Revealed in Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights #9)(25)

“Where were those located?”

Trixie pushed the drink across the bar before knocking on the wood, indicating she’d buy me that one. I pulled out a five for a tip. It was Darius’s money—might as well spread the wealth.

“Outside of town a ways,” Red said, watching me. “There’ve been a few high-powered ones. Garden District, a couple of cemeteries, out by your house once. We don’t have the resources to really take them down, now that Steve and Cole joined that pack in Santa Cruz. Those demons don’t do much, though. Not like the lesser-powered ones. Those cause trouble. Try to kill people.”

I nodded and captured the straw between my lips. The alcohol made me grimace. “Good one, Trixie. Strong.”

“Drink like a shifter.” She winked at me but didn’t move away. “What do you want with the demons?”

I sucked down more of my drink. “Nothing much. Kill a few and then send a message back with the rest.” Trixie’s and Red’s faces both creased in confusion. “Only the really powerful ones, though. I mean, I’ll help kill the lesser ones, no problem. I need something to do. But I have business with the stronger variety.”

“Trixie, I’m dying over here,” yelled some guy with a Boston accent.

She pushed away from the bar and then turned and headed to the waiting patrons on the other side.

“What kind of message?” Red asked, as I’d known he would.

I fished the parchment Roger had given me out of my pouch, my stomach swirling. I was about to conversationally out myself. My whole life I’d been taught to keep this one secret, no matter what. I knew what these words would set in motion. I knew what a big deal this was.

What a big deal I was, in the grand scheme of things.

These people all knew me as the poor girl with weird magic who didn’t have any friends and had made the terrible mistake of shacking up with a vampire. I’d been an outcast since they’d met me. A troublemaker. A recluse, in some senses. A nut case.

Now I was about to show my hand, and it might wow them, scare them, or make them pity me. I wasn’t just a poor bounty hunter, I was a little gold nugget, and the largest powers in the worlds were vying for my attention. No biggie.

I laughed and flung the note at him. Nervousness was for ninnies.

He peeled it open and his eyes widened. “I heard about this,” he murmured, his gaze sliding across the short message. He looked up at me, shocked. Then his eyes narrowed. “Where’d you get this?”

“You know where I got it.”

“No, I mean, did you steal it?”

“You know that Vlad is looking for me, right?” He didn’t comment, but his left eye twitched. He did, and he was connecting that knowledge to the note he held. I nodded. “He’s sending demons up to lure me out of hiding.” I pointed at the parchment. “That is why. Only, that didn’t come from the demons Vlad’s been summoning. It came from the demons my old man sent. They aren’t looking for Charity, if that’s what you heard. They are looking for me.” I spread my hands wide and laughed. That wasn’t so hard, and the blood draining from his face was totally worth it.

He froze, eyes completely rounded, staring at me.

I plucked the note out of his fingers. “Not everyone can say they got kicked around by Lucifer’s daughter, eh? See? And you were so put out. Now it’s a story of interest. You can tell people you helped out Lucifer’s daughter all those times. Maybe someone will care. Probably not, but you can always hope.”

I pushed the five-dollar bill forward and finished off my drink.

“But…wait.” Red put out his hand to stop me from getting up. “Wait, wait. So…Roger knows about…this? You?”

“Yes.” I spoke slowly so he’d be sure to get it. “Hence. The. Note.”

“But—wait, wait.” He grabbed my shoulder. “Wait, wait, wait.” He squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to process the information.

I changed my mind. Telling everyone would be awesome, and I wanted to do it immediately.

I took his hand off and stood. I’d promised to head over to Callie and Dizzy’s house—they were expecting me, and so was the Red Prophet, whom I’d promised to introduce to Karen. And although I’d ignored several calls from an increasingly frantic Penny because it was funny and I was an asshole, I’d texted Emery yesterday and told him to meet us there too.

Darius hadn’t phoned. I was pretty sure that meant he was incredibly pissed at me for leaving the ward.

“See ya, Trix—”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Red pushed off the stool and stood in my way with his hands out. “Reagan, you have to think about this. You can’t send a message down there. You can’t just let him know you’re…well, you.”

“He’s going to find out one way or the other.” I stepped around him, then physically moved him out of the way when he stepped with me. “It’ll be on my terms.”

I stalked forward, pulling out my phone to call a cab. I didn’t have the ride-share apps on this burner phone.

“No, but…wait.” He trailed behind me like a puppy. “Let’s talk about this. You’ll be in incredible danger.”

“Aww, Red, that’s nice. You care about me.”