by K. F. Breene
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—”
“Fine,” Emery said, surprisingly, turning away. He glanced at the sky. “Is it possible to hurry your mother up, Penny? Time is ticking.”
“No.” I waved my finger at Cahal. “Nope.”
“He got me out of the action, and I was glad for it,” Veronica said, her gaze now shooting past me. “There are…wild animals. Oh my God”—she gasped—“don’t tell me shifters are real! Are those shifters? Because there are vampires, and now shadow men, and…those are shifters, aren’t they? Wow, they sure are built. I am on Team Shifter all the way.”
“Not helping,” I muttered out of the side of my mouth.
“Oops. Sorry. I’m just fan-girling a little.” Veronica put her red pen into her pants pocket.
“You’d change your tune if you took a tumble in the sheets with a vampire,” Reagan said with a grin.
“Would you guys focus?” I demanded, a cold sweat covering my forehead. I was still unsure about the druid and the person who sent him. Surely someone of his stature had to be expensive. Who would have that kind of money?
“Could Darius have hired him, you think?” I asked.
“He would’ve said something,” Reagan replied. “Even if he had kept the secret until today, once the house was surrounded, he would’ve instructed me on how to connect with the druid. No, it can’t be him.”
“Vlad?”
Reagan just shook her head. “Vlad would present him to you with a flourish. It’s not like him to keep a gift of this magnitude under wraps. Not when you’d basically have to accept it because of the circumstances.”
“Then who?”
“Whoever it was, Cahal seems extremely capable,” Veronica said, stepping back to pat him on the arm. “He’ll definitely help out. You should keep him.”
My mother backed away from the tailgate, her hands on her hips. “Well, that’s the shits.”
My mother swearing tore my mind away from the situation. I couldn’t help a little righteous indignation. All this hubbub about me swearing, and she goes off?
“What are your thoughts?” Alder asked, standing beside her.
Roger didn’t take his eyes off Cahal to look.
“You’ll need to leave me here. This is where my usefulness ends. After we secure Darius, I’ll need to communicate with you through text.” She blew out a breath. “I would’ve much preferred getting magic like Penny’s so I could be part of the action.”
“Did you get anything about the current situation?” Emery asked, stalking up the road a little on his own.
“Very little.” My mother pulled over her crystal ball. “Charge them, basically. I got the idea that this group of mages is made up of cowards. Same as the group that tried to take on Roger. They won’t stick around. The real meat of the magic
al world is waiting for you back at the Mages’ Guild.”
“And do you have anything that will be of use to us there?” Emery asked, clearly having taken charge. No one questioned it.
Alder held up a jagged piece of cardboard. “I catalogued the things she was saying, since she didn’t have her tape recorder. It’s not enough for a well-orchestrated plan, but…” He switched his weight to center mass, and it seemed like he wasn’t thrilled with the next bit. “She says to let chaos be our guide.”
Reagan raised her hand, then pointed at me. “We got chaos all day long.”
I rolled my eyes. We’d spent a half-hour or so at the bottom of the road, not long enough to make it safe for Darius and the other vampires to leave the house. “The sun doesn’t seem to be complying with our window of opportunity.”
“No. It doesn’t,” my mother said. “But that’s the time frame we have. You need Darius. He is an important piece. I don’t know anything about his entourage, but you definitely need him. Which is common sense. You didn’t need me to tell you that.”
“All right.” Emery clapped once. “Let’s get rolling. Roger, those of you who are in human form can probably sit this one out. We have plenty of power at our disposal, not to mention several booby traps that Penny and I can activate. Save the majority of your power for the next leg.”
Callie and Dizzy hurried up the road toward Emery, clearly not wanting to be left out like my mother.
“Guard her until we can get her inside,” I told Cahal, pointing at Veronica.
“You took the note. My contract has been initiated. I am only to guard you,” he replied.
I gave him a flat stare. “I don’t need you up there. But Veronica needs you down here.”
He stared at me without comment.
“Hello?” Getting frustrated, I very nearly magically slapped him. “You essentially work for me, and I say you need to stay down here.”
Blank stare.
While his eyes were certainly beautiful, I wasn’t in the mood to sit and stare at them all day. “We’re not going to get along, you and I.”
“Penny,” Reagan said, stalking toward Emery. “You’re wasting your time with him. Contract killers—or defenders, in this case—do their job, and that’s it.”
I ground my teeth, wishing for a way around this.
“We’ll watch her,” Roger said. “My people have scouted out the area down here. We’re safe at the moment, and should their people invade the area, we’ll handle it.” Roger shifted his gaze from Cahal for long enough to meet my eyes, his look full of assurance and confidence. She’d be fine.
I nodded. It would have to do. I was out of time.
“You are…very skilled, I can tell,” Veronica said in a wispy voice. Her gaze started to dip.
I elbowed her. “Get a hold of yourself,” I said through my teeth. She started and her face flared red again. “Stay safe. Let them protect you.”
That handled (there was nothing I could do about Veronica’s wandering eyes), I jogged up to join the others. Cahal kept pace effortlessly beside me.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Emery said as I neared him. “Penny and I will take the left side of the house from the driveway. The Bankses will take the right. We’ll hit them with some intense spells. Create fear. Shifters…” He stopped and waited for the animals to gather. Roger and a couple of the others walked up behind them, probably to make sure the plan was sound. “You cut through these woods here…” Emery pointed. “Go around to the back and come at them that way. We honestly have no idea if anyone warned this crew we’d be coming. Based on the fact that no one is watching this road—”
“I’ve taken out all the sentries,” Cahal said, staring straight ahead.
Emery paused with his mouth open, possibly waiting for an explanation of some kind. When he didn’t get it, he said, “Are you sure you got everyone?”
“Yes,” Cahal answered. “I didn’t want anything to impede my transaction with Penelope Bristol.”
He kept saying “Penelope.” It probably just reflected his devotion to the contract he’d signed. But I wondered…aside from my mother, who certainly would’ve told me had she hired an extremely scary magical creature to protect me, only vampires called me Penelope. From what I’ve heard, it was never just a gift when it came from a vampire.
Fear wormed through my stomach as Emery continued discussing his plan of attack with the shifters.
Vampires were crafty. They hedged their bets. And they didn’t play fair. Anyone at all could have sent Cahal, including someone from the other side.
“How do I know you were actually sent to protect me?” I asked him, stepping closer.
He turned a little, letting his gaze fall to me. “Because I told you so.”
“I don’t know you from Peter. How can I be sure you’re not lying?”
“I am a druid.”
I put out my hands. “That means nothing to me. I don’t know anything about you.”
“They can’t lie,” Reagan said, clearly eavesdropping.
“They can’t, or they aren’t supposed to?”
“Can’t,” she answered. “They take a blood oath when they’re young.”
“What if he didn’t take the oath?”
Reagan scratched her nose. “Don’t know.”
“Then I would’ve died many lifetimes ago,” he said. He didn’t elaborate on that point. Before I could push for more, Emery glanced at me expectantly. I lifted my eyebrows, silently asking what he needed.
“Ready?” he asked.
I stared at Cahal for another moment, feeling a tight ball of anxiety sitting in the pit of my stomach.
“You cannot keep me from protecting you,” he said in a low hum that spread a feeling of trust through my body. “Your safety is my duty.”
“Stop emotionally manipulating me,” I ground out, feeling the pressure of everyone waiting on me to get going.
A small smile curved his lips. “I cannot make a person feel. I can simply be who I am with conviction, and let them decide for themselves. Listen to your magic, Penelope Bristol. It will not lead you astray.”
Frustration gnawed at me, but what could I do? Time was running out, and everything pointed to him being legit.
Then again, if he was legit, why was the person who’d sent him trying to keep it a mystery?
“Fine,” I said through clenched teeth. “Let’s go.”
I turned and started walking, joined immediately by Emery.
“I don’t like all the unknowns in this endeavor,” I said, still feeling frustrated.
“No one does. The odds are stacked against us.” He took my hand. “But it isn’t the first time. If there is any certainty here, it is that we perform incredibly well under pressure.”
The shifters took off, cutting through the woods so they could do their jobs and come around from behind. Cahal drifted up nearly to my side, staying a little apart and behind us.
We approached a curve in the road. Once we got around it, we’d be able to see the house. Expectation filled me, and we drifted toward the trees. A little farther and Emery let go of my hand and motioned for me to stay back.
“Let me check it out.” He took cover behind a large tree at the last bend in the road before slowly looking around it. A moment later, he was back and everyone leaned in to hear what he’d seen. “They’ve got ten mages sitting out front, facing our way. Bored, by the look of them. I doubt they’ve seen any activity for as long as they’ve been here.” He glanced at Cahal for any input, and got no response. “There are also groups gathered near the house. Most of them are working on the ward, and the rest are a bit removed, idle until needed. They’re all in a stupor. If we go in hard and fast, we’ll have the upper hand.”
“What are the odds the mages at the Guild will be in the same stupor after waiting all this time?” Callie asked, digging through her satchel.
“Slim to none, I’d imagine. We caught them off guard last time. They w
on’t let it happen again. These are likely the derelicts sent to thin us out, if possible. What happened at Roger’s house showed us that.”
“But it thins them out, too,” I whispered. “It lessens their horde.”
“Absolutely.” Emery ran his hand down my arm, leaving a trail of lightning in its wake. “Ready, Turdswallop?”
“Yep. But you lead. I don’t want to accidentally blow up another of Darius’s houses.”
He laughed and then took a moment to collect himself. Another moment passed before I realized that wasn’t what he was doing at all. He was waiting for the older dual-mage pair to get all their ducks in a row. As soon as their hands were filled, Emery nodded.
“Give ’em hell.”
29
Emery peeled out from around the tree and started at a fast run. I was with him a moment later, ready to help him take the brunt of the attack from the lookouts so Callie and Dizzy would have an easier in. Sprinting at the house, I immediately loosed a spell at the slouching mages out front. Emery followed it up with another.
Magic slammed into their bodies, catching them completely by surprise. Ingredients fell from their hands and littered the ground as they clutched their chests or immediately sank to the ground. Magic boiled through the air and the wind kicked up, pushing at me from behind. A spell from the dual-mages whirled past me, building strength as it went. It neared the house before it formed a full tornado, its funnel starting high and dropping down until it churned the dirt.
“Very cool,” I said as it moved off to the right, toward more surprised mages. Some reached for their satchels, and others looked up in fright and started back-pedaling.
“Harder,” Emery said. His next spell slithered across the ground before starting to roll, shooting out sparks and magical spikes. He was still trying to make fire.
“Nope.” I stole from Reagan, who was running beside us with her sword out. Heat and ice wrapped around me, complex and beautiful. I mixed it with Emery’s and my energy, with our magic, and then added in a dash of the goblin’s donated magic and some silky darkness I realized was from the druid loping behind us.