Natural Dual-Mage

He stood then, my hand clasped in his, and slowly bent for the power stone. Gingerly, he picked it up and turned it over, studying every inch. A tear leaked down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away with the back of his hand.

“You lost your brother. It’s okay to let go,” I said softly. “I won’t tell.”

He laughed. “I don’t care if you tell. I just know he would’ve made fun of me for it. Here.”

“No.” I didn’t take the power stone from his hand. “You’re—”

“I can’t feel their personalities. I take power when I need it. I have no relationship with them. My brother wouldn’t have wanted it left here, no, but he certainly wouldn’t have wanted it in my hands. I got a thumping every time I snatched it and threw it in the yard. Or through a window. Or into a lake.” He sucked in a breath, his eyes glittering and his smile beaming. “He gave me a black eye when I threw it into the lake. It wasn’t even that far in…”

I took it from his hands, and my first impression was what the hell?

“It might need a moment to warm up to me,” I said delicately, and moved things around so I could stuff it into the largest compartment of my utility belt. Even then, I couldn’t close the flap. “This might need to go to Reagan. She’d have room in her fanny pack.”

Emery smiled as he rubbed my back, looking down at the circle of stones again before glancing behind him at the creature hiding in the rocky cropping. “I’d always thought it was waiting to kill me. I might’ve developed my keenest magic trying to get it off my trail.”

“In a weird way, maybe it was your brother protecting you.”

Emery barked out a laugh. “Yeah, seems about right. He was probably laughing down at me the whole time.”

I rubbed his back and laid my hand on the stone within my compartment. It gave me a get the hell away pulse. “All right.” I removed my hand.

Emery stepped away, his gaze going to my utility belt. “Of all the things I expected, that wasn’t one of them.” He sighed, looking down at the circle of stones, and his arm came around me again.

“Conrad…I wish you could’ve met Penny. The two of you are much more alike than you and I ever were. You two would have gotten along great, but I probably would have been the odd one out.”

I hugged Emery tight. “He’s lying. I’d be the odd one out. Luckily, I’m used to it…”

Emery chuckled and exhaled a trembling breath, and I knew he was saying goodbye.

Emotion surged through me, adding moisture to my eyes. Slowly, he turned us, sad peace infusing his eyes. “I’ve really missed him,” he said, his voice quavering. “I’ll miss him always.”

“You have his memory. And now you have his moody power stone. You can guard those like treasures until you see him again.”

Emery hugged me tightly and nodded, before slowly leading me back to the scar in the sky, our entrance to the Realm.

Some amount of time later, which was impossible to tell when using the various paths in that strange, magical place, we stepped out into the countryside. Not the Seattle countryside, where we’d been staying, working on my training, and trying to work on the new version of the Mages’ Guild, but a foreign place with rolling hills covered in grapes and a dark sky dotted with pricks of light.

“Are we”—I hesitated to say “lost,” since Emery didn’t know that word unless someone else was leading—“taking a detour?”

“Just over here. I know I told you we’d go to a beach, but I thought maybe you’d like this place a little better.” He led me up a lovely stone path through fragrant rosebushes. A little stone cottage overlooking vineyards sat on a small hill. He brought out a rustic bronze key and fit it into the lock before turning. The rusty handle clicked as it flipped over, opening into a somewhat musty dwelling. He put his hand on my back and escorted me inside while he flicked a switch.

Light showered the simple accommodations—the round wood table, brick-red floor tiles, and a couple pieces of overstuffed furniture.

Magic flowered, hot and stinging, and I noticed someone sitting at the kitchen table, delicate fingers tracking the stem of a glass of deep red wine.

“Hello,” said Ja, the extreme elder vampire whom I’d accidentally roused from her stupor.

Emery shoved me behind him. “Watch our six,” he instructed me. “What are you doing here, Ja?”

Her smile was shy and sexy and predatory all at the same time. “I come to pay homage to a great player in the game. Please, make yourselves at home.” She gestured us toward the table, extremely hospitable even though it wasn’t her dwelling.

Emery didn’t step forward. “This is Darius’s house. Why are you in it?”

Her smile grew. “I just told you. Please, grab a glass of wine. Darius keeps the very best collection. Did you know he has secreted his bond-mate away from the world? Isn’t that strange? With a potent power such as hers, one would think he’d want to show her off.”

“Reagan has no manners,” I said, slipping around Emery and heading for the wine. I didn’t know much about Ja, but I knew when she was dangerous to us in the moment. She was controlled and calculating, which meant the danger she posed was more of a long, slow burn. “Darius needed to give her a boot camp,” I said, filling two glasses.

“I hope not. I found her crudeness rather charming. She embraced her barbarianism.” Ja draped her arm over the back of her chair, looking relaxed. The opposite of Emery. “I rather enjoy the world of today. No false pretenses. No subtle charades. Industrialized nations put all their feelings on display. It takes so much less effort to read people. What a haze I’d been in these last…” She glanced at the sky. “I can scarcely count the years. Hundreds, it must be.”

I sat gingerly at the table with my glass of wine. I put Emery’s in front of the open chair, hoping he’d take the hint and sit down to it.

“I heard all about the attack on the Mages’ Guild,” she said, her smile demure. “My, how the men in this day and age will gush in response to the simplest flattery. It’s almost boring. But the smell…” She wrinkled her nose. “I’ve never been one for animals.”

Yikes.

I clasped my hands on the table, not commenting. What could I possibly say? She had an agenda, and I needed to let it play out. I’d met with Vlad a couple times. I now knew what most vampires were like. And also that Darius was way different than a normal elder. Why? No one would tell me, or else they didn’t know.

“Someone’s magic is extraordinary. Maybe more than one someone?” Sparks of fire danced in her dark eyes as she looked at me squarely. “You are a natural, you are a dual-mage, but…that isn’t all, is it?”

Silence was key. No facial expression. No clenched jaw or clasped hands. That failing, I could steal Emery’s approach and invite thunder clouds to roll across my face.

Her smile curved her lush lips. “Well. We all have secrets, after all. And Reagan most of all, I think. I had a suspicion. I now have a new one. Isn’t magic fun? So many intrigues. So many surprises. I’m glad I took a break. I was so bored before. But not now.”

“I would like to have a quiet night with my future wife, Ja. What is it you want?” Emery asked, and a sharp, heady burst of power filled the room.

Butterflies filled my stomach. Something about his assertive side unleashed his power. It danced with mine, spreading a tingling sensation through my body and dropping heat into my center.

“I apologize. Where are my manners?” She took a sip of her wine, closing her eyes to savor it. “Just this.” Her beguiling gaze hit me. “I am in awe of you, Penelope Bristol. I had intended to gain a little favor by sending you the absolute best in the business. The very best. Someone highly sought after and extremely hard to get. After calling in a few favors, I procured him.”

“Cahal,” I said, fitting it all together. “You wanted to make sure I lived so you’d have a shot at controlling me.”

“Oh no…” The predator in her flashed through her dark eyes. “Not controlling you, surely. Working with you. Helping you.” I didn’t believe her for a second. “But the druid refunded the deposit. Canceled the contract.”