Revealed in Fire by K.F. Breene
Three
“Sorry,”Penny said to Emery. They sat on a love seat in the grand ballroom, next to a little table holding their drinks. Darius spun Reagan around the dance floor, their fluidity and grace effortless, their moves incredible. Reagan’s hips sashayed like they had a mind of their own, and Darius’s shoulders shifted and flexed as he led her in a series of intricate steps. Both were dressed to the nines, Reagan in a low-cut, sparkly dress that accentuated her curves and showed off her muscular legs and butt, and Darius in a pristine, tailored tux showing off his stellar physique. Reagan had even ditched her army boots for small, dainty heels she turned up with various dance steps. They were both knockouts in their own right, and it was hard to tear one’s eyes away from them when they were together, especially with their mastery on the dance floor.
“I cannot believe Reagan learned to dance like this in a couple of months. Like…that’s crazy,” Penny murmured.
“I can’t believe Darius got her to dress up. I almost don’t recognize her,” Emery responded. “Actually, if I didn’t know it was definitely her, I don’t think I would recognize her. She had help with the dancing, though.”
“I know, but even with Darius teaching me, I wouldn’t be able to pick it up that fast. Not even remotely.”
“I mean, she has that perfect recall.” He glanced at Penny. “She’s always been athletic, too. That probably helped.”
She smiled up at him. “Does it almost make you want to bond a vampire?”
“No.”
She laughed and slipped her hand onto his thigh, hoping he didn’t immediately fling it off. It wasn’t like him to do something like that, but still, she deserved it. Darius had made this incredible coq au vin paired perfectly with some sort of red wine she still needed to get the name of—she’d barely been able to think with how delicious it had been. On her best day, she’d never cooked a meal like that.
Then, the wine flowing freely, the delicious flavors exploding in Penny’s mouth, Darius had started peppering innocuous little questions into the conversation. His interest always seemed polite and not obtrusive, but Emery’s hand would suddenly tighten on her knee, and she’d have to rein herself in from spilling mage business. Or her personal business. Or whatever else Emery didn’t think vampires should stick their noses into. She knew Emery always worried that Darius would find a way to strengthen his hold over them, and considering Reagan agreed with him, and had given her that look over dinner, she’d obviously spoken too freely.
“I’m really sorry, Emery,” she said again, softer this time.
He glanced down at her before slinging his big arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. “Were you apologizing to me for something specific a moment ago?” He chuckled and kissed her head. “I thought that was random.”
It was true: she did just randomly apologize for things these days. But honestly, there were so many people around all the time lately, what with the endless training and meetings required to organize and structure the new Mages’ Guild, that it seemed she was always running into someone. So when she bumped into someone—or even a wall or chair at this point—she apologized out of reflex. It was easier than paying attention.
“Why are you apologizing?” he asked. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“About dinner. I didn’t realize he was plying me for information, or I would’ve zipped my lips and just refused to talk to him. Sorry if I gave away your plans or anything.”
He shook his head and squeezed her again, looking up as the music changed to a tango. Darius effortlessly altered his bearing, waiting a beat for Reagan to catch on, and then they were strutting, Darius’s legs reaching between hers, and then he was turning, dipping her, his upper body following, their mouths inches apart, their passion swelling to fill the room.
“This feels like a private moment,” Emery murmured, but he didn’t look away.
Emery was right, it did feel like a private moment, and yet, just like him, she could not tear her eyes away. Even as the couple straightened up, Reagan’s legs all but wrapped around Darius’s, their middles pressed close, their gazes eating each other up, Penny found that her eyes were stuck. They were so beautiful, the way they moved together, strong and powerful and sure, perfectly synced even though one was a master and the other a pupil.
“I want to learn how to ballroom dance,” she murmured.
“Yeah. Good call,” Emery replied.
She laughed and snuggled closer. “It might take us a little longer to look that good, though.”
“The fun is in the journey. But seriously, you didn’t give away anything important. Actually, you probably helped us out. I need more information about Ja’s interest in you, and I didn’t want to have to trade information for it. Vlad is basically stalking Charity and her dad because he wants the warrior fae on his side. I assume Ja wants you for the same reasons, but you and I are tied together. You can’t do anything huge without me helping, and the same goes for me in relation to you. So why is she so focused on you while completely ignoring me? There is a game afoot, but damned if I can figure it out. Hopefully Darius will have some ideas.”
“Yeah, she creeps me out. The daily flowers wouldn’t even be nice from you. It’s too much. Stop killing things and then trying to decorate my table with the corpses, you know what I mean?”
His body shook as he chuckled. It was one of those times when he didn’t seem to realize she was being serious. Thankfully, he knew what kinds of gifts she preferred—flowers that could be planted and power stones that seemed like they were living. Those things were much better than cut flowers, in her opinion.
“But Reagan didn’t seem to think Darius should have that information,” Penny said as Reagan and Darius strutted closer, the push and pull of the tango one of Penny’s favorite types of ballroom dancing.
“She would’ve told you to shut it if you were saying something that would negatively affect you, though I’m not totally sure if that rule applies to me.” He paused. “Based on the way he was talking to you, it hasn’t occurred to him that I know you can’t keep secrets, and we wouldn’t have come here if there was something urgent that you couldn’t share. Given his usual insightfulness, I’m guessing he’s incredibly distracted. He basically just clued me in to his anxieties and vulnerabilities. That is valuable info regarding an elder vampire. I can use that to my advantage if I need to.”
“But you won’t.”
“Unless he makes a play to trap you in some way, no. I just like assurances.” His voice softened. “I told you I’d keep you out of vampire hands, Turdswallop. I mean to keep that promise, by any means necessary.”
She fought a smile at the nickname, because even though it was ridiculous and embarrassing, it reminded her of when they’d first met. Of when they first fell in love.
“You’ve gotten really good at politics,” she said. “You’re almost as good as Darius.”
“Survival is a strong motivator.” He squeezed her again, pensive for a moment. “I think Darius is beside himself freaked out about Reagan. My guess is a lot more work is going into hiding her than we see here. He’s wound pretty tightly. This isn’t just a play for an asset… He actually loves her.”
“You knew that.”
He wobbled his hand. “I heard that, but all this time, I mostly thought he was playing a good game. He’s an elder—that’s their whole life, playing a good game to get what they want. But after seeing all this”—he waved at the dancers—“and our talk at dinner, and…” He shrugged. “Hard not to be a believer. Somehow, Reagan made that vampire more of a man than a beast. It should not be possible.”
“Just because people have always said it isn’t? By that logic, a mage, a natural mage, shouldn’t do magic like a witch.”
He looked down on her, the soft light of the ballroom infusing his beautiful blue eyes and softening his ruggedly handsome face. “Touché.”
“What we should be thinking of is how can we get the other vampires to become real boys. And girls.”
His eyes turned shrewd and drifted back up to Darius as he twirled Reagan, a classical song coming over the built-in speakers and prompting them to change things up. “Hmm.”
“You’re going to try to figure that out and leverage it over the vampires, aren’t you?” Penny said.
“No. We are going to figure it out and leverage it. Remember what I said? Anything huge requires both of us. If we can figure this out, it’s big enough that I might be able to wiggle out of my affiliation with Darius so we can completely stand on our own.”
Penny just shrugged. She wasn’t worried about where she stood with Darius. Not with Reagan in the mix, at any rate. Reagan might enjoy shoving Penny into danger, but she had never thrust her into something she couldn’t handle, not without stepping in if things went pear-shaped. Reagan would never allow Darius to corner Penny, or trap her, or hurt her.
Still, pinpointing the reason Darius had found his humanity could make a huge difference for the Brink and the Realm. Penny would help for that reason.
She took a deep breath and thought about getting another glass of wine.
“She seems genuinely happy,” Emery said after a while, Darius pulling Reagan closer as the music slowed. “Did you want to dance, by the way? I know you didn’t earlier, but—”
“And have them completely show us up? Are you kidding me?” Penny laughed. “No. I’m tired from the flight. I’m looking forward to just chilling for a couple of days. Reagan’s not allowed to get up to any mischief here, so I’ll get a real break. And no, she is not genuinely happy.”
“No? What am I missing? She has never struck me as the type of girl to fake her emotions.”
“Usually she’s not. And she’s not faking her love for Darius. It’s just…” She shrugged. “People always think Darius is the dangerous one of their pair. They see an elder vampire and think she’s the one in need of protection. That they shouldn’t mess with her because of him. But that’s not it at all.”
“I’m not following.”
“Do you know what would happen if someone hurt him, for example?”
“She’d kill them, I imagine.”
Penny leaned away so he could see her lifted eyebrows. “Yeah. Kill them. At the very least. If they kidnapped him?” She whistled, which almost sounded like a raspberry. “If he got into trouble, she’d handle it, know what I mean? Like…dynamite and earthquakes kind of handling it. Like, burn down a town and—”
“I got it, I got it.” Emery grinned.
“Don’t laugh. I’m serious. She would go absolutely nuts. You think she’s unhinged when she gets bored? Well…” Penny hit him with a poignant look.
He laughed and put up his hands. “She’s territorial, I got it.”
“She’s more than territorial. Once she trusts, she’s a ride-or-die kind of person. She would never let any harm come to Darius if she could help it. Me either. She’ll always have my back. Our backs, I guess, though you are basically marrying into it.”
“I hope to, at any rate.” He rubbed his thumb across the power stone in the ring he’d given her when he proposed. The stone purred in contentment. It liked him more than Penny, she was pretty sure. “Though…ouch.” He smirked.
“You know it’s true. You’re in her circle of protection because of me.”
“So, for your sake, she’d blow the world to save me?”
“I mean…Emery, she would kidnap a person’s family and hold them for ransom. She might even skin a pet or something, I don’t know. She’s nuts, man. Don’t mess with her loved ones. She’s not rational—”
He fell away from her, leaning against the arm of the sofa, laughing. “I got it, I got it.”
“I know that you’re laughing at me, but you have no idea. If you’d been on as many bounty hunter gigs with her as I have, you’d know that the woman has no sense of self-preservation. Literally none. She’s not here to protect herself, and she’s not here for vacation, like we are. She’s here because the people who love her want to keep her safe, and she worries that if she leaves, she’ll drag us all into danger. Then she’d have to, like, light cars on fire or something, I don’t know. Burn Roger’s house down, though that might just be for fun.”
His big body shook with laughter next to her, and he wiped his eyes. Penny cracked a grin, because the last had been a joke. Reagan knew better than to mess with Roger. Hopefully.
“Did she say this?” Emery asked, finally calming down.
“She hasn’t admitted it, but I see it more and more every time we visit. I think she really hates it here.”
“That’s crazy. This is literally paradise. I would give my left nut to own this place and hang out here whenever I felt like it.”
“Ew. That’s the thing, though. You’d choose when to hang out, and when to go back to your life. She doesn’t have a choice, and I think it’s eating away at her. I was sheltered for most of my life, and now, after getting a taste of the magical world, I would wither and die if I had to go back to that. She’s never been sheltered before. Not really. She was sequestered away, but from the sounds of it, her mother exposed Reagan to plenty of danger so she could learn her magic. Her mother found a balance. And that was easy when no one knew she existed, but with so many people out there, looking for her…”
Emery sobered and leaned back toward Penny. “Yeah, I suppose.”
“She can’t hide here forever, Emery,” Penny said quietly. “Even if so many people weren’t actively trying to flush her out, Darius can’t keep her hidden forever. He’s good, but he’s up against the literal creator of hell.”
“The Underworld isn’t hell—”
“Well, the demons we’ve been fighting sure look like the harbingers of hell, so excuse me for the confusion. Show me proof to the contrary, and maybe I’ll believe it.”
“You’re right, though. Even if she wanted to stay here forever, and you say she doesn’t, Darius wouldn’t be this on edge if he had everything locked down.”
“I mean, even if no one finds her, sending all those demons is like tapping her on the shoulder. She knows she can help put them down. We have the situation under control right now, but the second those demons get too much for us to handle, she’ll step in. You know she will.”
“Will that be with dynamite and earthquakes, or will it—”
She elbowed him. “It’s not funny!”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’ve seen her in action. It’s just your deadpan certainty of it that makes me laugh.”
Penny had no idea why, but she let it be. He’d only try to explain, and then start laughing again when she didn’t get it. She wondered if her dad, whom she was apparently most like in personality, had always been the butt of jokes when he was alive. She’d asked her mom once, but had been told, “Don’t be ridiculous. No one made fun of him!” Given her tone, Penny had figured that probably meant yes, so she hadn’t asked for specifics.
Emery wrestled the smile off his face. “It’s hard to feel the gravity of the outside world in this place. Anyway, yes, I suspect you’re right. You spoon-fed Darius everything we know about Vlad’s plans and motivations. Hopefully it’ll help him shrug off any lingering sense of duty he might have toward his maker. If those two go head to head, it’ll be a test to see if the pupil has outstripped the master.”
Penny’s stomach twisted. Looking over, she watched Reagan glide across the dance floor. Darius often called Reagan mon ange. My angel. That was exactly what she looked like right then, her face tilted up to him with a serene smile, her dress sparkling and flowing around her legs, her handsome prince (of darkness) holding her hand while his other arm encircled her back. An angel…or a princess.
But then, she was a princess. In blood, if not by name.
Penny’s gaze flicked to the druid, draped with shadows in the corner of the room, watching as well. He’d drifted away after dinner, and she hadn’t realized he’d turned up here until right this moment. She wondered what part he’d play in the unfolding situation, or if he’d say goodbye when this phase was at an end and he had nothing left to teach.
She hoped he stayed. There was a calm certainty about him that put Penny at ease. When he stood sentinel, she couldn’t imagine anything unwanted coming in.
Then again, he’d been hard-pressed to keep up with them in their battle with the former leaders of the Mages’ Guild. He wasn’t used to Reagan’s unpredictability, and even though he trained with her, it didn’t seem like he’d become accustomed to her tricks. Maybe even he wouldn’t be strong enough to save them.
Penny steeled her resolve. Whatever happened, whatever wickedness came knocking on their proverbial door, Penny would stand by Reagan. She would guard Reagan’s back, even if it meant plunging her soul into hell to do it.
