Magic Undying (Dragon's Gift: The Seeker #1)(34)

“I have a feeling it will be.”

The smell made my mouth water. I went to the tiny table pushed into the corner of the kitchen nook. Roarke sat across from me, his legs bumping mine. I ignored the awareness that prickled along my skin. But there was no way to ignore him. He was way too big for my place.

I tucked into the food, shoving a giant bite of broccoli and carrots into my mouth.

“This is great,” I mumbled around the mouthful.

“Glad you like it.”

“Love it.” I spent the next several minutes scarfing down the food. When I finished, I took a sip of beer and met his gaze. It dropped to my bowl and then back up to me.

“Impressed?” I asked.

“Very.”

“I’m even faster with ice cream.”

“I’d like to see that.”

“Um.” Did he mean, like, we go on a date and get ice cream? Because that was real date material. Nah, I was probably reaching. “So, how did you end up as Warden of the Underworld? And I hear you’re rich as Croesus?”

Nicely done. Distract him with rudeness. I might not remember my past, but I would bet big money it hadn’t involved any kind of finishing school.

“Worked my way up, like any job.”

I laughed. “It’s not exactly any job. You’re like the boss of millions of people.”

“Dead people. And demons.” He ate a bit of stir-fry, much more elegantly than I had. “At this point, it doesn’t involve much work. I laid the groundwork with intimidation, and now everyone pretty much follows the rules.”

“You love rules.”

“I do. Keeps things running smoothly. Most people like rules, or at least, the calm that they provide. Except for Rogue demons like the Ubilaz and his fire-throwing friends. That’s one loophole I’m working on closing.”

I leaned back in my chair. “Hang on—let me get this straight. The only folks in the Underworld who don’t follow your rules are the Rogues? Even the Kings of Hell do what you say?”

“Pretty much.”

“How?”

He shrugged. “When I figured out what my powers were, I realized two things. One was that I could use them for good. Ten years ago, many of the Underworlds were at war. The hells primarily, which is no surprise.”

“But you didn’t like that.”

“Not particularly.” He looked around my apartment, but I had a feeling he was seeing more than the tiny space. “I like Earth. But I don’t fit here. I also don’t really fit in the Underworlds.”

“Because you’re half demon, half Were.”

“Exactly. An anomaly. I needed to find a place for myself. Given my half-demon parentage and my ability to cross between the Underworlds and Earth, I realized there was a space for me there to do good.”

Huh. Roarke was a good guy. Who would throw me back in the Underworld. Just like he’d turned his brother in. I wanted to ask about that, but it wasn’t the time. “You said you realized two things. What was the other?”

“The Order of the Magica and the Alpha Council don’t like anomalies. Not powerful ones, at least. We’re wildcards who could wreak havoc or alert humans to our presence.”

“I never thought you’d be at risk.”

“Of course I was. No one has ever seen a Were-demon before. I’ve seen how the government treats the unknown.”

Like FireSouls. They tossed us right into the Prison for Magical Miscreants. “So what’d you do?”

“I realized that if there was nowhere I fit, I had no choice but to make a place…try to straddle the bridge between the afterlife and this one. But I needed a position of power so strong that the Order of the Magica and the Alpha Council couldn’t threaten me. They had to need me.”

“So you stopped the wars in the Underworld.”

“Pretty much. It took me a few years, but the result was worth it.”

“Just peace for peace’s sake?”

“That’s a worthy goal. But no. What’s valuable to the Order and the Council is that I keep the Kings of Hell in line. The hells aren’t great places. There are revolts. People and demons try to escape and return to Earth through portals or magic.”

“How can you keep a handle on that?”

“I don’t have to keep an eye on everyone. Just the Kings of Hell. I stopped the wars by going to each king individually and scaring the shit out of them. My ability to access the Underpath meant that I could get straight into their inner chambers.”

“Even though they might not be built on graveyards or haunted places.”

“Yeah. It just takes more power.”

Like I’d thought. He had been weakened by creating the new portal earlier tonight. “Then what?”

“It took me a few years to visit each king of each hell—there are a lot. And with some well-placed threats, they all agreed to stop their wars and keep a better eye on the dead and demons in their realms who were trying to get to Earth.”

“Just like that?”

“I made it clear that I could tear through space, enter their bedroom, and rip their heads off any time I liked.”

“Fair point. But I can’t imagine the Order or Council like knowing that you can do that.”