“Killing that vampire would be a sure way to end your life,” Dizzy said, crouching beside me. “He has powerful friends.”

“Anyone with powerful friends also has powerful enemies.”

“Looks like he just made one. C’mon, let’s get out of here. You can come to our house. I’ll cook you something, then we can drink whiskey while Callie curses me for the mess I made.” Dizzy grabbed my arm and helped me to my feet. “After you heal, you can burn his house to the ground.”

“You probably shouldn’t hand me revenge ideas, Dizzy. I’m liable to follow through.”

“I know. I do like Darius, but it’d serve him right. He must know that you handed him that mark by saving his life.” He tsked. “It amazes me she got as far as she did. She wasn’t very bright. Or skilled.”

“She said that she slipped under the radar. Being grossly underestimated can mess with people, but it can also hide them. In her case, it did both. Her coven didn’t even suspect her! That’s amazing to me. Although she did have a bigger whack job across the street.” I wiped my hair out of my face. “I wonder where she got those books. I should’ve asked. I bet that was step one. The…boost in magic and energy was step two. From there, amassing a bunch of idiots.”

Dizzy guided me through the door to the side room, probably wondering if I would fall on my face. The zombie bodies lay where I’d left them, definitely dead. Callie stood in front of the closed closet door, staring at the woodgrain.

“Someone has locked herself in the closet and we can’t get her out.” Dizzy headed that way.

“She’s powerful, that mage. Told you.” When we got to Callie, I sighed and slumped to the ground next to her, peering at her opened satchel. Unlike mine, which was a mess of casings, hers was an orderly combination of casings and raw ingredients. “I used my magic to eat through before. I could do it again, but I’d probably pass out.”

“Oh.” Callie looked down at me. “You’re done with your powwow with the vampire?”

“Yes. He stole my mark and ran out the door.”

Callie huffed. “Figures. They only care about—”

“Themselves. Yes, I know. You mentioned it a time or two.”

She huffed again and bent down to root through her bag. “How old was that witch?”

“She’s a mage, hon.” Dizzy dropped his bag to the ground and opened it, looking at the ingredient side. He extracted a pouch and squeezed it open. A foul smell drifted toward me.

“Until she knows how to work powerful magic properly, she is a witch.” Callie grabbed out an herb of some kind and handed it off to Dizzy.

“We are trying to discourage against that form of elitism,” Dizzy said. “That’s what created this situation in the first place.”

“Well then, come up with a different name for it. A mage is trained, plain and simple.”

“Leave her in there. Let’s go,” I said.

“I most certainly will not!” Callie grabbed something else out of her bag and crushed it in her fist. “Any non-trained magic worker who can create a spell like this”—she motioned toward the closet door—“is worth my time in guiding.”

“Bullying, she means,” Dizzy murmured.

“Fine. Bullying. Whatever.” Callie reached into her bag for another item and motioned me up. “If I sit down, I’ll never get back up.”

“I’m right there with you.”

“Quit whining. You’re tired, not old. Get up.” She motioned me up again, more forcefully this time.

I rose and stood beside her. No way was I getting between her and a spell. It seemed dangerous.

She emptied the contents of her hand over my head, getting leaves and stuff in my hair. It would be hard to wash out. Next she crushed some other sort of plant, took the pouch from Dizzy, and pinched out wet, gooey stuff that smelled like—

“Please tell me you aren’t going to rub poop on me.” I winced when she smeared it on my arm. “Did you just wipe poop on me?”

“You’ll feel better.”

“Eating and sleeping would make me feel better. Smearing poop on me isn’t the answer.”

“Oh hush. I need you to help me, and for that, you need to be healed. It doesn’t smell that bad.” She rubbed her hands around a chalky stone.

“Does sense of smell wither with old age? Because it does smell that bad.”

“Bullying, see?” Dizzy handed her another leafy plant of some kind.

“I get the job done. Why is that called bullying?” Callie swatted me with the leafy plant. When it hit my skin, a chill spread through my body, making my teeth chatter. I hugged my arms around my torso before yanking my hand away from my arm. Too late—the gooey, foul-smelling stuff was now on my hand.

“Do you have any baby wipes in there?” My body started to shake. “Also, this doesn’t feel right.”

“I’m counteracting your magic,” Callie said as Dizzy handed over a wet wipe. “It will nullify the magic to its full potential much more often. It’ll help build up your magical muscles, so to speak. In fact, when I train the new recruit, I should let you sit in. That might help you develop your own abilities.”

“We don’t know if she’ll want to be trained,” Dizzy said.

“Of course she’ll want to be trained. Who wouldn’t?”

“People who hate being bullied?” I asked innocently.

“Would you two stop with the bullying comments?” Callie frowned at me, waiting.

The bite of cold worked its way out of my limbs, tingling my fingertips. Warmth took over, my normal body temperature. The aching was gone, along with the fatigue. I swung my arms, feeling fresh as a daisy.

“It would’ve been nice if you’d done this before the vampire stole my mark.” I tapped my weapons.

“We’ll plan your vengeance after we’ve had some rest. Now.” Callie stepped back and pointed at the door.

“I saw you levitating, by the way,” Dizzy said as I motioned fire over the spell. “That was really something. I didn’t know humans could do that. Can you go anywhere, or just up and down?”

“It was a gift from her father,” Callie said. “And I mean gift. There is no spell that can duplicate that. Only fifth-level demons and above can harness that power, and possessing a fifth-level demon and maintaining your sense of self is unheard of. Hollywood glorifies plenty of things, but some demonic possessions are really that extreme. Demons of that magnitude eat a person from the inside out. And yes, she should be able to move from one place to another, though I’m not sure how far she could make it. Amorette saw Reagan’s father do it.”

“My mom saw him, but she couldn’t teach me,” I said. “He needs to, or I need to figure it out on my own. Right now, I just can’t. I can will it, but I don’t move. I might not have enough power.”

“You have the power; you just haven’t completely grown into it. I think using it more often is the key,” Callie said.

“Why don’t demons just take their own human shape?” I asked, amping up the magic slowly. It sparked and sputtered as it worked through the woman’s defenses. She’d upped her game this time around, altering the spell to withstand another attack from my magic. I wondered if she even knew what she was doing, or if it was unconscious knowledge.

I made everyone take a few steps back, then threw up another fire shield just in case.

“Don’t touch that,” I said as Dizzy stuck his finger in.

“Ouch!” He yanked his hand back and stuck it in his mouth.

“It is actual fire. It hurts. Don’t touch it.” Callie shook her head at him. “Genius.”

“Darius went through it! He stood in it,” Dizzy shouted back. I was learning that that was his defense against the bullying. It all made sense now. There was a reason they were dual mages.

“Darius won’t allow himself to show pain,” I said.

“Creating and maintaining a human form takes substantial energy,” Callie said, finally answering my question about demons as she watched my magic work. “Crossing out of the underground does, too. When they surface on this side of the boundary, they immediately seek a human body to hibernate in for a time, regaining their strength.”