Arthur did not wait for our input. He strode out of the door, expecting his orders to be followed. Insufferable man. How could he think of facing a damn army of demons on his own?

"Are you just going to let him do this? On his own?" I asked when the three made no move to follow.

"The Sire knows what he's doing," Kat jumped in. I glared at her.

"There's no stopping him," Harvey said, smiling. "As there's no stopping you."

I stormed right out the door in Arthur's footsteps. He was down the steps and near the edge of the woods surrounding the palace. The area was deserted, but the distant sound of fighting filled the air, breaking the spell of a peaceful night.

"Arthur!" I called running down the steps.

"Stay inside, Elle," he said, his voice calm. Too calm. He was facing the trees, his magic heavy in the air.

"Are you seriously trying to take on hundreds of demons on your own?" I said once I reached him. His eyes were closed.

"Yes."

"That's stupid."

"No," he replied. "What is stupid is you being here."

"You think I can't handle it?" I pulled out my sword and faced the woods. The sound of fighting was getting closer. "Like I can't handle the bond?"

"I know you can't handle the bond," he said, his tone quiet. He was calm. I was not. And I hated it.

"I never thought you'd be a misogynistic asshole."

He shook his head. "Your being a woman has nothing to do with it."

"Oh really?" I said.

"I told you-"

"I know what you told me!" I said, losing my composure and turning to face him. "And I know you're not doing it because I'm a woman."

He stayed silent. He was stubborn about this. Arthur had not shied away from opening his end of the bond ever since it manifested. In fact, I was the one who'd been hesitant at first. So this wasn't about hiding his emotions from me. Arthur did not hide things. Except perhaps...

I narrowed my eyes. "You're afraid you'll scare me off, aren't you?"

I knew I hit the nail spot on when he opened his eyes. He was still not looking at me, his focus on the woods.

"Remember a while ago, when I asked you about dropping your cloak?" I asked "You told me that I couldn't handle it. It's the same thing, isn't it? You've been cloaking your true self from the bond, too, haven't you? And what happened to me made you lose control over the cloak."

"Let's not have this discussion when a hoard of demons is about to descend upon us."

"Coward."

Finally, he looked at me. And his look made it clear he did not like being called a coward. Mainly because he was being one, right now, and he knew it. He was running away from this conversation.

I grinned. Finally, I wasn't the only one being pissed off. Now we were getting somewhere.

He opened his mouth. The ground shook beneath us, but it wasn't Arthur's magic. We faced the woods as one.

It was only seconds before the origin of the disturbance broke through the cover of trees. The mole-like demons we'd seen on camera charged forward, flattening bushes and knocking off parts of tree trunks left and right.

Arthur's men were succeeding in funneling the mini army to us. I pulled my magic forward until it was a breath away from coloring the night blue. I hesitated, not wanting to harm anyone else nearby with the fire. I could see some of Arthur's men still trying to keep the demons from straying away. They would be in danger if I used the flames.

My attention was wrenched from the demons and Arthur's people the very next moment.

It happened as if in slow motion. As the demons advanced towards us, a layer blanketing Arthur's magic was peeled off. The cloak which had been masking Arthur's true nature fell off entirely. It wasn't like when we faced off Santos, when he'd let the cloak drop for a fraction of a second to call Charles to him. No. This was different. This was Arthur's pure aura as an immortal. And it was like nothing I had ever felt before.

No. That wasn't entirely true. Arthur's aura was a hybrid of vampiric and demonic essence. Which made sense, since his grandfather was a demon lord from the other realm.

The power that burst from him was a dragon roaring to life, breaking its chains and stretching its wings. It was a tremendous amount of pressure that could drive me to my knees.

My lungs couldn't draw breath, and my ears rang until my eardrums almost burst. Through eyes turned watery, I saw the demons freeze for a second before going to their knees. Arthur's soldiers who'd been herding the demons fell as one, too. The world itself was bowing to the incredible power of Arthur's magic.

I sympathized with them. My legs were trembling with the pressure. I looked at Arthur. He was not looking at the demons; his attention was all mine.

Disregarding our kneeling enemy, I focused on slowing my racing heart. Taking deep, deliberately slow breaths helped clear my mind a little.

Arthur was expecting me to either faint under the pressure of his raw magic, to run away screaming in fear, or to raise my sword in defense against it.

My heart did not want to cooperate and slow down, and that made me irritated. I glared at Arthur. I was not afraid of him, no matter if he was part demon. The past few months had birthed a deep faith in Arthur. He would never hurt me. Even now, with a hoard of demons only yards away, I was not afraid. I was actually counting on him to keep them away.

This Arthur, with demonic blood and unfathomable power, was the same person I shared a bond with. I could deal with him.

My magic pulsed in my blood, both thrilled and apprehensive. Rolling my shoulders against the load of his magic, I met Arthur's eyes head on. I put the flat of my sword on my shoulder and raised a brow.

"Well?" I said, my voice sounding as if from far away. "Are you going to deal with them or will you keep flexing your muscles until I faint? I'm warning you, though, that's not going to happen anytime soon."

Arthur sighed, his face caught between desperation and relief. Turning his head to the demons, he spoke in a voice that echoed all around us. "Empty the grounds."

Arthur's men and women shakily got to their feet, some were helped up, and retreated. Several minutes later, when only the demons remained in the vicinity, Arthur's magic lashed out.

I had witnessed Arthur use his magic before. But never like this. It was a deluge of raw power. A heavy outburst that pushed against my senses, thinning the air around us and sky-rocketing pressure on my ears. It was what I imagined rising to the upper layers of the atmosphere would be like.

It lasted mere seconds. One moment I was squinting my eyes against the tears and gasping for breath while the demons knelt in front of us, an army of ugly dirt covered creatures that struggled to rise but failed, and the next I was down on my knees, my sword planted in the ground to keep me upright.

I was kneeling, damn it.

Then everything went deathly quiet. It all stopped in the blink of an eye. Arthur inhaled his power again, putting on the usual cloak and concealing his true self from a world that couldn't handle it.

Sucking in large gulps of air, I raised my head and gaped at the scene before me. My brain couldn't reconcile what my eyes were seeing with what had been there only seconds earlier. It was like someone brought the sky down on everything in sight. The demons, the trees, the plants, everything was flattened to the ground, crushed.

A scene from a cartoon popped in my head, where the cat was hit with something and flattened to the floor like a pancake.

Except the scene before me was infinitely more gory.

Putting my weight on the sword, I pushed to my feet. Now that my eyes no longer felt like being shoved into my sockets, the details of the sight became clearer.

The trees were reduced to chunks of wood and leaves, broken branches and crushed boulders littered the ground. The demons did not fare any better. Their bodies lay broken beyond recognition. Their gray-reddish skin hung loose off chunks of flesh and shards of bones. No limbs or heads were recognizable. Here and there lay a sharp claw or an eyeball. Blood and gore covered everything. If I didn't know what had been here earlier, I wouldn't have been able to make sense of what my eyes were seeing.

Arthur had just used his telekinetic abilities to, quite literally, crush hundreds of demons.

And the stench. Ugh, the stench was awful. The demons' entrails had left their bodies, and the acrid smell made me gag.

When I finally tore my gaze from the horror-movie scene in front of me, Arthur was looking at me again. Damn him. His power did bring me to my knees, after all. I was more irritated at myself for that fact, than scared.

But I was also impressed.

Sure, I would be a liar to say that the sheer power of his magic did not freak me out. But it was also... kind of attractive.

I was weird, I know.

"You couldn't do this with a little more grace?" I said, waving my hand in front of my face and wrinkling my nose. "Ugh, the smell..."

He blinked.

"Arthur! We got the location," Harvey said, jogging down the stairs. Beads of sweat covered his forehead, as if he'd been through a great deal of strain. He covered his nose and mouth halfway down and frowned at the sight. "Couldn't you have killed them without pouring all their bodily fluids out for us to smell?"

Arthur gave me one last look and glanced at Harvey. "Where?"

"In the middle of the city, apparently," Harvey said, his voice muffled by his hand. "In the hotel where most of the immortals are staying."

Arthur's lip lifted. "Cowards."

"Kat says that the culprit must have performed a distant summoning spell."

"What's that?" I asked.

"The summoner's location and the location of the summoned demons aren't the same," he explained. "Which means the person must have ear marked this location, for them to be able to use it in a spell."

Arthur's magic thickened in the air again, his eyes gone black. "They dare attack me in my home."

"Arthur..." Harvey warned. "You can't storm the hotel."

"Careful how you word your suggestion, Harvey," Arthur said. Harvey bowed his head.

"Why can't he storm the hotel?" I asked, breathing from my mouth.

I put the sword on my shoulder. I was feeling very much in accordance with Arthur on this one. Storming the hotel sounded like a great idea. I had some frustration myself, after the past couple of weeks, and finding the culprit behind this would definitely allow me to let out some steam.

Harvey scowled. "You're supposed to be the voice of reason when he's not thinking straight."

I shrugged. Arthur rolled his shoulders, looking like he could commit murder anytime now. "I am being perfectly reasonable."

"Sire," Harvey said, slowly. He was speaking to Arthur but looking at me. "There are hundreds of immortal guests in that hotel. I checked. Going there pointing fingers will not paint you in the best light. Especially now that your position is more sensitive due to Elle's presence."

Gee. That made me feel better about myself. I huffed. "Fine."

"Why are you talking to Elle?" Arthur asked, sounding more amused than anything. "I'm the one who is supposed to not 'storm the hotel'."

Harvey smiled under his hand, his cheeks creasing. "If Elle is convinced, I don't have to convince you."

I didn't think I had that much of an influence on Arthur, but okay. Arthur simply raised his brow. He blew out a breath, and his magic retreated a little.

"Now," Harvey said, facing the smashed demons. "Cleaning this will be an absolute delight. Just what our soldiers need to end their night."

"I can help," I said, pulling my magic out. "No one has to go through the pain of cleaning all this crap by hand, granted you don't mind a bit of scorched ground in your front yard. Do you, Arthur?"

"I do not," he said. His mood seemed to be getting slightly less dark. He waved a hand towards the dead demons. "By all means."

"Damn it, the stench," Harvey grumbled, rubbing his nose.

I grinned. "You know what smells worse than dead demons, Harvey?"

He looked suspicious. "What?"

I pulled my magic out and sent an arc of flames towards the mess. They erupted in flames. "Barbecued dead demons."

— — — —

It took a while for the dead demons and the debris to burn off. When I pulled the flames back in, the ground in front of Arthur's castle was bare, scorched earth with not a trace of life.

We had moved inside the castle because the stench was unbearable, but we watched the flames lick the night from the massive windows of a sitting room.

"Everything is gone," I said, turning from the dead night to face the room.

It was a green painted room with bright red, velvety couches, a lush Persian carpet and a big fireplace with a gilded mantle. Golden statues of naked men decorated the four corners of the room, and a chandelier hung over our heads, glittering crystal. I really hated the opulence of this house.

"Thank you, my dear. I'm sure the staff appreciates not having to clean all that mess," Amanda said from where she sat on the couch, cleaning her sword. I patted my sword regretfully. It was a shame I didn't get to use it. Lucky Amanda.

"So are we just going to ignore the fact that we've been attacked?" Kat asked. "Will there be no consequences?"

"What Harvey said is reasonable," Amanda said. "Whoever is behind this performed the summon from the hotel precisely because they knew Arthur can't simply waltz in and start throwing accusations."

"Of course I can," Arthur said, pacing back and forth. He was wearing a hole through that poor carpet.

"But we won't," I said. His image already suffered enough damage with me beside him, attacking members of the council will certainly not help.

"Isn't there a way to find out who did it?" I asked, looking at Kat. She was the spell expert here.

She shook her head. "If they're skilled enough to perform a distant summoning spell, then they're skilled enough to cover their trail. They have had enough time to do that after summoning the demons. If it hadn't been for the Sire's flow of magic, I wouldn't have been able to even get a location."

"Some witches can use the magic around them to enhance their abilities. Kat borrowed some of Arthur's magic to get a hold on the sumonner's location," Amanda explained to me. She smiled. "So we can't do anything about the person who did this. But people don't need to know that. We can show them that their attack was so inconsequential that it didn't even trouble us."

"How?" Marianno asked.

"The surveillance footage of Arthur dealing with the demons, and Elle's fire afterward," Amanda said. "Leak it, make sure everyone sees it. It will certainly send a strong message."

I grinned. I liked the way Amanda' brain worked. I wouldn't have thought of that idea.

Harvey chuckled and leaned toward her. He whispered something in her ear that made her blush and scowl, but her lips were struggling not to twitch.

"That is a good idea," Arthur said, nodding to himself. "Amanda, see that it is executed. Marianno, get the car ready. We're going to the hotel."

What?

"Arthur-" Harvey began.

"Harvey, do you think me an idiot?"

Harvey frowned. "Sire..."

"Then you will trust that I will act in my best interest," Arthur said, putting his hand on Harvey's shoulder as he passed him by. "Contact Noah. Tell him I will come see him. He's staying in the hotel, right?"

"Yes. Right Away."

"Elle," Arthur said, looking over his shoulder.

"Coming with you."

"I know, my love," he mumbled with a smile. "Bring your weapons."

--- ----------- ---

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M.B.