At least the circle worked.

The demon returned to looking between the dual mages, clearly trying to work out which of them was the high-powered, and therefore higher-ranked, summoner. They were dual mages, though. Yin and yang. They were both equally in charge. It must’ve confused the poor demon, since it was rare two mages of high power could stomach sharing the spotlight.

Callie lowered her hands and blinked, her eyes focusing on the demon in the circle. Dizzy did so next, then beamed. “Well look at you. Wow. You’re powerful, aren’t you? I knew this configuration would work with just two mages and the blood. I bet we could get a five in there if we worked it at a full moon.”

“Why do you call me?” the demon hissed, a sound like snakes sliding over brittle bones.

“Here, hon.” Dizzy pulled a piece of paper out of his satchel and handed it to Callie, not tearing his eyes away from the demon. A small smile still graced his lips. “It’s like college all over again.”

Callie muttered something I couldn’t hear while shaking her head. She took the paper.

The demon switched his gaze from Dizzy to Callie before looking at the ground again. It turned in a circle, its gaze roving.

“We command you…” Callie began before spouting off a list of instructions that essentially would have the demon hunting for our answers. It didn’t seem to be listening. It had bent closer to one of the splashes of blood, as close as it could get without touching the invisible barrier in the air.

“Is it sniffing?” I asked Darius quietly.

“It seems so, yes.”

The demon straightened up slowly, and this time it looked beyond Callie and Dizzy.

“It senses something of higher power than the dual mages,” Darius murmured. “It is searching for its true master. That will always be you, Reagan. Even with a level five, it will always be you. That is why Vlad would move heaven and earth to get you for himself.”

Chapter Six

“This would be a strange way to accomplish that,” I said.

“That is why there must be another piece. He has kept it well hidden,” Darius said.

I stayed perfectly still, but it didn’t matter. In a matter of moments, the demon’s gaze fell on me.

It stared for a while, ignoring Callie’s command to give its name. It then ignored Callie’s command to repeat back its orders.

“You will have to give the instructions,” Darius said, a master at stating the obvious.

I sighed and stepped forward, feeling the throb of fire within me—like recognizing like. “Did you mean to call a demon with the fire magic?” I asked Callie and Dizzy.

“Yes. Did we get it right?” Dizzy was much too upbeat. “That was also an experiment. As far as we know, no one else has figured out how to call one specific type of magic over another. Although it probably doesn’t matter for normal purposes—”

“The faster you make it obey, the sooner we can send it back,” Callie interrupted, handing me the paper.

“And I have to say these words exactly?” I asked, reading through it. My ice magic sparked, though I had no idea why.

“I do not believe my great luck,” the demon said, bending to one knee. “I feel both powers in you, do I not? That can only mean one thing. The legend in the flesh. But will you survive the Dark Kingdom? The Great Master pines for an heir. None has yet survived. Each failure is a blow to him.”

Ignoring the ugly thing, because I’d heard all of that before, I cleared my throat, ready to read the paper. Sweet heat rolled over me, comfortable and right, reaching through the circle to grab the life force of the demon. “Others may know about me,” I said, falling into the exquisite pain of my magic. Below it, deep in my gut, minimal but there, was the ice, throbbing in time to my heart. “I need to know for certain, and if they do, I will need to silence them. You must find the answers I seek, and if knowledge of my existence is known in the Dark Kingdom, you must bring me a way to destroy it.”

“Why would you want to destroy—”

“Silence!” I commanded. “You will do as I bid, or I will tear your being apart bit by bit.” It was scary how easily that command rolled off my tongue. My power surged on its own, and I knew I was forcing the demon to obey. I just didn’t know exactly how. Story of my life, lately.

“Yes, heir. I live to serve you.”

“If only you were a hot cabana boy, this might actually be cool,” I muttered. Something occurred to me. “And in your quest to find answers, you will learn of the vampire Vlad’s influence in the Dark Kingdom.”

“I have heard his name. He and his followers prowl the edges,” the demon said, anger ringing in its voice.

“Good. Find out more. Who he talks to, his plans, whatever you can. Do not dally. I need this information as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, heir. As you command, so will I obey.”

I crinkled the paper, scanning it again. “Did I miss anything?”

“Well, most of the actual commands, if I’m being honest, but it doesn’t look like you need them, so…” Dizzy shrugged. “I guess that’s it.”

“Do I need to command it not to spread news of this meeting?” I asked, lowering the paper.

“Oh no, the circle will bind it.” Dizzy bent to get a closer look. “Yes, that is taken care of. We drew the characters correctly, I am sure of it.”

“Your command overrides this paltry circle,” the demon spat out. “Mages cannot hold a candle to your greatness.”

“No one likes a brown noser, just so you know.” I fell into the power of my fire for another command. “Knowledge of my existence will die with you. You will be bound as the circle prompts you. Or commands you.” I grimaced. This was getting away from me. “You will adhere to the circle’s binding.”

“I think you’ve got it now, Reagan,” Callie said.

I nodded with authority. “Now begone. Do as I bid.”

“Yes, heir.” The demon struggled against something invisible. A howl of rage and pain filled the warehouse.

“We should help it.” Dizzy grabbed a stick of cinnamon. “It’s struggling to break through the other end of the circle.”

The drops of my blood glowed before spouting flame.

I took a step back, startled. “I didn’t do that. I don’t think.”

“It is using your blood and commands to override the magic of the circle,” Callie said, pulling out a little baggie.

Before they could chant, the demon disappeared, leaving behind smoke pulsing in various colors. The fire from my blood died away, not having changed the appearance of the red on the concrete.

I sucked in air to calm my rapidly beating heart. “That was a trip.”

“The demon was right. Your power over it trumps ours.” Dizzy braced a hand to his hip. “How can we combine all of ours, I wonder? Because that would be unbreakable.”

“Curse breaker,” Callie said softly. “She can eat through any mage’s magic with her own. Clearly she can enable demons to do it, too.”

“Curses imply a certain type of magic. There is bound to be a spell my magic can’t unravel.” I waved the possibility away and headed for the door. “How long should we give that thing?”

“Two days should be enough, I think,” Dizzy said, crouching over the circle. “Oh. Why did you ask about Vlad? How will that help?”

“Me? It won’t.” I thought about kicking the door open, but decided against it. The poor warehouse had been through enough. “But it’ll help Darius.”

Before I got into my car, Darius was at my side, his large hand wrapping around the top of my door. “Will you come to my house, Reagan?” he asked quietly.

“No. I’m headed to the bars. I think I need to drink and fight and torment some shifters for sport. I don’t want to be rational tonight.”

Darius took his hand away, watching as I got into the driver’s seat and threaded the key into the ignition. “Thank you,” he finally said, “for asking about Vlad. It will help greatly.”