I wrapped my fingers around the scroll and then held it out to the side. Darius was there in an instant, taking it from my hand. “You have a better memory. Read it now in case it’s written in invisible ink or something. Demons are tricky. I’m not taking any chances.”
“I speak for my sect when I say that we are here to serve, heir. We will join you. Will fight those who might oppose you, and help you ascend to—”
“I got it, thanks,” I said as I concentrated on weaving the fire magic to stitch the circle back together. Wherever I grabbed the spell, though, it unraveled, leaving a larger hole that my fire magic had to bridge. I tsked. “Tricky, tricky, tricky. The circle only appears complete. It isn’t structurally sound. The demon would be able to escape.” I huffed out a laugh. “I may not know the extent of my power, but I’m not a complete idiot.”
“Yes, heir. I knew you’d discover that, heir.”
Of course it did, I thought sarcastically.
I tried to work at the ice magic, see if that would create a patch for this particular demon. It wouldn’t rise, though. It stayed lodged deep in my gut, pulsing in time to my heart. Taunting me.
Frustrated, I scoffed. “Darius, how is that scroll looking?”
“I will remember everything on it. The maps are detailed. Vlad’s connections are not.”
“Do you want more on that?”
“If it is possible, yes. If not, I can work with what is here.”
I threw out more commands to the demon, eager to get out of there and think on my next moves. When I was done, Callie stepped forward. “Do you want us to send it back?”
“Yes, thanks.”
“I will be ready for your next summons, heir,” the demon said even as the dual mages started their incantations to send it back to the underworld. I put my hand out for the scroll. Darius passed it over without hesitation, and I unfurled it as the demon disappeared.
“Ink is still there. No trickery yet.”
“I must speak with you, Reagan,” Darius said softly. “In private.”
“Do you have somewhere in mind where the dual mages won’t know to follow me? Because there’s going to be a fight, and they won’t want to let me out of their sight afterward.”
“Reagan Somerset,” came Callie’s low voice filled with warning. “You had better not be thinking what I think you’re thinking. That is the very opposite of why your mother spent all those years hiding you. The very opposite. She would be turning over in her grave if she could read your mind right now.”
“Told you,” I muttered to Darius.
“Reagan, you aren’t honestly considering going into the underworld, are you?” Dizzy asked hopefully. “That is a horribly bad idea.”
“Horribly bad,” Callie said.
“No one could go with you. You’d be on your own. That is quite possibly the most dangerous plan that you could come up with.”
“Horribly bad,” Callie said again.
I walked from the warehouse to my car, knowing they would follow me. When they did, I paused by my door. “I can’t hide anymore. It was fine when everyone thought I was just weird, but now Vlad is interested, not to mention really powerful demons. How much longer do you think I possibly have to live in relative freedom?”
“We just need to get you trained up. Then not even Vlad would be a threat,” Callie said stubbornly.
“That level four just taught me how to work my magic more intricately than I have ever done. Level four. And that is with the type of magic I thought I knew. I can’t even call the ice magic on command. I don’t have time for the training that would help me escape this. You must know that.”
“So your plan is to go into the underworld without any knowledge at all?” Callie jammed her fists onto her hips. “At least in the Brink, you have other magical people who can help you. Shelter you.”
“And die for that privilege.” I laughed sardonically and shook my head. “No. I’m not going to ask people to do that, and I’m not going to hide. It’s time to face my fate. I’ll sneak in there, find the sect with dirt on me, and kill whoever knows. Then I’ll sneak back out. In all honesty, I’ve had worse plans in my life.”
“You’ve never had a plan worse than that, no.” Dizzy picked at his satchel. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a worse plan, and I’ve heard some really bad plans in my day.”
“What do you have to say about this, vampire?” Callie demanded, turning to a silent Darius, who was standing to the side.
“I think she will go regardless of your bullying,” he said softly, his eyes delving into mine. “And I will go with her.”
“You can get through the gates, but you won’t be able to go much farther,” Callie said. Her expression was imploring me now. “Let’s give this a few weeks and think about it, Reagan. Weigh all the options and figure out what we can do.”
I sighed and felt a weight settle on my heart. I knew what I had to do. I hated that it would hurt those I loved in the process.
But at least they would live, even if I did not.
“Okay.” I sank into the driver’s seat of my car. “Two weeks. But I need a few days on my own to let this settle before you start trying to convince me I’m ridiculous.”
“Come over to our house when you’re ready, Reagan,” Dizzy said. “I’ll cook you dinner and we can chat. We’ll figure this out, just you wait. Callie and I can be pretty resourceful when backed into a corner.”
“Okay,” I said.
Callie sagged in relief, and I felt more guilt in that moment than I had in years. The dual mages hurried to their car, thinking they had a promise from me.
I hoped I was around to beg forgiveness after this was all through.
Chapter Eight
“That was necessary,” Darius said as the dual mages drove away.
“Oh good. I’m taking ethics advice from someone who hoodwinks humans so he can feed off them.” I started my car and went to pull my door shut.
Darius was there before I could, catching it. “I would like to speak with you. My residence in the French Quarter?”
“That depends. What do you have to eat?” Since I knew Darius didn’t plan to stop me, I figured I might as well let him help where he could. Lord knew I needed someone smarter and savvier than me to help plan this trek into the belly of the beast.
“Anything you want. Shall I surprise you, like usual?”
When it came to food, I’d never received a bad surprise from him. “See you there in a while.”
He hesitated. “Do you plan to go straight there?”
“Wow. I didn’t peg you for the insecure type.” When he didn’t move, I grinned. “Yes, darling, I will go straight there. I promise I won’t heed the call of the bar and the challenge of catching that danged were-badger.”
“You were thinking about it,” he said, flashing me a smile.
I laughed and shut my door, because there was no denying it. I needed to take my mind off this awful situation for a while, regardless of whether that was a good idea. Food had a stronger pull, of course, and Darius put on the best spread in town.