Revealed in Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights #9)(53)

“Good idea.” I nodded. She might resist it, but she was made for a life of mayhem.

Stones dotted the grass walkway, flanked on both sides by the tall hedge. The space opened up near the end. People in those bedazzled white robes sat in rows upon rows of white wooden chairs facing a stage. Charity and Romulus sat on one side of the stage with flat expressions, and a regal woman with graying hair and very few laugh lines sat on the other side, her hands in her lap and her hard scowl on me. A woman stood at a little podium, no longer speaking, her face turned my way in confusion.

Magic thrummed to my right, a concealment spell. Obviously no one was the wiser to the vampire and natural mage listening intently within their midst.

You’re late, Darius thought, and it was a wonder I could even hear him amidst all the thoughts suddenly crowding me.

Heir.

…what a strange dress code…

I can’t believe Lucifer sired another child.

What is that sack around her hips?

She can levitate—only demons can levitate. Does she change into—

“Hey,” I said, cutting out the thoughts for a moment. I’d wait until I dropped my news before listening in again. “So sorry to interrupt, but your gate was basically inviting the whole neighborhood to kick it in. I couldn’t resist. Anyway, while I’m here—”

“Reagan Somerset, yes.” Romulus stood, his hands clasped in front of him.

He is incredibly annoyed, Darius thought, and it occurred to me that I always had our channels open, even when I was blocking everyone else out. I’m sure you have a point, and you had better make it quickly.

“If you don’t mind me saying—” Romulus went on.

I held up my hand. “This concerns this meeting. Darius will kill me for giving this away, but I have Lucifer’s magic.”

“Yes, we know. We all saw that rousing display of your powers—”

“Yes, yes, yesterday. I meant all of his magic. Including the ability to read minds.”

I opened back up really quickly, getting slammed with surprise, outrage, fear, and an attempt to think nothing at all. People didn’t realize that usually backfired, leading to an out-of-control thought spiral.

“I very rarely use it,” I said over the din, except it was actually quiet, and I was just yelling over the noise in my head. “I was taught to tune it out. People mostly think irrelevant garbage, and I have enough garbage in my own head—I don’t need anyone else’s. But…” I held up a finger. “But something was deeply troubling to me about this place. About the way you all ignore strangers.”

“Yes, that is something I meant to—”

“Romulus, please, if I may,” I said, as polite as I was capable of being. “You were hoodwinked by your mother for…how many years? You are clearly blind to the very obvious. I am not so blind. What I have to say is relevant to these proceedings. Let me—very quickly—throw it into the ring, and I’ll leave you to discuss everything.”

He stilled for a moment, and I heard, She should’ve been barred from the Realm. She does not belong here.

I pointed at the regal lady, whose pinched expression and hostile thoughts marked her as the First Arcana.

“I am magical, from both parents. I belong in the magical world just as much as you do,” I responded, and she couldn’t stop her eyes from widening. “Thought I was lying about the mind reading, huh?”

Insufferable dirty demon…

“Sticks and stones, lady. Anyway, I was mostly delighted by your people ignoring me. I am not as fragile as the shifters. I don’t need to be liked.” This was where I had to hedge a little. “After a few…experiments on how far people would go to ignore me…”

“Yes, you really did push the limits,” Romulus mentioned.

He apparently finds your colorful personality humorous, Darius thought, and I knew he was reading some subtle changes in the Second’s body language, because I hadn’t gotten that at all.

“Yes, I did. Because it was crazy to me that a”—I did bunny ears with my fingers—“‘warrior race’ didn’t get pissed that I was throwing them around. Or standing in their way. Or just being an ass for no reason. So I used my magic and peeked into their craniums to at least see if I was having an effect.”

“That is a violation of privacy,” the First said, outraged.

“Yeah, you should talk. Why do you think you’re up there? I’m about to add to your list of crimes, too.”

“Mother, please. I would like to hear what Reagan Somerset has to say.” And now Romulus’s gaze was keen. “If she has new insights to offer, we need to hear them.”

“How can we possibly trust a creature that listens in—”

“I agree with the Second.” An older man stood up from the audience, his long white beard ridiculous and his robe quite plain.

“As do I.”

“Yes.”

I took advantage of the opening. “I discovered some interesting things. For one, your people are extremely interested in the exotic. You think of it as sexually taboo, which is…off-putting, but also just crazy. The Realm is host to a multitude of creatures. Even the most isolated groups, like the vampires, mingle. To be so closed off that you think someone different is taboo is just fucking crazy. What’s wrong with you people? The other thing I noticed is that people couldn’t think about me for long. Their thoughts would drift away, as though they’d lost the thread of consciousness. They weren’t keeping themselves from noticing me; they were unraveled from noticing me. It seemed like manipulation of some kind, and honestly, it just took the fun out of the whole thing. Given the First’s magic, my guess is that she’s not just keeping you put—she is injecting the desire to ignore strangers. To ostracize them. To keep them apart. So that ain’t good.