Raised in Fire

“We’ll talk about that in the future.”

Maybe I was jumping into the deep end with dating, but I would not shackle myself to a vampire. I didn’t say that, though. Not right then. I would save the bad news for when he returned to being a butthead. It was only a matter of time.

I kissed along his jaw. “Make love to me, Darius, and don’t make me regret this.”

“My pleasure, and you have my word.”

Epilogue

Vlad stalked along the lower hall in the lair, thinking over the things he’d seen. It had been truly unbelievable. From the moment Reagan had made her way down into the lair, he had known she was special—an impression heightened after he’d watched her take on two middle-level vampires in Seattle—but never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined how special.

In Seattle, he’d interrogated a man who had seen her battle a demon while hovering in midair. Later Vlad had seen her eat away a spell with fire, manipulating the flame in a way no mage on earth could. He would’ve thought them fools, especially Darius, for not having sensed his presence in the rail yard, but now that the pieces had clicked together, he completely understood.

The entire crew had been terrified of what it would mean for the demon to make it back to the underworld. That could mean one of a few things, but after looking into the types of demonic power, and hearing the details of power only Lucifer himself could wield, the unbelievable had become a reality.

Darius had possibly found the most valuable being in the world. He had found her, gained her trust, and tied himself to her.

Vlad had known Darius would yield greatness. That was why he’d arranged for the young man to be fooled into a precarious position—and then beaten within an inch of his life so he would be grateful to Vlad for turning him. It had already paid off ten-fold, but this…

This was everything. This was the key to tearing down the elves.

“Vlad.”

Vlad turned patiently as Sabrine paced toward him. Her stiletto boots, completely impractical for a woman of action, but something she deemed a necessity for reasons he’d never questioned, clicked on the hard ground. Her leather duster flared out behind her, revealing a tight red bustier that was also completely impractical.

“Yes?”

“I heard back from our contact in the Dark Kingdom. The demon from Seattle was not killed.”

Vlad stilled. “Elaborate.”

“The demon is in bad shape. Hellfire ate most of it away. It has some essence left, but very little. It seems as though it was an extremely narrow escape.”

Vlad curled one hand into a fist before relaxing it. “Where is the demon now? Can we finish the job?”

“It is in the Edges. Those who saw it appear are trying to coax it back. You know those in the Edges. They hate humans, having seen a great many summonings gone wrong.”

“They are also mistrustful of us.”

“They do not have love of vampires, it is true. We can lie in wait, but will have a small window in which to grab it if it recovers and tries to cross the river.”

Vlad felt the exhilaration of ruined plans course through him. It meant there was work to be done. He had the golden key to Lucifer. To all the power of the Dark Kingdom. That would be ruined if he, himself, couldn’t present Lucifer with the uncrowned heir.

“Find out about an heir,” Vlad said, his mind whirling. “Find out all you can. No detail is too small. Most importantly, keep this as quiet as possible.”

“And Darius?”

“Darius doesn’t think anyone knows about his pet. Keep it that way for now. First we need to know where we stand. Only then will we take future steps.”

Vlad waited until she stalked away before slowly heading back to his room. There was no need to be hasty. Not yet. That demon might perish, in which case, they had all the time in the world. If it didn’t, they would make a grab for it.

All else failing, Reagan would have to cross the river into the Dark Kingdom to kill it before it reached its sect. There would be no other option, not if Vlad (and she) hoped to keep her a secret. Through Darius, she was now one of Vlad’s greatest assets.