Natural Mage (Magical Mayhem #2)(39)

“But you said Marie didn’t know if Ja was alive.”

“Right. There was none of that black sludge they usually exude when they die, but Ja is in really bad shape. So, she might die, which will, in essence, be Darius’s fault. Ja has mostly removed herself from all vampire politics, but she is still an elder vampire. The other elders won’t like it.”

“Then I guess we should hope she lives…and suffers from amnesia.”

Reagan turned down a street with houses on one side, all small, broken-down hovels with chipping paint and weeds struggling through walkways. A large concrete wall lined the sidewalk on the other side. After passing an opening in the wall, I saw that it was a graveyard. The large gravestones rose in rows, a couple lightly showered by a weak street lamp, the rest stewing in the darkness. The vast space felt like an enormous black hole, pulling at lost souls with the intent to trap them within its confines forever.

That, or my imagination was going haywire again. I really needed to get some sleep.

“The thing is…” That troubled expression crossed Reagan’s face again as she turned left, keeping the graveyard on our left side. She parked in front of a little house with fresh paint, flowers blooming in a box in front of the raised porch, and two unbroken chairs facing the graveyard entrance across the street.

“What a dismal view,” I muttered, seeing the same pool of darkness at this opening. The light from the street lamp didn’t reach far before dissipating into murky oppressiveness.

“What?” Reagan followed my gaze before shooting me an incredulous look. “Dismal?” She shook her head and pushed open the door. “That is a great view. You’ll see. Anyway…” She came around my side and stood next to the door as though waiting to see if I needed help out. After realizing I didn’t, she trudged up the nearby porch steps to the door.

“Shouldn’t you lock the car?”

She pulled open the screen door before pushing open the interior one, then waited in the doorway for me. “I don’t want some idiot to break a window out of some misguided hope they’ll find something of value. This way, they can have a look, take anything I was stupid enough to leave behind, and go on their way. No hassle.”

“But…what if they steal the car?”

Her lips curled ruefully. “Anyone in this neighborhood knows better than to steal a car, nice or otherwise, parked outside of this house. Any outsiders that try to boost cars from these streets will find a world of hurt waiting for them on the other side of theft. A world of hurt, and not just from me. My neighbor does not like people invading his territory.”

“Right…” My body was starting to shake again, a sign that I was still horribly outside of my comfort bubble. “And we’re positive I can’t stay with Callie and Dizzy?”

“You’ll be fine. Promise. C’mon.” Reagan gestured me in. “As I was saying, it makes me nervous that Darius was blindsided by Ja’s power. Hell, it makes me nervous that a vampire can be that powerful. An elder is no joke. Ja is clearly far beyond that.”

Her entryway opened up into a small living room with plush furniture, a giant TV on the wall, an expensive rug, and paint and decorations that perfectly accented the space. It was cozy and comfortable while still trendy and top of the line.

“Want a drink?” She disappeared through an archway into a kitchen that had received the same treatment as the living room. The various gadgets would be at home in a rich person’s kitchen. Even Callie and Dizzy would’ve been envious of all the state-of-the-art appliances, though probably not of the tiny quarters into which they were all systematically crammed.

“Water, please.” I sat at a small, round table in the corner, with artfully aged wood, each strip a slightly different color than the other, but all blending into a really neat piece. “Did you decorate?”

She laughed as she pulled down a bottle of whiskey. “Yeah, right. No, Marie came through and did all this up after my house was burned out by a ridiculous mage hopped up on—” She stiffened before continuing, “Painkillers. Never mind.”

I sagged into the chair as she got to work on our drinks. A suspiciously short time later, she delivered a glass with a lime floating among the ice cubes.

“That’s my version of a margarita. You’ll love it.” She sat opposite me with a darker liquid that was almost certainly whiskey, her version of water.

I ignored the glass in front of me. “I don’t understand how I made Ja react like that. Darius said my magic was doing it, but…” I shook my head, at a loss.

Reagan set down her glass and leaned forward. “Marie said your magic acted as a catalyst. It pumped out a sort of aggression that said, in essence, get lost or I’ll kill you.” She leaned back again and took a sip of her drink. “Elder vampires use a similar approach with newbies, I guess. They exude a sort of…mood or something that gives them control. I don’t totally get it, but you must’ve shoplifted the ability without knowing it. The problem is, elders are the scary ones, not the ones who are scared. Darius thinks Ja felt your intention, and it stripped away all the layers of dust collected on her personality. You, in essence, woke up the beast.”

Shivers ran through me as I remembered that red, white, and black thing jerkily walking toward the top of the stairs. She’d been through hell, and refused to sit down for a rest. “Will she go back to sleep, or whatever?”