Natural Dual-Mage

I frowned at her. “What now?”

Her smile stretched, a thinly veiled blade. She wasn’t pleased. “You have an admirer, Penelope. Maybe a peer?” That was a probing question if ever there was one. She was asking about the magic the goblin had inadvertently donated to me.

“In fairness, I dragged him through situations that he wasn’t really able to work in,” I said. “We got trapped, and—”

“But you came out alive. He should have taken the funds. But he didn’t.” She took another sip of wine, then licked her lips. It curled my stomach. “He formed an attachment to you. Which I find interesting. He hasn’t formed an attachment in years, I’ve heard. He’s long since given up looking for his natural pair…his way out of his profession. And yet, suddenly, he finds a heart with you?”

“I have a natural pair.” I pointed at Emery, still by the door. “I can’t have two. Because of the word pair. Which means two.”

“Yes.” Her eyes roamed over me. Seeing a riddle, I had no doubt. “Well.” She finished her glass of wine, sat for a moment to appreciate it, and then removed her delicate fingers from its stem. “At any rate, I applaud you on your victory, Penelope. It is well earned.”

She rose from her chair gracefully, nodded to me, half curtsied to Emery, and walked out the door.

He watched her as she disappeared into the darkness, and then closed the door and stared at the lock. He turned it, though vampires could open any locked door, and I could tell he was thinking about wards.

Yes, those would be going up.

“She sent him,” I said as Emery sat opposite his glass of wine. His shoulders were still tight. “We might have guessed.”

“Darius did,” Emery said, his tone dark. “At first he thought it was Vlad, but Vlad’s reaction didn’t fit. So the only one left, in his mind, was Ja. She has an attachment to you.”

“She thinks she owes me.”

“Never cash in on that debt.”

“Clearly she tried to force me to.”

A smile curled Emery’s lips. “Cahal must’ve known she would. He’s been around too long not to know how vampires work. He gave you a nod with his refusal to take payment. He gave you an out.”

“I owe him a great debt, not just for that, but for helping. We barely pulled through. Without everyone on our side…everyone, we wouldn’t have.”

He nodded and scooted his chair closer to me. “He didn’t have to help for most of it. He wanted to. We’ll send Reagan an expensive bottle of whiskey and put a note on it to say it’s a thank-you gift for Cahal. She’ll have to give it to him when he eventually shows up, if he does.”

I laughed. “Perfect. And he will, because he said so, and they can’t lie. So she’ll have to sit and look at it.”

He leaned back and his eyes took on a deep look. “Thank you. Again. For…my life. For…my return to reality. What you’ve given me is priceless.”

I made him scoot closer so I could lean against his body. “You opened up my whole world. Let me find my feet, then helped me find my wings. Thank you.”

He squeezed me tight. “Safe at last.”

I closed my eyes to savor those words, my heart full of love and hope. “For now, at least, and that’s what matters.”