Page 71 of Demons Treasure Warlocks

“But if you attend to it now, no one’s ready, and it’ll be easier for you to defeat him.” Hakko frowned, considering. He tapped his clawed finger on his chin. “Not a bad idea. What’s stopping you?”

“Rules of engagement. Canadian kindness.” Darius rolled his shoulders. “I don’t know. I don’t want to make anyone upset because I jumped the gun.”

“I don’t think people will care either way. Honest truth, Darius. What’s stopping you?” Hakko asked again.

“What if I can’t do it? What if this is the only chance and I blow it?” Darius whispered.

Bale kissed the side of his head gently. He wrestled with the same thoughts as well.

Hakko sat back and sipped his tea. He didn’t speak as he stared blindly toward the fire. “You have to take the chance. If you fail, you must succeed on the equinox.”

“Hakko’s right. This will be the only break you’ll have to get the jump on them," Poe said quietly. "They’ve become complacent and assured of their win. They believe because the town is on their side, they can relax. But if this salvo fizzles, and I pray for your sakes it doesn’t, you will have the equinox to unleash everything in your arsenal.” He had inched closer to Hakko, as though wary of the others.

“I don’t have the strength or the power. I’ve been trying to work on control, on connecting with all the natural elements, but I still feel like a journeyman.” Darius scratched the side of his neck. “There’s no way I can do it all.”

“Who says you have to?” Poe asked kindly. “What are you going to do?”

Bale and Darius looked at each other, and Bale nodded. It was time for Darius to share his thoughts and explain what he’d been working on. “We want to close the portals. Stop anyone and everyone from using them. We want to make them disappear completely.”

“How?”

“Shoving as much magical energy into them as I can. I noticed when Adam was working the last time that the portal keeper was hoarding it. But if we continue to pour all the magic in, they aren’t going to be able to focus it where they want. They’ll want a trickle, but they’ll get a waterfall instead, and it will dam it up.”

Bale narrowed his eyes at Darius’s plan. It sounded like what Darius had told him, but there were elements missing.

“What do you need from us?” Hakko asked, reaching for Poe.

“I…don’t know. I didn’t think that far ahead. This had been all speculation. And with everything that’s been going on with friends and townspeople, I didn’t want to ask for a commitment. I didn’t dare presume,” Darius said.

“Darius’s worried he’ll break you.” Bale muttered hoarsely. “He’s worried we’ll have another Caspian incident or Trey. We don’t want more casualties when there’s a chance we won’t be able to fix it.”

“Bale.”

“What? I’m just telling the truth. If Hakko wants to know our plan, we need to tell him everything, including the not so nice parts,” Bale said sharply.

Darius huffed and crossed his legs away from Bale. Hakko smiled knowingly before standing up.

“It seems you still have a few things to sort out. You’ve given me an eyeful of the future. Thank you for allowing me into your secrets. I am honoured to be a part of this.”

“It was nice to meet you, Bale. You… are interesting. And before you adjourn for the evening, have someone look at your leg. Its scent has bothered me.”

“Goddammit, Bale.” Darius slithered off the seat and touched the icy leg.

Hakko and Poe slipped out into the night, leaving Bale alone with his grumpy nurse.

ChapterThirty-One

Darius scowled ferociously at the reclining Bale. His leg was propped up on the coffee table with a cool towel draped around the offending ankle. Burn patterns encircled the whole thing. “What the hell happened?”

“Nothing, his tentacles. It was stupid. He was trying to distract me from his words, so I didn’t notice anything else,” Bale explained. Tension lines bracketed his mouth, and his stoic mien annoyed Darius.

“It stinks, Bale. Like rotting flesh. I don’t know how to fix rotting flesh.” Panic threatened to overwhelm Darius, and he couldn’t stop it. Seeing the black pattern sent pictures of horror throughout Darius’s head.

“Darius, it’s not rotting. I have been with him for years. This threat is nothing. He wanted to show me he had power over me. I refused to let him.”

“But Bale. I can’t do this without you. What if this was something different? What if—”

“No more what-ifs, Dare. His plan didn’t work. My ankle is fine. See? It just stinks.” He rotated his foot easily, and Darius watched it and Bale’s face, seeking out minute bits of pain. “If you keep the wing salve on it, we’ll be good.”

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