“You, anymore?”
Titus’s nod was hesitant. “My chi’s different.”
“Black magic does that,” Lucifer said with a shrug, his powerful shoulders empty of his wings. “Druids can’t use black magic, nothing but arcane, which is just an extension of their weak-arse-chi.” Lucifer grinned. “It’s why the Archdruid has that stick up his arse. He knows even when connected to a ley line, we could destroy him with a flick of our fingers before his own magic poofs him out of existence.”
Lucifer’s palm erupted into arcane, a deep red with a heart of black. It was hot, the magical flames dancing freely before morphing into a clouded sphere. It was perfect, not a single wrinkle in the shimmery surface.
Titus called his own magic, the once white arcane tainted with flecks of black as he called it to his hand, before quickly extinguishing it. That same magic had killed the hound in a single hit.
“The reason Daemons are so powerful, and have been hunted since the beginning of existence is because, unlike witches, black magic doesn’t harm us once we accept it.” Lucifer turned his hand, the sphere moving with him. “There’s no long-term effect on our body, or sacrifice to our sanity.”
“You say this like your body didn’t erupt wings and horns.”
“I saidlongterm.” Lucifer closed his fist, the arcane extinguishing. “You try pushing your body through a mountain of black magic at once, and see if you don’t grow fucking wings.” Lucifer reached inside his jeans pocket, pulling out a joint and lighting it in one, quick movement.
Titus was sure his glare could cut.
“Oh right, you did!” Lucifer clapped him on the shoulder with a chuckle before taking a long inhale, holding it in his lungs before releasing the smoke out his nose. “Fascinating really, shows how connected all magic really is. Druids. Witches. Fae, and even those celestrial twats who think they’re better than everyone else. Children of Chaos.”
“We’re not going to start that –”
“All magic was once Chaos, and then boom!” Lucifer slapped his hands together, creating a sudden crack.
“ – again,” Titus sighed, refusing the hand-rolled cigarette held out.
“It exploded into what we have now. Three realms, each with their own magic. Four if you count the Nether, whichIdon’t.” Lucifer took another drag, releasing the smoke like a dragon. It created a haze around his face, drawing attention to the intensity of his eyes.
“You’re like a broken record,” Ti said dryly, eyeing the joint. Ashroot probably, maybe mixed with some spices, from the scent.
“History’s interesting,” Lucy said before holding out his cigarette. “You sure you don’t want some? It’s some good shit.”
“I’m cutting down,” he explained, and Lucifer nodded in understanding. Axel was still early in his addiction recovery, and getting high from ashroot, or anything else for that matter, while his cousin was suffering, was an arsehole move. “And what you’re saying is not history. The Chaos theory’s just that, a theory.”
“I’m sorry, explain to me how I’m able to drift and glamour myself, the same as Fae, while no other Breed can without the assistance of a charm? Or how both you and I can use death and blood to heighten our magic? The same as a black witch. Or –”
“Ugh, Fates kill me now.”
A snort. “Bloody hell, those old hags aren’t going to help.”
He wasn’t sure why he was calling on the Fates, three women his Breed revered. If he’d believed in them as a child, that faith left long ago when he was trained, and tortured to within an inch of his life. What goddesses subjected a child to such cruelty?
No, they didn’t exist. And if they did, fuck them.
Titus’s gaze wandered back to the hound.Why the fuck hadn’t it broken down yet?
Lucifer frowned, his attention settling on the hound too. “I think this might be a problem.”
Ignoring the surrounding smoke, Titus kneeled. The hound was definitely dead, the vapour that usually floated around their exposed ribs and nostrils long gone. The heart, which was visible at the side, had blackened into a darkened husk. Hounds, as well as all classifications of Shadow-Veyn, usually broke down in death, returning to the Nether within moments of their death.
“How long’s it been?”
Lucifer raised a dark brow. “Since what? Since I pissed Jax off? Since I fucked someone other than my hand? Since I –”
“Why are you allowed to hunt with us again?” Ti muttered, pulling out his phone, and clicking Riley’s number. He answered on the second ring.
“What?”
“We’ve got a problem.”
