“As I said, a fool. Lucifer has been a ruler for a long time, and Vlad only thinks he rules our vampire faction. His ambition has grown too big. They are unevenly matched, and Vlad will be on the losing side. Vampires will be on the losing side, just like they clearly are with the elves.”
“So then…” I shook my head at him. I hated when he got going. His strategizing got dizzying. “How are we going to knock the elves down a peg while also keeping me from Lucifer while also protecting us from Vlad’s efforts?”
Darius paused at Callie and Dizzy’s door. “While also freeing up the Underworld so that vampires can relinquish their dependence on unicorns and humans and procreate naturally?”
“Yes. That too.”
A loud rumble vibrated up the street, and a souped-up blue Mustang pulled up to the curb. After a moment, the door opened and Roger stood. Alder, his beta, got out of the passenger side.
“The answer, I believe, lies in Miss Taylor’s quest. She sees herself, and the fae and the shifters, standing between two different armies. The images flip-flop. Vlad and Lucifer opposed her first, and then the elves. It seems she is in the middle. She is tasked with leading the army to instill order.”
“The fae and shifters against two huge armies?”
Roger slowed as he neared the porch steps, Alder behind him. He was clearly listening in, and given Darius didn’t start thinking his comments at me, he was fine with that. It was actually nice when they worked together, since it saved me from being stuck in the middle, but it was definitely weird.
“At first glance, yes, that would seem to be the case. But Vlad was correct when he spoke of the unrest in the Realm. I wonder how hard the elves’ forces will fight if they think there is a reasonable chance someone will, in essence, rescue them.”
“Not hard, probably. They’ll probably just get lost.”
“Precisely.”
“That’s not the situation with Lucifer and the vampires, though.”
“I will halve the vampire forces. I must. We all know we must keep our numbers up, so we will not rush to kill each other. If we block the other vampires—if I block Vlad—that will take him out of the equation. That leaves the demon forces.” He held my gaze for a long moment.
“I don’t have a merry band of demons at my back. I can’t take on all their forces.”
“You have Penny, and Penny has the mages. And you have the type of power demons are used to following, not fighting. That will cause confusion, which might be enough to give the mages an opening.”
“Right. Except Lucifer.”
He stared at me for another long, silent moment.
“I’m sensing I won’t like the answer to this riddle,” I said softly.
“You will handle Lucifer.”
I laughed to stop from throwing up. Then shook my head and opened the door. “You need to get a new plan, bub, because that one isn’t going to work. I’m a novice, he’s a master, and you’re an idiot. There’s no way I can go up against my dad and win.”
Nine
Penny sat at a round table in Callie’s living room with Emery, across from her mother’s intense scowl. A couple of days ago, her mother had gotten a reading she didn’t much like. It came down to this: she couldn’t do the job herself. She would need help. Presumably help from the Red Prophet. Since then, she’d pulled out all the stops, taking to her crystal ball, cards, you name it, trying to get a different reading. Any other reading. No go.
“I just don’t see what sort of help I could possibly need,” Karen said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Callie and Dizzy walked amongst the other tables, identical to the one in front of Penny, usually pulled out for mage meetings or cards. This time, though, they were planning stations. It was generally agreed upon that tonight would be the meeting of the minds, and tomorrow they’d do whatever the Seers worked out.
The warrior fae had shown up ten minutes or so ago, along with Devon and his pack, and they were just waiting for Reagan and the Red Prophet.
“Nice setup you got here, Missus Banks,” Steve said, stretching back in his folding chair with his hands clasped behind his head and his elbows flared out to the sides. “The mage business pays well.”
“Beauty pays well. The mage business pays in the form of ulcers,” she replied, pouring wine for Romulus.
“She’s got that right,” Karen murmured.
Reagan burst into the room with a hard scowl, leather pants ending in thick-soled boots, and weapons strapped all over her person. Darius strutted in behind her, followed by Roger and Alder. The shifters in the room straightened up immediately. Romulus looked around with interest.
“By all means, come on in,” Callie groused. “Why bother knocking?”