“No, she won’t,” Margaret said, setting her cup and saucer aside. “They wouldn’t take her.”

I turned around slowly, pretty sure I had an oh my God! expression. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Darius walking up the stairs with the book. He was moving slowly, studying it. That was probably bad, but right now, this took precedence.

I lightly tapped the window and waved my hand, indicating he should stay out there. I was in friend mode right now, letting her talk. Telling me things I hadn’t known to ask about.

“They have criteria on who they take?” I asked, playing it cool, pretending I knew who they were. Just a couple of girls gossiping, that was what we were.

Darius continued toward the house. He was going to come in anyway, which was probably good, because his memory was better than mine. I just hoped he did it in stealth.

“Yes. John, the…” She swallowed and nodded in the direction of the house next door. “He had the highest level of power in our community. We all have a little spark of natural magic, but he had quite a bit more.”

“Could he get into the Realm?”

She shook her head. “He could see the gate, but it hurt him really bad when he tried to enter. Everyone said he’d die if he went through.”

I nodded, because that was correct. The pain was a warning. Some kept pushing through it. A dead body emerged on the other side.

“I guess he had enough magic for the high mage, though.” Margaret rose and moved toward the door. I was about to throw a question at her to stop her, but before I did, she asked, “Do you want something stronger to drink?”

I released my breath with a laugh. “I sure do. I’ll help you.”

That was code for: I don’t want to let you out of my sight for fear you’ll stop talking.

Darius stood by the door, quiet and still. Margaret didn’t notice.

“I told John not to join,” she said, moving down the hall. “A few of us did, but the others, Rodney and Tamara included, thought maybe he should check it out. That maybe he could learn something and pass it on. I should’ve pushed. I should’ve tried to drown out Rodney’s goading.”

“Why did Rodney goad John?”

We entered the kitchen. “Well, you know, he and John never really got along on account of Tamara and John’s affair a while back. And because John had more power. That made a few people jealous. So Rodney didn’t care if it was dangerous. He probably hoped it was.” She shook her head sadly, and I felt my mouth drop open. This coven definitely needed to split up. “John gave in. Then all it took was the first meeting and he was hooked. We saw his power boost right before our eyes. That’s when Rodney and Tamara tried to join. A couple others in the neighborhood, too. I begged them not to, since I could already see John changing for the worst. Thankfully, they weren’t allowed. Not enough power.”

“But in the end, Rodney still got rid of John,” I said softly, the wheels spinning.

“I guess so. Since you had to…” She gulped.

“Kill him, yes.” I didn’t mention that next Rodney would have to contend with a bunch of vampires, which would be much harder competition than a mediocre-powered mage. “So this high mage can boost people’s power, then?”

She shot me a strange look before pulling down a bottle filled with brown liquid. “The high mage didn’t recruit you?” she asked.

“I don’t do magic.”

Confusion surfaced on her face. “Then…they let you go?”

“Huh?”

“Huh?” she repeated.

I accepted the glass, holding up my hand to stop the crazy. “Why would you assume I was captured? Or even approached?”

Her face closed down into a look of remorse, and worse, guilt.

“Margaret, what did you do?”

“We’d already lost John,” she babbled. “We couldn’t lose anyone else. They would’ve killed us to get that book.”

I hunched a little. “So when they came looking for John’s goodies, you told them I’d found what was in the kitchen, and you pointed them my way.”

“I figured they’d think I was too low-power to find anything myself, so…”

“They didn’t even bother looking through this neighborhood, they went straight to me.” I nodded, because I should’ve assumed that. “When was this?”

“Yesterday night. He was in John’s house all evening. I saw flashes and fire through the windows, but didn’t hear anything. Nothing caught fire outside.”

“He was… Just one?”

“The high mage. He was alone. B-but, I think he has a few people he sends out to recruit or to assert his will. I’m not sure how many.”

I huffed out a laugh at her choice of words. The high mage was definitely on a power trip with that title and all this will assertion he was doing. “What does the high mage look like?”

“You mean, besides the mask? You don’t know?” She took a shaky sip of her drink.

“I was gone when they—or some other mages—arrived at my house. I didn’t bother going in after them.”

“And the spells you got out of the kitchen?”

“They’re in a safe place.”

She shook her head. “They’re not safe from the high mage. He’ll blast through your house with fire to find them.”

My heart sank. “Fire won’t work on my safety holds.” No one, not even my father himself, could break into those. I had a spicy blend of magic and history protecting my most valuable assets. The problem was, my house and all my furniture was wood. I would lose everything I called home. Maybe I already had. “Sometimes I really hate my job.”

I felt Darius’s comforting hand on my shoulder a moment before he asked, “What do you know about him?” Clearly he wanted to hurry this along.

Margaret huffed. “What don’t I know? After he recruited John, I started asking around. I’m friendly with witches all over the city. From what I can gather, he is power hungry. More so than most mages. He used to target witches like John—ones who were on the cusp of being mages, desperate for the power boost that would get them there. Word is, he’s shifted his attention to those with a higher level of power. They’re selling blood of some sort to witches and other mages, trying to enlist them. No one knows what kind of blood it is, though. They’ve been very quiet on the subject.

“The rumor is that it’s vampire blood.” Her face turned red as she glanced at Darius. “But I don’t think that’s it. I’ve looked into it, and vampire blood gives humans an energy and ability boost, but not necessarily magical people. And this stuff gives only magical people a boost, I’ve heard. Like magical PCP. It doesn’t last, but…”

“This explains some things,” I said. This confirmed the theory that had started to take shape in John’s burned-out house. A power boost would certainly help the high mage run his demon-pack-and-play gig. It would amplify his spells and allow him to refill his store of magic more quickly. In the slump between boosts, he’d have the demon to give him power.

“How did he start this venture, though?” I wondered. “How did he get that strange blood in the first place? Torture it out of a vampire?” I looked at Darius, hoping he knew I meant torture the information out of a vampire.

Darius was staring at the wall, not moving. Thinking.

“If they’re in league with vampires, then you’re a faction divided,” I said to him, watching his expression for any hint as to what he was thinking. I wasn’t getting anything. “Someone killed those vampires in the Realm, after all. Then there’s John, who I am pretty sure was bonded to a vampire.”

Darius’s head snapped around, and he scrutinized me. “How do you know?”

“He could see in the dark. No magical spell can do that. That I know of, anyway. What else?”

“There probably is a way. John had access to a lot of advanced spells,” Margaret said.

“So do I.” I was still looking at Darius.

“Well…now…I’ve never seen a vampire hanging around his house,” Margaret said, tapping her fingers on the counter. “He did disappear for a few days at a time, though. Spread out all my feelers in the city, and I still couldn’t find him. But I’ve only heard about the blood, not any vampires helping him.” Margaret made a duck bill with her mouth.