. I followed the same path as on my first visit. Only a few months had passed since then, but it seemed like so much longer. This time, I had zero fear. Absolutely none. I’d survived the Dark Kingdom. The lair, or what non-vampires called the Dungeon, held no horrors for me.
I stalked down the corridor as the first vampire rushed for me, fangs bared.
“Nope.” I flicked my hand, and air-swatted it at the dirt wall. “Follow me and I’ll kill you.”
It followed me.
Moss jumped out of the way as I jabbed my hand forward like a kung fu master from the old movies. I pierced the vampire’s chest with air and clutched its heart.
Its eyes widened.
“Don’t fuck with crazy.” I tore its heart out of its chest. Which probably would’ve looked especially cool if I’d taken a bite of it while the vamp died, but ew. No.
I turned, and Moss followed without a word.
Columns rose to the sides, spacious and high. I glanced up at a ledge strung between them and saw a vampire hiding under one of those sheets that had once made them invisible to me. It looked down at me, watching my progress.
I sent fire to burn away the sheet, hoping to expose him. His body puddled into goo on the ledge.
Oops.
“You shouldn’t show your power so frivolously,” Moss said.
He was nervous.
I grinned.
“Darius will live, he’ll get his bond passed, and I will be one of yours. Don’t you protect what’s yours?”
“What if there are leaks?”
“Just say I have a demon in me. Easy. Really, Moss, it’s like you have no imagination.”
Moss’s lips tightened. My grin turned into a smile.
Unlike the last time I was here, no new vampires showed up to face off with me. A new boss was in town. One that led by force.
Thanks, demons, for your unwelcome lessons.
The base of the pass widened until it opened to a chamber filled with riches and a dinner table not used for eating.
At the front of the room, Vlad sat in the large throne chair, a smug smile on his face. Two bored-looking vampires sat with him, a man and a woman, on either side of his throne.
The one person standing at this sitting party, Darius flicked his eyes to me, then Moss, then me again. Anger and frustration stole through his previously despondent expression. He was pissed because he thought I was endangering myself.
Or maybe that I had to rescue him.
Again.
He did make a handsome damsel.
“Ms. Somerset,” Vlad said in a honeyed voice. I didn’t hear any of his thoughts, and had a sneaking suspicion that he’d spent enough time working wi
th demons to figure out that trick they all seemed to know. “So lovely to see you again. Mr. LaRay, put up a wall of privacy just there, please. We had it taken down when we heard you’d dropped in to pay us a visit.”
Moss retrieved a spell and did as he was told while I surveyed the elder in front of me.
“Hey, Vlad,” I said. “I hear you’re discussing Darius’s and my bond. Imagine my surprise when I didn’t get an invite to this party.”
“Your illegal bond, Ms. Somerset, and this is a vampire issue.”
“Oh. Well, then. Let me barge my way in and make it my issue. So what’s the problem, and where is the group of vampires that usually decide on bonding matters? I was under the impression there were more than two, and also that you didn’t have any part of it.” I quirked an eyebrow at him.
“We’ve decided a smaller group would suffice, given that your magic is such a delicate issue.”
“Ah. And it doesn’t seem to matter that you have a vested interest in the decision going unfavorably for Darius, hmm?”
Vlad spread his hands like he was helpless. “I am simply trying to uphold our laws. The bond was forged before it was approved. Therefore, we need to review the integrity of the vampire and his bond-mate. In this case, Darius put you, and our faction as a whole, in grave peril because of how he handled the situation. All this so he could gain entrance to the underworld for his own personal gain. Such disregard for the rules simply can’t go unpunished.” He held up his hand like I was about to argue. “But don’t worry, Reagan. We will not permanently harm him. We will simply exile him for a length of time, to be determined shortly, and forbid him from mingling with the politics of our faction.”
“And me? You’re going to kill me, I take it?”
His musical laugh made me stabby. “Oh my, no. Of course not, no. We realize your value, Reagan. We also realize your unique position of knowing about our greatest secret. The unicorns.”
He paused, and I lifted my eyebrows, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“You must understand that while we do not wish to terminate you, we also can’t allow you to drift away, unchecked.”
“And, pray tell, what is your grand plan to keep me in check?”
A smile spread across his face. “I think you know.”
“Bond me yourself, is that it?”
He clasped his fingers. “As part of Darius’s punishment, the bond would have to be stripped from him. Given the magical nature of the bond process, it would then have to be fastened to another, so you don’t suffer.”
“And that someone else is you, right?”
“One of us, certainly, and we’ve agreed that I make the most sense.” He leaned forward. “We would not have to go through the bonding process, Reagan. That has been done. We would be transferring the bond, not forging it anew. I would simply need a little of your blood—just a taste—and you would take a little of mine. No more than a mouthful. Minimal touching, if that is what you prefer, or intercourse if you desire it. I will yield to your demands.”
“Uh huh.”
“After that, you will be released to live your life as you ought. I will provide for you in order to keep you safely out of harm’s way. You will want for nothing.”
He didn’t know me at all. Out of harm’s way? That sounded like a death sentence.
His continued smile and cunning gaze said he thought he had me in a corner, and would now hammer the nails into the proverbial coffin. In other words, he thought I was like most people.
Darius’s heart sped up. He knew that I was not, at all, like most people. When someone tried to put Baby in the corner, that someone accidentally got killed.
“Well, fantastic,” I said joyfully. Vlad’s face froze. Darius shifted warily. “And I assume these vampires know about my family ties?”
Vlad bent his head forward in an affirmation. “As I said, it is a very delicate situation, one that will take great strategy and planning down the road to keep you a secret. Your foray into the underworld created quite a stir. I understand that many demons didn’t think magic could be so effective. Nor did they think any part-humans could get in through the fog anymore. And while that is still mostly true, it has created a lot of questions.”
Vlad’s eyes gleamed. Personal questions, I gathered. Of what he, personally, could do if allowed to get past that fog.
“You have privacy spells up all over, right?” I asked. “You know as well as I do that this faction has leaks.”
Moss shifted, and that, paired with Vlad’s smile turning brittle, told me this was a sore point.
“We do,” Vlad said. “This is a closed meeting about a delicate subject. It requires the utmost privacy.”
I smiled at him. “I forgot to ask. What if I don’t like this plan, and will not stand for Darius being punished or the bond moved? Then what?”
There came that fake helpless look again. “There really is no other way. I apologize about that.”
“There are a couple other ways, actually,” I said. Darius’s eyes tightened. He likely expected me to blow like a volcano. In contrast, Vlad clearly had no clue what was coming. “To start, I could tell my father who started the war in the Dark Kingdom. He would be mighty interested to hear that. Or simply tell him not to work with you on anything. He seems to really want an heir, so I’m sure he’ll have an open mind about a grave concern of mine.”
Vlad gave me a placating smile.
“But, of course, you know I won’t do that,” I said. He tilted his head in affirmation and steepled his fingers. “Happily, there is a second way.”
“Reagan,” Darius said in warning.
Vlad was out of the chair and halfway to me before I registered any movement. Old me would’ve flinched and tried to grab my sword before being backhanded by a vampire. Old me hadn’t gone through demon boot camp.
I snatched him in an air fist and shoved him back into his seat. “Now, now, Vlad, mind your manners.” The other vampires started to get up, and I tied them to their chairs, too. “Now, as I was saying.” I lifted all three of them into the air without so much as breaking a sweat. Alarmed thoughts curled up from them, and Vlad’s surprise was strong enough to break his thought barrier. It was news to him that I had this much power.
Demon boot camp had been incredibly effective.
I rotated them and encircled each of them in fire so they couldn’t see out. Alarm bent to panic. Except for Vlad, who let slip another thought concerning my added worth. The man was as cool as they came. It was strangely annoying.
“A stake of air,” Darius said in a low tone, watching the chairs revolve.
“Good call.” I did as he said, and set the stakes right at their hearts, making them slowly burrow into their skin. One vampire tried to scrape my air with claws. Magical sparks hit the walls of his fire prison. I repaired the air immediately. “I’m my father’s daughter, Vlad,” I called up. I didn’t know how to do that voice trick my father had used. It was much too complex. I’d have to settle for yelling. “I don’t like getting pushed around. I don’t like being dominated. It makes me ragey. I’m also my mother’s daughter. I really don’t like you threatening someone I care deeply about. I can kill you easily. All of you. I can walk through this faction with everyone in the place trying to kill me and come out unscathed. And I’m nothing compared to my father, whom I will contact if you attempt to kill Darius. I will sacrifice myself for him, just as he keeps trying to sacrifice for me.”
The two vampires on the sides were in full-fledged panic mode now. Even Vlad had started to get worried when his claws wouldn’t break through my magic.
“You can see that I am an extremely valuable asset, can you not?” I yelled, surging more energy into the fire and speeding up the stakes. “Trust me, you want me on your side. You want me to lie low and train. To get stronger, and better. What you don’t want is to anger me. I get crazy when I’m angry.”
I stripped away the fire and stakes and quickly pulled them back to the
ground. The chairs settled with bumps. The two vampires on the sides were both in their monster forms, blood running down their chests and torn clothes strewn across their seats. Vlad had a placid, assessing expression at odds with his blood-soaked shirt. Not one hair was out of place.
I had no idea how he did it.
“Darius will not get punished,” I said quietly into the sudden silence. “I will not have to deal with any of you. Only him. Our bond will remain intact.” I paused, and then figured, why not, I should go for it. “And I can visit the unicorns whenever I want.”
The vampire on the right changed back to his human form and glanced down at his chest. “Give her what she wants,” he said. “Give her anything she wants.”
The other vampire changed back as well and palmed her breast, which really wasn’t where the wound was, but whatever. She nodded her assent. “She is valuable. Beyond what you said, Vlad. If she is loyal to Darius, so be it. She is still within our faction. That is enough. We are lucky she agreed to bond at all. Enter her in the books.”
Vlad steepled his fingers again and tilted his head to the side, watching me. A slow smile crept up his face. “You make a very compelling argument, Ms. Somerset.” His eyes sparkled as his gaze slid to Darius. “The find of the century, Darius. I applaud you. I hope to one day outdo you, though how, I cannot imagine.”
“I warned you of her response to all this,” Darius said, walking toward me.
“Indeed you did. Though I admit, I thought you were grossly overexaggerating. It seems the jaunt into the Dark Kingdom has done her good.”
I snapped. “I almost forgot. Leave my neighbor alone. He was just looking out for me. Don’t involve him in any of your plans.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” That smile wasn’t reassuring. The fear he’d felt in my fire prison was much more so. I was contemplating giving him another scare when Darius slipped his arm around my back and pulled me close. He turned us back the way I’d come before I’d made up my mind. “Reagan,” he said in disapproval, and I knew I’d get in trouble for risking the knowledge of my magic for him. “What did you spill on yourself?”
