Revealed in Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights #9)(49)

She sent a buzzing ball of light at me. I braced myself, because it would probably be electricity and would hurt something fierce. In a moment, though, it bloomed into fire before enveloping me. I’d already protected my hair and eyebrows from a possible attack, so I ran with it. Literally. I bore down on her covered in flames. It was probably really freaky.

“To make hellfire…” I said, pooling the fire onto the outside of my air blade, letting flames shed as I swung it through the air. She danced away when one of the embers landed on her, burning. “You need a little bit of love…”

I thrust forward. She barely dodged. I was faster than her, but not by much.

“A little bit of lust…”

I kicked out. She blocked with her shin, then danced forward and side-kicked at my chest. I ducked under the attempted kick and spun around, at her back and hacking, catching the edge of her shoulder before she could face me. She let out a gasp. That smarted.

“A little bit of hate…”

Demons descended on the wolf, ripping and tearing. She didn’t so much as flick her eyes in that direction.

“And a little bit of violence. You need them all, in equal doses. You need the balance. The desire and the pain. The love and the loss.”

She danced backward, and I wasn’t expecting it, so I stood there like an idiot for a moment.

Her eyebrows lowered over her intelligent red-brown eyes, and silence descended on the practice field. Bodies crowded in, more than before. It had to be nearly the whole village.

It is good that she has this knowledge, Darius thought, clearly in the area now. I’d been too busy trying not to get skewered to notice his proximity increasing. I half hoped it would come after I was out of these lands, however. You are magnificent, by the way. Your power is unequaled in this village. It is giving them a lot to think about.

Skulking and eavesdropping. Doing what a vampire did.

“Are we breaking? What are we doing?” I asked as Charity put her sword away. “I’m not winded. Are you? Or are you passing me off to Penny?”

“No,” Penny called from somewhere behind me.

“She really does like me, you know.”

Charity leaned forward, thrusting her hands out. A very thin stream of hellfire blasted forth, and I let it wash over me so she’d get a little joy out of it.

“Good,” I commented after it diminished. She panted as though she’d run a mile. “It’ll get easier and your stream will get bigger.”

“I have a lot of anger,” she said after a moment. “A lot of violence.” She paused. “Until Devon, I’d forgotten how to love with my whole heart. How to lust with my whole body. I’ve never merged those two halves of myself. Part of me, I think, was afraid of all that anger.”

I grimaced and then worried the grass with my foot. “Yeah, I’m a little uncomfortable with emotional revelations. Your people seem to just hand that stuff out willy-nilly.”

“My father has tried to explain how to make hellfire. My grandmama. They said it comes from within. That I would grow into it with time.”

“It does, typically. Living here, it would take a long time, I imagine. What sort of hate do you have in this place? It’s too nice. The violence is all for show. Like…look. Watch this.”

I rose into the air, above her head, swelled my power, and blasted it out at the people gawking on the sidelines. The air rolled over the ground, gaining speed as I pumped more power into it. It slammed into them like a tidal wave, knocking them down and on top of one another, sending them rolling. I smiled as I watched. It really was a good time.

“And not one of them will get pissed enough to come after me.” I lowered back down. “It would take these people years to accumulate enough anger here to really harness it, I think.”

“Not for long, hopefully,” she murmured, and then bowed to me. “Thank you for teaching me. For joining me. For giving me status.”

I grimaced again and started edging away. “I think we’re good here.”

“You will make it to the last battle. We will make sure of it.”

These people were so positive. They clearly had no foothold in reality.

“Okay, well…”

Darius walked across the grass to meet me, and I had a feeling he was doing it to show his face. To put forth a show of having been there the whole time.

Let’s head out of the public eye, he thought as he neared, looking behind me. They have a lot to unpack.

Penny was getting a bow from a bloodied Romulus.

“Did she win?” I asked as she reciprocated the bow awkwardly and then walked toward us, storm clouds on her face. I was going to get yelled at.

I only saw the last portion of the fight, but yes. She threw a spell over her shoulder as she ran away from him.

“Oh yeah, that’s her signature move. It means incredible pain if you let that spell land.”

He did. He watched your fight with Charity lying down. Tomorrow, while I get into position, I’d ask that you fight Penny out here. Let them see how you can negate her spell weaving. They saw her take down the Second and the yeti, so it’ll have a big impact.

“You’ll have to ask her yourself. She’s done with me.”

“Yes, I am,” Penny said as she stomped by. “I will be spending the evening in my room, thank you very much. Darius, you’re cooking. I need edible food. Charity taught them to make good food the last time she was here, but clearly they didn’t keep it up.”