“We no longer need Agnon. Its purpose has been served,” the demon in front of me said, turning toward the red demon.

“I agree. Guarding it has become tedious.” The demon flicked his fingers.

“Wait! I know her. I have seen her in action. I can help you train her. She trusts me,” Agnon wailed, dropping to the floor with a bowed back. “Please.”

A spike of air drove through its back before expanding, breaking its body apart. I crinkled my nose. Sure, I’d come here to kill Agnon, but that was kind of messed up. And here it had thought it was a valued member of the sect. Probably.

“We have a battle to attend, but before we go, I want proof the heir has the power you claim.” The demon in front of me turned back, now with an air of expectancy.

My body lowered until my feet hit the floor. The air around me released, leaving me standing on my own. Not like that would help. I knew the demon would just grab me up again if I tried anything beyond the dolphin show they were asking for.

“Show them,” the red demon commanded.

I crossed my arms. It was a little sullen teenager for my tastes, but under the circumstances, I didn’t have any better options.

“That’s right.” The red demon leaned forward, its eyes gleaming. “The vampire is needed to assure your cooperation.”

Darius grunted as a slice of air pierced the center of his chest, just missing his heart.

“No!” I yelled.

Do not let their treatment of me influence you, he thought.

“Okay. Okay!” I begged. “I’ll show you. Leave him be.”

“You see? We do not need to manipulate you. We simply need to know your weakness.” The red demon smiled, and this time its teeth were white and dripping with crimson blood.

“We’re not going to get along, you and I,” I said, calling up a ball of fire on one side, and lifting a chair with air on the other. My power crouched inside of me, controlled. Of all the times for it to wait for me to initiate rather than just exploding out and taking care of the problem…

“Weak,” one of the sitting demons said.

“She can do much more.” Air struck Darius again, in multiple places, ripping pieces out of his flesh. A spike hovered against his chest in line with his heart, poking his skin. As I watched, it started to turn slowly, burrowing its way in.

Adrenaline dumped into me as I felt his pain. As his heart started to hammer.

I love you, he thought. You have been the highlight of my long life. The softness of his farewell, the reverence, tore at me in a way I could barely comprehend. I could feel his resignation. His certainty that he would die. If not right now, eventually. They would torture him to get what they wanted out of me, and when he was no longer needed, they would kill him like they had Agnon.

He was happy I would live. I could feel it. His only regret was that he would have to say goodbye so soon.

Agony soaked down into the very fiber of my being because he was right. Everyone in that room knew it.

Unless I could do something.

No more hiding. No more fear of what my power would turn me into.

It was time to own what my father had given me in all its splendid glory.

I laughed, a purely demonic sound that I must’ve picked up somewhere along this journey. Power ripped and tore at me, pounding. Rising. I opened up to it, toppling my reservations and letting it consume me.

The rage was first, sending my fire into a frenzy. It traveled beneath my skin and licked at the air. Violence and anger boiled inside me, dragging me under. My vision pounded red. My fingers itched to kill.

Not yet, my power whispered at me, like a passenger sitting on my shoulder and murmuring into my ear. You aren’t complete yet.

I ground my teeth and held on, remaining open. Inviting all the soul-eating power into my body, and allowing it to fill me however it would. When I felt my humanity slipping away, I didn’t flinch back. I didn’t slow it down. I kept going, realizing now all the subtle defenses I’d developed over the years to keep myself safe from this humanity-eroding power. Not anymore. I had to trust in my mom’s heritage. I had to trust that my father’s power wouldn’t destroy me.

“Do my bidding,” the red demon commanded. “Show me your true power!”

Its command drilled into me, but I felt no urge to comply—no, my power coiled, ready to prove my dominance. They thought my father was scary, did they? At least he was sane.

Not yet, my power whispered again, holding back.

The dagger of air twisted into Darius’s skin, leaking blood down his front. He stood still, not thrashing or showing signs of panic, but the tightness in his eyes and his clenched jaw showed just how much pain he was in.

Not yet…

I squeezed my eyes shut and held on.

“What are you waiting for?” the red demon yelled.

“I have no idea.” Stuffed full of violence and the need for retribution, still I listened to that inner call—I let myself remain open for more magic to pour in. That was when I felt it. A rush of love so deep and great that I fluttered my eyes open and looked at Darius.

He was staring at me, in pain, resolute. Waiting for the end and feasting his eyes on my face. The feeling hadn’t come from him.

“Almost,” I said softly, letting my eyes close again. I was almost there. I could feel it.

Another rush pumped into me. Sex. Lust. The need to bang everyone in the room. Which was gross. I would ignore my split personality if it said to do that…

“Do you feel that?” one of the demons asked, its voice grating on my ears.

The emotions and feelings twirled as still more magic filled me, pumping in from somewhere unseen. If I’d had the presence of mind to gasp, I would’ve, because suddenly I could feel where everyone had just been. Whether loitering in the window to watch Darius and I do battle with the five demons we’d fought outside; or in a building across the sect, organizing the fighting effort; or at the dragon paddock, checking in on the momma and its baby.

“They have a baby dragon,” I said without meaning to.

Thoughts flitted around me, not taking shape. Except for Darius’s. I read his loud and clear.

Goodbye, my love.

“Nope.” I shook my head and opened my eyes.

Now, my power whispered.

Chapter Twenty-Six

I rose my hands into the air, feeling my power swell in a sweet, savory, though horribly violent way. Shivers covered my body. Excruciating pain brought me to my knees, surging and boiling my insides and scraping across my skin. All the elements of the underworld—violence, rage, sex, and even love—crashed against one other. Raked across my bones.

I hung my head as the red demon yelled at me. I didn’t catch its words, but it seriously was starting to get on my nerves. Could it not see I was going through something here?

I clenched my teeth and hung on, refusing to stop what was happening.

Heat infused my blood. Then cold. One after the other, flash boiling, then freezing. The two halves of my power coiled around each other, twisting and tightening. The pain from the onslaught of extreme temperatures intensified.

Then, with a final blast of agony, my power fused together.

I grunted and collapsed to the ground, my strength momentarily fleeing. Relief and joy blossomed within me—for the first time ever, I felt balanced. I had always been so afraid of the anger and desire for destruction tied to my powers, I hadn’t recognized or allowed in the good elements. Like any world, there was good and bad here—they were two sides of the same coin—and my powers embodied all aspects of the underworld.

I could marvel later. There was work to be done.

Summoning my strength, I climbed to my feet. Fire exploded out from me, washing over Darius and ripping away the air digging into his body. I thrashed through the magic holding him, hacking it apart. I threw the backpack at him and yelled “healing snake” before batting away a burst of air from the red demon. I could feel the weave of the spell. Understand the intention. It was meant to subdue me.

“Now. Where were we?” I picked up a chair with my power and ripped it across the room. One of the demons threw up a defense. I tore it down before smashing the chair into it. I tried to blast another with hellfire, but a strange weave of the fused magic came out instead. It cut through the sucker like a knife through water, way better than hellfire and impervious to the demon’s attempts to block it.