Battle With Fire by K.F. Breene

Six

Lucifer landeda few yards away from the circle of women called together to send him home. He didn’t want to chance going through the Realm, not even with a demon host. From the last reports he’d received, the elves were on the move, preparing to track and kill anyone in the Realm who might pose a threat to them. In all likelihood, they were also preparing to go after the fae, the shifters, and probably Reagan herself, in the Brink. Lucifer had warned her and the vampire of that probability. Meanwhile, he’d need to carefully watch his own borders.

Time was speeding by rapidly now. He wasn’t yet ready to battle, but soon he would have no choice but to rise to the occasion. He would not allow the elves to dominate him a second time. They would be beaten down, and they would pay for the pain they had caused Reagan.

“Are we ready, ladies?” he asked the collection of dark-magic practicing, devil-worshipping humans. They were grateful to serve and so good at putting together basic summoning circles.

“Will you spare us your time, my lord?” one of the women asked, wearing a see-through chemise that showed her budded nipples.

“We would love to pleasure you, my lord,” another said, wearing a shapeless dress pulled up to her hips, where she sat with her legs crisscrossed. He could tell there was nothing on underneath.

His desire stirred—his subjects were very grateful to serve. They’d said as much.

“Next time,” he said, waiting off to the side for them to be ready. “I cannot spare a moment on this trip.”

“Yes, your grace,” the first woman said, brushing her fingertips across her chest. “We are here whenever you have need. Give us another few minutes, and the circle will be ready.”

He waited, thinking over all he had to do. His forces were being organized and outfitted for battle in the Underworld, but they’d received a lot of interest from various groups in the Brink, though they would be quite rusty. Some of them had never fought at all. They’d need a quick tutorial. Soon he’d need to bring in Vlad’s host of vampires as well, hopefully before the turmoil between Vlad and Darius boiled over.

His thoughts drifted back to Darius. Stoic and genteel, the vampire had a very polished surface, like Vlad. Also like Vlad, he had a deep, dark, savage underbelly. Lucifer could read their kind incredibly easily. Their darker elements spoke to his violent side, and their unique set of strengths spoke to his passionate side. Darius was whip-smart, too, and incredibly cunning. Lucifer hated to admit it, especially given how close he’d come to an irrevocable error, but Darius was a good mate for Reagan. He’d protect her, strive to make her happy, and, most importantly, keep her alive through her hopefully many long years.

Her friends were well suited for her, too. The younger dual-mages were particularly powerful, thanks to the woman’s unique gift, that touch of angelic magic, and a survival instinct earned the hard way. He’d heard many things about that Rogue Natural, including how much the elves hated him. And now the man was connected with his daughter. How very sweet. Yes, those mages would make powerful allies for her.

“We are ready, my lord,” one of the women said.

Lucifer checked the circle, noting the correct use of the symbols. He stepped inside and waited while the women started to chant. The writhing was a bit dramatic, but whatever kept them answering summons…

The magic swelled and he had a brief feeling of falling. Blackness rushed in around him. Air pressed against his body. In a moment, his feet touched down on marble, driving his weight down to one knee.

He blinked and stood, glancing around his monitoring chamber. Images flickered of the various areas of his kingdom. His assistants waited to the side.

“Welcome back, Great Master,” Victoria said, its legs a little shorter than usual, likely because of all Reagan’s taunting. “How did it go?”

“Better than expected.” He started forward. He had a lot to do. “She will come back here, I have no doubt. Not until after the war, though.”

Victoria followed him closely. “Did she share her plans?”

“No, but my resolve is unchanged. If she is in any danger at all, she’ll be removed and taken to safety. I will not lose her. I can crush the elves without her, and any others foolish enough to stand in my way. Tell Vlad time is up. Get his vampires down here and whatever other creatures he is able to secure. We will get ready to move.”

“Yes, sire. I will put the plans into effect.”

* * *

Penny startledout of a deep sleep as a warning thrummed through her body. She sat up in a rush, Emery doing so a hair later. The ward!

She leapt out of bed in one of Reagan’s spare bedrooms—she had three after the latest upgrade—and hurried to the window, ripping back the blackout curtains. The morning sun glowed in her face, making her squint. Nothing moved along the side of Reagan’s property, the budding day still and quiet. On this side of the house, anyway.

Another warning blared through her, locking up her joints for a moment and slithering down her back. Someone was using magic to poke at the ward now, trying to figure out a sneaky way through.

“Are they mages?” she asked, suddenly out of breath as she pulled on sweats.

“It’s impossible to say. The elves have a lot of powerful creatures at their disposal, and they’re experienced in dealing with wards and spells. I ran from more than you can count.” Emery shrugged into a shirt and grabbed his shoes.

The warning came again, manifesting in slight physical pain. They were working at tearing down the ward.

“It’s a solid ward,” Emery said as Penny threw on a sweatshirt. “It’ll take a long time for them to get through. We should be okay.”

“It won’t take nearly as long for Reagan to burst out of here and attack whoever is on her property.”

Penny threw open the door and rushed down the hall to the master suite. Once there, she didn’t bother with theatrics—she cranked the handle and pushed the door open just as Emery swung around the top of the stairs and took them two at a time. Inky black greeted her, zero light making it into this room.

“Reagan,” she said, closing the door behind her and fumbling for the light switch.

“Yes.”

Sheets moved in the darkness. A hand slid under Penny’s, reaching the switch first, and she flinched away. The light flicked on, and there was naked Darius, much too close.

“Good God—” Penny pushed to the other side of the closed door.

Reagan pulled on her leather pants. “What do you have?”

Darius zoomed across the room, glancing at the clock before pulling on his clothes. He wouldn’t be able to do anything, though, not at this time of day.

“We don’t know. Someone’s trying to get through the ward, kind of sneaky-like.”

“Sneaky-like, huh?” Reagan said with a little grin. That meant terrible things. “I wonder if it could be a coincidence that this is coming so soon after Lucifer visited…”

She pulled down a sports bra and shrugged into a tank top. She didn’t bother with weapons, just snapped her fanny pack into place and headed for the door.

“Should I call someone in?” Darius asked, dressed and in the middle of the room, probably feeling helpless.

Grateful not to be in that position for once, Penny pulled the door open a crack and stepped into the still-dark hallway.

“Nah,” Reagan said, following her out. “If they’re trying to be sneaky, that means they’re not ready for a serious altercation. Surprise! I’m always ready for a serious altercation.”

Penny hurried down the stairs, Reagan behind her. The feeling of the ward being tampered with dug between her shoulder blades—someone was pouring substantial power into breaking the spell.

Emery stood in the hallway by the back door, looking their way. He pointed, his gaze on Reagan. She nodded, and Penny had a feeling he was silently communicating something.

Reagan flattened her back against the door, looking to her right at the curtain covering the thin back window. Emery stepped up to Penny and leaned in close, his lips to the shell of her ear.

“On the back porch. Four of them. They look humanoid from what little I could glimpse, but it’s an illusion. I can see the magic shrouding them.”

“What’s the end game?” Penny asked as Reagan leaned closer, trying to look through the gap between the wall and the material.

“They might think Reagan is alone and the four of them can take her,” he whispered.

Reagan shook her head and straightened back up, her voice low. “They must know I’d be with Darius, and if they asked around at all they’d know you guys were also around. You always stay here when you’re in town. Plus, they’re trying to come in, not draw me out, away from Darius.” She shook her head again. “They’ve been sent to gauge my preparedness. If they make it back, great. If not…” She shrugged, anger burning hot in her eyes. Penny had a flash of how good it had felt to release that hellfire. “The elves don’t care about their underlings. They won’t lose any sleep if they don’t come back.”

“The elves in charge, at any rate,” Penny said, knowing her mother kept Seeing that Reagan should spare the majority of the elves at all costs. That she must prevent Lucifer from mass killing.

She hadn’t brought that up to Reagan yet, though. She knew it wouldn’t be received well, what with how the last batch of Seeing had turned out, not that Penny could blame her. She probably shouldn’t have said anything about Roger manipulating her. Given what she knew, that had been shortsighted. Though Reagan likely would’ve clued in eventually.

“Sure,” Reagan murmured, stepping away from the door and then turning. “Should we come up with a plan?”

“Run out there and kill them?” Emery suggested, magic curling around him.

“I like the way you think.” Reagan pushed her palm against the wood, leaning in close, reaching down to the lock. She paused, and then everything happened all at once.