Natural Mage (Magical Mayhem #2)(58)

“The…” The man’s eyes rounded and his mouth dropped open.

“Yeah, I know. Dizzy and I have become the hub for two of the most powerful mages in the world. So…” Callie shrugged and led the way out.

“Big on status in this neck of the woods, huh?” Emery asked, finally reaching a large kitchen that was, blissfully, empty.

“You’re a mage; you know how it works. You need to constantly prove your place in the power and prestige pyramid.”

“I’ve never really taken an active role in that. I left that to my brother.”

Her face fell and she nodded sadly, but didn’t comment. That small gesture endeared her to him. Made him connect with her on a more human level. He was thankful for that.

“So, the bad news is that Penny is no longer under our care,” she said, each word angrier than the last. The world stilled for a moment. So many questions blasted through Emery’s mind that he couldn’t focus on just one.

“We hoped to break down her bad habits and build them anew,” Callie said, “but the vampire didn’t think it was the best strategy for her. If only he wasn’t right, I would’ve done it anyway. He thinks he has a better way of training her.”

His mouth dried up and his heart pounded, terror squeezing his throat. If he hadn’t already acknowledged the hold she had on him, he’d be severely wigged out by his own dramatic reaction. As it was, he couldn’t shake the fear that Penny was exposed. That she lacked protection as the Guild slithered into the city in ever-larger numbers.

The black mist of warning that had clouded his vision had promised some sort of demise for her…

“And she is in his care?” he said with a suddenly dry mouth.

Pride flashed across Callie’s expression before unease settled in. “No. As part of his training method, he tried to force her into survival mode. Well, he succeeded, all right. And she nearly blew his house apart.” She proceeded to tell him about Penny killing four new vampires, somehow scaring a fifth (he hadn’t realized that was possible) and awakening an extremely old vampire that had been in a sort of stupor.

She finished, “Darius was not expecting that dinner to go as it did.”

A grin worked through his concern. That was the thing about Penny: no one could ever predict the outcome of a situation when she was stuck in the middle of it. He loved that about her. The innocent volatility. The excitement and challenge that she created over the normal course of her day.

His heart ached. He missed her something rotten. Which would make it extremely awkward when he had to see her with someone else. Extremely awkward.

“Her power is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed,” he said as she took down a bottle of whiskey. “I can see how she wouldn’t respond to the normal training. Though her choking in a mock battle is…”

“Alarming.” Callie nodded. “I know. It has made me wonder. Her survival magic hasn’t failed her yet, but she has absolutely no control over what she does with it.”

“And she was…unhurt after that dinner, I assume?” he asked tentatively, afraid of the answer. Afraid of how much he cared about the answer.

Callie paused in pouring drinks, her gaze roaming his face before resting on his eyes. “You really do care for her. Dizzy was right.”

“Yes, and I don’t want to see her come to harm.”

She went back to pouring drinks. “Other than a few blisters on her feet from those God-awful cheap shoes I told her to return, she was unhurt, yes. Though she did need to ask a bunch of derelict shifter barflies for help.”

He gripped the edge of the countertop. “What’s this now?”

“Don’t worry.” She patted his forearm. “Reagan came to the rescue. That’s whose house she is in now. No safer place, trust me. She probably should’ve gone there first.”

“Who is Reagan?”

“A friend of mine. She has very powerful magic and is bonded to Darius.”

“She’s—” He felt his eyes widen in surprise. “Darius bonded someone? I wouldn’t think he’d stoop to binding himself to a human, magical or otherwise.”

“She’s not just any magical human, and yeah, she bonded him. It was necessary at the time, and she says she’d do it again, but I think she’s a damn fool.”

“I’d have to agree.”

“So now Penny is training with Reagan, and it seems to be going really well. Or so Reagan says. If it couldn’t be me, at least it’s her and not some conniving, egotistical, selfish vampire.”

Emery ignored the smack talk about vampires. Darius had his uses, but Emery generally thought along the same lines. Most people who weren’t vampires did. “Reagan is a mage?”

“No. More of a…mutt.”

He was losing his patience for this conversation, hating these non-answers. “Does she know how big of a disaster Penny can be?”

“Trust me, Penny is nothing compared to Reagan.”

“And yet you think the setup is a good one?”

Callie’s eyebrows lowered. “There’s a difference between caring about someone and being overbearing. You’d do best to remember that. And yes, I do. Because Reagan can handle herself, and she can handle anything Penny might throw at her, including intense spells. That woman is a walking spell encyclopedia. Like I said, Penny is in good hands.”