Naomi didn’t say anything for a while. What could she say? Her magic had been stolen from a demon, and it wasn’t some big accident. The very first Spirit Warrior had known what she was doing. She had willingly taken that dark magic into herself. No, not just willingly. Forcibly.

“I didn’t know you could steal a demon’s magic,” Naomi finally said.

“Most people can’t steal demon magic, but Cassia was a devious little thing.” Rane almost sounded like she admired the fairy. “Cassia tricked Sire.”

“Sire? There was a demon named Sire?”

“What can I say? Not all demons are as modest as I am,” Rane said with a sly smile.

“How did Cassia steal Sire’s magic?”

“She challenged him to a battle of wills, and the idiot agreed. Mental magic was Cassia’s strength. Sire should have known that.” Rane frowned in disapproval. “They battled in their minds, in the fake world that Cassia had created with her magic. Sire thought he would win easily and take over the fairy’s body after her will broke. He thought that she was his ticket to breaking out of the confines of hell. He thought he could use her as his host, that her powerful and immortal body could sustain him forever. He was wrong.” Her voice reverberated with finality.

“How did the fairy win?” Naomi asked her.

“She won because Sire was an idiot. He underestimated both her magic and her mental fortitude. His mistake cost him his life. Cassia killed him and stole his magic, merging it into her own. In so doing, she created a new kind of fairy and a new kind of supernatural: the only sort of earthly being who could travel between realms, whose magic was stronger in the spirit realm than on earth, and who could fight demons and exorcise them from earth without damaging the veil that separates the realms.”

“So you’re saying I have to fight Paladin and Paragon in a battle of willpower?” Naomi asked, her mind still reeling from Rane’s revelation. “That’s how I expel the demon princes from my babies?”

“No, not you. Your children must fight the demons to steal their magic and force their souls out. Just be warned, Paladin and Paragon are no fools, not like that idiot Sire. Their magic is strong, their minds cunning.”

Naomi set her hands protectively over her belly. “They are only babies. They’re not even born yet. How can they hope to defeat two ancient demon princes?”

Rane laughed. “Those two babies inside of you are more powerful than any mortal who has ever lived on earth. They have the power of the Dragon Born and the Spirit Warrior. They are masters of earth and hell. Why do you think the demons chose them as hosts?”

Naomi shook her head. “They are too young to fight. Their minds don’t understand.”

“You will have to lead them on the right path.”

“How?” Naomi’s voice cracked with anguish. “I don’t even know the way!”

Rane said nothing.

“Please,” Naomi said, desperation drowning her. “Tell me what I have to do. Help me.”

Rane snorted. “I’m not your fairy godmother, dearie. I’m a demon. It’s not my job to solve your problems and make everything all better. I stay out of these things.”

“You helped Sera in the Shadow World. And you’re training Riley now.”

“I didn’t help your friends; they helped me clean up my own mess,” Rane said, grimacing. “And by training Riley, I am preventing history from repeating itself. Mortals are such fickle creatures. Perhaps it would have been easier if I’d just killed you all after the Shadow World ended.”

“What do you want?” Naomi growled.

Rane quirked an eyebrow.

“That’s how this works, isn’t it? We do something for you, and in exchange you help us.”

“Very good, fairy,” Rane snickered. “There might be hope for you yet. You are a clever girl.” She braided her fingers together. “Nothing in life ever comes for free.”

Makani set an arm on Naomi’s shoulder.

“It’s ok.” She placed her hand over his, squeezing it. “I know what I’m doing.”

“We don’t make deals with demons.” His grip tightened, as if to hold her back from her own stupidity.

“We don’t have a choice,” she ground out between clenched teeth. “We have already exhausted all our other options.”

“We will figure it out. Without her help.” He glared at Rane like this was all her fault.

“Makani is right,” Firestorm told Naomi. “Deals with demons never work out. I’m speaking from personal experience.”

Rane grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bucket that had materialized in her hands. “They’re right, you know,” she said casually, stuffing the popcorn into her mouth.

Well, at least the demon was being upfront about it. However, Naomi didn’t see any other choice than making a deal with her. The demons’ spell couldn’t be reversed. Rane was their last resort. She was their only hope of defeating Paladin and Paragon and saving her babies. Naomi refused to allow their magic and bodies to be enslaved to the demon princes of hell.

“Tell me what you want from me.” Naomi’s voice was hard, her eyes burning with unshed tears.

Rane shrugged, and her candy tassels jingled. “Suit yourself. You can’t say that I didn’t warn you.”

The popcorn bucket in her hands disappeared, replaced by a dagger. It was about the length of Naomi’s forearm and completely black. The blade was thin, tapering further to a fine point. Wavy ripples were etched on either side of the black blade. The only hint of color besides black on the whole weapon was the purple gemstone set into the scaly hilt.

“This black dagger is one of a pair,” Rane told her. “Its twin currently sits in the vault of another demon, a grumpy old fellow who stole it from me centuries ago. Bring that dagger to me, and I will perform the spell you need in order to speak to your unborn twins, to lend your strength and will to them, to help them push out the demon souls inside of them.”

Naomi’s gaze slid over the black blade. “What does the dagger do?”

Rane’s smile was as sweet as pink lemonade on a hot summer day. “It has sentimental value.”

Yeah, right. And Naomi’s sword was for picking crumbs out of her teeth.

“Why can’t you just go get the dagger yourself?” Naomi asked, suspicion crinkling her brow. “You are powerful.”

“Yes, I really am,” Rane replied pleasantly. “But so is the other demon. And I see no reason to risk myself when you can simply go get it for me.”

Rane was nothing if not pragmatic.

“Where is the demon?” Naomi asked with a resigned sigh.

“In the ninth circle of hell.”

“Let me get this straight,” Naomi said. “You want me to march into the deepest reaches of hell, break into a powerful demon’s stronghold to steal a dagger, and escape before being killed?”

“Exactly. Getting killed won’t help either of us, dearie. I won’t get my dagger. And you won’t be able to save your babies if you’re dead. Then again, if you die, so will your babies, which would also take care of the demons possessing them.”

Naomi grimaced less at Rane’s grotesque words than at the perfectly practical way that she spoke them.

“Did I mention the demon who has my dagger is the king of hell?” Rane said silkily.

Well, she’d sure saved the best for last.

“Fine,” Naomi bit out. “I’ll get your dagger. And then you will hold up your side of the deal. You will help me separate the demons’ souls from my babies.” She reached out with her hand.

Smiling, Rane shook it. “Fantastic. And because I’m feeling generous today, here’s a free tip: move fast. The demons are growing powerful. Before long, they will have enough magic to speed up your pregnancy. Wait too long to fight Paladin and Paragon, and you’ll go into labor. If you’re not back here before then, you’ll be up shit creek, dearie. As soon as those babies come out, you don’t have much time to perform the Dragon Born ritual or they will die.”

Rane’s cheeriness was downright suffocating.

Naomi swallowed down the hard lump in her throat choking her breath as surely as it choked her heart. “Where will I find the dagger?”

“In Hero’s fortress.”

“Hero? That’s the name of the demon king of hell?” Naomi would have laughed if she could have shaken off the cloak of despair long enough to do it.

Rane flashed her a big, toothy grin. “Great name, isn’t it?”

“It’s ostentatious.”

“Not as ostentatious as the name he went by two thousand years ago.” Rane looked positively nostalgic.

“You’ve slept with him.” The realization hit Naomi as hard as the nauseating bout of disgust.

“Nice to see your sixth sense is still working, Spirit Warrior,” Rane said with a dry chuckle. “Hero was handsome back then, not to mention an absolute fiend in the sack.”

The idea of demons getting busy turned Naomi’s stomach.

“But he’s grown so fat in the last few centuries. Too bad.” Rane pushed her rosy pink lips out into a full-fledged pout.

Naomi would have called the expression out of place on her face, but nothing was out of place when it came to the chameleon demon.

“How well do you know Paladin and Paragon?” she asked Rane.

“I’m not their mother, if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t have the necessary maternal instincts to be a mother.” She shot Naomi a saccharine smile. “Not like you, dearie.”

Naomi’s insides did a bellyflop. She was nearly as anxious about suddenly becoming a mother as she was about the demons she still had to fight.

“Where in the ninth circle of hell is Hero’s fortress?” she asked.

“On the other side of the Pacific. On one of the islands of your dragon’s former territory. They called it the Inferno.”

“That was her island.” Makani looked at Firestorm, his eyes hardening.

Rane smiled darkly. “Serendipitous, isn’t it?”

The way she said it was more foreboding than happy. Then again, this was Rane. Like her mixed fairytales, the moods she showed were often a bit jumbled—and not necessarily indicative of what lay inside.

“Is there a spirit stream that will bring us there?” Naomi asked Rane.

“You can take a stream in the third circle from San Francisco to Los Angeles, then catch a sixth-circle stream to Brazil, then walk a few days in the first circle until you catch the stream down to Antarctica. From there, hop across the continent using three different magic streams. You’ll eventually reach Australia. From there, you can catch a ninth-circle stream to a neighboring island. Then it’s about a hundred kilometers of swimming to Hero’s castle. Be careful, though, the waters around there are teeming with sea monsters. And they tend to boil during the day. All in all, if you survive, the journey should take you about two months, give or take.”

Naomi had never heard anything as convoluted. “Going by plane would be faster,” she said to Makani.

“Sure, you could do that,” Rane said, disapproval creeping into her voice. “Or, alternatively, you could get your ass into gear and finally live up to your magical potential.”

Naomi blinked in confusion. “I don’t follow.”

Rane smirked at her. “Well, that’s a problem, dearie, because I’m not up to leading.”

Haha.

“You’re saying I can use my magic to get there faster?” Naomi asked, trying to get some sense out of the silly demon.

“Yes. Your magic doesn’t just allow you to pop back and forth between the same spot in all the realms. You can move between any spot in any realm. Your magic is a ticket to anywhere.”

A frown furrowed Naomi’s brow. “I didn’t read anything about that in the Spirit Warrior journals.”

“Journals written by Spirit Warriors who didn’t understand the true power of their magic—or where it had come from.”

“From the demon Sire,” Naomi said.

“You’re smarter than the others. You’ll probably live longer too.”

“Sire had the power to teleport to any spot in the spirit realm, didn’t he?” Naomi asked her.

“Only to any spot in the core circles: seven, eight, and nine. After all, he was a demon, and most of us cannot leave the core of hell. But, yes, he possessed the power of teleportation. He didn’t need the spirit streams. He had considerably more power than sense.”

“I’m not a demon, though. So I can teleport between all the circles of the spirit realm.”

“And earth,” Rane told her. “Because you can survive in hell and on earth. All in all, your magic is a marked improvement over Sire’s. It’s no wonder Paladin and Paragon wanted your babies’ bodies.”

“How do I use this power?”

“You just do.”

Naomi shot her an annoyed look. “That’s not helpful.”

“Do I look like a magic cookbook, Goldilocks? I don’t know how you use your magic, and I’m not driven by an incessant need to meddle in other people’s business.”

“Fine,” Naomi bit out the word. “I’ll figure it out myself.”

“You do that, dearie. Flexing your magic muscles is good for your self-confidence, especially in your delicate state.”

Naomi ground her teeth, reminding herself that attacking Rane wouldn’t help her save her babies. “Do you know where in Hero’s castle the dagger might be?”

Rane rolled her shoulders back in an easy shrug. “He likely keeps it in his treasury.”

Which was probably full of a million other treasures. It was like looking for a dagger on the battleground of a major engagement.

“Fine,” Rane sighed when Naomi frowned at her. “I’ll meddle just this once. But mind you, afterward I’ll need a thorough skin peel to cleanse my body of the do-gooder stench.”

Rane handed her the black dagger. “This dagger and the one Hero holds were forged together. They are part of a set, linked by magic. This one will lead you to its twin.”

Naomi’s hand closed around the hilt. “We’ll get your dagger.”

“Good. I’ll be waiting here. Eating my weight in candy.” The popcorn bucket reappeared in her hands. “And popcorn.”

Naomi sheathed the black dagger, then marched out of the demon’s house, Makani and Firestorm on either side of her.

“Slow down,” Makani said as Naomi sped up.

“You heard Rane. Paladin and Paragon will soon have the power to speed along this pregnancy. I don’t have time to slow down.”

“You have the time to strategize before storming into the king of hell’s fortress,” he told her.

“Actually, that was exactly my strategy: storming into the king of hell’s fortress.”

His mouth hardened. “This is Alex’s influence.”

Alex had a tendency to leap first, then look. Naomi wasn’t usually like that, or at least she hadn’t been before. But now—well, now things had changed. The need to fix this right away, to protect her babies, to save them from a fate worse than death, propelled her legs forward.

But Makani was right. She had to slow down. At least for a minute. Taking a few moments to create a true plan of attack wouldn’t cost her much time, but it might make all the difference in the world. It might mean the difference between survival and going down in flames. Right now, with her babies’ free will in the balance, there was too much at stake to play with fire.

“What do you have in mind?” Naomi asked him.

“First of all, I’m coming with you.”

“It’s the core of hell, Makani. You will be weak there. The pressure of the spirit realm’s magic will break you down within minutes. It will take much longer than that to find the dagger.”

“My discomfort is irrelevant. This is too important. I will not break.” His words crackled with magic.

“I’m coming with you too,” Firestorm said. “I can help you. I know the island in all the realms.”

Naomi considered her words. Rane had confirmed all that Firestorm had told them, but did that mean they could trust her? According to the demon, they could trust Firestorm as much as they could trust her. It felt like a trick statement. Hadn’t Rane said they would be fools to trust her?

Naomi’s instincts hadn’t failed her yet. She chose to believe that Firestorm truly wanted to help them—if not for their benefit, then to get her revenge on Darksire.

“We should bring her with us,” Naomi told Makani. “She’s strong. And we’ll need help to steal the dagger.”

They couldn’t tell anyone else where the demons were really hiding. They might just kill her babies for the greater good, to protect the earth from demonic invasion. That was exactly what the Magic Council would do. It wasn’t a risk Naomi was willing to take.

“I still don’t trust her,” Makani said, slanting a suspicious glare Firestorm’s way. “I’m not convinced she isn’t working with Darksire, in spite of everything he has done. She still loves him.”

“I know, but I believe her,” said Naomi. “And if no one ever gives her a second chance, she’ll eventually go back to him, back to being a monster.”

“As you wish.” He nodded, acquiescing to her decision. “But I will be keeping my eyes on her the whole time.”