Fused in Fire

“Is that like the fact that I could keep you from hitting the ground, but that answer makes me not want to?”

The demon didn’t respond.

The terrain changed into a bumpy sort of path lined with smoothed rocks, the sides ever closer together, and a ceiling that jutted down in areas, making me feel like it was about to squish me. A blast sounded behind us, rattling my teeth. I glanced back, but a rock blocked my view.

“Faster, Darius,” I said, pushing for more speed.

I will need blood soon.

I nodded, though he couldn’t see me, and tore around a corner after him. It took me a second to realize there was another way we could’ve gone.

“Is this right?” I asked the demon, slowing.

Darius half staggered and reached over to brace his hand on the rocks. He did need blood.

“This way leads to a lustful sect.” I could hear the sneer in its voice. “The other to a sect that usually identifies more with a human’s version of love. Either way is safe enough. This one is faster.”

Darius jogged back the way we’d come, reaching into his satchel. Instead of putting a spell on the entrance to the path we were on, however, he put it on the other.

“Clever. Though they might realize you are fooling them.” I narrowed my eyes as I considered the many-layered possibilities.

Darius set the spell before stopping in the entrance of our path and setting another.

I smiled and nodded at him. “Right. Better idea. You’re so smart.”

“You are becoming giddy,” Darius said as he laid the spell. Something else nasty.

“Yes, I am, sir. I am half delirious. But that just makes me more dangerous, I am sure of it.”

“More oblivious, at any rate.” He closed the flap on his satchel and started to run.

I tore off after him, noticing his lack of grace, which surely meant he and I were in the same boat. There was no telling how many days we’d been up for, but the real problem was the amount of energy we’d been expending nonstop.

The rock corridor opened onto the peak of a cliff, surrounded by a collection of other cliffs. Red stars twinkled above, below, and across the way, not relegated to the faux-sky. The cliff kitty-corner to ours rose higher than the others. Water surged over the top and enjoyed a free fall before cascading down the cliff face. A demon made its way along a path cut into that cliff face, similar to the one we’d used on our way in. It disappeared behind the rushing water and spray.

“The entrance is behind that waterfall?” I asked, motioning for Darius to grab the waistline of my pants so I could scoot toward the edge and look over. I didn’t want to fall over the side.

The water disappeared into a pool of blackness my night vision couldn’t penetrate.

“Yes. The fastest way is to go through, however unpleasant. We will then be one neutral sect from the river.”

This seemed faster than the way we’d come, though that might be because we’d told my pouch-wearing friend that we didn’t want to go through any more sects.

I motioned for Darius to pull me back. “Do they just let anyone go through?”

“No,” the demon said. “We must request admittance.”

I ran my hand across my face, uncertainty pulling at me. “How long would it take to go around?”

“We would then need to pass through four sects—”

“No.” I slashed the air with my hand. “Going through is not an option for us. Can we get around?”

Still hunched on the ground, it rubbed at the mark on its palm. Its excitement about serving the Great Master’s heir seemed to have faded, but when the dual-mage team set out to bully someone, they really got the job done. It was their attention to detail that had me listening to the demon at all. They would’ve made sure to bind it to my good health and well-being, ensuring it did right by me and didn’t try to set me up.

The problem was, what it thought would help me might actually imprison me or get me killed.

“We could get around, but it would take much longer. We’d be open to the sky for most of that journey.”

“Dragons,” Darius said softly.

“The number of dragons they will use depends on how much you are wanted,” the demon said, looking back the way we’d come. “Maybe none. Maybe the fleet. It depends on if they suspect you or not.”

“We are a human and vampire wielding magic in a time of high strife. They’ll want us.” I hung my head. “Okay. Let’s head over to the demon sex club and hope they admit us.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The spray of the waterfall didn’t splash my face, but the rumble nearly deafened me as we passed under the surging waters. A glistening gate that wasn’t actually wet pushed into the smooth rock of the cliff face. The metal door stood open, and as we neared, the water rushing overhead fell silent. A strange hush fell over the hollow.

A tall being emerged from the doorway with pointed features and snow-white hair cropped short. Green wool draped from a skinny frame and brushed its blunt toes, eight in all.

“Trick or treat,” I said.

“What are you?” it asked in a silky voice I did not expect from a demon.

“Oh, a little of this and a little of that. How about you?”

“We seek passage through your territory,” the demon shackled to me said in a flat tone. I had no doubt it was trying to hide its disdain for the lust demons.

“And why should we grant it to you?” the gatekeeper asked.

“Look at this guy.” I indicated Darius. “How many guys have you seen that are as hot as this guy? You’ve got lust brewing in there, right? Well, here you go. He can rev up a monk. You’re welcome.”

The creature took a moment to assess Darius before its eyes flicked over his shoulder. They narrowed. The creature stepped to the side to look beyond us.

I followed its gaze and felt my stomach seize. Through the small gap that looked out into the space between the cliffs, I could see something glimmering fly into the space between all the cliffs.

Oh yeah, they’d send dragons. Already had, by the looks of it.

Adrenaline pumped through me as I turned back to the gatekeeper. “Let us in. You won’t get another chance to do so.”

My shackled demon scurried behind me.

The gatekeeper’s eyes flicked to the cowering demon, then back to me. A glimmer sparked in its eyes and a strange sound rumbled deep in its throat, almost like a cat’s purr. “You have great passion.”

“That’s not where I was going with that threat…”

The demon’s gaze moved beyond us again and a stray thought—Who do they seek?—drifted from its mind. When its eyes came back to me, I could easily guess the next thought. This creature?

“We are celebrating the change in the stars and do not usually let outsiders through. But you captivate me.” Its gaze roamed over Darius. “Your essence intrigues me.” Back to me. “I feel the pulse in you. The aching desire. It excites me.”

“Ew.”

“You may come.” With that, it turned and walked farther into the sect.

“The change in the stars?” I asked Darius quietly as I followed.

“They have a ceremony every time they change the color and placement of the twinkling lights,” the demon said, not lowering its voice. “They have so little importance that they create celebrations over made-up situations.”

“Our time is not spent fighting and spying on our neighbors,” the gatekeeper said dismissively as it led us through a tunnel. The sides branched out into little catacombs where figures were either lounging or engaging in lewd acts. Regardless of how icky my logical mind found the situation, a tawdry feeling filled the air more the farther in we got.

I wiped my forehead, trying to dislodge the memories of bonding with Darius. Of his slick body pressed firmly against mine. The feel of him inside me. Again and again. The grind of our movements.

“How much longer?” I asked weakly.

The gatekeeper turned with a sly grin, now walking backward in front of me. “You feel it, do you not?”

Sounds filled the air as the fervor rose. We turned a corner into a plush, spacious setting where mostly human forms writhed. Coupled or in an orgy, sticking with one or moving around—it didn’t seem to matter. The area was alive with activity.