Natural Dual-Mage (Magical Mayhem 3)

“I’m Emery Westbrook.” Emery took his hand from my knee and leaned his forearms on the table in a position of power. “The Rogue Natural. I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”

“I heard you and your brother were a natural dual-mage pair until the Guild killed him,” Bursting Jacket said, about as subtle as a steel mace.

“One of their barons ordered it, and an underling carried it out,” Emery said in a monotone.

“So this is something of a Hail Mary to you, huh?” Bursting Jacket swiveled in his chair, bringing his massively broad chest to face Emery. “You want revenge, and you knew the vampires would be all too happy to stick their hands in the Mages’ Guild’s pot. Probably get to nibble on a few necks while they’re at it.” He huffed out a patronizing laugh and shook his head. “Why are you wasting our time? Didn’t anyone tell you that we don’t support vampire agendas? And we sure as hell don’t help them take control of organizations they have no business messing with, all so some spoiled kid with an ego can get revenge.”

Emery silently held Bursting Jacket’s stare, and shifter magic leaked into the air again, prodding at me. Bursting Jacket might’ve looked confident on the outside, but he was feeling the pressure of a natural staring him down. Neither the vampires nor the other Alpha interrupted the silence. A bead of sweat dribbled down my back. Magic started boiling above me again. A grin spread across Reagan’s face.

“If it were up to me,” Emery said finally, his voice low and dangerous, “I’d be long gone. The Mages’ Guild could choke the life out of the magical world in the Brink, and it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. I only returned from the wilds because Penny was in danger. Being that I had a hand in placing her there, I felt it was my duty to see it through. You have Penny to thank for my willingness to help save your ass. Because while your packs might not be directly affected now, it’s only a matter of time before the Guild crates you…and walks away.”

The pressure in the air coated me like a blanket. Bursting Jacket pushed back and crossed his arms over his chest, his jacket practically moaning with the effort to stay in one piece. “That right? Crate me?” The threat was plain in his voice. When Emery didn’t respond, and didn’t look away, a small crease wormed in between the big shifter’s brows. “And how about you, little witch?” His eyes slid to me. “Why are you here?”

I took a deep, steadying breath, trying to ignore the constant thump of his magic on my chest, like someone repeatedly poking me. “First, because the Mages’ Guild is trying to hunt me down and capture me. My preferred style of fighting is usually defense turned offense. They made the first move. I’m retaliating.

“Second, and most importantly, because they are a corrupt organization that is flouting the laws with abandon because no one is strong enough to stand up to them. Not the vampires, and not the shifters. That’s why you guys are here. This isn’t just a mage problem anymore—it’s become a magical people problem. And like Emery said, it might not affect you now…much…but at the rate they’re growing, it won’t be long until they do. Since your job is to ensure humans don’t find out about magical people, the Guild flouting the laws falls under your jurisdiction. It’s your problem more than the vampires’.”

“She is correct. I have seen their power grow incredibly quickly,” Unnaturally Handsome said. “They have infiltrated magical communities in the Brink to an unprecedented degree, promising things that”—his gaze fell on Emery—“most mages covet. Power. Money. Acclaim. Penny is right. This is a universal problem that must be taken out by the root. But please, let’s continue with the introductions before we go into more detail. Rex, since you are only seeing the very tip of this, you’ll certainly want some proof of what is inevitably headed your way.”

Bursting Jacket was named Rex.

“Wait, do you turn into a T-Rex?” I blurted out. I waved it away. “Never mind. Sorry. Not important. I mean, it would be incredibly cool if you did…” I waited for some sign that he did. Nothing came. “And it would explain the stronger-than-thou vibe you’re hellbent on pushing in everyone’s face…” His face remained stoic. “Right.” I nodded. It was probably taboo to ask a shifter which animal they changed into, much like it was to talk about how swampy vampires were in what Reagan called their “monster” form. “This isn’t the time. I get it.”

“She’s bad at people,” Reagan said, and Emery coughed into his fist, trying to hide his chuckles.

“I turn into a Kodiak,” Rex said in a growl.

“Right. Standard animal, then,” I said softly.

“That is Rex Keel,” Unnaturally Handsome said, trying to restore a sense of decorum in the meeting. “He is the Alpha of the European Union.” His gaze shifted to Roger, clearly trying to keep things moving.

The shifter didn’t skip a beat. “For those who don’t know me”—I got a glance—“I’m Roger Nevin.” Another glance. “A wolf. I’ve been following the situation in Seattle closely. My people are in a tight spot there, but we don’t have the resources to combat the issue. While it is no secret that I would rather not work with vampires, I can see no alternative in this one instance. That is, if we have enough manpower to settle this. I do not intend to send my people to their deaths.”

Roger shifted his intense stare to me. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Penny,” he said. His stare softened my bones and scrambled my stomach in nervousness. A song of wolves drifted into my mind’s eye, and the smell of evergreen trees on the night air infused my senses. It was lovely, don’t get me wrong, but the guy was intense. There were no two ways about it.

“And, Miss Bristol, my name is Vlad. It is lovely to make your acquaintance.” Unnaturally Handsome’s velvety gaze stroked across my skin.

Vlad. That name rang a bell, but I couldn’t place it.

Before I could give it more thought, Rex had pushed forward and banged down his forearms on the table. “Time’s a-wasting. What’s in this for us?”

9

An hour later, Rex hadn’t gotten any more likable. The opposite, in fact, if that were possible. What he had gotten was more intense. With each perceived (or outright) slight toward him, he magically flew off the handle, slamming the room with his aggressive magic while staring hostilely at whoever had set him off.

He wasn’t the only one misbehaving. The room was like a swamp of prickly egos, and they were all barely trying to get along. Since the Redcap goblin, I seemed to be able to feel the magic of others more strongly, and surges of it kept rolling over me from all directions. Everyone seemed to want something for helping. It wasn’t enough that they were ending a very real, very terrible threat—they wanted a say in how things got remade. And, in the vampires’ case, they wanted to actually be in the Guild. To make decisions.

Over my dead body.

I blew out a breath as yet another wall of magic smashed into me, this time from Vlad. He gazed at Rex, and the look was entered onto my never ignore list, under the subset of when you should run like hell.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Reagan held out her hands, just as worked up as everyone else. “Do we even know which elder is siding with the Guild? And the size of his or her faction?”

She was talking about the revelation, some months ago, that the Guild was no longer working alone. Their vampire allies had infiltrated Darius’s group and blocked an SOS call from me when Emery and I were cornered by mages in New Orleans. Darius had been blindsided, and shifters had saved Emery and me.

Darius steepled his fingers. “No. We don’t know who is giving the orders. I’ve extracted two vampires from my faction that I had thought were loyal to me. Sadly, they went to their eternal grave before I could get sufficient information. I know only that it is an elder pulling the strings.”

Vlad’s hard stare beat into Darius. “You had a breach of loyalty?”

I cocked my head to the side. Was it just me, or was Vlad a little too anxious about Darius’s breach of loyalty?