“Well, excuse me if I was on a Faery plane and the king turned all human on us. So I’ve been off the juice for a couple of days,” I said. “I didn’t think about it.”
It was a routine at home. I was the Council’s Nex Apparatus, and that meant a wee dose of king’s blood in my morning coffee. While I’d been stuck on a weird Fae plane, I’d had neither coffee nor a functional vampire king. I’d gotten back and home had been taken over along with my refrigerator, so I was off track. And that fucking fireball hurt.
“So she’s been off it for almost a week in her time,” Gray said. “And she doesn’t take the same dose the queen and Quinn take. Topical it is, then, and when she gets back she’ll dose up again. I’ll talk to Casey about a donation this afternoon.”
Casey kind of owed me, and I wouldn’t hate having some more protection for me and the baby. I wasn’t worried about the vamp blood doing anything to my son. The queen had three healthy kiddos and she was always on the juice. Apparently it didn’t cause any complications unless it was primal blood.
I gritted my teeth as the nurse examined the wound. “So Profane spells are worse than regular old witch spells. Do we know why?”
“The Profane share some power with the demons who work with Myrddin,” Gray explained.
“Ah, hence the demonic power I can feel coming off her.” My bestie was going to need some serious deprogramming and probably a hearty detox. “Ow.”
It sizzled where the king’s blood touched, but in a good way. Still a hurty way, but I could feel the skin closing.
“Wow, that’s gross,” Luna said from above.
She was a strong were because she had to have flown up again. She was popping in and out of her form, and like my son, didn’t care about a robe.
“Sorry, kid.” I laid back, letting Rose do her job. “Do you like it up there?”
She grinned and was heartbreakingly cute, like a lot of kids her age. “It’s fun in here because I get to watch Momma work, but I like it better when I get to hang out with my dad.” Her grin faded. “He was sad last night. Alvis died. I don’t like the word die. It means I don’t get to see people again.”
Poor kid had already seen way too much death. “Sorry about that. I’m going to find out what happened. I promise.”
Her already big eyes widened, and she looked to her mom. “Momma, I hear a sound. Something’s coming.”
“It’s probably Eddie,” Rose said, finishing up my wound care. “He’ll be bringing Trent and Fen back.”
Luna’s head shook. “It’s from below.”
Suddenly I was looking at a bat who wrapped herself up in her wings as though she could hide. So much trauma in her young life.
And then I smelled brimstone as a demon popped into existence right in front of me.
I’d thought my day was done, but I got ready for another fight.
“Don’t, Kelsey.” Gray stepped in front of me. “He’s not here to cause trouble.”
Evan moved closer to me. “They always cause trouble. They live for it.”
The demon was a slender male dressed in an elegant suit. With the exception of his horns and red eyes, he looked perfectly human and well-heeled, with slicked back brown hair and male-model high cheekbones. He glanced around and offered a courtly bow. “Good afternoon, residents of the Under. I’m pleased to make your acquaintances.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I wasn’t playing around with the demons. “How the hell did you get through the wards, and what did you do to the nest?”
The demon frowned. “What happened to the nest?”
“Kelsey, he didn’t do anything,” Gray corrected.
“He’s here.” I wasn’t going to avoid the evidence in front of me. “He’s standing in a place that is supposed to be protected by a whole bunch of wards. Liv obviously couldn’t get through them, hence the plan to ensure I was brought to the surface so she could light me up. So how did this asshole get through?”
The demon gasped and put a hand to his chest as though there were some pearls there he could clutch. “That is extremely rude, Lady Sloane.”
I shook my head and slid off the table. “Oh, don’t you dare call me that.”
“It’s your title,” the demon insisted.
Gray stepped between us. “My wife doesn’t ever intend to take her place in the House of Sloane, so her title is not necessary.”