Reagan shook her head while staring out the window, strangely quiet.
“I don’t know,” she said, and if Steve wasn’t mistaken, he heard a little worry in her tone. “Something about those demons seemed…ancient. Different. Their burned skin, for one thing— I’ve never seen that before, and I’ve seen a good few demons in the last year or so.”
“I concur,” Steve said, his voice gruffer than usual. Pain had a way of doing that to a person.
“It made them…hardier, somehow. Tougher in battle than they should have been.” She shook her head.
“I concur,” Steve repeated, leaning his head back on the headrest and closing his eyes. “It’s like we’re sharing the same brain.”
“Better than the same bed.”
“I do not concur.”
“I’m sure the effect of those demons can be achieved through a circle and blood offering,” Reagan went on, “but I’ve never heard of it or seen it written. They were bound to their maker. I couldn’t easily will them to give up information, which is abnormal. I need to capture one and spend a little more…effort on it.”
Fabric rustled, and Steve’s eyes drifted open to see her sitting forward, a crease between her shapely brows and a worried expression on her beautiful face. The woman was a looker, that was for sure. She was a permanent resident in his spank bank.
He let his eyes droop again. She was also intelligent, highly competent, and delightfully brutal. Steve could afford a reprieve while she did the heavy lifting in this annoying situation.
“Just up here… What’s your name again?” Reagan asked the linebacker kid behind the wheel.
“It’s Rod,” Devon answered, “and this portal is blocked. Even if we can get through the demons—which might be easier than expected with you around—your buddy Emery says there’s an elf on the other side.”
“I know.” Her voice was flat. “I spoke to Roger more times today than a non-shifter really wants to.”
Steve chuckled, and spears of agony drilled into his left side. The chuckles turned to coughs, creating more spears of pain.
“Are you okay?” The voice was light. Musical. Extremely pleasing.
He opened his eyes to see Charity in the seat in front of him, exhaustion dragging at her features and dark circles under her eyes. Something within him snapped to attention, and a protectiveness he hadn’t expected stole over him. He struggled to sit up a little straighter within her kind eyes. A leader’s eyes, looking after her people.
Royalty.
The thought came out of nowhere, and nothing in him rebelled against it. Another first. What was the world coming to?
“Yeah. I’ll heal up right quick. It’s just shitty in the meantime,” he said, much softer than he’d intended.
She analyzed him for another moment before facing front again. The pressure of her notice gone, he melted back down into the seat. Eyes beat into the side of his face.
Reagan was looking at him with a smirk.
“What?” he asked.
A knowing gleam lit her eyes. She’d caught that little show, just then, of him accepting someone else’s dominance. Someone who wasn’t pack, no less.
He shrugged, and the movement made him wince. “Sometimes you just gotta ride the waves and see what happens.”
“I mean…you know what’ll happen. You’ll hit the beach or drown,” Andy muttered.
“Exactly,” Steve replied.
“So if the way is blocked, why are we heading there?” Devon asked. “We don’t have time for you to play capture the demon.”
Reagan huffed out a laugh. “You’re much more fun than Roger, I’ll give you that. And I’ll play that game once you’re in the Realm, don’t you worry. But the elf won’t be a problem by the time you get through the portal. Penny is on the job.”
“Ah. The little witch.” Steve grinned. “She still with the Rogue Natural?”
“You need to get laid, bud,” Reagan murmured.
“Always.”
“And yes,” Reagan said. “Right now, actually. Emery knows how to fool the elves—so much so that he was kicked out of the Realm for it—and Penny knows how to make anything Emery does better. You’ll be good to go.”
“Roger knows about this?” Devon asked Reagan, turning in his seat to look at her. He was suspicious. As well he should be. This was a ludicrously half-baked plan. Steve thought about sitting up straighter to be a part of the discussion. Instead, he just looked on from his slouched position.
“Yes.” Her tone was flat and eyes serious. “Roger gave Darius a list of Charity’s symptoms. Darius, being an incredible nerd when it comes to trivia, did some calculations. He doesn’t think we should risk taking a longer