Natural Dual-Mage (Page 37)

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.