by K. F. Breene
“I’m going to just…use a casing…so as to…see if magic has been used here.” Reagan dug into her fanny pack, coming out with an empty casing she then squeezed together. Her eyes flicked to Patrick before she ripped out her sword and applied the casing to it. I had no doubt her muttered “magical spell” was nothing more than a bunch of curse words. “Spell camouflage, I’d bet. The magic was strong, but not strong enough for the residual magic to last more than a day. I’d bet this happened last night.”
“Residual magic?” I asked Emery quietly. “That’s a thing?”
Emery turned away and started walking again. When I caught up, the two of us were a little removed from the others. “Yes,” he said, “though not something I can usually make use of. The visible threads are usually gone in a couple hours. Could you feel anything?”
“A sort of echo of the spell’s intent.”
“Good.” The word was barely more than a whisper, as though he was talking to himself. “That’s another hole in our combined arsenal plugged up.”
Fast footsteps approached, and I knew the others were catching up. We walked around two more tripwires, clearly meant for whoever was using the path along the ward, before stopping at another mini-clearing. This one had older signs of disturbance, the area having nearly righted itself again.
Emery glanced at me, and I shook my head. I didn’t feel any magic whatsoever.
“Devon,” Roger barked, and the younger guy stepped up quickly, his hand still on Patrick’s shoulder. He had been told nothing, but he still knew something was amiss, and that it probably had to do with Patrick. Smart guy. “Was this reported?”
“Yes, Alpha, three days ago. Beta checked it out personally but couldn’t find any scents or tracks leading away. He assumed it was the magical workers.”
“Patrick?” Roger said, not looking at them.
“Oh. Um…yes, sir? Alpha?” Patrick shifted and pushed up his glasses.
“You’re wasting your time with him.” Reagan shook her head and wandered through the clearing, a hand held low, feeling for magic without letting on what she was doing.
“Have your people been working on this area in the last couple of days?” Roger asked, rejecting Reagan’s assessment of his hired help.
“Oh. Hmm.” Patrick turned and looked in the direction of the ward before shifting his gaze low and tracing his finger through the air. He was using the plant life to find the bright, shifting magical patch over the ward, something that screamed turnstile, letting people in and out, undetected, like a doorway.
“Text your mother,” Emery said, wrapping his fingers around my forearm. “She needs to get her task done and get out. Get them all out. Sooner the better.”
“If they were going to attack, wouldn’t they wait until nightfall so they could use their vampires?” I whispered, pulling out my phone with a shaking hand.
“I don’t know. But I’d rather not leave it to chance.” He started forward again. “Watch that ward. See how many more patches you can find.”
The perimeter of the mansion was large, certainly over a mile, maybe more than two. We didn’t walk the whole thing, but then, we didn’t need to. Every so often, another patch stood out, weakening the overall ward, allowing in anyone who held the right key.
“And what is the right key?” Emery said softly to himself, stopped at one of the areas and analyzing it.
Reagan joined us, her hands out now and feeling. Clearly she thought Patrick was too dumb to notice her lack of a fake spell.
“Is the house you’re staying in locked down?” Roger asked me, watching the others. Devon stood with Patrick, a little removed. Patrick didn’t seem overly interested in what was going on. There was a reason his peers had brought him on.
“The grounds aren’t. Those are wide open with little tattletale spells intermittently set up. We want to see who’s wandering around. The house is protected, though. We have a good ward set up. Unless you’re on the preapproved list, you’re not getting in there.”
“Is anyone wandering around?”
“Only a couple of vampires, and they’re giving the house plenty of space. Darius doesn’t seem comfortable with the situation, but he hasn’t moved us, so…”
“Picking on the one who doesn’t know to keep secrets, huh?” Reagan rejoined us with a smirk.
“Was that supposed to be a secret?” Because what a stupid secret, if so.
“Do you need to look around some more?” Roger asked, silencing his phone. The thing rang constantly. He was a busy man.
“No. We’ve got…basically what we need,” Reagan said. “We can head to the house now.”
“Wait.” Roger tapped the screen of his phone before putting it to his ear. He waited a beat before saying, “Send out Todd. We’re in the west nine.” He waited another beat before lowering the phone again. “The head mage is on his way.”
I was about to ask why they’d sent Patrick to tag along with us rather than the head mage, but it was probably the same reason the kid had been brought on in the first place. Lack of attention to detail. You couldn’t tattle on what you didn’t notice.
A couple minutes later, the sounds of crunching grass and moving foliage interrupted a mostly uncomfortable silence. A bald, stocky man sauntered along the path, his gaze down and scanning. He was identifying the various plant-life markers of the spells, something I would expect of a head mage. A satchel draped across his body, open at his side, and his pushed-back shoulders and haughty movements screamed, I’m the best mage in the world.
Emery braced himself before going utterly loose, his usual stance right before Reagan ran at him. He swaggered toward me and wrapped an arm around me possessively. Reagan stepped toward the mage with her hand out to shake respectfully.
Both of those actions set off my alarm bells. Roger must’ve thought so, too, because another blast of shifter magic slammed into us, and his scrutinizing gaze landed on the head mage.
“Hi, I’m Reagan.” Reagan pumped his hand.
“Todd, Roger’s head mage.”
“That right? Awesome. We were just admiring the ward. Did you put it up?”
Everything in me wanted to grab Emery’s arm and drag him out of there. I didn’t sense danger in any way, but Reagan’s actions were so out of the ordinary that there could be nothing short of a world crisis on the horizon.
Puffed up from the compliment, Todd nodded and crossed through the group, glancing at a distinct bush at the side before stopping. “I orchestrated it, yes,” he said, three feet from the actual ward. “I mixed a score of spells, then combined power with lesser mages in order to erect this particular ward.” He looked at dead air, pretending to study his handiwork. He clearly didn’t know who we were. “It’s my best work.”
“Oh yeah?” Reagan nodded, but didn’t correct him on the location of the ward. I knew she wasn’t too far away to feel it, which meant she was giving a subtle cue to Roger. She had faith that Roger had a good memory and sense of direction.
“How long have you worked here?” Emery asked.
Todd gave a “subtle” grin to Roger. “I’m afraid that’s classified. But I’ve worked for Roger”—he looked up at the sky—“fifteen years, is that right?”
“You were hired before I assumed the role of Alpha,” Roger said with his normal straight face.
“Right, yes.” Todd laughed. “Of course.” His chest puffed up a little more, if that was even possible. He thought he was more important than a guy who wouldn’t blink twice about ripping his throat out if he proved to be the danger Reagan and Emery clearly thought he was.
“This is why the mage life is not for me,” I mumbled. “All ego, no brains.”
Emery huffed out laughter, turning away as he did so. Clearly he didn’t realize I was as serious as a heart attack.
“Right.” Reagan glanced around before giving Roger a pointed look, no flippancy or fire in her eyes. “Let’s head back to the extremely nice house in the woods, shall we? Because
despite the plain jeans and cheap T-shirt—which really works for you, Roger, don’t get me wrong—you seem to love nice things. A little like the vampires in that way, I think…”
Another blast of shifter magic slammed into me, this one more potent.
“Tell her not to provoke him,” Emery said through clenched teeth. “I’m not doing well at adjusting.”
“Emery is cracking up, got it,” Reagan said, back to her jubilant self.
That meant she thought a battle was coming.
“Todd,” Emery said, distaste running across his face as he offered a slight bow. Roger pretending to be subordinate to Devon probably would’ve looked just as unnatural and painful. “You did great work here. I’d love to someday work on a team this powerful.”
Todd curled his lip. “Experience will do wonders. I handpicked this team. For a job this big, you need the best.”
“Yes.” Emery motioned Todd ahead of him on the path. “And do you do much upkeep? The seams of a spell like this can fray, can’t they?”
“Yes…” Todd glanced back with a mildly impressed expression. Then did a double take before continuing to walk. “Yes, that’s right. We do have some. We also check it constantly to make sure everything looks right. I was hired to do a job, and as Roger can tell you, I take my responsibilities seriously.”
“Yes. Patrick is proof of that,” Reagan said from behind me.
I just barely saw Todd’s reaction—a half-turn and an annoyed expression—before he got it together.
Emery slowed a bit and pulled me a little to the side, motioning Reagan forward.
“Come on, Devon, up here with me.” Reagan motioned to Devon, who was still shadowing Patrick. “You’re too hot for a shifter. Ever think of becoming a vampire?”
A different blast of shifter magic surged forward, not quite as potent as Roger’s, but not far off. It seemed there was a reason Roger was keeping the younger guy close. He clearly had potential. Except, just now, it wasn’t good news. Emery and Roger tensed up at the same time, fire lighting in their eyes.
Emery ripped his gaze to the ground, jaw clenched again and fists balled. Roger, who was allowed to challenge any of his shifters, swung a fierce gaze Devon’s way.
The younger guy caught the reaction and lowered his eyes, but his posture stayed poised and ready.
“Don’t provoke him,” Emery told Reagan.
“Oops. My bad.” Reagan patted the younger shifter as he all but dragged Patrick forward. She followed behind, and I noticed the button clasp had been undone on the dagger sheath on her thigh, and the hilts of her three throwing knives stuck up out of her sock.
She was absolutely ready for battle.
“When did Todd get to work on the ward?” Emery asked as he fell back with Roger.
“He has overseen the security of this house for years,” Roger replied in a low tone, his expression flat. Something about the tightness in his eyes told me he was uncomfortable but doing a good job of hiding it. “I called him from Ireland as soon as I knew we’d be engaging the Guild. He started working on the ward then.”
Emery shook his head, and I shook mine with him. He said what I was thinking. “This ward didn’t just go up. It’s old, with new patches. Some of those patches are very new. As in, the ward was broken through, and patched up, last night.”
Roger stiffened and magic seeped from him, winding through my body and crawling up my back.
“In addition…” Emery scratched his cheek. “I’m not sure how much you know about me, but I get premonitions whenever Penny and I are in mortal danger. Moments before the kill strike occurs, I’ll see it coming. It’s saved our lives more times than I can count. In a few instances, I have also gotten blanket warnings. I don’t totally know what they mean, but that mage”—Emery pointed up toward the others, who were now a good distance in front of us—“sets me off. He reeks of the feeling I get with those warning premonitions. This whole area”—he made a circle in the air with his pointer finger—“sets me off the wrong way. You’ve got a breach. After seeing the ward, that’s as clear as day. But, at this point, I don’t think it’s a matter of finding and fixing the loose ends. I think you need to get your people out of here. If you stay and fight, you’ll lose a lot of shifters before you even get to the Guild compound.”
“They tried to thin your numbers at that shifter bar yesterday,” I said. “If they know you’re here, it’s a no-brainer for them to run in with a bunch of magical spells, set them off, and get out. With your own magical guys against you, you’d be cooked before you knew what hit you.”
Roger shook his head slowly, staring straight ahead. “My people are in and out of this place constantly. Nearly a hundred people are stationed here. Too many for me to uproot them on a hunch.”
“I hear you loud and clear,” Emery said. “And that’s all I got. A hunch. But hunches like this have kept me alive for the last few years. They’ve helped me get out from under the Guild.”
The people in front of us turned toward the house.
“I’ll take it under advisement,” Roger said. “I need to talk to a few of my—”
A shotgun blast rang through the air. My mother was in danger.
I was running before I had time to form a swear word.
25
Another shotgun blast went off, followed by a deep rumbling. I crashed into the brush to get around the others, who had braced themselves but not put on the jets, when I felt the intent of a spell.
Slash.
I yanked at elements and wove them together as Todd turned. His hands up near his chest, full of leaves and herbs, he spouted off some Latin and shoved both arms forward. The spell, having already taken shape, just needed that push to be off. After it cut through Devon, it would be on to Reagan in a flash.
My own weave done, I threw it out as Reagan grabbed Devon and tossed him to the side. The spell just barely missed him and was speeding right for her face. She bent backward like someone in an action flick, her fingers spread wide to attack the spell.
Todd’s spell unraveled as mine reached him, meant to blast him in the face and knock him unconscious so Roger could question him. I hadn’t accounted for the dual-mage bond and the extra magic I’d accepted from the goblin.
My spell smashed into Todd, tearing off a layer of his skin before bursting. His head blew back…without his body attached.
“Finger-flinging leotards.” My stomach churned and I burped fire. “I hope he was guilty.”
“He tried to kill me. He was definitely fecking guilty.” Reagan snatched her ringing phone out of its fanny pack and jammed it to her ear as we ran forward again. Shifter magic blasted out behind us, different than the challenging feeling we’d been hit with since we got here.
A glance behind confirmed that the shifters were changing. Roger into a burly gray wolf, larger even than his human body, Devon into a lean and lithe black wolf, just as tall at the shoulder as he was standing, and the third shifter, whom we’d largely forgotten about since he was behind everyone, became a decent-sized gray wolf. Patrick started before taking off through the trees. The smaller of the wolves chased him.
“There goes our hopes of a misunderstanding,” I muttered as Emery grabbed my arm and pulled me closer.
“I’m a little busy—” Reagan cut off, running as fast as us even though she had a phone pressed to her ear.
“We need to get to the others and stay together,” Emery said, confidence ringing in his tone.
“Stay in that house,” Reagan yelled through the phone. “The ward will hold. Keep everyone in there until nightfall. I’ll be in touch.”
“What is it?” Emery asked. Roger caught up easily in animal form, falling in next to Reagan.
“Darius’s house is under attack. Mages and mercenaries have it surrounded.” She jammed her phone back into her fanny pack. “They’re trying to break through the ward.”
“They won’t,” Emery said confidently. “Not even if they bring in a couple of
naturals and all their friends. That ward is too complex to tackle in an afternoon.”
“What about the ward at Vlad’s hideout?” I asked.
“I guess we’ll find out.”
Roger gave a small yip as he and the other wolves dashed by us, their lopes beautiful and graceful and way faster than I could run.
“Go get ’em, Lassie,” Reagan called.
We rounded a bend and the house loomed ahead of us, the front door and surrounding wood blown out of it. Windows had been blown out, too, and glass glittered from the front lawn. Animals ran around or stood growling in furry chaos.
Magical intent bloomed over the house, heady and strong.
Explode.
“Get clear,” I yelled as I ran, trying for a burst of speed. “Oh God, Mother, please don’t be in that house. Get everyone clear!”
“Penny, here.” Emery ripped me sideways. Reagan had already turned.
My mother stood at the Lexus, the back opened up, feeding a magazine into some sort of machine-gun-looking weapon.
“Holy crap,” Reagan said, running straight at her. “Ms. Bristol does not fuck around.”
If there was one thing I knew about my mother when someone was attacking us, it was that no, she did not fuck around.
Callie and Dizzy stood in front of her, ingredients ready and in hand but mouths closed. They weren’t doing spells yet. They saw us coming and relief crossed their faces.
“You’re okay,” Callie said on an exhale. “What took you so long?”
My mother glanced up, relief on her face as well. A moment later, determination crawled right back onto it. “Good, Penny, we need to get moving. We have to get out of here, bust Darius out of the house, pick up some sort of present, and then meet a different, incredibly attractive vampire so we can attack the Mages’ Guild. We have a lot to do and a short window in which to get it all done.”
“What—” I was about to ask what had happened when her words sank in. “What?”
“I told you a change of scenery would be the best thing to shake loose more foretellings,” Dizzy said. “Now maybe you’ll listen to me more often.”