Natural Dual-Mage (Magical Mayhem 3)

The ward was more like a cobbled-together spell with odd seams and strange overlays, something Dr. Frankenstein might have produced. It had a decent amount of power, but it could be exploited in so many different places that I couldn’t do much more than shake my head.

“Nope. This won’t work at all.” Reagan took her foot off the brake and let the car roll slowly through the layer of magic. “And look, we can get in just fine. No biggie.”

Emery was quiet as we parked in a gravel area with three rows of cars. Most of them were SUVs of some sort, the majority with big tires capable of off-roading.

“This is a different sort of lifestyle than the vampires,” I said to myself as I stepped out of the car.

A large gray wolf stood up near the house, its nose twitching as it watched (and smelled) us.

“Where there is one wolf, there are bound to be at least three more,” Reagan said in a low tone, her gaze sweeping the area. “Use your magic. Get an idea of how they’re operating. All of this will be useful.”

I did as she said, feeling four more wolves lurking in the trees, surrounding us. Another type of shifter, a prowling sort, was hidden to our left, moving in the opposite direction. “I can feel out pretty far now,” I said to Emery.

“I can only feel close by. It looks like I got a taste of your add-on gift, but not the full potency.” He looked at the sky as my mother and the dual-mages parked and got out of the Lexus. Frankenstein’s ward swirled and glittered, thinner up top than on the sides. That spoke of an off-kilter spell. “We need to get them out of here.”

“Who? My mother and the Bankses?”

“All of them.” He turned and looked out at the trees. “Everyone.”

The door to the mansion opened and out stepped Roger in faded blue jeans and a tight white shirt spreading across his broad chest. Despite his stacks of muscle, he moved with the grace of a predator in its prime. Shoulders back and head held high, he looked like someone who owned the world—and would fight for it tooth and nail if anyone tried to take it from him. His intense dual-colored gaze landed on us.

“Well, now, he is…robust,” my mother said. I could practically hear the drool running out of her mouth.

“Mother!” I said through my teeth.

“What? I’m just appreciating the view. I’m old, not dead.”

Oh my heavens, she was so embarrassing.

Roger stepped down from the porch and stalked toward us, his large arms swinging and his power slapping me in the face.

Emery turned around with fire in his eyes, his whole body flexing, reacting to feeling potent shifter magic for the first time. Roger saw it immediately and slowed, his muscles tightening under his snug clothing.

“Oh my,” my mother said, and I nearly died.

“Whoa, whoa.” Reagan stepped between them and put her hands out. “Hey, whoa.”

“That is just normal shifter magic,” I said to Emery. “He’s a very powerful shifter. This is normal.”

“They became a dual-mage pair last night,” Reagan said to Roger. “Emery picked up a few new tricks that he clearly wasn’t expecting.” She dropped her hands and grinned. “Look at me, stopping a fight instead of starting one. Ha! It’s like I’m growing up.”

“Better you than me,” Callie said, opening her satchel as she walked forward. “Let’s get this show on the road. If I’m going to have people staring at me, I’d rather it be people and not animals hiding in the bushes.”

“Sorry, bro.” Emery stepped around Reagan and put out his hand. “Penny’s magic is throwing me for a loop.”

“No sweat.” Roger’s grip turned his knuckles white, and Emery’s muscles started dancing too.

There was no way I was going to say what I was thinking and sound like my mother…

“Where do you want to start?” Roger asked, looking us over.

“The ward,” Callie said. “Lead us to the trouble spots.”

“I’ll take the house.” My mother stalked forward like she owned the place. “I want to get a feel for—”

Roger gracefully stepped in her way, and a shock of power burst from his frame. Emery tensed and turned away, shaking his head. Apparently he could handle the dance of Alpha…until he was blasted in the face with it. He clearly wanted to retaliate.

Unfortunately, as a longtime matriarch and all around badass, so did my mother. “Penny, get my shotgun.”

“Oh my God, Mother! This is his house. You can’t just go wandering through. Clearly.”

“They called us in to help,” Callie said, strapping on her bulldog face and joining my mother’s side. “Now we’re here, and they keep us out?”

“They didn’t call you. They called us.” I didn’t know whether to step in their path, or just run and let the shifters handle it. “You tagged along.”

“Penny—” my mother started.

“I know, I know.” I was unable to help sulking a little. “Don’t sass.”

“I’m not in the habit of letting non-pack affiliates in the house unattended,” Roger said. “You are”—his eyes didn’t flick around her person, but beat into her head like a dual-colored hammer—“the Seer, is that right? Penny Bristol’s mother?”

She met his gaze without so much as sweating. I doubted many others could boast the same accomplishment. “That’s right. And right now, I’ve been of very little use. I need more input. I need to be exposed to more magical influences. Which means I need access to your house. To your organization, or lack thereof.”

He didn’t flinch or even frown with the dig. Very self-assured, this shifter. “Of course.” He glanced right, and a wolf went trotting away. “If you’ll just wait here a moment, I’ll have someone escort you around.”

My mother shifted and her chin rose slightly. “If you’re worried about me telling the vampires how you run things, there’s no need. As far as they’re concerned, I’m in the same boat you are.”

He stared at her for a silent beat. She took the stare and gave it right back.

Finally he nodded. “Noted.”

A few people came out of the house, two of them a couple of years younger than me and a guy about Roger’s age, early thirties and with a resting dick-face that had me scooting backward into Emery. He was taller and leaner than Roger, but with the same grace and ease of movement. His hard brown eyes swept over everyone quickly before darting back to Emery, then Reagan, and then sticking on me. Wariness crossed his features, and I got the distinct impression that I made him uncomfortable. He’d clearly heard what I had done to Rex. As he got closer, I noticed a thin white scar running down the side of his face like a river, from his sharp cheekbone to his neck.

“Alder is the beta of the North American pack,” Roger said, not shifting to the side as the scarred man came up behind him. “My second-in-command. He’ll take you around the house, Miss…?”

My mother swayed in a disturbingly girlish manner. “Bristol. You can call me Karen.”

Roger nodded sharply. “Karen.” Finally, he stepped to the side with a tiny tilt of his head, a shallow representation of a vampire’s bow. “Please don’t give Alder a hard time, Karen.”

She giggled—giggled!—before allowing Alder to lead her away without so much as a pistol.

Roger squared off again, blasting out another force of power, and I wondered if this was the shifter equivalent of elders shooting power at newbie vampires to make them cower. The younger guys behind him certainly seemed to feel it. One of them, a striking guy with dark brown hair, a square jaw, and a fetching cleft in his chin, turned a little brittle. The other, a shorter guy with a messy mop of light brown hair and a small hole in the shoulder seam of his T-shirt, took a step back and hunched.

Emery blew out a breath, now looking down at his feet with his hands in his pockets, his whole body tense. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

“You can always blast him with power to get even,” Reagan said with a grin and a manic light in her eyes. I knew that look.