“Penny, hurry up and come down. Half of them are already here.”

I froze in front of the full-length mirror on my walk-in closet door, listening to see if my new landlord, Callie Banks, would yell up any more instructions.

“Penny?”

Not instructions, then…a warning posed as a question.

“Be right down,” I called, because otherwise she’d come up, grab me by the hair, and drag me.

I’d exchanged an overbearing mother for an overbearing trainer. My decision-making skills still needed improvement.

Taking a deep breath, I smoothed the faux-silk lilac dress down my stomach and breathed in deeply, trying to ignore the nervous tremors.

Tonight Callie and her husband Dizzy were formally introducing me to their large and influential magical circle. I was a real mage now, with a couple months of training under my belt and power enough to rival the best of the best. Or so they told me.

Truth was, power alone wasn’t enough, something I’d learned firsthand from working closely with Emery, the natural mage who’d gone rogue from the magical community. He was the best of the best…no, together we were the best of the best. With his power, experience, and know-how, and my…well, power and temperamental intuition, we’d pulled off the impossible—an attack on the Mages’ Guild’s stronghold in Seattle. Without him, I felt like a novice with a lot to learn.

My heart ached whenever I thought of the handsome natural mage who had woken me up in so many ways. We’d spent hardly any time together, but it felt like we’d known each other for a lifetime, and with him gone, a piece of me was gone with him. My mother thought I was foolish, and the Bankses thought I was naive, but it didn’t matter. The sound of his name, the memory of being ensnared in his magic and his arms, still affected me.

I’d let him walk away in Seattle, and at the time, everything in my person had thought he’d come right back. That he wouldn’t be gone a week. Couldn’t be, not after what we’d shared.

That was six months ago.

I needed to stop thinking about him. At this point, I looked every bit the fool my mother thought I was. But that didn’t change the fact that he was a benchmark for what I could be—what I should be, as a natural—and that I had a lot to learn…with no time in which to learn it.

The Mages’ Guild had rebounded from the break-in faster than anybody could’ve guessed. They’d changed their wards, repaired their buildings, and expanded their influence within Seattle and surrounding areas. They were creating a solid foundation with which to go after the naturals who’d escaped them.

Emery and me.

I had no doubt they’d move in as soon as they locked down their targets.

It was only a matter of time. Which meant I needed as many friends as I could get.

So tonight I’d slapped on a dress, curled my hair, and dabbed on some makeup, all in a play to make nice with the New Orleans magical community. I needed them to accept me. To stand by my side when the Guild came for me.

They’ll never be enough.

I gritted my teeth against my inner dialogue, trying to pretend I didn’t feel the truth in that statement. Because they would have to be enough. They were all I had.

“Penny?” Callie called up, and this time it wasn’t a warning. It was a threat.

“Yup. Coming!”

I wondered how long it would take me to out myself as a socially awkward and seriously weird person…

My phone clattered against my desk on the other side of the room. I gritted my teeth, knowing exactly who it was. A quick jaunt over showed I’d been right.

My mother.

She’d stayed behind to both give me my space (proof that miracles did happen) and to monitor the mood and tone of Seattle, all from the safety of a couple towns away. No one would admit it, but I suspected Darius, the vampire with his influence all over my life at the moment, wanted her out of the way so I could get training without a peanut gallery.

I had no complaints.

Her text read, “Don’t be fooled, the proof is in the pudding.”

I stared at it for a second. What the heck did that mean?

Not like I’d text back and ask. She’d turn it into a half-hour conversation about all the things I wasn’t doing that I should be, like flossing. And studying harder.

“Hey.” My bestie, Veronica, peeked her head into the room. She’d decided to make the move to New Orleans with me. Originally, she’d intended to get her own place, but Callie had taken control of the situation. She’d offered Veronica to stay at the house with us for cheap. She even got a break on rent when she straightened up Dizzy’s constant messes, which, being an organizational freak, Veronica was all too happy to do (much to Dizzy’s dismay).

At least I had one ally, even if a non-magical one.

“Wow, you look great,” I said. She was dressed in a form-fitting black dress that accentuated her curves and gave the viewer an eyeful of her bust. Would I fit into a dress like that? Maybe she’d be willing to trade.

“You better get going,” she said, looking me up and down. Her brow furrowed. “Why’d you pick such a hideous dress?”

Maybe not…

“What?” I plucked at the fabric, putting the phone back. “What’s wrong with it?”

She tilted her head. “It’s just… It doesn’t suit you. You look like a flat stick that would break in a slight breeze. And the color…”

I smoothed the fabric down my legs. “What’s wrong with pastel purple?”

“It just…makes you look sickly. Like you have a brain tumor.”

“That’s specific.” This was a classic example of her inability to gently break bad news. “Also…a flat stick?”

“Flat-chested. You know what I mean.”

“And you’re an editor?”

“Give me a break. I fix this stuff, not make it up from scratch.”

“Penny Bristol, if I have to come up there—”

Veronica’s eyes widened. “Dude, you gotta go!” She hurried forward and grabbed my arm, leading me from the room. “She’s super stressed. She spent the morning yelling at Dizzy and the caterers. All the hiccups you’ve been having in training have put her on edge.”

“I wouldn’t say all the hiccups…” A heavy weight settled over my shoulders and my stomach flipped in anxiety.

I’d stayed in Seattle for a while after Emery had left, helping my mother get set up and waiting for Callie and Dizzy to be ready for me. A couple of months later, I finally made the trek, only to be knocked completely out of my comfort zone.

The dual-mages didn’t work with me the way Emery had. He and I had hung out in my magical bubble, a place of balance that made working magic easier, collectively weaving the spells from the materials we felt in our surroundings. My studies with Callie and Dizzy were so much more clinical. Standing at a distance, they would give me the recipe for the spell, I’d memorize it, and then I’d perform it like a trained monkey.

At first the change in technique had badly jammed me up, making me useless for a couple days straight. Finally I’d stopped for a moment, closing my eyes and tuning in to nature. Callie had thought I was cracked, but it was a compromise that seemed to work. After I got the hang of it, I could replicate the spells just fine, fast and effortlessly.

The problem happened when they threw something unexpected at me and wanted me to randomly choose a spell I’d learned and fire it back. Half the time, my mind shorted out and went blank. I stood there like an idiot, grasping at air. Eventually I could come up with something, but my reaction time was slow.

They said it would take practice, but I felt like I’d accidentally stomped on the brakes and couldn’t figure out how to shift my foot to the gas. I should’ve been further along by now, especially with the Mages’ Guild out for vengeance.

Something was missing…or maybe someone.

“Come on, hurry,” Veronica said, giving me a little tug, shaking me out of my nervous reverie. “You do not want to get on her bad list right now.”

“I’m on her bad list at least three times a day.”

“Trust me, that’s a different bad list. Dizzy usually yells back at her when she’s being a bully, but not this time. He went and hid in his shed.”

Yikes. That was bad.

“Ah. There you are.” Callie stood at the bottom of the stairs with her hand on the banister. Her long black dress had a frilly neckline that plunged down her chest. A sparkly red something or other under it kept the situation from being a peep show. “The guests are anxious to meet you.”

Butterflies swarmed my belly. If I’d learned anything during this short trip into the magical world, it was that I was the least mage-like person possible.

“What do you have on…” Callie’s voice trailed away as she dropped her hand. She sighed and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. You’re pretty despite that dress. Next time, though, pick something a little less…”

“Dreadful,” Veronica said. Callie nodded.

“It wasn’t as awful as the one on the rack next to it,” I muttered, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

Veronica slapped my hand away. “Don’t ruin your hair.”

“Then next time, pick a better store.” Callie motioned me down. “Hurry up. John is here. I’m going to parade you around to everyone else before introducing you to him. I want to see if he cuts the line.” A wry grin twisted her lips.

“John is…?” I asked, climbing down the stairs reluctantly, hearing the murmuring from the next room. Veronica trailed after me.

“A high-powered mage,” she said. “He may be more powerful than I was before I formed a dual-mage partnership with Dizzy. He’d be a good match for you, Penny. He’d complement you nicely.” When I got on her level, she shrugged. “Worst case, he’d be a good rebound. Maybe you’d stop sulking about that Rogue Natural leaving. His loss. You need to move on.”

I blew out a breath to calm the sudden churning of my stomach. I did need to move on, but…

“Oh, there you are.” Dizzy hurried toward us as I reached the landing. My mouth dropped open in shock at the sight of a crisp suit without one stain or burn mark on it. “The guests are wondering where the star of the show is.” His kind smile loosened my shoulders a little, but didn’t do a thing to calm down the butterflies. “You look beautiful. The belle of the ball. Just don’t let on that you’re hiding tiger claws behind your pretty face.”

“Because I’ll seem less ladylike?” I asked in confusion.

“Goodness, no.” Dizzy laughed and squeezed between Callie and me before bending an arm around my back and leading me forward. “What an absurd thought. No, you shouldn’t show that side of yourself because right now you’re giving an illusion of daintiness. Many will take that for weakness. You look soft and willowy and in need of guidance. Let them think that’s your sum total. They’ll let down their guard and reveal their secrets. We don’t fear people we perceive to be weaker than ourselves, so we aren’t as worried about our vulnerabilities in their presence. See what I’m saying?”

“Yes.”

“There’s a good girl.” He patted my shoulder jovially.

“I was just telling her about John,” Callie said from behind us in a low murmur.

“Oh yes. He has a lot of power and the ladies seem to like him. He’d be one to chat with, for sure. That would be a good match.”

“He’s a little shy on power for her, but she can’t expect to find another natural,” Callie said.

“Yes, that’s true,” Dizzy said. “Here we are.”

A crowd of people stood within the large living room. Off to the side, a bartender in a black uniform mixed a drink at the mobile bar for one of the women waiting at the counter. Most of the furniture had been removed and little tables dotted the ample space. Larger tables topped with food, plates, and utensils lined the back wall.

A few people carrying crystal goblets sauntered in from the formal dining room around the back corner. If Callie had pulled out all the stops, which she surely had, her china would be out and crystal glittering. She wasn’t usually a show-off, but clearly these events warranted a reminder to the community of all that she and Dizzy had accomplished.

“Penny, let me introduce you to Mary Bell.” Dizzy stopped us in front of a petite woman losing the fight to gravity. Her skin hung from her hunched frame and her braless lovelies dangled just above her waistline within her loose shirt.

With a smile, she reached forward a hand. “Pleased to meet you, Penny. Welcome.”

Her grip nearly crunched my bones. “Charmed,” I wheezed out.

“Yes.” She braced her hands on the ball of her cane, her serene smile belied by the fierce glint in her eyes. “You are a lovely little creature. So late to the magical life. How will you adjust?”

“Badly, probably,” I said honestly.

Her smile grew. “Yes. Probably. But it is not what happens to us that matters the most—it is how we respond to it. Don’t let anyone put you in a place you don’t wish to be.”

“Mary Bell is a powerful mage,” Dizzy said as Callie strutted toward the food table, where an older woman hovered indecisively over a plate of shrimp. “She has done some truly great spell work in the years we’ve known her.”

Mary Bell’s eyes sparkled as she surveyed me. “You don’t care for any of that, do you, child?”

I jerked straighter, wondering what my face was showing. “I do, of course! I really do!” I needed to tone down my forced enthusiasm.

The older woman chuckled softly. “I have never met a powerful mage that wasn’t also ambitious. They always want to know how they can better their position. The amount of knowledge I can offer you has exponentially increased.”

Dizzy and I both shifted, in opposite directions, and I could tell we were equally confused.

Mary Bell picked up on it. “You see, I thought you’d want to talk about unique spells, ancient relics, and whatever else you might pry out of my dementia-ridden grasp.”

“Good grief,” I whispered, fidgeting with the neck of my dress.

“I didn’t realize you had dementia,” Dizzy said conversationally, and somehow, when he said it, it didn’t sound quite so socially awkward. I needed to learn that trick.

“I don’t have dementia,” Mary Bell said brusquely, and an edge crept into her voice that had my small hairs rising. “But most younger people like Penny don’t realize that. They see an old woman with a stoop and a smile and assume she is two seagulls shy of a flock.”

“Seagulls…right…” Dizzy drew out the words.

“But were they to stop talking and listen, they would learn that I possess a wealth of knowledge from being a dual-mage near the top of my discipline, from traveling the world and battling the wicked. They might stop their reductive thinking that magic itself is good or evil.” She raised a gnarled finger. “When it comes to magic, the perceived nature of the spell itself is not what matters—it is the intent with which the mage uses the spell. There is no inherent right and wrong. No light and dark. There is just magic, and how we manipulate it to serve our own ends. After all, sometimes one must commit darker deeds to ensure the greater good.”

“The view on magic is true enough, but the darker deeds issue…” Dizzy waggled his hand and moved his head from side to side, as though debating the legitimacy of her statement.

I, however, was in rapture. It sounded exactly like something Emery would say. I liked the image of a fat, gray, fuzzy line cutting through the light and dark of magic. Nature would exist there in the middle, harsh and brutal, serene and bountiful. Life ending in death. Death creating life.

“Yes.” Mary Bell’s stare held mine. “Penny is not the mage I expected to meet tonight. How refreshing. I myself was a headstrong, entitled youth…I only wish I had started the journey as unburdened by hubris as she is. It wasn’t until everything was stripped from me—my love, my youth, my strength—that I learned what was truly important.”

“Hm.” Dizzy nodded, but I could see he was probably back to thinking of dementia. He smiled and stepped away, holding out his arm so that I might join him. “Thank you, Mary Bell, for coming.”

“She battled wicked people?” I asked in a hush as we made our way to a group of men and women sitting around one of the tables.

“I didn’t actually know her then. I did hear that she and her dual-mage partner were always described as a wild pair. They got into lots of trouble. Dabbled in the dark arts once or twice.” He slowed and turned a little before we reached the table. “She is on the straight and narrow now, but be careful what you take away from speaking with her.” He met my eyes and held them. “There is a side to magic that can corrupt the soul.”