“Because I’m a demon?” I asked. “You’re mighty judgy.”
“We’ve got a thousand years of history to back that judgment up,” she said.
“Have you ever met a demon?” I asked.
The woman was silent.
“That’s what I thought. Xander, we have to go.”
Xander nodded, then looked at the women. “We need your help. And you can’t stay here. There’s nothing stopping the queen from sending more shifters or even her own vamps. You’re the most powerful mages around. You’re a direct threat. You might as well help us end this.”
“We don’t have a choice,” one of the twins said.
“Ladies.” I swept my arm toward the exit. “Your chariot awaits.”
They all rolled their eyes but they started walking toward the exit. I could hear the sound of rustling and then cracking bones. I didn’t need to look back to know some of the wolves were shifting back.
“Run!”
We all took off, racing through the headstones until we reached the gravel road. The wolves were on our heels but I didn’t hear them charging.
I glanced behind me to see them pacing right at the entry to the cemetery. They weren’t following us to the car. “They must have been tasked to stay within the borders.”
“They were probably ordered to keep you four in,” Xander said.
“This is why we can’t have demons here,” Red said. “You bring trouble.”
“It’s not my doing, sweetheart,” I said. “I was here to forge an alliance and I got played.”
“Sure,” she said.
“He’s on our side,” Xander said. “I know you might not believe it, but he is.”
“So the demon is the good guy?” She sounded skeptical.
“There are no good guys in this fight, but out of the two sides, ours is less bad. Does that help?” I asked.
“Oddly, it does,” she said as she climbed into the back seat of the jeep.
All four mages were crammed into the back seat and as soon as I entered the car, I could feel their power flooding the space. Xander wasn’t kidding when he said these ladies were powerful. Even Shelly didn’t emit a quarter of their magic.
“What exactly was your job in this cemetery?” I asked.
Xander started the Jeep and turned it around, starting us toward the main road.
“Demon fighters,” one of them said. “We’ve perfected your magic so we can use it against you.”
“And against vampires, honestly, since it got sort of boring preparing for an enemy that never showed,” another replied.
“Well, I suppose that’s good since we’re going to need you to take down some vampires.” I’d never heard of a mage channeling demon magic, but I was intrigued. And we were going to need all the help we could get.