Revealed in Fire by K.F. Breene

Ten

The next day,in the dead of night, I put my hands on my hips and sighed in annoyance as we waited in front of a jagged line cutting through the sky, marking a gateway into the Realm. Everyone in this group had more than enough magic to step through without even a twinge of pain or fatigue, but they had stopped to assess the situation all the same. I got the feeling they were worried about what was on the other side.

I hadn’t progressed that far yet. I’d purposely sat out of the Seer readings, so I didn’t know what to expect. When you pretty much only had downhill to go, hearing your fate seemed like overkill.

“I wanted to send an answering message down with a demon,” I grumbled. “It doesn’t seem right that my journey should be hijacked by a bunch of fae.”

“That’s the sort of thinking that is going to get everyone in trouble,” Penny replied, chewing on her lip and staring at the gateway.

“How do you figure?”

Emery stalked back from the group of planners like a fighter getting ready to enter the octagon. Darius stayed in the cluster, speaking to Romulus as Roger, Charity, and Devon listened in. Everyone else waited nearby, Steve leaning against a tree and a sour-faced woman whose name I didn’t remember standing guard ten feet away, looking out at the empty field.

We’d chosen a gate about a hundred miles outside of New Orleans. There were reasons for it, but I honestly hadn’t paid attention to any of them. There didn’t need to be one more boss in this outfit, and I didn’t like planning anyway. Give me a castle to storm, and I was in. Chatting about what waited beyond the keep? Yawn.

“Because you’re going to get bored and cause trouble,” Penny replied.

“I beg your pardon,” I said indignantly. “I do not cause trouble. I create mayhem. It sounds much cooler. And yeah, probably. But still. I should be sending a message to my father through a demon, then…like…”

“See?” Penny pointed at my face. I slapped her hand away. She pointed again. “You don’t know what comes next.” She nodded like I’d answered a question. “This is the right way.”

“This is the only way.” Emery stopped next to Penny and looked out over the field. “Lucifer showed up at the castle demanding answers, and left unhappy. Those elves weren’t being coy to protect their secrets—they didn’t have answers. They’ll be as stirred up as an anthill after a kid comes through with a stick. What we saw last time will be nothing, I guarantee it.”

“Did you hammer that home to Mr. Magical Policeman?” I pointed at Romulus. “He still tends to think the best of people for some reason.”

Emery’s lips pressed together tightly. He gave a curt nod.

“Ah.” I shook out my hands and faced the field as well. What else did I have to look at? “The all-powerful and important Second seems to think his position will protect us all.”

“He seems to think so, yes.” Emery lowered his voice. “He’s been gone a long time. He’s going to get a rude awakening.”

As someone who’d been hunted for years, Emery would know. He’d seen the underbelly of the Realm and all the problems caused by the people in charge.

This situation was starting to look up.

“Who is…?” Penny squinted through the darkness and then put a hand up to block an absent sun. “Do you see that?”

“We got something,” the sour-faced woman barked, planting her feet shoulder distance apart.

Darius, one of two who could see in the dark, turned and peered into the night. I followed suit, pulling Penny’s hand out of the air to keep her from looking ridiculous. That’s what friends were for.

Two shapes moved through the night, tramping over the weeds, one of them jerking as though it had tripped.

The sky lit up, accompanied by a bug-zapper-type sound. Charity’s magical sun.

Darius shrank away, and I sent a peal of air to punch Charity in the face. Her head snapped back before she dropped like a sack of bricks. Devon bristled, turning toward me with his arms pushed away from his sides and murder in his eyes. The sun clicked off.

“‘At ease, disease,’” I quoted, and wondered if anyone would get the G.I. Joe reference. “We have a vampire in our midst. Watch what magic you use.”

I sent a blanket of fire crawling through the sky. Flickering light sifted down to illuminate the two forms doggedly coming our way. I groaned.

“What are they doing here?” Penny asked.

“They never seem to understand ‘you can’t come’ applies to them.” I let the fire crackle above Callie and Dizzy as they neared, sweat beading on their brows from exertion and heat, each of them carrying a backpack and a satchel. Callie wore a lime-green sweat suit with two stars on the chest. I was pretty sure those stars were supposed to be in the nipple region of someone whose breasts weren’t yet on a downward trajectory.

“Why did you choose a gate way out here?” Callie demanded, breathing heavily.

“You have to go back,” Penny said, shaking her head. “This is going to be incredibly dangerous—”

“Wrong approach,” I murmured.

“We’re going to be walking for days. Maybe running,” Penny amended.

I nodded. That was the better deterrent. The dual-mages were in their sixties. They could hold up their end of the bargain when it came to magic, but they weren’t big into hardcore exercising. Or any exercising.

“I have a duty to that girl’s mother.” Callie pointed at me, and I knew better than to slap her hand out of my face. “Amorette gave up everything so her only daughter could have a chance. She might be gone, but Dizzy and I have picked up the torch. Besides…” Callie took a deep breath and adjusted the straps of her backpack. “Someone has to fix her up if she blows off her eyebrows. She can’t go meeting the elves looking like a Q-tip.”

“She does have a point.” I nodded. I had a horrible habit of burning off my eyebrows. It wasn’t exactly a good look.

“Missus Banks, Mister Banks, so nice to see you.” Romulus gave them a pleasant smile. “Do you need a rest before we continue?”

Callie waved him away. “I don’t need any special treatment.”

“Fantastic.” He looked over the group as everyone clustered together, Darius returning to my side. We’d worked out his anger issues the day before, and now he slipped his arm around my waist. I felt nervousness swirling through the bond we shared. He clearly shared Emery’s skepticism about our likely reception. “Charity and I will step through the gate first. After that, those strongest in power will follow. The weakest will go last, followed by Roger, as is the shifter way.” His gaze hit me. “You will walk through with Darius and Halvor, in the middle.” Romulus flicked his hand, indicating the assassin-looking guy he called his assistant. “This is both to—”

I waved him away. “Sounds good. Let’s get to it.”

Given the political situation, the gate will almost certainly be guarded. All of them will be. Try not to use your magic, Darius thought at me as everyone geared up. Let Romulus handle things. Let him do the talking.

“That’ll last until the guards decide he’s a nuisance.”

Yes.

“And then?”

At that point, I doubt you’ll be still long enough for a plan.

Good point. I didn’t plan to stand idly by as elves rushed us.

Fire rolled over me, and the heat felt damn good.

The first few people went through.

“I’ve always wanted to see the Flush,” Dizzy said, pushed up behind me. Apparently they’d be traveling in the middle as well. “I’ve heard it is absolutely beautiful.”

“I feel like a donkey, carrying all of this stuff.” Callie pulled at the backpack straps again.

“Here.” The big dude, Rod, stepped up and put out his hand. “I can take that for you, Missus Banks.”

“Oh.” She smiled at him sheepishly. “Well, thank you, young man.”

Penny and I exchanged a look, our eyebrows hiked up. Young man? It wasn’t like her to play the old biddy. Then again, if it took the load off…

“Did you really come for me, or because you didn’t want to be left behind?” I asked as we stepped forward, like waiting in line at Disneyland. These people were much too cautious.

“I’d be lying if I said I savored the prospect of waiting in the house,” Dizzy said, “doing nothing, listening to the two Seers bicker.”

Callie elbowed him.

“What?” he hollered at her. “She’s not a dummy. She knows we hate taking the safe approach.”

Callie scowled at Dizzy. “We wouldn’t have bothered if it hadn’t been you and Penny in the mix.”

“I’m just coming along because of Reagan,” Penny said. “The Flush”—she reduced to a whisper—“was not very fun.”

“Why is that?” I stepped up again as the rest of the fae ducked through the gate. “You never said. I mean…you didn’t give me a reason I actually believed. Boredom and hunting for weird stones has never been a problem for you.”

“Why didn’t you pester her about it, then?” Callie demanded. “It’s a little late now, with curious ears listening in.”

“We’re the only ones with curious ears, hon,” Dizzy said. “Everyone else has been there.”

“I didn’t badger her about it before ’cause Charity’s story was more interesting, and then I just forgot.”

Penny was still whispering. “I didn’t want to…speak badly. But… Well, you’ll see. They aren’t exactly welcoming to strangers.”

“Oh, that’s okay.” I shrugged. “I’m rarely welcome anywhere. This will be no different.”

“It might be a little different,” Emery said, and started laughing. That was promising.

We finally stepped up to the gate. Darius put out his hand to stop us.

Halvor, a hard-eyed man with impeccable posture and an air of unspeakable violence, stepped up to my side. All of the mages took a step back.

“’ello, guvna,” I said in a terrible English accent.

He didn’t respond. Not real chatty, that fae.

Here we go,Darius thought.

Like prickles lightly sliding across my skin, the magic of the gate washed over me. The dark sky became orange with little gold filaments floating around us. The path turned to cobbles, flanked by sweet-smelling flowerbeds laden with magic and trees with perfectly manicured branches. The whole thing looked like a children’s picture book, down to the little bench under a green light pole off to the side.

Romulus stood near that bench, speaking to two tall and swishy elves, their hair flowing in the lack of breeze, their red and orange tunics draped down their slight bodies just so, and their hands flared to the sides just a little, like they were about to dance forward and frolic in the flowers.

It was all an act.

All of it. After my stint in the Underworld, I knew in my blood this was a magical construction painted over the natural habitat.

To that end, I looked upward, wondering if it was like earth, and the universe waited beyond, or if it was like the Underworld, and we were actually inside an enormous cave or something. And if the former was true, were we in a different universe than the one that existed on the Brink side, or was it somehow the same?

Darius moved us forward, Halvor still at my side, forcing us to stay within a protective bubble of fae. I let them shepherd me, looking back at the gate, wondering if the worlds weren’t separate at all. Maybe we all existed together—the magical people and the humans—and the magical people sectioned themselves off into these pockets in time and space. Maybe we actually stood on Brink soil.

“Oh no,” I murmured, grabbing my head. “This place is just as much of a mindfuck as the Underworld.”

Do not mention that here,Darius thought, his hand tightening on my wrist.

“Can the elves hear as well as you?” I whispered, no longer able to see them through the thicket of fae surrounding us. “As well as the shifters?”

Nearly.

I nodded and tried to ignore the urge to explore the magic stitching this place together. Maybe my magic couldn’t crack the Realm open like it could the Underworld. Then again, with Lucifer so suspicious of the elves, and the elves so distrustful of him…

It seemed logical that the two could be very detrimental to each other’s setups. I bet I could crack this place like an egg. Dang it, I really wanted to try.

“Come forward. You, there.”

The elf’s musical voice wasn’t nearly as pleasing as Vlad’s. It was like he was trying too hard. Or not made for seduction.

Halvor pushed in a little closer to me. “You do not have to go forward unless the Second wishes it.”

“And not even then, since he’s not my Second.” I peered through the spaces between the various heads and necks and caught both elves looking my way. Shifters stepped through the gate, Andy and Sour Face, my buddy the yeti, and Yasmine, who was a serious looker. Charity already stood up front with Romulus, and they had not turned. Apparently he didn’t wish it.

Let this escalate, Darius thought. Let them see how the elves handle not getting what they want. It is a lesson the Second must learn.

I felt Penny tight to my back. Emery was right there too, content to hide with us.

I hated hiding.

“Nope,” Penny said, and grabbed the back of my tank top. She’d probably felt me tense. “We don’t need this to kick off, Reagan. Just stand back.”

“They think they own the world, do they?” Callie asked with a huff. “Since when do people need a pass to enter the magical world?”

“That’s part of the problem,” Darius murmured.

“Step aside.” The elf put out his hand, ready to move Romulus away.

“There is a vampire,” the other elf said.

Magic condensed around the area. It grew heady and heavy, pushing down on us. Squeezing us.

“Weird magic,” I murmured, splaying out a tiny bit of fire to eat through it. Like oil on water, it flicked over it. “Hmm.”

“Vampires are permitted in this part of the Realm, are they not?” Romulus said, raising his voice.

Roger finally stepped through the gate, brawny and ready for action. He evaluated the situation and immediately strutted to Romulus’s side.

“Bring them forth,” commanded the elf clad in red.

“Good luck, dipshit,” I murmured.

The one in orange took in the largish cluster of powerful magical people. The fae surrounding us. The shifters filing in. Roger staring them down. Romulus losing his patience. He looked back at his buddy.

“Leave them,” the one in red said a moment later. “For now.”

“Yes, good choice.” Romulus bowed. “We will present to the castle as soon as we are able. I know that you are eager to officially meet the Third.”

The elves didn’t stay to chat. They started jogging out of the area, and any idiot could tell they were going to get backup.

“Time to go,” I called out, and did a circle with my finger. “I don’t think we want to be here when they get back.”

“I agree,” Romulus said softly, and turned toward the path.

I could feel Darius’s approval, and suddenly the Seers’ insistence that he come with us made all kinds of sense. He was needed to steer the fae. They had to know the real state of affairs, and through subtlety and suggestion, he would help show them just that. He would do what Vlad had been trying to do for months.

It wouldn’t be Vlad who ultimately gained their favor, though.

“Those sneaky littles witches,” I said with a grin, pushing Halvor further away.

“Who?” Penny asked, still pushed against me.

“No offense, bub,” I told Halvor, whose expression darkened as soon as I addressed him. “But I don’t know you well enough to wear you as a skin suit.”

“Ew,” Penny mumbled.

Working just a little bit of magic to pick at the setup around me, I answered Penny, “The Seers. They got it right. Never trust a vampire.”