“What do we have to expect from this, Penny?” my mother asked from the small table in Reagan’s kitchen.

She’d taken the first flight out of Seattle after speaking to me. When she hadn’t found us at Reagan’s, she’d gone to the Bankses’, where she’d been greeted by Callie and Dizzy’s magical group, minus a few players.

A good few.

Those few would never be going back, either, because they had never left the fields around Reagan’s destroyed warehouse.

Only two people hadn’t been accounted for at the warehouse or the gathering. One of the defectors utterly shocked everyone. High in power, lots of ambition, and so ridiculously entitled that he had probably danced to the Mages’ Guild’s tune the moment they promised him power and riches, John had disappeared. I was the only one not gobsmacked.

And the other had people clucking their tongues and nodding their heads. Of course she had gone back to the dark magic, they said. Wasn’t it what she was used to?

Mary Bell.

Callie had verified that Mary Bell’s presence in the bar the day of the first attack was unusual. Paired with her interest over my movements, it indicated she’d up and joined the Guild. The fact that she hadn’t returned just cemented it. Though old, she was still a high-powered mage. The Guild could find a use for her. Of that, Emery was certain.

Still, it didn’t quite ring true to me. Everything she’d said to me painted a picture of a more rounded individual than the others in the group. A person on a different path, who had learned from her mistakes. Grown from them. I didn’t buy that she’d gone back to the Guild.

But she’d certainly gone somewhere. Her rental was vacated and her phone number disconnected.

It wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong.

My mother had been staying with the Bankses for the last week. She’d ordered me to join her and leave Emery behind, and for once in my whole life, I’d told her to shove it.

I had literally said, “No. Shove it.”

A very tense thirty seconds of silence had ensued, during which everyone present stared at my mother, waiting to see what would happen. But all I got was a “Good girl.” Then, to ruin the moment, “Do not get pregnant or I will kill you. With my bare hands.”

“We expect to get a very large apology,” I said to her now, finally answering her question about what we should expect. I leaned against the counter. “We will trust in the safety of numbers, and leave the house with no extra holes in our bodies.” I watched my mother tap the elegant invitation sitting on the tabletop between the wine glasses.

Darius had invited us to dinner.

Needless to say, I was a little nervous.

“Is that old vamp going to be there?”

I knew my mother was talking about the extreme elder. “Yes. She has fully recovered from her injuries, and from centuries of idle nothingness, from which she is extremely relieved to have woken up.”

“You created a monster.”

“No, Mother. I woke up a monster. There is a difference. And it wasn’t my fault. It was Darius’s fault, which he fully admits to. Which is why he is inviting us to dinner. And now we’ve come full circle.”

“Don’t sass me, missy.”

I sipped a glass of wine as movement caught my eye.

Emery filled the archway, clothed in a tailored suit that fit his wide shoulders before reducing down to his trim hips. Smart black dress shoes peeked out from his pressed gray slacks. His hair was done up in a messy style, short on the sides and long on top.

He straightened out his arm and adjusted his cufflink with the other hand, very GQ. He might’ve spent the last several years rolling around in the dirt in various parts of the wild, but when he wanted to, he could really clean up.

My heart fluttered and I shrugged for no particular reason.

“Penny Bristol, you look beautiful,” he said, his blue eyes soft.

I felt my face flame (my mother looking on with a hard scowl made things awkward) and I shrugged again, still for no particular reason.

“That Marie has good taste for young women.” My mother nodded as her gaze slid down the red silk dress that hugged my slight curves and showed a bit more cleavage than was probably prudent. “Why she was trying to dress me, I have no idea. I don’t have anyone to impress. Waste of time, in my opinion.”

“You have Marie to impress.” I smoothed my shimmery dress down my thighs, suddenly shy and embarrassed and acting stupid. I’d been living with Emery for a week, and usually things were easy between us. He handled my crazy with laughter, and I ignored most everything he did unless it pertained directly to me, because I was used to ignoring my mother. But now, when we were dressed up, and he was looking at me like that, and I was remembering the feel of his hands…

“Emery, how do you plan to earn money?” my mother asked, capable of ruining any moment with gusto.

He sauntered toward me with his confident swagger before reaching around me and into the cabinet. When he reached forward for an empty wine glass, his heat fell across me and I shivered. “I’ve promised my spell-working services solely to Darius. For now. He pays extremely well.”

“What sort of harebrained world traveler promises exclusivity to an elder vampire?” my mother asked.

Emery glanced at me before pouring himself a glass of wine. “A desperate world traveler worried about the woman he was leaving behind.”

Warmth filled my heart and a smile played with my lips.

My mother huffed. “Well, now you’re at his mercy.”

He wrapped his lips around the rim of the wine glass, and a different part of me filled with warmth. After he took a sip, he grinned. “That was before he put her in mortal danger, messed up, and made her fend for herself. For now, it’s wise to keep the attachment. He’s an elder, yes, but he’s the best of the lot. He’ll give me plenty of wiggle room. In the future, I have an easy out and plenty of room for bartering.”

“Worst case, we’ll just sic Darius’s girlfriend on him. She’ll be more than happy to ruin his life.” I edged my hand along the counter like a high school kid on a first date and bumped it off his hip. I was nearly twenty-five, but I was acting like a besotted teenager.

He wasn’t. He slid closer and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

My mother huffed again.

The doorbell rang.

“Reagan is going to meet us there, correct?” my mother asked for what seemed like the eight hundredth time.

“Yes. And Callie and Dizzy. We have lots of backup, Mother, relax. If that old vampire goes crazy, we’ll be fine. Which you know, because your cards told you so.”

“Those cards aren’t always right, you know that.”

“They aren’t ever right for me. But if they’ve ever failed you, you’ve never mentioned it.” Suddenly, all those near misses in Seattle were called into question.

“Come on, love,” Emery whispered softly, sliding his hand to my back. “We don’t want to keep the vampire waiting.”

In other words, he wanted to get away from my mother.

A black limo was waiting outside for us. Beyond it, standing next to the opening of the cemetery, stood Smokey, creepy as ever. He nodded to me as we walked down the stairs.

Next door, No Good Mikey stood near his steps, also watching.

“What’s going on?” I asked, slowing.

“Nothin’.” Mikey shifted so he was leaning against his banister. “Your mother yelled at Smokey for scaring her earlier. I just came out here to see if she’d do it again. Had him scattering like a flock of birds. Ain’t never seen him so spooked.”

“I did not yell at that man,” my mother said, clunking down the stairs behind us in her old boots. Marie was going to hate them. “I simply stated my observation that men who stand on street corners and gawk at women might someday find themselves castrated and thrown down a well.”

“Mother, really?” I pushed Emery to the side and made sure she got down the stairs and moved toward the limo before she came out with something else. “He’s not even on a street corner.”

“He is standing in front of a cemetery. That is worse than standing on a street corner.”

“Then why didn’t you say that?”

“Because ‘street corner’ has a certain ring to it.” She nodded at the blank-faced, handsome limo driver who was holding the door for her. “Couldn’t send a human? They had to send the enemy?”

Mikey cracked a smile, the first I had ever seen from him. “She’s a hoot. She has safe passage in this neighborhood.”

“No she doesn’t.” I pointed at him. “Ban her. Seriously. For your own good.”

He laughed this time, and sauntered off in the other direction.

“Why does everyone always laugh at me?” I wondered aloud, climbing into the limo.

Darius’s front door was fixed. Upon entering the house next to my hard-faced mother, I saw that his entrance way had also been fixed. They’d done unbelievably quick work.

Fragrant flowers lined the stairs like last time, cut from their living plants and on their way to death’s door. They really set the right atmosphere, though I still wasn’t sure if he was intentionally going for that.

Moss, acting the part of butler, greeted us formally, wearing a tux, as stiff as ever. “Miss Bristol, Ms. Bristol, Mr. Westbrook.” Moss offered a slight bow. Very slight. His face could’ve cut granite. Reagan must’ve been harassing him already this evening. “Welcome.”

“Vampires really know how to host,” my mother murmured as we climbed the stairs. “Too bad a body can’t relax in their company.”

Both dining room doors stood open, and as we approached, I felt the first wave of intensely spicy power, vicious and lethal and smooth as silk. It was much more powerful than Moss’s, and it was basically on display, crowding the room and drifting out to catch anyone passing by.

Ja.

“That’s not normal for vampires,” I said, slowing. Magic curled between Emery and me, sparking and fizzing and then collecting above me. I’d largely tried to stop doing that, since it made it easy for me to go off the deep end at a moment’s notice, but amassing elements was my go-to when I sensed even a little danger. It was a hard habit to break. One I wasn’t even sure I wanted to break.

“Just a moment,” Moss said, entering the room.

“Either the vampire doesn’t have control, or she is wondering if you do,” Emery whispered, studying me. He couldn’t feel her magic, but after a week of hardcore training together, not to mention one occasion in which we’d accidentally gotten sucked into (or possibly started, but I really didn’t think it was my fault) a bar fight with a few shifters, he was really good at deciphering my reactions.

He still wasn’t super at heading them off, though. Not when Reagan was enabling me, at any rate. Hence the bar fight.

The magic pulsed once, a shock wave that blasted into my core and crawled up my spine, dragging out my survival magic. I wrapped it around myself like armor, strong and hot and ready to do battle.

“Nope. Don’t do that,” Emery said, using his own survival magic to layer mine, calming me down.

It was another thing we’d been practicing: how to use our survival magic in new ways, often together.

“She has to be baiting you,” Emery said in a low whisper, making sure the vampires, with their excellent hearing, couldn’t catch his words. “Don’t give her a reason to react.”

“Forcing Penny to take the high road, is that it?” My mother asked, not at all worried about vampires overhearing. That, and she lacked volume control at the best of times. “Weak, that. Very weak.”

Moss appeared in the doorway with thinned lips and wary eyes. His bow was furrowed a little deeper, his posture a little stiffer.

Maybe it wasn’t Reagan who would cause problems for us tonight.

“Please.” Moss held out his hand for us to enter.

“I still think this is a terrible idea,” my mother said. “In fact, I ate at a fabulous place in the Garden District the other day. Let’s go there. I made friends with the barman. I’m sure we could get a seat.”

“Come on, Mother,” I said through clenched teeth, this close to taking her up on it.

Emery stepped aside so my mother and I could enter first. The table was set with delicate china and crystal. Candles flickered in gilded candleholders down the center of the table and along the walls, a serious fire hazard that probably didn’t matter, given that Reagan was on scene.

Darius and Reagan stood from their chairs on one side of the table. The three empty chairs next to them had presumably been left for us. The Bankses sat on the other side, with Marie next to them, and the final member of the group—a familiar woman with a beautiful face, slight frame, dark tan skin, and liquid black, wide-spaced, beguiling eyes that held the wisdom of centuries—sat the farthest from the door, directly across from Darius’s seat.

Those dark eyes sparkled as they beheld me, and a tiny pulse of her viciously entrancing magic pushed against my heart, letting me know she was completely in control…and she knew that I was not.

“Hello, everyone,” Reagan said with a serene smile, wearing a striking deep blue dress that plunged down her chest and flowed around her legs. She took Darius’s hand as they made their way to us, playing the part of host perfectly and surprising the heck out of me.

Darius wore a tux, perfectly molded to his muscular body and probably as expensive as the GDP of a small country. When they stopped in front of us, he bowed deeply. “Thank you for joining us.”

“Thank you for having us,” Emery said, sticking out his hand to shake Darius’s.

We took our seats, the chairs held out by vampire servers who showed up at the exact right moment. After they poured our wine, they zipped out again, faster than a human, but not so fast that it looked strange.

“That dress looks lovely,” Marie said to me with a gorgeous smile, her curves showcased in a purple and black lace dress that really got the heart pumping—and I wasn’t even into that sort of thing. “And Ms. Bristol, what a lovely…ensemble.”

My mother nodded and reached for her wine. “Thank you. It was one of the few I packed, just in case.”

Marie’s smile tightened, and I knew she was annoyed my mother hadn’t accepted her help with fashion.

“Hello,” Dizzy said, beaming. Callie nodded in hello as well.

“May I introduce Ja.” Darius motioned to the extreme elder before holding the chair for Reagan to sit. “Ja, please meet Penny, Emery, and Penny’s mother, Karen.”

“Is it Penny, or Penelope?” Ja asked, her voice deep and sultry.

“My real name is Penelope, but people call me Penny,” I said, taking the seat next to Reagan that Emery held out for me.

“Penelope suits her better,” Marie said.

“It does.” Ja nodded minutely. “I shall use that. It is good to see you again, Penelope. I owe you a debt.”

“No,” my mother said. She made a slash across her neck as Callie and Dizzy shook their heads. “You don’t.”

“You do not,” Callie mimicked. When the two agreed, people tended to just get out of the way. When they didn’t…well, the cops had been called a few times from neighbors worried about domestic violence.

Ja’s eyes sparkled, still on mine. “They are wise, not wanting you to have a connection with a vampire.” Her gaze slowly made its way to Darius. “I would press the point, but doing so would impose on the merriment of the gathering.”

“You are free to speak your mind, I am sure,” he said. “They will let you know when they no longer welcome a particular topic.” He glanced down at us, and Reagan reached over and took his hand, twining her fingers in his.

In that moment, I saw it. His eyes flicked to her and softened, the deep light of emotion shining within them. A small smile curved her lips. While she always tried to make his life hell, and he tried to manipulate hers, they were doing it out of mutual adoration.

Their relationship was still weird. Strong and deep, sure, but still weird.

“Yes.” Ja smiled and followed my eyes, her gaze flicking back and forth between Reagan and Darius. “Quite a surprise, isn’t it? An elder with emotion. I would not have believed it if I hadn’t witnessed it myself.”

“I can scarcely believe it myself, I can assure you.” He bowed his head a mere fraction. “As we’ve discussed.”

“Of course.” She refocused on me, and I got the impression something had just passed between them in a subtle exchange I’d probably never understand. “Penelope, I would like to apologize for our meeting. I was not in a place to appreciate it. It took me by surprise, I must admit.”

“She is truly exceptional, is she not?” Darius asked.

“Truly. One of only a handful I have met throughout my many long years to capture my notice. Capable of great things. And discovered by…”

“Reagan,” Darius said.

“I found her in a closet.” Reagan took a sip of her wine as servers filed in with the soup course. “She’s mine.”

I frowned at them and opened my mouth to interject, but Marie flashed me a hard stare and Callie lightly shook her head. Emery took my hand, and I could tell something was at work that I didn’t understand.

As usual. I’d be surprised the day I did understand everything.

“And Emery,” Marie said softly. “It was he who showed her the way, isn’t that right, Penelope?”

Callie huffed. I didn’t need to ask why—she’d wanted to be the one to take that mantle.

“He was the first to show me what it was to be a mage, yes,” I said. “Then Callie and Dizzy showed me what it was to be part of a community.”

The dual-mages beamed, and I felt my heart squish. It was true, and I would always value everything they had done for me.

But it was Emery’s turn to feel the force of Ja’s beguiling stare. Heat kindled deep in her dark eyes. “A handsome young natural. And your choice is made, I see.”

“Yes.” He squeezed my hand as Reagan bristled. She was still hell-bent on beating people away from Emery for me. Even a passing glance from another woman was enough to set her off. Where was she when I got hit on, though? Laughing and nudging Emery to start a fight, that was where.

“Pity.” Ja’s smile said she was joking. Or maybe hungry. It was hard to tell. “I sense a natural pairing. How extremely rare. My goodness. If only I had been awake to have discovered you two. The things we could do.” She dipped her head and smiled coyly, and I realized I was staring at her in rapture, hanging on her every word. It wasn’t even that interesting, what she was saying, but her musical voice lulled me. That was probably part of her magic. She was even more wily and dangerous than Darius. “Forgive me, please,” she continued. “How crass of me.”

“I’ll say,” Reagan said in a dry voice, and Dizzy started chuckling.

“Well, Penelope,” Ja said, “you have my eternal gratitude. Based on what I have gleaned, we are heading into some turbulent times.” Her gaze rooted to Reagan. “This happens in cycles, of course. Powers awaken, or are found…” Reagan’s eyes started to burn now, but Ja just smiled. “Stands are made. Agendas pushed. Kingdoms toppled. Darius is amassing some serious players in anticipation of what’s to come, as any well-positioned elder ought to. I am late to the game.”

A wave of vertigo swept over me and I felt Reagan and Emery stiffen. Kingdoms toppled. My mother looked more closely at Ja, then at Darius, her wheels turning.

“I am not interested in the politics of the Realm just yet,” Darius said, dipping his spoon elegantly into his soup. I looked down at my own dripping spoon before accidentally clattering it against the bowl.

“I was not talking about the Realm.” Ja’s eyes sparked, and a pulse of her ancient power cut through my middle.

A blast of magic welled up, filling the room. Hot and cold and climbing the walls…

Reagan was responding to Ja’s insinuation, and it was inviting me to respond with it.

I squeezed Emery’s hand as my power surged, out of my control.

“Penelope,” Ja said, her face turning away from Reagan’s heated gaze. Her magic was torn away, leaving a strange absence. She was intentionally kicking the hornets’ nest, that was clear. “I am in your debt, bound by honor. Should you ever need assistance, I am at your disposal. You need but ask.”

Callie, Dizzy, and my mother all started shaking their heads. Ja pretended not to notice.

“Now.” The extremely old vampire stood, and Darius stood with her. “Darius, thank you for allowing me to intrude on your hospitality. I will leave you. I must reestablish myself within the Lair. I do hope you can understand.”

“Of course.” Darius bowed.

“Goodbye.” She smiled at everyone, but it seemed like it was just for me. Based on Dizzy’s preening, however, he clearly thought she had reserved her notice just for him. Everyone probably had the same impression. “It was lovely meeting you all. I’m sure I will see you again.”

With that, Ja glided from the room, leaving silence in her wake.

“Stay the hell away from that vampire, Penny,” Reagan said. “Far away. She is…something.”

“She is a serious power player,” Darius said softly, looking after her. “I am owed a debt as well. It is a priceless commodity, I have no doubt.” He fell silent for a moment.

“Am I in danger?” I asked.

“No,” Darius said. “Not even remotely. You will be forgotten for a time while she reestablishes herself in our hierarchy.”

“You won’t be,” Reagan said to Darius, squeezing his hand tight.

“She will change things, yes. But this won’t be the first time our carefully balanced hierarchy has been in turmoil.” He leaned forward, and the pressure on the room released. His smile put stars in my mother’s eyes before she remembered herself and turned it into a frown. “So, Penny, Emery. I hear you have not yet become a dual-mage pair, yet there is a definite magical balance between you two. I must look into this idea of a natural pairing. I have not heard of it.”

“Neither have I,” Emery said.

“It’s pleasing,” Reagan said, “the feel of their magic. Potent and powerful, but in an inviting way.”

“Yes.” Darius nodded and dabbed at his mouth.

“To be a dual-mage pair, you need to pledge your lives to each other,” Callie said, her tone even.

“And you’re too young to be doing that,” my mother said.

“We were their age, hon.” Dizzy looked around at the other bowls, clearly wanting more soup.

“They barely know each other,” my mother said.

“Wow. This is seriously awkward.” Reagan grinned.

Emery’s jaw was clenched and his eyes haunted. And in that moment, I knew—he was fighting the pain from the demise of his brother. In his mind, becoming a dual-mage pair with me would mean replacing what he’d lost, admitting that his brother was gone forever.

He wasn’t ready to let go.

I squeezed his hand in support. Time would tell. If it was meant to be, it would be. In the meantime, we had a lot ahead of us.

We needed to take on the Mages’ Guild. And this time, we needed to stop them for good.

* * *

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