Natural Dual-Mage

by K. F. Breene

  Emery massaged the spot. The woman could throw a punch. “You’re the one that forced her into that bounty hunter gig.”

  “Well, only an asshole blames herself, so it’s your fault,” Reagan shot back, her attempted flippancy ruined by the worry tinging her words.

  “Don’t you always tell people you’re an asshole?” he said as a car engine revved behind them.

  “Touché.” Reagan peeled off to the side, grabbing Penny and pulling her along. Emery kept pace on Penny’s other side. “What have we got here?”

  A Lexus SUV, so new it didn’t have a license plate, slowed dramatically and swerved toward the parked cars next to them. Reagan braced herself. Penny groaned.

  “There goes my good mood,” Penny whispered, and in the next moment, Emery learned why.

  The car stopped, still running, and the hazards glared to life. The driver’s door opened and Ms. Bristol climbed out in a flowery top and loose pants. Her expression was surly, and when the front passenger-side window slid down, Callie stuck her head out and revealed a matching frown. The window behind rolled down as well, and Dizzy’s head filled the space as he looked up and down the street.

  “Are you sure this is the spot?” Dizzy asked.

  Ms. Bristol turned sideways to squeeze through two parked cars and stopped just down the sidewalk from them. She glanced down the street, then shifted her gaze to a corner alarmingly close to them. She brought up the old, worn watch on her wrist.

  “You come out this instant, Penelope Bristol!” Ms. Bristol demanded, lowering her watch. “I told you going to that bar was a terrible idea, and now look. You’re wandering around in a busy city with enemies everywhere, just hoping to out yourself to humans and possibly get caught up in something to do with mages and shadows.”

  “She can’t see us, right?” Reagan whispered.

  Emery eyed the spell the Bankses were talking to life. “For now, no.”

  “Then how the hell does she know we’re here?”

  “Do you now see how hard it was to keep any secrets from her growing up?” Penny asked, not making a move to take down their spell. None of them did. “She probably saw this location in her crystal ball, a device I thought was fake until half a year ago, when she pulled out a real one and used it. For years I’ve looked like a dummy squinting into a fake white ball and making up predictions. Did she ever help me out? No, she did not.” She shook her head.

  Emery felt a grin work up his face. This was the old Penny, and something tight and painful inside of him loosened just a bit.

  “Come out this instant,” Ms. Bristol demanded.

  A passerby on the other side of the street glanced over in confusion. A car coming up behind the Lexus slowed before going around it.

  “If you were right,” Callie said, “we’ll flush them out. Ready, Dizzy?”

  “I have one premonition go wrong, about something not at all important, and suddenly I’m a two-dollar hack that hangs around on street corners?” Ms. Bristol jammed her fists into her hips. “It was just pizza, for crying out loud, and I was barely trying. I really don’t think that should be held against me.”

  The Bankses’ spell twisted into existence, bold and straightforward, spraying the sidewalk with magic before expanding out to the sides, rolling over the three of them and setting their spell ablaze in color.

  “They are a perfect example of mage training going right,” Emery said as Ms. Bristol turned their way with a scowl. “Their execution is spot-on.”

  “And you could counter it with minimal effort,” Reagan said in a hush as Ms. Bristol stared them down. “What do we do? Do we run?”

  “I vote run,” Penny said.

  “Get out of there.” Ms. Bristol stalked forward, and both Penny and Reagan flinched, as though barely keeping themselves put. Chuckles rose through Emery’s middle. All the danger they’d faced without flinching, and they were contemplating running away from an older, out-of-shape woman. What a trip.

  “Drag them out,” Callie called out of her open window.

  “I think Emery is too big to drag anywhere,” Dizzy said.

  “The jig is up,” Penny said as she slumped. Their spell winked out.

  “Karen does have a gift, hon,” Dizzy said to Callie, delight on his face. “She knew almost exactly the time and location all three of them would show up. That is a rare gift.”

  Callie sniffed. “But when you try to find out where the pizza got to, suddenly it’s a great mystery.”

  Ms. Bristol stiffened for a moment before she started dragging Penny and Emery toward the car by the elbows. “Come on. In a few more minutes there will be vampires roaming all around this city. If I were a betting woman, I’d say the vampires are trying to get their fingers into the Guild’s pockets, and the coming battle will be an excellent way to do so. They are choosing sides.”

  “We have Vlad and Darius. They’ve chosen the wrong side,” Reagan said as she crawled into the third row of the car, a tight space for an adult.

  “Let’s hope so.” Ms. Bristol made sure Emery helped Penny in before returning to the driver’s seat. Someone honked behind them. “Hold your horses!” she bellowed. “Can’t you see I’m picking up my daughter?” She put the car in drive, and they surged forward. “They seem to think we’re all in a hurry.”

  “Careful…Mother.” Penny clutched Emery. “Who let you drive this car?”

  “Moss will never know I borrowed it,” she replied.

  “If he didn’t want people taking his car, he wouldn’t have left the keys on the key hook near the door,” Callie said.

  “Yes, exactly,” Ms. Bristol responded.

  “Pairing them together was a terrible idea.” Penny leaned her head against Emery’s shoulder.

  “What was with the fuzzy, moving shadows in the bar?” Ms. Bristol asked as they jerked to a standstill before the stop sign. “Touchy brakes.”

  “A druid,” Reagan said, and any mirth Emery had felt immediately dried up.

  Dizzy half turned to look back at Reagan with wide eyes. Callie did the same, looking at Emery. Ms. Bristol stared out through the windshield, her eyes tight in the rearview mirror.

  “And did he or she make a decision that was favorable to our side?” Ms. Bristol’s voice was thick with worry.

  “We are in no danger from him,” Penny said, and her voice was wispy again. “He is goodness. Justified power.”

  “Goodness? He kills people for a living, and he doesn’t care who it is as long as he’s paid enough.” Reagan leaned forward against the seat. “Emery, slap her. Snap her out of this.”

  “And Emery,” Ms. Bristol said, her voice even thicker. Resolve hung heavy in her tone. “How about you? Have you made a decision?”

  Emery met Ms. Bristol’s eyes in the rearview mirror, and in her look, he could tell she knew he’d been contemplating the idea of forever. Soon, it would no longer be in his hands. It would be in her daughter’s.

  17

  “Can I speak to you, Penny?” Emery asked as we backed into the parking space at Darius’s house.

  Full night had fallen, wiping away all the little details the sun had highlighted in the house’s beautiful surroundings. I’d missed Seattle and its green, lush beauty. I was happy to be back, even though the circumstances were less than ideal.

  I snorted. Understatement of the year.

  “Sure,” I said as the last of the pleasant haze left my mind and body. I’d figured out how to latch on to the druid’s magic, and, in so doing, had found a treasure trove of delight for my senses. He had his finger on the pulse of the natural world, his roots going down through the bedrock, and a natural essence pumped through his blood. My magic had practically vibrated around him, connecting me more solidly to my environment.

  He’d followed us for a spell, though at a distance. Close enough that I could still feel his magic pulsing through my veins. Far enough away that neither Reagan nor Emery had sensed his presence. It was as though he knew I could feel hi
s magic, and was letting me bask in the experience.

  But the sensation had started to fade once we got into the car, and now it was just a memory.

  “Penny?” Emery asked again, helping me out of the car.

  Moss waited off to the side, staring at my mother as she stepped out of the driver’s seat.

  “It has a lot of power.” She tossed him the keys. “Thanks for letting me use it.”

  “There are automobiles set aside for community usage,” Moss said with a flat voice.

  “Yes, but those are all five-seaters. I needed that third row.” My mother patted Moss on the shoulder. “Thanks.”

  His glare followed her to the house.

  “What’s up?” I asked Emery, getting a weird little flutter in my stomach from his intense gaze. Something was bothering him. “No headache, I swear. I feel good.” His expression didn’t clear. “That druid wasn’t there to hurt me. After the initial tumble, I mean. I held my own, though. I would’ve figured him out. But then he stopped, so everything was fine. Honestly, I was only in danger for, like…one minute. Tops.”

  “Can I have a few minutes of your time?” he asked, and his voice quavered. It was like he hadn’t heard me at all.

  My stomach flipped, dread spreading through my body. Flashes of how our last visit to this house had ended took up prime real estate in my head. He’d told me he had to go. When I’d awoken, he’d been gone.

  Barely able to breathe, I followed him silently through the house, holding his hand in a death grip. I wouldn’t let him go this time. I was stronger when I was with him. He brought out the best in me, leveling me out perfectly, and vice versa. He was the teammate I craved, the partner I loved, and the missing piece in my life.

  I’d always thought that missing piece was magic, but I’d been doing magic my whole life, largely without realizing it. Magic was inside of me. It had always been a part of the whole.

  The thing I’d always been missing had been him.

  “Okay, look,” I said as we walked past a straight-faced Darius. His eyes were knowing, but his expression didn’t give anything away. Oh God, this was going to be bad news. “I know I’ve been acting weird. But I’m trying to get a handle on it.”

  We walked down the hallway toward the bedroom we shared despite my mother’s wishes.

  “I just have to grab something really quickly,” he said, leaving me just outside the doorway. He pushed the door nearly closed so I couldn’t see inside.

  Heart in my throat, unshed tears stinging my eyes, I gulped and looked down the hallway. My eyes landed on a sign on one of the doors. Shhh, editor hard at work.

  Happiness fought for space amidst the dread. Veronica had come. She was surely in danger here, but given her track record as my friend, she was probably in danger everywhere. I was happy to have her around.

  Emery opened the door, misery lining his face, and all thoughts of Veronica fled.

  I knew that look. He was about to do something that he thought was the best possible thing for me. It was exactly how he’d looked the last time. Before he’d left.

  “Life will calm down soon,” I said as he took my hand again and led me down the hall. “It’ll calm down. I know the odds are stacked against us, given the sheer number of mages we’re facing on their home turf, and their vampire helpers, but we’ve stood against impossible odds before. Actually, we’re always against impossible odds. That’s how we roll. So this is just another day, know what I mean?”

  Dizzy gave us a thumbs-up as we passed the living room. In contrast, when we walked through the kitchen, Reagan gave me a solemn look, standing next to a straight-faced Marie.

  My breath came out in fast, shallow pants, fear eating at me.

  When we reached the door leading into the garage, Emery finally stalled, his hand on the knob. The fear I felt was reflected on his expression. He probably thought I would fly off the handle and try to kill him.

  I might.

  “You don’t have to do this,” I said, trying to talk past the tightness in my throat. “This probably isn’t best for me. Whatever it is you are going to do, it’s probably not the thing I really need. What we have right now is perfect. I’m happy just as we are.”

  He studied me for a long moment, indecision eating through his eyes.

  “We’re good,” I pushed, seeing an opening. “We’re fine. Let’s just stay this way.”

  His fingers loosened on the knob. He shifted a little away from the door.

  I sighed with relief and tugged on his other hand. “We’re good. We’ll sort through this weird goblin situation, and we’ll be good.”

  Worry clouded his vision again, and I knew I’d said the wrong thing. He turned the handle and pulled the door open. This time, he was the one tugging. Getting me to follow him.

  “No,” I whispered, my feet turning to lead.

  He flicked on a switch in the two-car garage. It was empty of vehicles, but light showered down on a large desk supporting two monitors and some basic office supplies. The surface was spacious and immaculate, and I knew this was where Darius must have toiled over the files we’d stolen from the Guild’s record room on our last break in. His lackeys had scanned them all.

  On the other side, in the corner, sat a rickety card table with one folding chair on either side. A fake crystal ball with a permanent white cloud hunkered in the center of the table with a pile of colorful rocks beside it. A deck of tarot cards sat next to that, and a colorful sash lined the side of the table.

  I stumbled to a stop, utterly confused. It was my setup from my old job as a fake fortune teller at the Renaissance village near my old house.

  “What…” The word trailed away as Emery tugged me forward again, leading me to the chair behind the table. The metal frame groaned under my weight. He settled in the chair facing me, his eyes liquid pools of blue.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t do this with more detail,” he said softly. “I didn’t have a lot of time. Just imagine we’re back in that village, with electricity surging through the air between us.”

  “But…” I looked over the power stones, seeing many familiar ones that I’d used back then. Their power was minuscule compared to the ones I’d collected since, but they still had their quirky personalities. “How did you get all this?”

  “I had Darius’s people grab it out of your mom’s storage…just in case.”

  I shook my head, running my finger over the tarot cards. In my hands, they were just paper with pictures on them. In my mother’s hands, they were the future unfolding.

  I’d understood so little back in the day. So many things going on beneath the surface of my world without my knowledge.

  “I don’t understand. Just in case…what?” I asked, sentimentality swelling in my heart. I remembered when he’d first sat down in that rickety chair, facing me as he was doing now. He’d given me advice that had forever changed my life.

  You don’t need more than what exists in the wild. You just need the strength of your will to make it so.

  “I need to tell you what happened to me when my brother died,” he started.

  I listened in rapture and with a sinking heart as he opened up about the horror he’d faced. It had wounded him deeply—I’d already known that, but I hadn’t quite understood the extent of it. Callie had explained what a dual-mage connection was, and the risks if your partner were to die, but she hadn’t explained it like this.

  Hearing that the man I loved had gone through such torture tore me apart. Brought tears to my eyes. All that pain. All that misery. And on top of it, he still blamed himself for not being there. He still blamed himself for not being able to warn his brother, and not going with him, and not fighting beside him.

  I sat quietly, not moving, as tears rolled down my cheeks. Pain clouded his gaze as he finished his story, willing me to understand what he’d told me.

  “We don’t need to form that connection,” I said into the following silence. “I don’t need it. I’m happy just as
we are.”

  He shook his head, his gaze connected to mine, his body too far away. “You’re only saying that because you think I’m afraid to feel that pain again.”

  I clasped my hands, because he was right, and clearly I was not picking up what he was putting down.

  “I won’t let you die, Penny Bristol. That might mean I will go before you. And I cannot…” He paused, shook himself slightly, and started again. “I do not want to put you through what I went through.”

  “I’ll be in pain regardless. But like I said, we don’t have to do this. We already work perfectly together. That’s plenty for me. As long as you don’t take off again, I’m good.” I wiped a hot tear off my cheek.

  He sat very still. “I’m worried. You are the genius that creates mischief as you discover your magic. I am the experienced mage that sorts everything out. But this time…” His chest inflated with his deep inhale. “I don’t know what’s happening inside of you. I can’t help you. In trying to do what I think is best for you, I could be hurting you more than we know.”

  I leaned my forearms onto the rickety card table before remembering it was a bad idea. It groaned as I leaned back again, threatening to collapse. “So…I’m confused. What now?”

  “A dual-mage pair…shares magic, in a way. No, that’s not right…” He furrowed his brow as he scratched his nose. “It’s like…it boosts both of the mages’ magic and, in so doing, merges them and their magic in a way. Kind of creates a level plane on which they can both work.”

  “Okay…” I didn’t get it.

  “And through that connection, I’ll be able to look under the hood, so to speak. I’ll be able to see what that goblin magic is really doing to you, and hopefully help sort it out. Because it’ll affect me in the same way.”

  “Right.” I went to lean forward again before stopping myself. “So where does this leave us?”

  He took a deep breath, and for reasons I couldn’t explain, I got a surge of butterflies in my belly. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a little blue velvet box before setting it on the table.