by K. F. Breene
Natural Mage
Magical Mayhem, book 2
K.F. Breene
DDVN World
Copyright © 2018 by K.F. Breene
All rights reserved. The people, places and situations contained in this ebook are figments of the author’s insane imagination and in no way reflect real or true events.
Acknowledgments
Thank you so much to all of my readers who continually show up even when I come up with something totally weird and different (looking at you Secret of McKinley Mansion readers!). Thanks to my reader group on Facebook who constantly crack me up and help me decide what to write, and when. I do so love opinionated people, especially when they make my life easier!
A special thanks to Keri Frey, who somehow handles my crazy, and who reminds me that my timely freak-outs are like clockwork and par for the course.
A huge thanks to YOU - yes, you, I’m looking right at you, which is only marginally creepy - for sticking with this DDVN world and trusting me to zig and zag through all the little Easter eggs I’m planting to pick up at a later date, and possibly with someone completely new. You make my job possible, and you make my heart squishy by sticking by me. Thank you!
Lastly, thank you to Angela Polidoro, my editor, who fixes my messes (like the above), and makes my stories actually readable :D
I hope you enjoy!
Natural Mage
After narrowly surviving my debut into the magical world, I made a promise to myself: no more hiding in broom closets.
But with the Mages' Guild reorganizing faster than anyone thought possible, and naming me as their number one target, that promise seems a little far-fetched. Especially since my training with Callie and Dizzy, the highly experienced dual-mage pair, goes off like a cake in a cannon.
Left to find someone that can fill the role, it isn't until a formal dinner party goes horribly wrong that I find the best (and worst) solution imaginable: Reagan Somerset, the leather clad crazy woman who busted into my broom closet sanctuary in the first place.
Through an off-kilter teaching style and many punches in the face, I learn my true potential.
But with her happier busting heads and kicking in doors than staying put with a pupil in hiding, it isn't long before the world comes crashing down. The Guild has found me, and they intend to take me alive.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Read Born in Fire
Try: Chosen
Try: Into the Darkness
Also by K.F. Breene
About the Author
1
“Penny, hurry up and come down. Half of them are already here.”
I froze in front of the full-length mirror on my walk-in closet door, listening to see if my new landlord, Callie Banks, would yell up any more instructions.
“Penny?”
Not instructions, then…a warning posed as a question.
“Be right down,” I called, because otherwise she’d come up, grab me by the hair, and drag me.
I’d exchanged an overbearing mother for an overbearing trainer. My decision-making skills still needed improvement.
Taking a deep breath, I smoothed the faux-silk lilac dress down my stomach and breathed in deeply, trying to ignore the nervous tremors.
Tonight Callie and her husband Dizzy were formally introducing me to their large and influential magical circle. I was a real mage now, with a couple months of training under my belt and power enough to rival the best of the best. Or so they told me.
Truth was, power alone wasn’t enough, something I’d learned firsthand from working closely with Emery, the natural mage who’d gone rogue from the magical community. He was the best of the best…no, together we were the best of the best. With his power, experience, and know-how, and my…well, power and temperamental intuition, we’d pulled off the impossible—an attack on the Mages’ Guild’s stronghold in Seattle. Without him, I felt like a novice with a lot to learn.
My heart ached whenever I thought of the handsome natural mage who had woken me up in so many ways. We’d spent hardly any time together, but it felt like we’d known each other for a lifetime, and with him gone, a piece of me was gone with him. My mother thought I was foolish, and the Bankses thought I was naive, but it didn’t matter. The sound of his name, the memory of being ensnared in his magic and his arms, still affected me.
I’d let him walk away in Seattle, and at the time, everything in my person had thought he’d come right back. That he wouldn’t be gone a week. Couldn’t be, not after what we’d shared.
That was six months ago.
I needed to stop thinking about him. At this point, I looked every bit the fool my mother thought I was. But that didn’t change the fact that he was a benchmark for what I could be—what I should be, as a natural—and that I had a lot to learn…with no time in which to learn it.
The Mages’ Guild had rebounded from the break-in faster than anybody could’ve guessed. They’d changed their wards, repaired their buildings, and expanded their influence within Seattle and surrounding areas. They were creating a solid foundation with which to go after the naturals who’d escaped them.
Emery and me.
I had no doubt they’d move in as soon as they locked down their targets.
It was only a matter of time. Which meant I needed as many friends as I could get.
So tonight I’d slapped on a dress, curled my hair, and dabbed on some makeup, all in a play to make nice with the New Orleans magical community. I needed them to accept me. To stand by my side when the Guild came for me.
They’ll never be enough.
I gritted my teeth against my inner dialogue, trying to pretend I didn’t feel the truth in that statement. Because they would have to be enough. They were all I had.
“Penny?” Callie called up, and this time it wasn’t a warning. It was a threat.
“Yup. Coming!”
I wondered how long it would take me to out myself as a socially awkward and seriously weird person…
My phone clattered against my desk on the other side of the room. I gritted my teeth, knowing exactly who it was. A quick jaunt over showed I’d been right.
My mother.
She’d stayed behind to both give me my space (proof that miracles did happen) and to monitor the mood and t
one of Seattle, all from the safety of a couple towns away. No one would admit it, but I suspected Darius, the vampire with his influence all over my life at the moment, wanted her out of the way so I could get training without a peanut gallery.
I had no complaints.
Her text read, “Don’t be fooled, the proof is in the pudding.”
I stared at it for a second. What the heck did that mean?
Not like I’d text back and ask. She’d turn it into a half-hour conversation about all the things I wasn’t doing that I should be, like flossing. And studying harder.
“Hey.” My bestie, Veronica, peeked her head into the room. She’d decided to make the move to New Orleans with me. Originally, she’d intended to get her own place, but Callie had taken control of the situation. She’d offered Veronica to stay at the house with us for cheap. She even got a break on rent when she straightened up Dizzy’s constant messes, which, being an organizational freak, Veronica was all too happy to do (much to Dizzy’s dismay).
At least I had one ally, even if a non-magical one.
“Wow, you look great,” I said. She was dressed in a form-fitting black dress that accentuated her curves and gave the viewer an eyeful of her bust. Would I fit into a dress like that? Maybe she’d be willing to trade.
“You better get going,” she said, looking me up and down. Her brow furrowed. “Why’d you pick such a hideous dress?”
Maybe not…
“What?” I plucked at the fabric, putting the phone back. “What’s wrong with it?”
She tilted her head. “It’s just… It doesn’t suit you. You look like a flat stick that would break in a slight breeze. And the color…”
I smoothed the fabric down my legs. “What’s wrong with pastel purple?”
“It just…makes you look sickly. Like you have a brain tumor.”
“That’s specific.” This was a classic example of her inability to gently break bad news. “Also…a flat stick?”
“Flat-chested. You know what I mean.”
“And you’re an editor?”
“Give me a break. I fix this stuff, not make it up from scratch.”
“Penny Bristol, if I have to come up there—”
Veronica’s eyes widened. “Dude, you gotta go!” She hurried forward and grabbed my arm, leading me from the room. “She’s super stressed. She spent the morning yelling at Dizzy and the caterers. All the hiccups you’ve been having in training have put her on edge.”
“I wouldn’t say all the hiccups…” A heavy weight settled over my shoulders and my stomach flipped in anxiety.
I’d stayed in Seattle for a while after Emery had left, helping my mother get set up and waiting for Callie and Dizzy to be ready for me. A couple of months later, I finally made the trek, only to be knocked completely out of my comfort zone.
The dual-mages didn’t work with me the way Emery had. He and I had hung out in my magical bubble, a place of balance that made working magic easier, collectively weaving the spells from the materials we felt in our surroundings. My studies with Callie and Dizzy were so much more clinical. Standing at a distance, they would give me the recipe for the spell, I’d memorize it, and then I’d perform it like a trained monkey.
At first the change in technique had badly jammed me up, making me useless for a couple days straight. Finally I’d stopped for a moment, closing my eyes and tuning in to nature. Callie had thought I was cracked, but it was a compromise that seemed to work. After I got the hang of it, I could replicate the spells just fine, fast and effortlessly.
The problem happened when they threw something unexpected at me and wanted me to randomly choose a spell I’d learned and fire it back. Half the time, my mind shorted out and went blank. I stood there like an idiot, grasping at air. Eventually I could come up with something, but my reaction time was slow.
They said it would take practice, but I felt like I’d accidentally stomped on the brakes and couldn’t figure out how to shift my foot to the gas. I should’ve been further along by now, especially with the Mages’ Guild out for vengeance.
Something was missing…or maybe someone.
“Come on, hurry,” Veronica said, giving me a little tug, shaking me out of my nervous reverie. “You do not want to get on her bad list right now.”
“I’m on her bad list at least three times a day.”
“Trust me, that’s a different bad list. Dizzy usually yells back at her when she’s being a bully, but not this time. He went and hid in his shed.”
Yikes. That was bad.
“Ah. There you are.” Callie stood at the bottom of the stairs with her hand on the banister. Her long black dress had a frilly neckline that plunged down her chest. A sparkly red something or other under it kept the situation from being a peep show. “The guests are anxious to meet you.”
Butterflies swarmed my belly. If I’d learned anything during this short trip into the magical world, it was that I was the least mage-like person possible.
“What do you have on…” Callie’s voice trailed away as she dropped her hand. She sighed and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. You’re pretty despite that dress. Next time, though, pick something a little less…”
“Dreadful,” Veronica said. Callie nodded.
“It wasn’t as awful as the one on the rack next to it,” I muttered, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
Veronica slapped my hand away. “Don’t ruin your hair.”
“Then next time, pick a better store.” Callie motioned me down. “Hurry up. John is here. I’m going to parade you around to everyone else before introducing you to him. I want to see if he cuts the line.” A wry grin twisted her lips.
“John is…?” I asked, climbing down the stairs reluctantly, hearing the murmuring from the next room. Veronica trailed after me.
“A high-powered mage,” she said. “He may be more powerful than I was before I formed a dual-mage partnership with Dizzy. He’d be a good match for you, Penny. He’d complement you nicely.” When I got on her level, she shrugged. “Worst case, he’d be a good rebound. Maybe you’d stop sulking about that Rogue Natural leaving. His loss. You need to move on.”
I blew out a breath to calm the sudden churning of my stomach. I did need to move on, but…
“Oh, there you are.” Dizzy hurried toward us as I reached the landing. My mouth dropped open in shock at the sight of a crisp suit without one stain or burn mark on it. “The guests are wondering where the star of the show is.” His kind smile loosened my shoulders a little, but didn’t do a thing to calm down the butterflies. “You look beautiful. The belle of the ball. Just don’t let on that you’re hiding tiger claws behind your pretty face.”
“Because I’ll seem less ladylike?” I asked in confusion.
“Goodness, no.” Dizzy laughed and squeezed between Callie and me before bending an arm around my back and leading me forward. “What an absurd thought. No, you shouldn’t show that side of yourself because right now you’re giving an illusion of daintiness. Many will take that for weakness. You look soft and willowy and in need of guidance. Let them think that’s your sum total. They’ll let down their guard and reveal their secrets. We don’t fear people we perceive to be weaker than ourselves, so we aren’t as worried about our vulnerabilities in their presence. See what I’m saying?”
“Yes.”
“There’s a good girl.” He patted my shoulder jovially.
“I was just telling her about John,” Callie said from behind us in a low murmur.
“Oh yes. He has a lot of power and the ladies seem to like him. He’d be one to chat with, for sure. That would be a good match.”
“He’s a little shy on power for her, but she can’t expect to find another natural,” Callie said.
“Yes, that’s true,” Dizzy said. “Here we are.”
A crowd of people stood within the large living room. Off to the side, a bartender in a black uniform mixed a drink at the mobile bar for one of the women waitin
g at the counter. Most of the furniture had been removed and little tables dotted the ample space. Larger tables topped with food, plates, and utensils lined the back wall.
A few people carrying crystal goblets sauntered in from the formal dining room around the back corner. If Callie had pulled out all the stops, which she surely had, her china would be out and crystal glittering. She wasn’t usually a show-off, but clearly these events warranted a reminder to the community of all that she and Dizzy had accomplished.
“Penny, let me introduce you to Mary Bell.” Dizzy stopped us in front of a petite woman losing the fight to gravity. Her skin hung from her hunched frame and her braless lovelies dangled just above her waistline within her loose shirt.
With a smile, she reached forward a hand. “Pleased to meet you, Penny. Welcome.”
Her grip nearly crunched my bones. “Charmed,” I wheezed out.
“Yes.” She braced her hands on the ball of her cane, her serene smile belied by the fierce glint in her eyes. “You are a lovely little creature. So late to the magical life. How will you adjust?”
“Badly, probably,” I said honestly.
Her smile grew. “Yes. Probably. But it is not what happens to us that matters the most—it is how we respond to it. Don’t let anyone put you in a place you don’t wish to be.”