When our group returns, we get Lilah’s attention, and she signals Chey through their own magic mirror to come collect the tin and smuggle it outside.

  But suddenly, all of the room’s lamps go out with a crackle of purple magical energy. Moonlight from a large, floor-length window illuminates the room. The glass shatters as cloaked figures break through and step inside. Heavy footsteps of a dozen intruders echo through the room.

  "Don't worry," an authoritative female voice barks. "Remain calm and we'll make sure you all survive the night."

  A noblewoman screams. The band has the good sense to stop playing. The mysterious figures fan out smartly, each one assigning themselves to a few members of the crowd and ushering them towards the center of the room with swords or magic.

  "Protect the King!" a servant yells.

  Mamoru, following his instincts, reaches down to draw his sword, fumbling off-balance as his hands grasp empty air. Izumi looks uncomfortable. Lilah pulls a slim dagger out of her boot. I regret that my axe is back at the manor.

  When a cloaked figure comes close, Mamoru sidesteps and sticks a foot out to trip them.

  "Why you...!"

  "Who, me?"

  Izumi balances her pointed heel on the prone man's stomach and Lilah reaches down to take his hood off. It snags on spiraled horns. Another demon?!

  He regains his awareness of the situation and pays the heel no mind, shaking Izumi off. She crashes into Lilah, a blur of tangled fabric and limbs.

  Frost swirls around the demon's fist. Without hesitating, he launches an icy beam at the two girls. A sheet of ice pins them to the ground together. Mamoru comes charging in, dodging the next beams, trying to use his superior bulk to knock the demon to the ground again. This time, the demon is alert; he's able to avoid the Chosen Hero easily.

  And what am I doing, anyway? I'm not a brawler. I barely fought off slimes with my axe when I had Izumi's help. Still, this isn't a situation where I can just do nothing. My companions are in danger.

  I look around the room. The King, flanked by two servants, is trying to escape through the kitchen doors. There's no way that's gone unnoticed, yet they seem to be allowing it to happen, focusing instead on the demonic diplomats.

  Of course. Demons would have no reason to attack a figurehead king who was behaving according to plan. It would only make sense to target foreigners. But weren't they allies? Shouldn't all demons work together? There was clearly more to the politics of this world than I realized.

  Mamoru skids across the floor, felled by a lucky blow. His attacker looks at me, but quickly turns to rejoin his comrades in the center of the room.

  Excuse me! I'm a threat, too! I'm totally a threat!

  While his back is turned, I begin walking after him. My heels give my position away and he turns angrily.

  "Don't forget about me," I say through gritted teeth, aiming a kick at his groin.

  He catches my leg in midair. We spend a moment staring at each other before a chill creeps up my stockings. It's his ice magic!

  "Don't struggle, human."

  I'm aware of the sound of my own heartbeat. Each thump is deafening. It's hard to stay balanced. I try to jerk my leg away, but his grasp is absolute. I'm slowly going numb. My body is tingling all over.

  No, I'm not numb at all, I realize. I'm vibrating with energy. A spark of light jumps from my fingertips into the demon's eyes. He drops my leg to claw at his own face, and it takes all of my effort to remain upright.

  Curiously, while the demon is distracted, I point at one of the broken lamps. Light arcs across the room and forms itself into a small ball that hovers where a bulb would be. I point at another, and another. Slowly, the room is bathed in a warm light.

  Now that we can see everything in greater detail, things become clearer. The intruders are all wearing black. While we were fighting, they had been tying up the Canephoran nobles with lengths of iron chain rather than flimsy rope. It's absolutely a kidnapping.

  "Hiyorin!" Izumi exclaims. "Your light magic is back!"

  "Back?" Mamoru asks. "Since when did she have it in the first place?"

  "I don't understand it, either," I answer.

  My friends have picked themselves up by now, and they come to stand by me. Three demons break off from the mob in the center of the room to help even the odds. One wields a whip, while the other two seem to be more magically-inclined.

  "Mere humans could not pretend to know what we hope to achieve tonight. Stop resisting and we will not hurt anyone," their leader calls out. "If you continue, however, we can't guarantee your safety."

  Izumi, moving like she's in a trance, puts a hand on my shoulder. My body tingles again.

  "Do you feel that?" she asks.

  "Yeah." I don't understand it, but I know what she's talking about. "I do."

  I stretch my hand out and watch in awe as light begins to dance in my palm. The ball gets bigger and bigger, stretching outward into more of a disk, and it grows too bright to look at. The demons shield their eyes.

  The longer I keep this up, the dizzier I get. My ears start ringing. I can see the demons charging us, but I can't move. The light stretches out farther and farther, taking up my entire field of vision, slowly enveloping the room—

  When the light clears and my ears stop ringing, the room is a crime scene. Literally.

  I come to on the floor, my head in Izumi's lap. Sitting up and looking around, I can see demons in police uniforms placing a sleep spell and magical handcuffs on the attackers. The policedemons seem like they’re stretched a bit thin.

  Mamoru is off to the side, frowning. Lilah, some distance away, is engaged in a hushed conversation with one of the newly-freed diplomats. Her face is flushed and she's got a criminal's smile. I can only imagine what they're talking about.

  "What...?" I hold a hand to my head. "What the hell happened?"

  "You used too much magic," Izumi explains. "But it gave the King time to send a distress call to the demons in town, and they came to back us up."

  "Why would they do that?"

  "We are on good terms with Canephora," a police-demon with a familiar voice answers, holding out a hand to help me stand up. "Though they are on poor terms with most other nations. We have yet to discover the political affiliation of these party crashers."

  I look into mismatched eyes. "Lavender?!"

  "The very same."

  I groan. "So we probably helped Sinensis and Canephora tonight by taking out political rivals?"

  "You did. And I imagine he's quite grateful."

  "You can tell him to take that gratitude and shove it—"

  "You know I won't do that."

  "It never hurts to ask." I sigh. "I guess we'd better give our statements."

  "What?" Izumi asks.

  "We're witnesses. I'm sure the demons want to talk to us."

  "You lawful-good pain in my—"

  "The chief is by the door," Lavender chimes in helpfully.

  I mechanically start to head over, led by my sense of justice, when suddenly Mamoru comes rocketing away from the wall he's resting against to join us. "Where do you think you're going without me?"

  His magic tether. Right. I shrug apologetically. He just scowls. We hear Lilah bid her conversation partner farewell and motion for her to join us, as well. As a group, we seek out the police chief.

  A red-haired demon in uniform looks up to meet our eyes, and—

  Oh, hell no. No, no, no.

  "Chiba," Sinensis greets me with a smile. "And your party."