“You should stop gossiping around the water cooler,” Reagan said, not looking at him.
“What did she say?” My mother’s voice was muffled.
“Those weren’t rumors.” Emery crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head. Awe crossed his expression.
“What’s happening?” my mother asked.
“Mother, would you stop?”
“But what’s happening?”
“Emery is piecing together a secret that could get him killed in the next three seconds.” Reagan still didn’t straighten, but her body had gone a worrying sort of relaxed. Not resting relaxed, crouching-tiger-hidden-knife relaxed.
“Why does it matter, though?” I asked, completely dumbfounded. “We know she has a ton of power. What changes?”
“Yeah, Emery?” Reagan said in a dangerous voice. “What changes?”
He stared at her for a long moment. Pressure filled the room.
“I feel cheated,” he murmured, scratching his chin. Reagan’s head snapped up. I could tell she was as confused as I was. “I could’ve figured that out on my own. I had all the clues. They were all right in front of me. Even your magic. Penny stole it when you were practicing in the warehouse, right? Incendium and glaciem magic—fire and ice. I’ve seen each of those used before. With a little downtime, I would’ve figured it out sooner, I know I would’ve. I haven’t seen both of those powers used together before, of course—that’s something only Lucifer and his heirs can do, or so the legends go. I would’ve realized that, too.” He shook his head, narrowing his eyes at Reagan. “I definitely would’ve figured out your secret on my own. I was cheated the opportunity.” He clucked his tongue, as if it were her fault, and turned back to the cabinet.
And just like that, the bubble of expectation popped. A breath I didn’t know I’d been holding released.
“Both of you are crazy,” Reagan said, now watching him.
“In answer to your question”—Emery took down two glasses—“aside from a question/answer segment, nothing changes. Who would I tell? I’m in exile. I have no friends, other than Penny and a couple of shifters that want no business with politics, and apparently we have a foretelling pinned to our collective heads. Penny and I could use the help, quite frankly.”
“I still don’t understand what’s happening,” I admitted, feeling even more dunce-like and out of touch than usual. Could Emery really be saying Reagan was an heir to Lucifer?
Emery filled the glasses with water and headed back to the table, glancing at Reagan as he passed her. He sat down next to me. “We have an ace in the hole, that’s what’s happening. And if I’m reading the situation right, and if the rumors are true—which I had scarcely believed, because they were so far-fetched and told to me by gamblers and thieves in the Realm—if she helps us, we can’t let anyone get away to share the tale.” He placed a glass of water in front of me, looking at Reagan. “You really went down there?”
She poured herself a generous helping of whiskey. “Yes. And while this was probably inevitable, it’s not sitting well that another person is in on this secret.”
“Tell me.” Emery leaned forward. “Were there dragons?”
Her lips didn’t move, but her eyes glimmered. “I’m not telling. You’ll have to go down and see for yourself.”
“I can’t. I don’t have any demon in me.” He sipped his water, his eyes hungry.
Now a smile did break through. “Darius knows you well, I’ll give him that. What mischief-maker wouldn’t want to tour a place he isn’t supposed to go?” She shook her head with a sly smile. “You’d better be careful. He thinks you’re integral to getting his people in.”
“Me?” Surprise flitted through his eyes.
“You and your brother played that trick in the Realm, right? Pissed off the elves with your illusion?” He nodded slowly, pain sparking in his eyes at the mention of his brother. Reagan nodded. “Then yes, you. There’s a wall set up down there. That’s what keeps people out. Take down the wall, and in ye git.”
Emery blew out a breath and his gaze fell on me. His eyes softened. “Probably a challenge for a different life.”
“Yeah, right.” Reagan took another sip of her whiskey. “Point Penny in the right direction, tell her it’ll be fine, and let her bumble around until the whole place is in an uproar. She’ll do great.”
“I’ve gotten better,” I mumbled, shaking my head. “So…you have power from the underworld?”
“Yes,” she said. “A lot of it. And I can do things neither of you can even imagine.”
“And that is what you need to take to this fight,” my mother chimed in, amazingly silent up until this point. “The three of you will need to solve this problem. I see no other way. And I agree with Emery. Leave no witnesses. The cards are very clear on that. Also, when you talk about important secrets that mean your life and death, you should probably make sure the phone isn’t on speaker. Just for future reference. You don’t have to worry about me, but just for the sake of pointing out what should’ve been obvious, you’d do best to remember that.”
Reagan stared at the phone with a gaping mouth. My mother did have a point…
“So what is it we’re going to do?” I asked.
“We’re going to let them think they’re surrounding us, and then we’re going to show them who they are really messing with.”
An hour later, after coming up with a horribly loose plan that involved very little planning at all, something that Emery seemed to have no problem with, I said goodbye to my mother and decided to turn in for the night.
“Three is a crowd for a house this size,” Reagan said as we left the kitchen. “Extort Darius to get you a place of your own. Better yet, I just found a secret bank account of his. Let’s go on a spending spree and see how long it takes him to realize the money is gone.”
“I cannot believe…” Emery shook his head as he followed me into my room. I closed and locked the door for the first time since moving there. Nervousness hatched butterflies in my stomach. “She is truly one of a kind. Naturals are rare, but there are a few of us. She’s in a league of her own.”
“It doesn’t change anything major, though, right?” I asked.
He shrugged as I wrapped my arms around his middle, his eyes softening and his breath dusting my face. “Not your friendship, anyway. Or her annoyance of another person in her house.” He smiled. “As for our lives down the road, who’s to say? I thought my life would be over by now. And yet…” He bent to kiss me, running his lips across mine.
“I love you too,” I said against his lips, and my stomach flipped over. “It’s deep, it’s constant, and it will never go away. I can feel that as strongly as I feel the nature around me. It’s a certainty. I don’t know that I believe in fate, or soul mates, but…”
“I do.” His lips curved. “Or, I should say, I do now.” He went in for another kiss.
The pounding ache was back, deep in my middle, and then lower and lower. Heat unfurled within my body as our kiss deepened. I pulled him by the neck toward the bed before settling on it. He lay on top of me, the weight of his body pushing me into the soft mattress.
“Will you make love to me, Emery?” I asked, my voice filled with lust and longing. I couldn’t hide the quiver of doubt, though. The fear of what was to come. Of how this might change things.
“Are you sure?” he asked softly, his hips pushing forward, applying pressure where I needed it most.
My body responded eagerly, desperate and needy. A glorious fever broke across my skin, and suddenly I’d never been so sure of anything in my entire life.
“Yes.” It was spoken on a sigh, and he didn’t hold back any more. He pulled up the bottom of my shirt before tugging it over my head. My bra went next before he fastened his hot mouth on my budded nipple.
His fingers worked at my pants and I struggled with his belt, ripping it open before sliding his pants down. He yanked his shirt away and I marveled at his hard chest, corded with defined muscle. Power and strength in a gorgeous package.