Emery gritted his teeth again, just barely stopping himself from throwing a spell. The only reason he didn’t was because Penny would object. Reagan was worried, and she was acting out because of it. Still, the woman was fraying his last nerve.
He released the button and pulled the thermometer away. The light flashed orange and the number came up. One-oh-two.
“That’s high, but it’s not hospital high,” Emery said softly, putting his fingers to her cheek. He shook his head, Reagan’s words replaying over and over in his head. “I’ve never heard of magic causing a fever.”
Reagan dug out her phone and tapped the screen. “I’ve never heard of half the crazy things she gets in to. Doesn’t mean they aren’t legit.” The light from the screen was reflected in her eyes. “You’re right. At one-oh-three we need to call the doctor.” She let out a breath, but her brow was still furrowed. “But she’s unconscious. Or is she sleeping? Shake her to see if she is sleeping.”
Moss strolled into the room with a white towel. Emery hadn’t even noticed him leaving.
“Here”—Moss handed the cool towel over—“put this on her forehead.”
“She’s been in a lot of high-pressure situations, and she’s never fainted before. That woman isn’t a fainter.” Reagan bit her lip, worry still in her eyes. She started to pace again. “Damn it, Emery, I don’t mean to give you a hard time, but had you bonded her, we’d know what was going on. At the very least, we’d be able to rule out magic as the cause. A fever is fine. We can work with a fever. Shitty little goblin residue, however…”
“Or maybe Emery would be unconscious as well.” Moss moved to the corner of the room and stilled. “Maybe it is a blessing they have not formed the dual-mage connection.”
“Thanks, Moss, but I have more experience,” Emery said softly, looking down at Penny’s angelic face. “I’d have a better idea of what to do.” Emery leaned over her, propping himself on one hand. “I can’t seem to make the right decision when it comes to her.”
“Or maybe,” Reagan said, pacing closer, “you’re thinking about it too much. Maybe you’re using your head and not your heart. Or intuition, if saying heart makes you freeze up in man-fear.”
“Man-fear?”
“Yeah. You know. The fear of being too touchy-feely. I get it.” She waved it away. “Did you shake her? She hates waking up. She might be sleeping.”
“I’m not going to—”
Reagan dashed in, as fast as an elder, and gave Penny a good shove.
Without thinking, Emery called up elements, wove together a spell, and thrust it at Reagan. Her reactions were quick, but he’d acted so fast that no one would’ve been able to get out from under that spell.
It concussed against her, rocketing her into the air. She hit the wall with a thwack before sliding down onto her butt, her mouth forming a silent oh. A moment later, her lips curled into a smile. “Good one. I didn’t see that coming.”
“What?” Penny inhaled deeply before frowning and fluttering her eyes open. All that blue hit Emery full force, and he barely stopped himself from smothering her with a hug. “What…” She glanced around in confusion. “Where am I?”
“In our hotel room. You…fainted at the meeting.” Emery stroked her chin with his thumb. “How do you feel?”
She fingered the towel on her forehead. “Did I whack my head? Am I bleeding?”
“Jump to disaster, that’s our girl.” Reagan hefted herself up and scooted closer. “What’s going on with you? Does your magic feel weird?”
Penny patted herself on the chest before looking over at the corner where Moss stood. “I thought I felt a vampire. No, my magic is fine. I mean, I feel like everyone else’s magic is battering me all the time, but other than that, it’s fine.”
“A good battered or a bad battered?” Reagan asked.
“When would being battered feel good?” Penny blinked up at Reagan. Her face colored in the dim light. “Oh. Right. No, the bad kind. Not horrible, but…present. Like I always know what creatures are hanging around. And oftentimes, I’d rather not. No offense, Moss.”
Moss sniffed.
“Maybe that’s what happened at the meeting,” Reagan said, chewing on her lip. “With all that power constantly beating into you, it makes sense you’d either crack up or shut down. Cracking up might’ve started World War III, so you shut down.”
“Is that your expert diagnosis, doctor?” Moss said dryly.
Reagan narrowed her eyes at him. “Seems you’ve outed yourself, Moss. You like Penny after all. I didn’t realize vampires could get worried.”
“She is an important asset in Mr. Durant’s arsenal, that is all.”
“You’re lying. Admit it, you like her.”
“I don’t know why that is your means of taunting someone…” Penny sighed and closed her eyes. “I still don’t feel great, but I feel…different. If I still have the ability to douse a magical creature’s shifting ability, I can’t feel it with Moss. Earlier, with that shifter, his spark almost called to me, asking to be doused. That sounds crazy, but…” She shook her head and winced before touching the towel again. “I don’t know what is happening with my magic, I really don’t. But my body aches and my head hurts. I feel like I have the flu.”
“You might.” Reagan was chewing her lip, trying to figure this out. “That might be all there is to it. You learned a new trick with that goblin, taxed your body with its magic, and it is all catching up to you.”
After a moment, Penny nodded. “That’s probably about right. Otherwise I’d feel differently.”
“I’d imagine so.”
But when Reagan’s worried gaze swung back to rest on Emery, he knew she didn’t entirely believe what she’d said. Or maybe she’d just said it for Penny’s benefit.
Taking a deep breath, he stood, Reagan’s words still weighing on him. His own self-judgment ringing loudly in his ears. Penny didn’t know enough to know if something was wrong. And without a man on the inside, no one else would, either.
He’d need to talk to her. Tell her all the risks with the dual-mage connection.
And then he’d need to let her choose.
“Roger agreed to help, right?” Penny asked, as Emery checked the closets. Sure enough, their stuff was already put away. A guy could get used to Darius’s people always taking care of things.
“Yes,” Emery said, pausing in the doorway to the bathroom and scanning for his toothbrush. “There are some details to work out, but he’s in. The fainting witch didn’t scare him into backing out.”
Penny’s lips curled in a slight smile. “So what happens now?”
Reagan sniffed. “With two extremely experienced, resourceful, strategic, and grabby elder vampires?” She shook her head. “We keep our wits about us and try not to let them derail this whole thing so they each come out with fifty percent ownership of the new Mages’ Guild.”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” Moss said as she passed him. “Again.”
“Right.” She stopped between the bedroom and sitting room. “First we go to Seattle…and prepare for battle.”
11
Two days later, with a dull ache throbbing through the back of my cranium that I couldn’t seem to shake, I took Emery’s hand and let him help me out of the nondescript black Town Car. A large house greeted us, situated comfortably amidst lush green trees. Lights shone across the front and highlighted the walkway leading to the door, flanked by artful stone columns.
It was Darius’s house just outside of Seattle—the same one we’d used for shelter after busting into the Mages’ Guild compound the first time. Judging by the number of vampires stationed off to either side, hanging out in the darkness and watching us enter, this place was meant to be our home base until we had our plans sorted.
A wave of nervousness washed over me. This was it. This was the first leg of our rebuttal against the Guild. They’d come for Emery and me, and now we were going to them. The battle would decide the future of mages. My future. If there was one.