Natural Dual-Mage

“What about the other locations for Darius’s people?” Penny asked as they met up with Reagan. The shifters in human form let out those in animal form.

“They’ve been loaded into coffins and are on their way in.” Reagan nodded a hello to Roger as he got out of his vehicle. “They’ll be told where to meet us. He had them staying about an hour outside of town in a couple of newly acquired residences. They haven’t heard a word from the Guild, and if it’s because the Guild is already on their way there, they’ll find empty houses to hide out in.”

Emery remembered the number of hearses Darius had used the last time he’d needed to move around during the day. It wouldn’t be enough for the numbers they needed. “Hearses?” he asked.

“No.” Reagan motioned them toward the road. “Semitrucks. He has racks inside the trailers for the coffins, and humans to load them up. Darius might not totally possess Vlad’s planning ability, but he’s not far off.”

“Well…I don’t know.” Penny slipped her hand into Emery’s and looked around anxiously. “Vlad had two houses out of three ambushed, and Darius only had one. I would say he wins this round. Especially since…Vlad might not be entirely trustworthy.”

“Vlad is not at all trustworthy, usually, but in this instance, it is probably only because of the distance,” Reagan said, watching the shifters unload. Callie and Dizzy plucked ingredients out of their satchels as they made their way up the road. Ms. Bristol followed behind, her gun over her shoulder and a backpack in her hands.

“That counts. Clearly distance was a good idea.” When Ms. Bristol neared, Penny asked, “What’s in the backpack, Mother? You don’t have bombs or anything, right?”

“Roger had one of his people gather up my tools,” Ms. Bristol replied. “Very kind of him. I didn’t mention that they weren’t my best set. And no.” She looked down at the backpack. “No bombs. Just a couple of grenades Roger had lying around, is all.”

A grin broke through Reagan’s face. “Great. Those will come in handy at the Mages’ Guild. Now, what’s our plan for ending the siege?”

“Since when do you use plans?” Penny asked.

Reagan nodded. “Good point. Let’s make it up as we go along.” She started walking.

“No, no. That’s not what I meant!” Penny took a step toward her, then paused, looking out to the side with that same anxious expression.

“What is it—” In a moment, he knew exactly what she sensed. The danger of it. It was a feeling he’d never forget.

28

“It’s him,” I said softly, trying to pierce the shadows between the trees with my gaze. My heart was a terrified rabbit in my chest. “It’s the druid. I feel him.”

Shadows moved and shifted, dizzying my mind. A moment later, my stomach flipped and my magic settled down, stilling the fuzzy image. A familiar man stood in front of a tree by the road, now in plain sight, draped in shadows, a blank expression on his face and a line of red ink on his cheek.

“That’s…helpful,” Emery said in a hard voice next to me, clutching the back of my utility belt. He didn’t want me to go running off. “The magic you stole from the goblin wipes out the shadow illusion. Mostly.”

“It wipes out the brain fuzziness, not the shadow illusion. And he means us no harm.”

“When did you become such an expert?” Reagan asked, sword in hand.

“I honestly have no idea.” I wiped my face.

The druid took a step to the side and put out his hand. I sucked in a breath when Veronica stepped out from behind the tree and took it.

“What are you doing with her?” I asked, magic at my fingertips and an intense spell brewing.

“Oh thank God,” Veronica said, rushing forward. Until she got to the road, that was. She stopped and looked both ways really quickly before running forward again. “Penny, the house is under siege! I went out to blow off some steam and police the neighborhood”—she held up her red Sharpie—“and when I was on my way back, I heard bangs and crackles.” She put her hands up, made them into claws, and wiggled them. I squinted, trying to follow along. “I snuck a little closer to see what was going on, because, you know, it could’ve been you, but he”—she hooked a thumb over her shoulder at the druid—“stopped me and said it wasn’t safe.”

“You trusted a random stranger?” I asked, mystified.

Reagan, clearly sensing the threat had passed, since the druid hadn’t hurt Veronica, moved off toward Roger, who was standing over my mother as she laid out a cloth on the tailgate of the nearest truck. The rest of the shifters were organizing, splitting into groups of various sizes. Their packs, I’d bet. Everyone was getting ready.

Veronica lowered her eyebrows. “Of course not! I tried to attack him. But I only had my pen, and that isn’t much against a man his size.”

A grin worked up Emery’s face despite his hard eyes. “You got him,” he said. “You marked his face.”

“Yeah. I took him by surprise. My pen didn’t do much good, though.” Veronica’s face fell. “Anyway, in the next moment, there was…this, like…red flash, but Cahal pulled me away from it. And then the guy who’d attacked me went flying, and…I don’t know. It was really confusing. But then Cahal picked me up and ran me down here. He said we had to wait for you to come. That he was supposed to meet you here.”

Leave it to Veronica to be on a first-name basis with an incredibly lethal and terrifying warrior-class assassin.

The druid—Cahal—stepped forward and handed me a little envelope inscribed with my name in a beautiful scrawl. Feeling a heavy weight in my stomach, I pulled a mauve card out of it and read the simple note.

A gift.

There was no signature.

I looked at Cahal for more, but his glacial stare gave me nothing to go on.

“Reagan,” I called. She didn’t so much as glance up, instead watching my mother with her tarot.

“Uh, Penny?” Veronica tapped my arm.

“Reagan,” I called again, finally getting her attention.

“Penny?” Veronica repeated, whispering in a way that tugged at my focus.

“What?” I asked, trying not to feel the press of time.

Reagan reluctantly tore her eyes away from my mother’s work. She walked over, Roger in tow.

“Why are there a bunch of naked people gathered around?” Veronica asked in a shocked whisper. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, wow. They have a perfect reason to show it all, but there are some dangerous people up near the house, and…well…that’s not really a great way to go into battle, know what I mean?”

“Why the hell didn’t anyone ever tell me how cool it is to watch your mother do her magic?” Reagan asked as she stopped next to me. “She even seems legit. Color me surprised.”

Veronica’s eyes went as big as the world as they slipped down Roger’s body. Her face went beet red and she jerked her gaze skyward. “Sorry,” she muttered.

I gave the note to Reagan. Roger leaned closer to see the two-word note as she quickly scanned the card. Her brow furrowed and she eyed Cahal. “Who sent you?”

As though for the first time, Roger noticed the large, incredibly lethal man standing a mere five feet away. The thick cords of muscle lining every inch of his frame went taut. A heavy gush of shifter magic boomed out and all the shifters waiting near the line of cars flinched and glanced up, their bodies tensing in anticipation of a fight.

Cahal didn’t so much as bat an eye. He continued to look among us silently.

“If you don’t tell us who sent you, we cannot accept you,” Reagan said, thrusting the note at him.

“It is not for you to determine if I am accepted,” Cahal said, ignoring the note. “I signed a blood contract to protect Penelope Bristol to the best of my ability. I have been instructed to take her away from the action if necessary.”

“Well…” I snorted and shook my head. “There’s no way that’s going to—”