Battle With Fire by K.F. Breene

Fourteen

Penny stoodto one side of the large, rustic table in what looked like a spacious conference room stolen out of the seventies. The orange Formica countertop at the back, housing a coffee pot and a few sandwiches, matched the strange shag carpet that ran wall to wall. A dusty plant took up residence in the corner, and no one used the spindly chairs positioned throughout the room in little clusters.

Instead, they gathered around the conference table, all eyes on Penny’s mom, who alone sat at the table. She had her cards spaced out in front of her, her crystal ball to one side. The Red Prophet sat cross-legged on the surface of the opposite end of the table.

Roger stood across from Penny’s mother, his hands loose at his sides and hard lines etching his face. The muscles on his large torso bulged beneath his white T-shirt, his whole body channeling his anger at the revelation that at least one person in his camp was working for the enemy. Given they’d had a problem like this when Penny escorted Charity to the Flush for the first time and they’d never found the perpetrator, it was clear he needed to clean house. Hard to do that with the sudden time constraints, however.

Romulus and Charity stood beside Roger, and the rest of their strategists were positioned around the room, ready to take notes or just absorb the new information.

Reagan exhaled slowly, and Penny could tell she was trying to keep her composure. She hadn’t wanted to come and see the Seers at work. Darius had pushed, though, wanting her to get the information firsthand and ask questions if need be. He stood behind her, with Emery, the dual-mages, and Cahal close at hand.

Magic swirled through the room, prickling Penny’s skin.

“Two days seems right to me,” Karen said, her eyes fluttering. The mists in her crystal ball whirled and spun. She slapped her cards down, seemingly at random, then opened her eyes and looked them over. She nodded. “Two days. The elves…” She paused, her gaze flicking from one card to another. She laid down three more cards, two in front of her and one to the side. The third card to hit the table was Death. Her lips tightened. That wasn’t a good sign. “The elves are not ready.”

“You must take the deal.” The Red Prophet stared straight at Reagan, who definitely hadn’t wanted to be there but needed to. It was time for big-girl panties. If Penny had had to go to a demon sex club, Reagan could deal with Seers.

The Red Prophet’s eyes twinkled. “Take the deal and holster your magic. Make the call.”

“She’s doing it again.” Penny’s mom rubbed her temples, breathing in through her mouth and out through her nose. “Before you ask, no, I don’t know what that means. I am not getting any of that. Also, no, I still don’t know what the villain’s crown is crooked from yesterday means. She’s talking gibberish half the time. I think the stress is addling her brain, I really do. She simply cannot keep up.”

“She can be eccentric, but she does have power,” Romulus said. “She has never let us down.”

“Just so I have this straight.” Reagan held up her hand. “You want me to take the deal to save myself…and put everyone else in danger?”

“Put everyone else in danger, yes. That is the ticket.” The Red Prophet gave her a grimace-smile.

Reagan narrowed her eyes but didn’t respond.

Penny spoke up. “That wasn’t the choice the demon gave, though.”

“Leave it,” Reagan said softly. “She’s putting on theatrics. She can’t hang out at a person’s house for a while, terrorize the neighborhood, and expect the shifts in her personality not to be cataloged.” Reagan paused for a moment. “She’s fucking with me. She knows a secret about what will happen, and she’s not telling.”

“What kind of secret?” Roger asked roughly.

“I have no fucking idea, but given her level of nuts right now, it’s a doozy.” Reagan stared at the Red Prophet for a long, tense moment and then tilted her head. The Red Prophet was clearly communicating with her by thinking. “I would not have guessed that, no. So you’re playing both sides too?”

“I am on all sides,” the Red Prophet said with a knowing smile. “And so are you.”

Reagan retied her ponytail, something she did when she was readying for battle. “Keep your secrets. I don’t need them.” She turned and walked toward the door. “Don’t worry so much about turncoats, Roger.” She paused when she neared the door. “The Red Prophet made those circles, and it’s a safe assumption Ja called the demons. If you see Ja, kill her.”

“Now I get why my mother is beside herself annoyed,” Penny said, catching up to Reagan as she pushed out of the conference room and went down the hall, heading outside. Penny’s watch said dawn was just around the corner, but deep night covered the area. Reagan had really come along with her magic.

“This is bigger than just a war between the worlds, somehow,” Reagan said, turning toward the open fields and clear sky.

Darius hadn’t followed them, and neither had the others. They were clearly going to stay behind and hear what Penny’s mom had to say, in the hopes her Seeing was more coherent. And reliable.

“That won’t change my role, I don’t think,” Reagan murmured, walking out to the edge of her magical night to peer up at the budding dawn. “I miss my quiet life. This has all gotten to be too much.”

“I don’t miss mine,” Penny said. “This is a lot, I grant you, but it is a means to an end. It will be worth it. I can feel it.” She patted her pockets, where a couple of her power stones were nestled. Her Temperamental Third Eye had a moment of clarity, the clouds parting to show the way forward. This was right, this path. This was the way of the fates.

That didn’t necessarily mean it would lead to a happy ending, though. So the feeling wasn’t incredibly helpful.

Thanks, Temperamental Third Eye, as always.

Two hours later,they were walking within the patch of magically darkened sky to meet up with Darius and the others.

“Don’t want to know,” Reagan said as they approached.

“You don’t need to,” Darius replied, taking her hand and threading his fingers with hers. “Ms. Bristol had a lot of helpful predictions for how the battle would line up, but she kept running into holes. The Red Prophet refused to fill them, if she even could have, despite Roger asking nicely and Romulus demanding. There is something in the works, and Ms. Bristol isn’t seeing it.”

“The Red Prophet might not be seeing it either,” Callie said, wiping her forehead free of perspiration. Her lime-green velvet sweat suit seemed to glow in the low light. Campfires burned sporadically throughout the area, surrounded by benches and chairs, the heat pushing back on the chilled air. Very few people were making use of the areas of respite, though. Many of the mages, who might’ve enjoyed the comfort, had wandered to the sunny areas outside of the spell, and the other creatures who’d gathered were not as prone to the cold. “She has gone completely loopy. She probably just wants to be noticed.”

“I’d hazard a guess that she wants to be forgotten,” Reagan murmured, stopping near one of the fires and looking around. She seemed troubled and anxious, but she wouldn’t share what had her so wound up. Probably because she’d have to admit to her fears, and that was never any fun. “She liked hanging around Mikey and Smokey, who didn’t want to hear any predictions. She was the most normal around them, and when terrorizing the neighborhood. She needs to get out of here.”

“We all do,” Emery said.

“Where are you all headed now?” Dizzy asked, and it was clear fatigue was dragging at him and Callie. It was dragging at everyone, Penny wagered.

“Roger wanted to get some practice in fighting the magic of the dragons’ roars,” Darius said. “It’s a good idea. It can be done sitting down.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Dizzy replied. “Penny’s dragon always makes me think I’m going to soil myself. I’m so tired right now that I might actually do it.”

“You guys go back—”

Reagan froze, her gaze snagging on a vampire who was chatting with two others across the way. He had the usual flawless face and good looks. His shirt and trousers were pristine but didn’t quite look high fashion. Penny hated that she now knew the difference. Marie had cursed her.

“What is it?” Darius asked, clearly feeling something through their bond.

“Nothing,” Reagan said, taking a step to veer away from the small group of vampires.

That wasn’t normal. When did Reagan veer away from anyone?

As though feeling an entire group of people staring at him, the vampire glanced over. His gaze skimmed everyone before snapping to Reagan. His eyes widened slightly, and hunger sparked in them immediately, his body tensing before going loose and fluid.

Shivers coated Penny’s skin—a reaction to the new predator suddenly in their midst. That vampire wanted more than just to bite, too, evidenced by the sensual way he licked his lips and let his gaze drift down Reagan’s front.

“What is this?” Darius asked in a low, rough tone.

The sensation of danger flared within Penny, yelling at her to run. Or fight. Or throw a spell.

Emery curled his hand over her shoulder and gently pushed her behind him.

“It’s nothing,” Reagan said quickly. “It was a long time ago. Let it go.”

“Wait…what was a long time ago?” Penny asked Callie and Dizzy, who’d stepped up with her.

“It seems we have found my surprise,” Darius said, and the sheen and polish of his handsome exterior fell away, leaving a beast in its place. Menace curled through the air. His claws extended from his fingertips.

The breath left Reagan in a whoosh. “She brings up your past to me, and now she is flaunting my past in front of you.”

“What’s happening?” Penny asked, knowing there was some drama and not getting it.

“Ah.” Dizzy patted Penny’s arm. “Yes. The vampire from Reagan’s past. She mentioned him once. After her mother died, she went slumming, as it were. She walked away and forced him to let her.”

“Oh.” Penny’s breath came in short bursts as Darius turned slightly, facing the other vampire, who wasn’t nearly as built, handsome, or put together. There was really no contest between the two. Darius needn’t have any doubts that he was the obvious catch.

Except…the way he was gearing up, his shoulders rolling and his jaw firming, told Penny that simple logic wasn’t good enough.

The other vampire pulled his gaze away from Reagan with great effort. His stare hit Darius, and given he was clearly less powerful and definitely lower in the vampire hierarchy, he should’ve walked away very quickly. Any shifter or mage would have. Probably any demon or other semi-intelligent creature. You didn’t pick a fight you were surely going to lose.

But this vampire squared up, his body starting to change shape despite his clothes. He clearly didn’t have the sort of control Darius did, which suggested he was quite a bit younger. Darius would wipe the floor with him.

“Are they basically going to fight over Reagan?” Penny asked in a harried whisper, a bit scared, a bit weirded out, and a bit excited for some reason.

“No, they are not.” Reagan waved a hand, her magic rushing between the two vampires. The magic whispered, Stay apart. Barrier. She’d put up a wall.

“Oh, interesting,” Dizzy murmured. “That other vampire must have an addiction to Reagan’s blood. Usually it’s the human that develops the addiction.”

“It was probably on the younger side when it met her,” Callie whispered. “She made an impression and obviously didn’t kill it when she should have.”

“How’d she manage to get away, though?” Dizzy asked. “It didn’t seem to know she was here. Any vampire worth his salt wouldn’t have lost sight of her.”

“Youth.” Callie said it like Dizzy was dense. “Younger vampires don’t know their ass from their heads, you know that. That’s why their makers govern them well past their middle years. She still should’ve killed him, though. On the sly, obviously, so she wouldn’t have the maker breathing down her neck. Now it’ll just cause problems. It obviously can’t control itself—look at him. No self-preservation. Darius will rip him apart.”

“Probably for the best, though,” Dizzy replied.

Penny stared with rapt attention, never having seen this side of vampires before. The way Darius had shrugged off his humanity, bent over now with hands fully changed, suggested he was ready to rip that other vampire’s head from its shoulders. It was like two bucks fighting for the right to mate a female.

“Darius will not rip that vampire apart,” Reagan said through clenched teeth. “Starch, walk away,” she called. “He’s my bond mate. You have no claim here.”

“I tasted you first…” the other vampire said, sensuality and desire dripping from each word.

Clearly that had been the wrong thing to say.

“Oh shit,” Emery said.

As though he’d been held back by a rope that was suddenly cut, Darius rushed forward. He slammed into Reagan’s air wall and started slashing, sending sparks shooting out in all directions. Reagan tensed, and Cahal stalked forward to join her.

“Yes, I fucking know that, Cahal,” Reagan said, replying to his thought comment, and another wave of her magic bolstered the first. The other vampire surged forward as well, hitting the other side of that wall and trying to get to Darius. They were mindless in their territorialism, and the magic curling away from them reminded Penny of shifters. It seemed a strange kind of mating dance, heady and volatile, fused with passion and need. A claiming.

“Darius, you have to shrug this off,” Reagan said, but he slashed at her magic again, nearly breaking through before she could amp up her wall. “Emery, Penny, help. He can’t get to that other vampire, or he’ll owe Ja for finding him and bringing him here. We cannot let her have the upper hand.”

Magic curled from Emery immediately, forming a sort of diversion spell. Penny jumped in at once, though she wondered if it might be better to just knock Darius out and drag him away. It would be easier.

“Well, how about I just go kill that other vampire?” Dizzy asked, dead serious. “Then it wouldn’t be on you two. Because honestly, Reagan, it has to be done. This will clearly always be a problem. You should’ve known that.”

“He was shipped off to Europe,” she replied. “His maker moved, and he went with. I never thought I’d see him again. Fucking Ja just had to stick her big nose in. You can’t touch him, though, because she’ll still consider it a win. He needs to be sent away.”

“Agreed,” Callie said, opening the satchel slung across her chest as she marched in a half-circle to get around the wall. “We can’t kill him now. We’ll have to send him away, and then someone will have to track him down on their own later and kill him.”

“Good point, hon.” Dizzy joined his wife.

“This is so insane,” Penny said, working with Emery’s spell, uncomfortable with her reaction to this development. In the past she would’ve been scandalized. But now, she couldn’t deny feeling a thread of excitement at the intense magic wafting off Darius. It pounded with his claim on Reagan, his aching need to protect her against this rival threat. The desire to lay down his life to prove he was worthy of her. It was sexy in a crazy way, and that horrible demon sex club really had changed her for the worst.

“Here we go,” Dizzy said as he and Callie worked some plants and then blew some power into them, speaking a spell to life. They weren’t natural mages and so needed props and often words to cast their magic.

Emery sent his and Penny’s spell forward, layering it over Reagan’s. It molted into a sparkling brown-black layer, cutting off Darius’s sight and hopefully redirecting his focus.

“Come on, baby,” Reagan said softly, still through gritted teeth, walking closer but keeping some distance. “Fire up that big brain and think this through. This isn’t the time. You can’t let Ja have this over your head.”

“Got him!” Dizzy yelled triumphantly, as though reeling in a fish.

Penny tiptoed to the other side, not wanting to miss any part of this. She would chastise herself later.

Invisible bands wrapped around the vampire, keeping his arms tight to his sides and his legs cinched together. He arched and wiggled, flopping onto his stomach and then onto his back, trying to stand.

On the other side, Emery was working another spell, increasing the distraction for Darius.

It was working.

Darius was slowing. His chest rose and fell as he panted. His claws retracted into fingers. And suddenly he was a rush of movement, sweeping Reagan up into his arms. He zoomed off, probably to prove his claim on her…physically.

Penny fanned her face, noticing belatedly that Cahal was staring at her with a small grin.

“What?” she asked, stopping immediately.

Rather than comment, he glanced at Emery before heading around the air wall to Dizzy and Callie.