Chapter 17 #2
And time would tell, but I may have just figured out a safer way to communicate with the supernatural alliance.
Under normal circumstances I would have already left. The temptation to await an empty hangar was hard to deny, but in a few hours, I could be reasonably certain that only the guards on the entrance would remain.
I pushed off the wall and left the gate hangar, ignoring Carmine’s searching gaze.
Once back in my chamber, I peeled off the battle attire and slipped into the shower like I’d done anything to break a sweat. Afterward, knowing that Carmine would feel my movement and be paying attention, I crawled into bed, wrapped in the towel.
And waited.
And waited some more.
The screams and moans of the injured died down. The barked commands and weary footsteps faded.
I waited.
When the lull of night settled in, and Carmine had been in bed for at least an hour, only then did I start to stretch my powers out.
I went underground. If Carmine happened to scan his surroundings, then hopefully he would only scan the halls on this level.
I dove my power down to the dungeons where he would always avoid, then crept through the stone toward the hangar. My senses were open through my magic, and I listened to the animated conversation of the young guards outside the hangar. They were swapping battle stories from today.
I retreated my power away. Beneath the hangar of gates was solid rock, and I stretched my magic through it, straining to pick up any signs of guards with the hangar itself. Only two demons could have evaded me—one was “on my side,” and the other was in bed.
Here goes.
I rose before my gate and probed the hinged bottom corner. Alarms existed on the Earth side, but I couldn’t feel any magic on this side.
Where was my little ring?
I extended the tiniest wisp forward. There. Definitely there.
But not wide enough to really serve as a tunnel between the realms. The gates were formed of thick stone the width of my forearm and infused with Carmine’s power.
I connected with the tiny ring and started to build upon it, lengthening the narrow band into more of a pipe. I didn’t dare widen the middle of the pipe, and as I stretched the growing pipe between the realms, half of my mind was on my held breaths back in the chamber.
I had to be careful. Carmine would notice anything amiss.
There was nothing to alert me to success. I made the pipe as long as I believed it needed to be. My main concern was that some of the pipe would stick out into either realm. The length had to be exact. I could feel the stone of the gate, and that would need to be my indicator for now.
Okay. I had no idea if that had worked.
I took a breath and wiggled my Magus power through the pipe. Not as difficult as expected. Only a faint wisp was possible, but the magic flowed through easily enough.
I reached the end of the pipe, then readied myself for any number of catastrophic consequences.
Go.
My Magus power poked its head out the other end, theoretically on Earth.
And I was on Earth. Night had fallen there. I could hear cars honking and laughter ringing upward. Tears sprang into my eyes, and I touched a hand to my cheeks when they fell. I hadn’t anticipated feeling much of anything at the sounds of Earth.
But Earth was once my home with a loving family.
My son and my sister were on Earth.
The sounds were familiar in a way that called to a lost version of me who would have given so much to hear these sounds when she had first come to the demon realm.
I continued to creep my Magus power forward. The letter was still in the same place. Which meant that Vissimo hadn’t searched the rooftops. Which meant they were unaware of the nets Carmine had ordered over their buildings.
If any Vissimo lurked in the targeted skyscrapers, they would unknowingly be leeching their vital energies to hungry demons.
I spread my magic around the letter. Usually that would take me less than a second, but I was working with a wisp of power.
After I wrapped the letter thoroughly, I started to pull the message back to the gate. And just as Vissimo voices erupted on the rooftop, I focused on my hands and the letter with everything I had.
Then yanked.
A weight landed on my feet under the blankets.
Not in my hands, but on me. It worked, it worked, it worked!
Now I didn’t want to move in case Carmine heard the crinkle of paper from his bed. He’d just waged war. How quickly did someone sleep after that?
Scrap that, war probably sent Carmine into a deep, dreamless sleep.
I pushed back the blankets and picked the letter up, then went to the bathroom. I opened the message while pulling the chain that emptied the toilet, then turned on the taps to cover the sounds of me laying the letter flat.
I held the sheet of parchment by one corner and returned to bed.
After summoning a small flame, I squinted to read the writing.
Syera,
I got your letter, and I’m really hoping that no one noticed.
We are all aware that each letter is a great risk for you, and that we need to keep communication efficient.
Right now, here are the issues for our alliance.
1) That we can only react with little notice to demon attack, but not initiate an attack ourselves.
While I believe that I can open a gate, we have almost no knowledge on the demon realm beyond, and how other supernaturals will fare there.
Axel’s kidnapping did give us confirmation that at least Luthers can survive in the demon realm.
You are part Magus and live there, too, but how will other Magus fare considering our magic is opposite in nature to that of a demon?
Magus form the cornerstone of our magical defense.
2) Your mating with the demon king. Is this complete? And what consequences would you face if he were killed? When we do defeat him, would my guess on his successor be correct?
Adeuto?
Yes, he’d become king in time, with me as the regent until he reached sixteen.
The letter continued.
3) In general, we have only scraps of information regarding demons.
We know that scale color is important in denoting power level.
That a demon’s smoke will hurt all supernaturals other than a Luther.
We are aware that demons feed on negative emotion.
We have figured out a defense against demon attack, and have a growing knowledge of weaknesses, preferred strategies, and strengths.
Any information that you can provide to build our knowledge would be of great benefit.
While King Kyros voiced hesitations—
I snorted. King Kyros didn’t seem the type to voice hesitations at all.
—about sharing any intel lest this letter fall into enemy hands, there is no one who understands me better than you.
The Luthers and Magus feel that some information must be shared as you will know best how to wield them against the demon king.
There is no room for error in any attack, and though my demon has innate understanding of our dual race, there are large gaps, and she also never had opportunity to learn anything of the layout of the realm from her dungeon cell.
So here is some insight into my power, given in the hopes that you may interpret it as no one else can.
1) The mother gifted me with the grimoire affinity, and I now possess all four affinities.
This has allowed me to unlock the powers held in four relics of a beloved past leader.
Each of the relics ties into one of my affinities, and these granted me the power to battle the demon king in his weakened state.
In combination with my quipu ability to connect information, the power granted through my mating, and the relics, I’m able to feel beings—and seize control of them should I wish (and with great effort).
This is how I made a large number of demons kill their comrades.
“Badass bitch,” I breathed, then grinned in the weak flamelight.
Grandmother would have loved that one. I’d always known that Tempest’s ability to enter information into her braided knot system was her superpower.
When enough was entered, her magic then started to reveal hidden and unconnected information.
If I understood things right, she’d surpassed that to now feel or see her quipu and all living creatures in her mind.
My twin was incredible.
2) We must constantly replenish the protections in place over the gates, and the sources of these protections are finite. Without these protections, we have assumed that demons will continue to feed upon us.
3) My magic has made it clear that the only end to this war is the death of the demon king. Certainly, our efforts to negotiate and compromise have resulted in nothing.
Tempest ended with a short paragraph about her mating with Wild, and the constant learning of leadership. She made some subtle references to Adeuto, then signed off.
Counting the days until we are reunited,
Tempest
Like last time, there was a note from Basilia.
Hey,
I enjoyed seeing you at the gate. You’re well-branded.
Your sister is queen vibes, too, but she’s into plants.
I have a feeling you like blood?
So do I!
Kisses,
Basilia
I shook my head, then read Andie’s.
Queen Syera,
I guess we’re all writing to you each time.
If you have any news on Axel, then his mother and the pack would be very grateful.
Sincerely,
Andie
How did these three women work together? I couldn’t imagine it. Even after seeing them, I had no idea how the alliance gelled. Sascha and Andie had to be the glue because Wild and Kyros could not be happy to be in the same room. Were my sister and Basilia always at each other’s throats?
Not my problem, and long may that remain true.
I set the paper alight, then banished the ash and smoke out of a tiny portal high above the realms.
Phew. Incriminating evidence destroyed.
Aside from my little pipeline to Earth.
Which could have just changed the entire game.