Fused in Fire (Page 29)

If I got past the dragon, I had a feeling Clown Demon would be up next, so I made fire spring up on the ground around its special box, out of sight of the demon and unnoticed by the pandemonium around it. I immediately felt the ice power creating the wall. Just like the work of all the other powerful demons I’d encountered so far, this concoction was complex, woven together meticulously. Deftly.

The dragon tilted, and I scrabbled for purchase. My fingers caught a lip between the head and neck, but I didn’t have enough time to secure a hold. Instead, I slid off its back, across its wing, against its claw (which hurt something fierce), and off.

Weightless, I windmilled my arms. My fire magic kept working on the ice wall, counteracting Clown Demon’s efforts. He was definitely powerful, but I was a good student. I sped up the effect as I winked an eye open and looked below me.

The ground rushed toward me.

I started an air buffer, quickly running out of time. Arms wrapped around me out of nowhere and scooped me out of the sky.

“Oh thank God, Darius,” I said in a gush. “That would’ve been a rocky landing.”

He threw a spell at Clown Demon as the last of the air wall disintegrated, and it hit the base of the box with a thunk. The demon’s smile wilted and it leaned forward in its box. A vine instantly began to crawl up the box, sprouting fierce thorns.

“How have you done that?” Clown Demon bellowed. “Someone is carrying you! Yes, I can just see it.” Clown Demon gestured. The small hairs stood up on my arms. It was about to hit us with some powerful magic.

“How long does it take that spell to work—” The vine shot up in front of Clown Demon, unfurling like a friend saying hello. The demon’s brow furrowed as lovely red flowers bloomed in front of it. A moment later, they spat out something I couldn’t make out.

The demon flinched and looked at its front, still clearly confused. It wiped its chest. Then swatted it.

Magical acid, I believe, Darius said. It seems to work very well on demons. More so than I was expecting.

“Did Penny do that?” I asked, mystified. That was a league above Callie and Dizzy.

“No.”

He didn’t elaborate as he ran. The thwump of dragon wings beat the air overhead. It wasn’t doing anything more than staying in place at the top of the arena, watching us.

“Think dragons can spit fire?” I asked as we ducked through the flap and into the area where the would-be combatants awaited their turn. All their faces were frozen in shock.

Ordinarily I would say yes, but then why is it here, in a sect that has Incendium magic?

I had no idea.

I vaguely know the direction we’re going. I waited next to a circus member until the last possible second so I could get a read on its previous location. It is a hazy power, at least for me. That was why I wasn’t waiting for you to fall.

“At least you got there before I went splat.”

You wouldn’t have splatted from that height. You would have bounced and severely broken something.

“Right…”

He turned a couple times as color slowly worked into the design of the enormous tent. I could tell when his knowledge ran out because he slowed.

“It’s strange that we haven’t seen anyone,” I whispered as he paused at an intersection in the canvas halls. He was still carrying me, holding me tightly against his chest.

Do you think so? I am under the impression everyone turns up for the main show. And for the record, you made it through both of your time allotments and then some.

He chose the tunnel to the right and picked up speed again. As we moved through the back end of the tent, several living areas were sectioned off, probably for the higher-powered demons that didn’t live in the smaller (now mostly ruined) tents at the front of the big top. A few turns later, which were totally random, regardless of what he said, we burst out through the back flap into blessed darkness.

If only that meant we were free.

Chapter Twenty

Are you tired? Do you need to rest? Darius asked as we ran through the back lot of the circus.

Strange shacks and leaning buildings made of wood or stone suggested the kind of caravans that the circus staffers in the Brink might live and travel in. Few beings wandered around, but those that did were all costumed or disguised as circus animals of some sort.

I felt fatigue pulling at me, but knew I could continue on. I had a feeling that if I ignored the human side totally, I could keep going for much longer. Maybe never stop. Until I (possibly) dropped dead. It would be a one-time shock.

“I’m okay,” I said. “You?”

“Surprisingly, yes.” His deep timbre rumbled through his chest, and I was glad he was using his voice again. “I thought we’d have to figure out sleeping schedules, but at the moment I don’t need it.”

“I can run with you, you know. You don’t have to carry me.”

“I want to,” he said simply. I suspected it was because he’d feared for me before the dragon fight.

Sounded fine to me, both because of the contact, which was comforting, and because I was lazy.

I thought over the things we’d seen and heard. One thing stuck out. “Clown Demon said he hasn’t seen a human—which really means half human or less, obviously—since my dad enhanced the fog. Other demons seem to hate anything human, but aren’t surprised to see us in their territory. Even beyond the edges. Don’t you find that strange?”

He was quiet for a moment. The makeshift caravans fell away and the land turned wild, though not unpleasant. A strange sort of…grass, I would call it, formed a bumpy meadow. Twisted and gnarled trees rose to the sides and began to creep closer. It was like a pleasant hillside in a Jane Austen movie mixed with The Nightmare Before Christmas. Weird, but once you realized the gothic feel of it, kind of nice.

“That fog must’ve been put in long ago,” Darius said, angling right as we raced through the trees. I knew he was altering course from the straight shot to our destination. And since my memory was freaking awesome now, I also knew he would skirt the edges of a place called Caritas. If my Latin, which was dicey, was correct, that meant affection, love, or passion. Maybe all of the above—Latin confused me. He was answering my wish for a momentary diversion from the violence. “Demons are immortal unless killed, like vampires. Like gods. Some will have long memories and little concept of the passing of time. A human in their midst won’t seem like many lifetimes ago to them. The term enhanced, however, suggests that the previous fog wasn’t doing its job. Which would account for the difference between mine and Ja’s experiences.”

“Why’s he trying to keep everyone out, do you think, including creatures he’s fine with being on the edges?”

Darius shook his head slowly. “Ja spoke of the many delights in the Dark Kingdom. The beauties. Why go through the trouble of creating those and then hide them? Unless he’s tightening the borders to keep the influx of other creatures from tarnishing his creations. The elves tried tightening the Realm’s borders once. At least, that’s what they called it. What they were really attempting was to wield an iron fist of control. With new species come new ideas, and that can create control issues for a leader. Make your people dependent on you, ensure they learn only the information you would have them know, and what a smooth ride you’ve created for yourself as a leader.”

“Did they fail to realize that vampires won’t let anyone have a smooth ride?”

“They learned that lesson the hard way, which was why their attempt failed. Miserably.”

“I’ll bet.” I brushed my fingers against the base of his neck, thinking. “I think we are ignoring the dragon-sized elephant in the room.”

“Was that creature real? Or a demon assuming the shape, like the lion at the front of the sect?”

“I don’t know about the lion, but the dragon was a dragon. They might call it something different here, but it was a dragon. No demon could mimic those scales. My sword couldn’t even scratch them. Do you think that fog is there to keep the dragons a secret, like the unicorns?”

“There has to be more to it than that. If it wasn’t for the effect of unicorn blood, they wouldn’t have to be guarded and kept secret.”

“Not to mention the importance of the part they play in creating new vampires.”

“That as well.”

I watched the subtly changing landscape for a while, noticing the trees becoming denser and adorned with more foliage. “Whatever the reason for that fog, I doubt it’s targeted at humans. That’s not the thing that erodes at humans’ mortality down here. The other heirs of Lucifer were able to get past it, but still ended up dying.”

“I agree. Without that fog, humans might be able to get in for a time, but I doubt they would be able to stay for long. How long depends on their power level, I imagine, but only a certain type of half-breed human can survive down here. They must have a lineage of immortality on their human side. For you, it is the bloodline of the gods passed down through your mother’s side.”

“What about the other species with that bloodline? Like elementals? Why couldn’t Lucifer breed an heir with them that would last down here?”

“Each species poses their own challenges for reproduction, but it seems, unlike strictly magical people, humans are able to handle almost anything.”