Revealed in Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights #9)(51)

Reagan darted toward the fae, bent, and reached between his legs.

That did it.

He jumped back, looked her way with wide eyes, and covered his junk all in one harried movement.

“Ha!” She pointed at him, her finger inches from his face. He blinked under her crazy stare. “Got you. Try harder, bub. Your countrymen are better at this than you.”

He let out a wavering breath and stepped away gingerly, working around her.

“Low,” Steve said with a smile. “Going for a guy’s junk is low.”

“I kicked Roger in the nuts. You think I really care about the rules of polite warfare?”

“This is true.” They kept sauntering along the path as though it were a pleasant stroll and Reagan wasn’t trying to cause havoc and turn the place upside down. The terrifying part was that she hadn’t really gotten going yet. She was supposed to take it easy for a while, then turn up the pressure, then pop into the proceedings and learn what she could from people’s thoughts.

Penny missed the days when they could just go home after Reagan caused a scene. She’d never complain about those instances again.

“Ah, there’s Callie and Dizzy.” Reagan pointed up ahead.

The dual-mages stood in the center of one of four gardens that made up the corners of a small square. In the middle was large shrubbery fashioned after a fountain. It was cool but weird, and it fit this place perfectly.

“Roger was fuming after that fight,” Steve said as Reagan veered toward them, cutting across the path of two people who stopped and looked straight ahead.

She touched one of their noses. “Boop.”

The woman’s eyebrows sank low, and fire lit in her eyes.

Reagan smiled at her. “Oh. Where are you headed? You’ll break, I can see it.”

“Reagan, stop pestering the townsfolk and come here.” Callie pointed down at a grouping of flowers. “Look how lovely this is. Do you think these exist in the Brink?”

“He would’ve come for blood,” Reagan said, responding to Steve as she walked toward the older dual-mages. “Romulus got in the way, though.”

“It worked out to everyone’s benefit,” Steve replied. “The fae got to see what they’d be protecting—or fighting beside, at least. Romulus got to show his might with the hellfire, Charity got to show off her prestige in battle, and, after you left, Roger got to pour his anger and pain into crushing the fae. We did a mock battle, and we stomped all over them. Too bad you weren’t there. Speaking of…”

Steve paused long enough for Callie to show Reagan the flowers.

“I must ask Romulus if we can plant these in my garden,” she said, moving on to look at another grouping.

“Where was your vampire when all that was going on?” Steve gave Reagan a sly smile. “And”—he looked around dramatically—“he seems to be missing again. Along with a very powerful mage. Hmm.” He tapped his chin.

“Messing around in a vampire’s affairs is not a wise pastime, young man,” Callie said, turning to the back corner. The word “moneymaker” was scrawled across the butt of her bright pink velvet sweatpants in silver cursive.

“Yes, ma’am,” Steve replied, pretending to be chastised.

“Reagan, what are your plans for causing mischief?” Dizzy asked, sidling closer. His left boot crunched down on a tuft of violet flowers with spears of yellow inside them. He didn’t seem to notice. “How about if I set my T-Rex running through the center of the village?” He patted the satchel hanging at his hip. “That would be good, right? It shocks whenever it bites down on someone.”

“Yeah, definitely set that one loose.” Reagan squinted and looked upward. “Maybe even a few things. They don’t really have specific guards in this place, but more people have been lingering around now that we’re here. We’ll need to pull them away so I don’t have to actually get violent.”

“Okay.” Callie walked back over, apparently having had her fill of the flowers. “Let’s get to it. We have a couple of hours, right?”

Penny sagged. It would be a long couple of hours.





I followed closely behind a woman with a bedazzled robe, my feet catching her heels again and again. Penny skulked behind me. It was nearly time for the hearing to start, and this woman was heading over to watch. The dual-mages were in the village center, readying their magic. I’d opened my mind to others’ thoughts, and given these people didn’t know to guard their gourds, I was bombarded with unsolicited feedback on my actions, mannerisms, and appearance. These people definitely knew I was in their vicinity, and they were curious, but they seemed compelled to ignore me at all costs. Except it didn’t seem totally natural, like they were under some kind of compulsion. It severely reduced my joy in how far out of their way they were going to pretend I wasn’t annoying the crap out of them.

I leaned forward so my mouth was closer to her ear. “Did you hear the one about the walrus?” I yelled.

What does she want with me? the woman thought, her robe swishing around her feet.

“Are you trying to look like a wizard?” I asked, and then sent some air buffers to hassle two people walking on either side of the road, giving me plenty of room in the middle. I pushed them into the hedge.