All this time, the vampire had been playing the long game, strategizing how to get Reagan back before her father even knew she existed. Any doubt that Penny had possessed about his intentions toward Reagan dried up completely.
“Wow.” Penny glanced at the large bed behind Darius. “Okay. Food. Rest. Then we storm the Underworld.”
“More like slink through it, but yes,” Darius replied. “You will need all your wits. This will be unlike anything you have ever experienced, and if we lose, we lose everything.”
No pressure.
Two
I opened my eyes slowly, and then closed them slowly. My wince didn’t do the pain justice. It vibrated through my entire person, pounding in some places, aching in others, hot in my joints and thudding behind my eyes.
I took a deep breath, and it felt like fire through my esophagus. Oh, right. Unlike the rest of the Underworld, there was no air in the inner kingdom. That was probably for the best—it hurt to breathe anyway.
I gave the eye-opening thing another try, and it took a while to get used to my surroundings, mostly because there was so. Much. Gold. Golden-hued bedding laced with cream and a matching canopy billowing overhead, tied with golden tassels to cream and gold bedposts. A hideous gold and cream pattern lined the walls, which Darius would scoff at, and to one side of me there sat a mirrored desk (gold-trimmed, of course) and a gold-upholstered chair. Not all real gold, of course, but enough that I would be running out of here a lot richer. If I could run, obviously. Or move without setting off an earthquake of agony.
Cahal sat in a cream chair beside me, a book in his lap and his ankle rested on his knee. He stared at me silently. I stared back, just as silently. Usually I was the one who spoke in our relationship. I didn’t much feel like speaking now.
My fingers were all straight, so that was good. I could bend them, too, though it hurt to do so. Bruises adorned my arms, and I didn’t much care to lift the sheet and inspect the rest of me.
Someone had dressed me in what looked like a super-luxe hospital gown.
“How do you feel?” Cahal asked, and his voice had an echoey quality to it. Magic carried words here, since there was no air. Though I did remember him saying he could breathe down here because his godly magic negated the airless spell. Regardless, his words had that strange, tinny quality to it. Just another little stop on the mind-fuckery train.
“Like I got beat up, actually.” I thought about sitting up. Then thought better of it. Then did it anyway to see how far away I was from healing.
Cahal pushed to standing and helped, fluffing my pillows and getting me situated. Usually I wouldn’t accept that kind of help, but usually I didn’t feel like sausage on the other side of the meat grinder, wrapped in too-tight casing.
“How long have I been in this godawful room?” I asked, taking a break from moving and closing my eyes against the onslaught of gold.
“You’ve been out for three days.” He pulled a sack from the floor and extracted a wriggling magical snake. He quirked an eyebrow, silently asking if I wanted to use it.
“I know they heal wounds, but can they really heal broken bones and things?” I asked.
He glanced between me and the snake. “I don’t know. I’ve never used one. I was told to offer this when you came to.”
I had used one before, so I knew it would make me feel less like I’d been hit by a truck that had then backed up and hit me again, but I hadn’t had internal injuries last time. And while I’d seen one of these buggers crawl out from a demon’s insides, I wasn’t sure I wanted one taking a jaunt through my body.
“Maybe not,” I said.
He stowed the snake and straightened up, not moving back to his seat.
“What?” I asked.
He looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he stepped back and resumed his seat. I hurt too bad to be curious.
I looked around the glittering gold room before remembering there wasn’t any human technology in this place. No cameras to watch and hear what was being said. “I’m in the castle, then?”
“Yes. You are in a transitional suite. You will get to choose your living quarters when you are able.”
“So…the first thing he wanted me to see was a gaudy room from yesteryear?”
Cahal’s eyes twinkled. “I assume he wanted to impress you.”
“Ah.” I flexed and unflexed my fingers again. As it was, I couldn’t hold a sword. “Go, go gadget healing!”
“What?” Cahal asked, confusion stealing across his expression.
“Nothing. It’s an old cartoon. So what’s the plan here, do you think? Obviously I need to heal. I assume dear old Dad will let me do that?”
“That’s a certainty, yes. You will not be harmed while you’re here. You can heal in peace.”
“Groovy. And after that?”
“He’ll take up your training.”
“Awesome. After that?”
Cahal’s expression turned grim.
I nodded. I’d figured as much. There was a big question mark as to Father Dearest’s end game. But now that he’d found me, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to get sent home with a pat on the back.
As if on cue, the door opened up, and my father strutted into the room in his human form, his shoulders swinging as his slow steps ate up the dark wood floor. A grin pulled at his wide mouth and excitement and mirth sparkled in his brown eyes. It was like he’d sucked all the confidence from everywhere else in the worlds and donned it like a superhero’s leotard.
“Good evening,” he said in a medium-range voice before stopping halfway down the bed, on the side of Cahal. “Reagan Somerset, isn’t it?”
“Yep. You knocked up my mother.”
His grin pulled wider. “And you are the result.”
“Two for two. And you are…” I quirked an eyebrow at him. “A rescuer? A kidnapper? A jailer?”
“Yes.” He laughed, a rich, hearty sound. “Welcome. May I?” He glanced at the edge of the bed.
“Knock yourself out.”
“Fantastic.” He sat, giving off the vibe that he was incredibly comfortable with this situation, which made me uncharacteristically uncomfortable with it. The shoe being on the other foot would take some getting used to. “I’ve brought you a plaything.”
“That sounds gross.” I paused, and then the light clicked on. He meant Cahal. “I assumed you would be training me.”
“And so I shall, but you need someone to practice on.”
“I’m sure you have minions for that. Cahal is more of a drinking buddy. He’s too chatty for anything else.”
Lucifer’s smile was bright and broad. “Is that the case? Hmm. Well, then, he can be your confidant, how is that? Or your tour guide to this new place. When you tire of him, however, you will get rid of him. He is only welcome here until you say he’s not.”
“And I assume I can choose how to get rid of him?”
“That all depends on what he knows when he is no longer needed.”
I curled my lips under while nodding. “Gotcha. Tire of the druid, then slip a pair of cement shoes on his feet and send him down with the fishes.”
A small crease formed on Lucifer’s brow. “I am not sure I quite remember what fish are. I will have to look it up. Or, better yet, you can create them yourself when you require the watery grave.”
I laughed despite myself. “How did I end up in this fucked-up situation?”
“You are my heir, Reagan.” The smile dripped off his face. “You were always going to end up here. This is your birthright. It is where you belong. You’ll see that, in time. For now, what can I get you? Do you need to eat, like your druid? Or just heal? Use that snake. It’ll cut down the healing time considerably.”
My stomach rumbled, but I knew it was just because it was accustomed to getting food, not because it needed it. I’d realized I didn’t need food to live when I was bonding Darius. “I don’t need to eat, no. And for now, I don’t think I will. It’ll probably hurt. B
ut eventually, yes. I enjoy it.”
He stood. “Fantastic. I will make sure food is prepared for you when you require it. I’ll leave you to your…”
“Babysitter,” I supplied.
He laughed again, and I could tell it wasn’t forced. He was a man who liked to find humor in odd things. Another trait I’d gotten from him. This whole situation was probably going to blow my mind before it was through.
He stopped by the door before pointing at his head. “Remember, some of us can hear thoughts. You know how to keep your thoughts to yourself, don’t you?”
“If not, then you must think I am incredibly simple, since I doubt you’ve heard any thoughts since you entered.”
And you can hear them, too? he thought, obviously testing me.
Correct, I responded.
He smiled again and knocked on the doorjamb. “When you need something, broadcast the thought. I will have an attendant outside this door at all times. When you are able, leave this room at will. You are not a prisoner of this castle.”
“Just this world?”
His smile was sly. In answer, he winked before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.
“You and he are now playing a game,” Cahal said after giving Lucifer a few moments to adios. “He means to manipulate you into wanting to stay. Forever. You will need to fight for your freedom before the siren call of your heritage changes your life forever.”
“Jesus, man, are you always so dramatic? First you were talking about me owning my heritage, and now you want me to be wary of it?” I rubbed my eyes, but the pain in my fingers made me wince, so I eventually just dropped my hand. “Give me the snake. I need to get better, and then I need to get out of here.”
“You need to train. The only way you’ll ever be free is if you fully realize your power and no one can keep you a prisoner.”
I closed my eyes, suddenly exhausted. “Fine. That still requires getting better. Get that snake.”
Three
“What do you want to eat?” I asked Cahal. Two days had gone by, and I was feeling much better. Those snakes really did work wonders. They didn’t even try to get into any orifices, which was probably the greatest news. I’d been a little nervous I’d end up with a reptile enema.
“It doesn’t matter. The food here isn’t great.”
He turned a page in his book. I might be allowed to wander the castle, something I wasn’t in any shape to do yet, but he wasn’t. It certainly seemed like there was bad blood between him and Lucifer, but he got evasive every time I asked about it. The good news was that Lucifer seemed to have an incredible supply of books. Whatever either of us asked for, we got, hand-delivered by a creepy little demon that didn’t seem to like either of us very much.
Hamburger. I blasted the thought for Cahal’s order, like yelling through the walls. With lots of French fries.
“That’s just because you got used to Darius’s cooking when we were on the island,” I replied, swinging my feet over the edge of the bed. The white hospital gown I’d been wearing to recover rode up my legs and split open along the back.
And my clothes, please. Bring my clothes. I’m ready to check this place out.
“Very likely. He is exceptional.” Cahal turned a page.
“Has this place changed much since you were here last?” I asked, rotating my ankles. Only a small twinge of pain vibrated up my calves.
“Some things. Not others.”
I stared at him for a moment, knowing he wouldn’t offer any more information, and contemplated whether I felt like dragging it out of him. But really, what help would it be? It was all new to me regardless, except for the outskirts I’d already seen.
The door started to open but stalled halfway through. The hunched little creature I’d grown accustomed to peered around the wood, its bald and leathery head coming to about thigh height. Its large yellow eyes sighted in on me, and I could just see the edge of the tray it carried.
“Come in,” I said, rolling my shoulders and then my head. “What about my sword?” I asked Cahal, ignoring the demon. If you showed it too much attention, it wigged out and curled up into a ball until your focus went away. I was pretty sure its function was to be neither seen nor heard as it carried out its duty.
“What about it?” Cahal replied.
“Is it still with the elves? Did someone grab it?”
“Yes.”
I waited for a moment. When nothing else came, I scowled at him. “You’re torturing me because I cannot physically beat your ass, is that it?”
“You could magically beat my ass, if you were so inclined.” He licked his finger and then turned a page.
“Gross, you’re getting your spit all over someone else’s book.” I lifted a leg so I could bend and straighten it, working my knee. The demon froze, its long fingers wrapped around the edges of the silver tray, halfway to the desk at the side of the room where I’d given it a mental push to leave the food.
“No one is noticing you,” I told it.
Its head turned very slowly until its chin was even with its shoulder, looking straight at me. When it saw me looking back, it slowly swiveled its head away and then crouched down a little lower and froze.
I rolled my eyes and looked back at Cahal, working my other knee. Only a small ache.
“Yes, it is still with the elves, or yes, someone grabbed it?” I pressed.
“Both. You don’t need it. There is no point in lugging it around.”
“Says the guy with the enormous curved blade.”
“I don’t have the same magic as you. I need my sword.”
“You can kill a man with your thumb. Why do you need a sword?”
“A sword is faster.”
“Speaking of…” Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the demon was on the move again, creeping across the floor. The food would be cold by the time it got out of the room. “Where is your blade?”
“In Lucifer’s private quarters, I imagine. He doesn’t want me to have it.”
“Why is that? Surely he doesn’t think you can take on a kingdom of demons…”
“No. But I know the demons that he values most, and I could kill those if I felt so inclined. It seems he’d rather not chance it.”
I stuck out my lips while nodding. “Good call. Right, okay.” I clapped once and turned back toward the demon, now setting the tray on the desk. “What about my clothes?”
The tray of items clattered to the table, the porcelain jiggling. The demon set it down and scampered away as though burned, the long nails on its feet clicking across the wood floor. The door closed with a thud and silence reigned in the room.
“Does that mean no clothes? What the hell is the deal with that thing, anyway?”
“The service staff, as we will call them, are the invisible workers.” Cahal closed his book and stood, crossing to the desk. “They are low in power and have zero status. It’s best if you don’t speak to them, and they would never dare to speak directly to you. Don’t notice them. To do so…stresses them out. The last heir would curse them for any misdeeds right before killing them.”
“He sounds like a real peach.”
“That’s the way it was.” He bent over the food. “Mystery meat. Great.”
I chuckled at his sarcastic tone and pushed up to standing, turning so Cahal didn’t get an eyeful of my derrière. I stretched to one side and then the other, working out the ache. Padding across the room, adding a little fire below my bare feet to combat the chill, I snagged a French fry and popped it into my mouth.
I crossed to the grand closet, which was completely bare.
I need my clothes, I thought, and then decided, since I was finally up, I might as well just take a peek out the door.
A demon fashioned after a human woman stood to one side of the frame, half my height but with jutting boobs far too big for its petite body. Red leather covered it from neck to ankles, one big jumpsuit without zippers, hinting that it never had to take the thing of
f to use the restroom. Hooves took the place of feet, and the hair on its knuckles curled up in soft puffs.
Standing with its back to the wall near my door, the demon stared at the lovely garden mural painted on the opposite side of the wide corridor. The ceiling soared above us, more than ten feet high, and a white carpet ran down the center of an otherwise dark wood floor. No gold adorned this area, which had a somewhat modern look and was painted and accented with deep earth tones.
I glanced back into the sea of gold from which I’d come.
“If it looks like this out here, why is my room so hideous?” I asked.
The demon turned to me, and I honestly wondered how it didn’t topple forward with the size of those breasts.
Its yellow eyes took me in for a moment, and I could feel its intense power thrumming around us. Glaciem magic—ice magic, as I thought of it—and a lot of it.
“Good evening, your highness.” Its voice was scratchy and deep like a drum, the perfect accompaniment to the bushy mustache on its upper lip.
“Don’t call me your highness. I don’t intend to take the post.”
“Unfortunately, I must address you by a title.”
“Your heinous will do just fine.”
“As you wish, your heinous. In answer to your question, your room is a hideous sort of gold because the Great Master wanted to see if you’d get the joke.”
“I didn’t.”
“Fabulous. I will let him know. You may choose your quarters whenever you would like. Clothes are currently being collected for you, and then I will show you the way.”
“I thought I could roam freely?”
“And so you shall, but the palace has undergone many changes since your insufferable druid companion was here last. You will get lost inside of a human minute.”
“I have an excellent memory.”
“Which will greatly help you in places that do not habitually change.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I didn’t plan to explore far today anyway. My body was getting better, and movement wasn’t too painful anymore, but I didn’t think I had a lot of stamina. Not yet. I needed that snake to work its magic for a little longer. The thing was currently slithering around my torso.
Mentored in Fire Page 2
