“Yes. Thank you for letting us through. And don’t worry”—I hooked a thumb over my shoulder at Darius—“I’ll jump him at the first available opportunity.”
The gatekeeper’s smile spread. “You belong here. You should return. I think it will do you good.”
“I belong everywhere, and nowhere.” I hadn’t planned to say that, but it seemed to fit. To stop any other random things from popping out of my mouth, I gave a salute and started forward. “Thanks again.”
“Beware the dragons. They are tenacious.” The gatekeeper laughed and drifted back into the sect.
“A bit strange, that one,” I muttered. “And not at all curious. That’s a plus.”
“Only a fool would want to get involved with someone being chased by a dragon,” my grumpy guide said.
“And guess who gave me a map to the underworld?” I turned back and pointed a finger. “You wanted me to meet you here, so that makes you a…”
It glowered at me.
Darius put a hand on my shoulder and stopped me beside the exit. Like the entryway, the ledge looked out over a pit surrounded by cliffs. An overhang protected us from the sky, but that wouldn’t last long.
Without warning, he moved in, holding my head in his strong grip and bending to my neck. I barely kept from flinging him out over the drop in surprise. A moment later, I couldn’t help a low moan. Already feverish with longing from the trip through the lustful sect, I sank into the feeling of him. Grabbed various parts of him. Tried to get him into my body with an abandon that would horribly embarrass me later.
The demon is right beside us.
And that was why.
I whimpered as his serum spread bliss through me, pulling him closer, as close as I could. His hardness rubbed in all the right place. But he wouldn’t let me go whole hog. I’d thank him later, I was sure, but was cursing him at the moment.
He finished and pulled back, and for the first time I felt pleasure burning through him. Not only that, but the deep ache of love that mirrored my own.
“We are wasting time,” the demon guide growled.
Body burning and warmth running through me from all that was Darius, I didn’t want to hurry anymore. I didn’t want to run. I wanted to go back into the lust sect and take some me time. Well, us time, really. I was tired of all this drama.
Almost there, mon chere, Darius thought, probably feeling my listlessness through the bond. He rubbed a thumb softly against my cheek. We are almost out of this. Just a little longer.
Now that we had air again, I sighed. It really buoyed my mood.
I nodded and pushed forward. “Let’s go fast.”
The demon led the way as we ran along the ledge and down the slope. Darius and I had a map in our head, sure, but it didn’t have the fine details that the demon guide seemed to know. For example, at the bottom of a steep set of stone steps, a nearly hidden tunnel offered us some respite from the skies. We sprinted through it, as fast as the demon could go (which wasn’t as fast as us). At the other side, the demon stopped abruptly and looked up.
“We are too late,” it said.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I pushed it to the side and took its place, looking into the dark sky. A multicolored dragon drifted by with a demon on its back.
A demon dressed like a clown.
“Holy blue balls, why hasn’t it given up already?”
“That dragon belongs to a vicious sect that offers others the chance to fight the beast to prove their skill,” the demon guide said.
“I know. I bested it, and that clown has been trying to find us ever since. We’d thought we’d given it the slip, but clearly not.” I chewed my lip and gazed across the wide open space at the next sect, which seemed open and not as laden with defenses as many of the others.
“A few best it, and they go on their way, so I’ve heard.” The demon rubbed at the mark on its palm.
“I hate doing things the normal way.” I hunted for any other signs of an aerial presence and didn’t see any. Not yet. The dragons from the other side of the lustful sect could have no idea we’d gone through it, not if the sect usually turned people away during the change in the stars. Eventually, though, they’d expand their search, and if we hung out here waiting for the determined clown to get lost, we’d give them time to catch up.
“Okay, how’s this for a plan?” I ran out into the open, dragging the guide demon with me. Darius caught up a moment later, and while he didn’t say it, I was pretty sure he was thinking, Are you crazy?
The stony ground turned quickly to lush, unevenly trimmed grass, spongy to run on. It stretched all around us with a few tufts and a couple lone flowers dotting the flatness.
“We can go around this sect easily,” the demon shouted behind us. It had to be thankful for the change in terrain.
“Should we angle left or right?” I asked as a shout issued above us.
Clown Demon leaned over the shoulder of the dragon and pointed down at us.
Darius threw something into the air. A huge starburst of light blasted through the darkness, making me look away with blinking eyes.
“A little warning next time?” I asked as I tried to see through the spots in my vision.
Harried flapping drowned out the shouting from above. I chanced a look up in time to see the dragon swooping low, or maybe falling.
“Reagan, take care of this,” Darius shouted.
I ran my hand in an arch and swatted the dragon with air, smacking it off-kilter. It tilted wildly, throwing its rider, who somersaulted twice before landing in the grass.
Darius was off, speeding toward it with claws (and probably fangs) elongating. He was on the clown in no time, ripping and tearing. But it was a powerful demon.
Darius went sailing, hitting the ground with a hard thump. Clown Demon was up, running at the vampire with magic unfurling around it. A weave of air surrounded the vampire as he catapulted to his feet. He raked at the magic with claws, tearing a hole in the weave and unraveling it before running forward to meet Clown Demon.
I sent a blast of my blended magic and swatted Clown Demon, making it roll across the ground. Darius probably could’ve handled it, but we needed to hurry.
Darius launched onto Clown Demon as it came to a stop, his claws digging into the other. An object went flying.
A snake.
That was why Darius’s first strikes didn’t end the fight before it had begun.
The vampire straightened, the fight finally at a close.
“I did not know vampires were so powerful,” my guide demon said, now being bodily dragged through the grass. I’d somewhat forgotten about it while dealing with the dragon.
“You haven’t had many dealings with elders, I take it,” I said, hitting the dragon with another burst to keep it from diving at Darius.
Darius was already on the move, running toward us with claws (and fangs) still out. The dragon shrieked when it realized what had happened.