I held out my hand. “Do you need blood?”
Out came the wicked-looking dagger. Why they couldn’t use something normal, like a Swiss Army knife, I didn’t know. That thing looked cumbersome. If they slipped and sliced a hand off, then where would I be?
We went through the same steps as last time: pain, stooping while walking around the circle and shaking my bleeding hand. Not long after that, they chanted the demon into the circle. It was the same one, which Dizzy and Callie expected, and I was impressed by. They did know what they were doing.
“Heir,” the demon said, wasting no time in looking past the dual mages. It held a scroll.
“You guys have paper down there?” I asked, amazed.
“Of course, heir. How else would we write things down?” It unfurled the scroll. “I have some of the answers you seek.”
“Tell me,” I commanded.
I listened quietly as the demon told a story of a badly wounded demon that was treated in the edges and then moved across the river by one of the powerful sects. None of those who’d treated the demon had been left alive.
“What was the sect that took the wounded demon?” Darius asked from the wall. I wasn’t sure why he didn’t want to come closer.
The demon barely spared him a glance. “The Noctis sect. They are one of the more ambitious sects in the Dark Kingdom.”
“Are they traveling to Lucifer?” I asked.
“No. They brought the demon to their territory. There is no notice of their sect requesting an audience with the Great Master.”
“Is there any speculation about what they wanted with the wounded demon?” I paced beside the circle as anxiety ate away at my stomach.
“No one seems to know, but there is a rumor of many dead in the wake of the sect moving through. They are trying to keep something silent.”
“Me. They are trying to keep Agnon’s knowledge of me a secret.”
The demon bowed. “If that is the case, they have a mighty prize. I can feel great power within you, heir. The Incendium magic rages, begging you to flare it higher. I feel it calling me. But a dark pit within you prevents it. That is the Glaciem magic, if I am not mistaken, correct?”
“Yup. You nailed it. I’m ripe for the training. Agnon made that clear when I spoke with it.” I ground my teeth. “I am going to yank its knobby little head off.”
“Why wouldn’t they take that to Lucifer?” Callie asked me.
“They want to grab me, train me, and present me to my father. They hope to gain favor by doing all of that, and probably make me an ally. Joke’s on them, of course. I’ll make them all very sorry they got mixed up in my business.”
The desire to cry had dried up with the challenge fully presented to me. Now I wanted to storm the gates of hell and blot out the threat. Which was good, because that was exactly what I’d have to do. I knew that as surely as I knew I could control the demon in front of me.
“Fine. The rumor was right. How do I cut them down?” I asked the demon.
It unraveled the scroll, then focused on a spot of nothingness in front of it. “I have maps. Routes. I can guide you. It would be my honor, heir. But you must find your way to me. I cannot cross certain areas. I don’t have enough power.” It focused harder on the spot of nothingness. “You have to burn away the circle so I can pass over the scroll.”
“Routes into the underworld? Now that’s just asinine. Right, Reagan?” Callie demanded. “Tell it it’s talking nonsense.”
“Don’t burn away the circle, Reagan,” Dizzy said in warning. “Those things are tricky. It’s up to no good.”
I ignored them both, because while I wasn’t crazy enough to trust a demon asking me to deliver myself to it, I was crazy enough to give it an opening in a controlled situation so that I could get that scroll. A risk, but not a huge risk.
Fire crawled up the circular wall in front of me, burning away the invisible barrier. I felt the demon’s magic pulsing within my own, then saw it create a sort of bridge between the newly created edges, keeping the rest of it intact. I latched on to its efforts, realizing that it was helping me. Showing me how to work my magic with greater intricacy. His mastery of weaving the magic together was awe-inspiring.
“Why are you helping me keep you trapped?” I asked as it reached the scroll forward. It did not make a move to cross the divide, though it could have tried.
“When you assume your intended throne, remember your allies. Remember those who helped you ascend.”
“It knows you could easily kill it if it tried to run,” Callie said dryly. “And you’d still get the scroll.”
I knew that, but I’d wanted to hear its response.
I wrapped my fingers around the scroll and then held it out to the side. Darius was there in an instant, taking it from my hand. “You have a better memory. Read it now in case it’s written in invisible ink or something. Demons are tricky. I’m not taking any chances.”
“I speak for my sect when I say that we are here to serve, heir. We will join you. Will fight those who might oppose you, and help you ascend to—”
“I got it, thanks,” I said as I concentrated on weaving the fire magic to stitch the circle back together. Wherever I grabbed the spell, though, it unraveled, leaving a larger hole that my fire magic had to bridge. I tsked. “Tricky, tricky, tricky. The circle only appears complete. It isn’t structurally sound. The demon would be able to escape.” I huffed out a laugh. “I may not know the extent of my power, but I’m not a complete idiot.”
“Yes, heir. I knew you’d discover that, heir.”
Of course it did, I thought sarcastically.
I tried to work at the ice magic, see if that would create a patch for this particular demon. It wouldn’t rise, though. It stayed lodged deep in my gut, pulsing in time to my heart. Taunting me.
Frustrated, I scoffed. “Darius, how is that scroll looking?”
“I will remember everything on it. The maps are detailed. Vlad’s connections are not.”
“Do you want more on that?”
“If it is possible, yes. If not, I can work with what is here.”
I threw out more commands to the demon, eager to get out of there and think on my next moves. When I was done, Callie stepped forward. “Do you want us to send it back?”
“Yes, thanks.”
“I will be ready for your next summons, heir,” the demon said even as the dual mages started their incantations to send it back to the underworld. I put my hand out for the scroll. Darius passed it over without hesitation, and I unfurled it as the demon disappeared.
“Ink is still there. No trickery yet.”
“I must speak with you, Reagan,” Darius said softly. “In private.”
“Do you have somewhere in mind where the dual mages won’t know to follow me? Because there’s going to be a fight, and they won’t want to let me out of their sight afterward.”
“Reagan Somerset,” came Callie’s low voice filled with warning. “You had better not be thinking what I think you’re thinking. That is the very opposite of why your mother spent all those years hiding you. The very opposite. She would be turning over in her grave if she could read your mind right now.”
“Told you,” I muttered to Darius.
“Reagan, you aren’t honestly considering going into the underworld, are you?” Dizzy asked hopefully. “That is a horribly bad idea.”
“Horribly bad,” Callie said.
“No one could go with you. You’d be on your own. That is quite possibly the most dangerous plan that you could come up with.”
“Horribly bad,” Callie said again.
I walked from the warehouse to my car, knowing they would follow me. When they did, I paused by my door. “I can’t hide anymore. It was fine when everyone thought I was just weird, but now Vlad is interested, not to mention really powerful demons. How much longer do you think I possibly have to live in relative freedom?”
“We just need to get you trained up. Then not even Vlad would be a threat,” Callie said stubbornly.
“That level four just taught me how to work my magic more intricately than I have ever done. Level four. And that is with the type of magic I thought I knew. I can’t even call the ice magic on command. I don’t have time for the training that would help me escape this. You must know that.”