After one of the shifters dropped us off at Reagan’s house and we took a slow, touchy-feely shower, Emery and I sat at the kitchen table, staring at my phone.

I’d called my mother. She hadn’t answered, but a reckoning was coming.

Up until that point, she’d assumed everything was fine. That I was busy training, we hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the Guild (which had been mostly true up until recently), and life was bumping along. I wasn’t a good liar, but luckily, Veronica, Callie, and Dizzy were excellent. When I accidentally set off alarm bells, they covered for me beautifully.

Well, I was about to ring the alarm gong. We needed help that only my mother could (hopefully) provide.

She was going to be so pissed.

My phone vibrated against the table.

I glanced up at the clock on the oven. Eight-oh-three. Fifteen minutes after I’d called. Fifteen minutes before she had to get her popcorn and TV ready for her favorite show.

Hopefully, she hadn’t figured out how to work the DVR, and the conversation had an expiration date.

Emery nodded slowly, offering support. I could see my wariness mirrored in his eyes. He’d met my mother. He knew the score.

I picked up the phone with chin held high and pursed my lips, ignoring my shaking hand. I opened it, then wiped away the dirt that showered the table top.

“Hello?” I asked in a calm, steady voice.

“No, you may not marry that boy. I don’t care that he came back; you barely know him. And while we’re on the subject, no, you may not live with that boy. He is to stay in his own residence until you have dated him for at least a year, do you understand me? Are you practicing safe sex? You’re not stupid, so I assume you are. But do you remember the talk we had? Sex is not the same thing as porn. Those are different. You need to show him what—”

“Mother, Mother, Mother!” I leaned back in my chair, immediately rattled. “Would you stop? What are you— How—”

I had to stop and regroup. All I’d been through, and this woman could shake me up like a canned soda.

“I know he is back. Is he sitting there with you? Don’t get me wrong, he’s a nice boy, but Penny, he is much more experienced than you. You need to—”

“Mother! That is not why I’m calling.”

“It might not be why you’re calling, but it is certainly an issue. Let me talk to him.”

“No. No! Listen…” I put my hand up to stall her, as though she were in the room. “Listen. I’m in a bit of a pickle, and we need some advice.”

Silence filled the line briefly. “Fine. We’ll table that discussion for now. What’s up?”

I took a deep breath, not really sure where to start. “I’m going to put you on speaker. Can you be normal for just a few minutes?”

“Penelope Bristol, I am your mother. You should know that I do not have an ounce of normal in my body.”

Why did she make things so very difficult?

“Fine.” I pushed the speaker button and put the phone in between Emery and me. “I’m here with Emery.”

Silence.

That was better than talking.

“We are sitting within an extremely thorough ward that not even a large force can break through,” I started. “But it isn’t at the Bankses’ house.”

I grimaced, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Still silence.

That was no longer better than talking. It meant she was saving up her aggression for a big blow.

“I’ve been staying with Reagan, who is extremely knowledgeable and powerful.” I waited for something. Nothing came. “Callie and Dizzy’s training wasn’t working, so Darius took over. Not the training, but the managing of it. He hasn’t really organized any details yet because there was an issue with some vampires at his house and he’s a bit tied up. So I’m kind of stuck with Reagan, although she has proved an excellent teacher. I’ve come very far. I’m not fast enough yet, especially in a battle, but I’m much better. Control-wise, anyway. I’m really coming along.”

The silence stretched.

This was really not good.

“And, through a spur-of-the-moment accidental marooning in the French Quarter, we may have, accidentally, taken out a favor with the shifters to avoid getting captured by the Mages’ Guild.”

More silence.

“And so…I called you,” I finished lamely.

“I see,” she said after another pause. “Anything else?”

“Oh! I kind of went against Callie and Dizzy’s wishes and chased down, then captured, a banshee. I was only in danger for a very brief period of time, so I really think that’s a non-issue.” I swallowed audibly. “In the grand scheme of things, I mean.”

“I see,” she said much more slowly. “And does that boy have anything to say for himself?”

Emery cleared his throat and leaned forward a little. “I accept whatever punishment you choose to level on me, but I love your daughter. I’m just trying to do right by her in any way I can.”

Adrenaline washed through my body, sending jitters and tingles and cold and hot racing through me all at once. I gripped his arm and turned toward him, tears fogging my eyes and heat soaking my heart. I’d opened my mouth to tell him how I felt—even more deeply than when I’d first told him—when the front door crashed open.

Metal squealed as it tore from the frame. Screws flew, hit the ground, and rolled away. The wood crashed against the wall before tumbling into the entryway.

“What was that?” my mother yelled.

Emery was already up on his feet with a spell in front of him, ready to throw.

I stayed in my seat, knowing that it was best to give Reagan a lot of room when her dander was up.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I heard Reagan ask, her heavy boots treading over the door she had just kicked in. Her own door. But not the original door, oh no. It had been replaced a time or two before this, if Mikey next door could be believed. He’d proved surprisingly chatty after our not-so-great first meeting.

Fire exploded between Emery’s hands, wiping out his spell. He back-pedaled, his eyes wide.

“Don’t bother,” I told Emery, turning back toward the phone. “You won’t win. Best case, you’ll get a kick in the face and a move.”

“She would know,” Reagan said in a rough voice filled with anger. “Why in the holy fuck didn’t you—”

“Do you live in a barn?” my mother hollered through the phone.

Reagan paused with a confused expression, standing in the archway of the kitchen.

“This has gotten out of hand,” my mother continued into the silence, taking control via the phone despite sitting half a country away. It was her superpower. “Sit down, all of you. How many are there, just the three, now? Or is that accursed vampire hanging around in the background as well?”

Reagan cocked her head, then lifted her eyebrows at us. Emery and I stared at her silently, waiting for her to answer my mother’s question. We both knew there was no sense trying to play mediator. She’d just tell us to shut it so Reagan could answer.

“Darius is at his house in the Quarter,” she said, stepping closer and looking down at the phone. “He is dealing with some issues there.”

“Is one of them answering his phone?” I muttered.

“Penelope Bristol, if you have something to say, you say it so everyone can hear it,” my mother badgered.

I picked at my nail as Reagan cocked her head the other way, taking another step closer. It was like she was hearing a dog whistle.

“It’s just, we were in trouble, and I couldn’t even leave a voicemail for him,” I said, trying not to be sulky, and failing. Old habits, as they said.

“We’ll get to that,” my mother said. “Reagan, honey, have a seat and let’s talk about this sensibly.”

Reagan, who usually hated terms of endearment from strangers, moved as though in a trance to an open seat, looking mildly confused and a little delighted.

“Emery, you might…close the door,” I said, glancing back at the entryway where part of it was in view, splayed on the ground. “Or maybe just prop it up so the whole neighborhood isn’t peeking in.”

“While he does that,” my mother said, not asking about it, as though propping up kicked-in doors was a normal occurrence, “let’s go over this again, shall we? Let’s start with the change in your training.”

A half-hour later, after helping walk my mom through setting up the DVR, which really shouldn’t have been so hard, she was mostly caught up on the broad strokes of the situation, plus a few details. Other details she’d already known from randomly using her various Seer abilities to check on me.

Turned out she’d known all along about the larger milestones of my journey in New Orleans, but in an effort to stay true to her word, she had stayed out of it, letting me get a grip on my own. I was, quite frankly, gobsmacked by her self-restraint.

Gobsmacked.

“So you are now in league with vampires and shifters,” my mother said in a disapproving voice.

“Join the club,” Reagan muttered.

“Young lady, if you have something to say, say it loud enough for us all to hear.”

Reagan frowned at the phone and, amazingly, entwined her fingers in front of her and hunched forward a little. “Darius’s phone disappeared earlier this evening, right about the time Penny must have called. He already has a new one. It seemed like a minor issue until he learned of the…coincidence in timing.”

“Only dimwitted fools believe in coincidences,” my mother said.

“Right.” Reagan nodded. “I would not have thought it possible, but clearly they have someone on the inside. Vampires. It seems the Mages’ Guild has made alliances of their own, and they are, in essence, taking on Darius. For him not to have seen this before now… It’s surprising. He’s really slipping.”

Rustling filled the phone, probably the sound of my mother shifting. “Even elders can get complacent as time progresses. Things go moderately smoothly for a few hundred years, and they get into a rhythm. This little shake-up will be good for him. It’ll sharpen his edges. We need that going forward. I hate to say it, but he’s a strong ally. It’d be better to have him with us than against us.”

“He’ll stay with me, and I’ll stay with Penny. That’s a certainty,” Reagan said with a gravity to her words that squished my heart. She wasn’t in league with many people. That she would cast her lot with me, when I was at the heart of a boatload of danger, really spoke volumes about her loyalty.

I smiled at her and touched her forearm.

“No.” She shook me off. “Don’t get weepy. It’s gross.”

We dealt with touching moments in different ways.

“Fine,” my mother said. “The question we need answered is what to do now.” Movement sounded in the background.

“Darius thinks—”

Emery held up his hand to stall Reagan. He shook his head. “She is one of the most gifted Seers I’ve ever come across. Wait to hear what she has to say. She was integral in keeping us alive in Seattle.”

Reagan’s lips downturned and she pulled her chair closer. “Really? Neat. I’ve only come across a few decent tarot readers. All assholes. So this fits.”

I stared at the phone wide-eyed, wondering if my mom would retort. When she didn’t, I let out a breath. I really didn’t want to see the two butt heads. That would probably make my life hell.

“Did you get anything much out of the mages?” I asked quietly, not wanting to disturb whatever my mother was doing.

Reagan pulled her gaze up from the phone. “Sadly, no. A couple were hired from different areas of the country. They answered an ad, of all things. I also talked to Red. Well…” She put her elbows on the table. “I kicked him around the place, actually, when I found out he knew you were in trouble and didn’t tell me.” Her jaw clenched. “We’re having a rift in our friendship, he and I.”

“That’s probably better for him,” I said. She gave me a blank stare. “That you stay away, I mean. You scare him, I think.”

Emery chuckled helplessly, bending over his clasped hands, his body shaking. The guy could find a joke in anything.

Reagan’s smile gave me nervous shivers. “No. It is not better for him.”

“What he said about the Guild bringing in people was true, then?” Emery asked with a lopsided smile.

Reagan blew out a breath and sat back. “They know what they’re up against. And I’m not talking about two powerful naturals. I’m talking about a rogue mage with no friends, a newbie with no clue, an easily infiltrated ragtag crew of New Orleans magical social drinkers, vampires that can’t help in the daytime, and shifters that aren’t totally sure they want to fully engage in a full-out magical battle. We’re all over the place. Our side is a mess. We—and I really mean you two—stirred up the hornets’ nest without any plan. And yes, sure, we thought the New Orleans contingent was a decrepit, disorganized faction, fat and happy. But surprise, they’re not. So now we have to figure out how to bail ourselves out. Do we go guerilla and plan lots of little, stealthy attacks? Do we…” She rubbed her hands over her face. “That’s actually all I have. I don’t even know what we do. And given how much Darius has screwed up lately, I don’t trust anything he said. So forget that I was going to offer advice.”

I stared at my empty hands and thought about getting a drink, but then thought better of it when I remembered the excessively strong drinks Reagan would likely force on us.

Through the crappy phone speaker, in a slightly tinny, haunted voice, my mother said:

“Her path has been set. Her journey is in motion. He will complete the pyramid of power. The curse breaker will join the oath takers and forge a bond in blood. It is in this union that the way forward shall be writ. That they shall learn their highest level of power, and hold the kingdom from falling.”