The drops of blood hit the rolling waters. Black and white shot out of the cauldron before forming a resplendent rainbow. Magic danced and rolled. A fizzy feeling crawled up his spine, making him gasp.

“And now it’s complete,” Emery said, taking her into his arms. “We’re dual-mages.”

“We don’t have to drink it?”

He shook his head and smiled at her. “Counterintuitive, but no. This is one potion we don’t have to drink.”

Her smile was dazzling. “That’s excellent. Now there’s just one more thing to do, and we can finish out the rest of our lives in safety.”

22

The next day I was sore, tired, and groggy. None of it had to do with cementing my dual-mage connection with Emery. It was all related to the private celebration we’d indulged in afterward.

I felt my face heat at the thought, but thankfully I was in the back seat. We’d taken one of the loaner cars, and Reagan was driving Emery and me down the winding road leading away from Darius’s house in the woods. We were heading to a meeting with Roger. Emery sat in the front seat, going through some pictures Vlad’s people had taken around town. He was trying to identify people he knew from the old days so the vampires could get a small idea of the power and experience they might expect in the coming showdown.

“How’s Darius doing with the plans?” I asked, looking out at the sometimes-sunny day. Clouds drifted overhead, their color getting darker and more ominous the closer we got to the afternoon. A storm was gathering strength, gearing up to roll through.

Reagan shook her head as she turned the car down the road leading to town. “He’s frustrated. They can’t get close to the Mages’ Guild to check things out. Vlad is the master of cunning, his best people emulate him, and still he lost one of his people trying to get a peek of the front gates. They have spells all over the place.”

“He won’t accept our help,” Emery said, stalling on a picture.

“Are you kidding? And risk the biggest assets in his arsenal? No way. I offered, too, if only to cut down the spells. But the Guild’s security team is standing by in the wood near their compound, and their vampire allies patrol at night.”

“Do they know the elder behind it?” I picked at my nail, anxiety plaguing me.

Reagan sniffed. “No. Ain’t that a bitch? They’ve caught a couple of the vampires now. Vlad tortured one mercilessly, but the vampire couldn’t talk.”

Emery stilled in what he was doing and studied Reagan’s face. “Magically silenced?”

“Seems like it. I couldn’t get there in time to be sure. Vampires decay too fast after they’re destroyed. Whoever is in league with the Guild is hiding their tracks well.”

“So they don’t have to be stuck on that side if they lose?” I asked.

“Maybe.” Reagan shrugged, heading toward the freeway. “Or maybe they know how much they stand to lose if Vlad and Darius figure out who they are before they have the Mages’ Guild locked down. Vampires tend to plan years in advance. Decades, sometimes. Elders are great at maneuvering. Whoever is doing this will have thought through all the pitfalls. The question is if Vlad or Darius can find any holes in their strategy, then exploit them.”

I blew out a breath. “I don’t know anything about Vlad, but Darius seems like a formidable nemesis.”

“Vlad made Darius,” Reagan said softly. “He taught Darius how to be Darius. I’ve learned that they maneuver around each other in a subtle dance. Sure, one would screw the other if they had no other option, but both of them would like to keep from burning that bridge, I think. And yes, they are formidable nemeses.”

“We can’t wait around forever.” Emery resumed looking at the pictures. “We’ll need to crash the Guild’s party sooner or later.”

“Sooner, obviously.” Reagan chewed on her lip. “They’ve already attacked the shifters in town. They aren’t waiting around for us to get our ducks in a row. We need to get going or we’ll lose the upper hand. But we also need an angle with which to engage. Right now, I really don’t think Darius is seeing it.”

I tried to keep hopelessness from weighing me down. We’d be attempting this regardless, and negative thoughts wouldn’t help the situation. Instead, I forced myself to focus on the problem, thinking through the spells I remembered from our attack on the compound and the ones the Guild had used on us in New Orleans. Maybe a pattern existed in the way they did magic.

“It’d be easier if I could get closer and just have a feel,” I said without meaning to, thinking out loud.

“How far away do you have to be for that to happen?” Reagan asked.

“No.” Emery shook his head. “They’ll expect us to try and get a look. If we do, they’ll be ready for us.”

“With what, a color-in-the-lines natural and a bunch of mercenaries in leather capes?” Reagan looked back in the rearview at me, waiting for an answer.

“Watch the road.” I pointed, because sometimes she seemed to forget which direction that actually meant. “And…I don’t know. It depends on the power of the spells they’ve set up, I’d think.”

“No.” Emery stared at Reagan. “No. I can see that you’re thinking about it. No! Two seconds ago you were explaining why Darius didn’t want us anywhere near there—”

“I’m not Darius,” she said.

“And it is a wonder how you’re still alive. No.”

“It’s because I’m tough,” Reagan said as I said, “It’s because she’s crazy.”

“Anyway, we need to make sure the shifters are locked down.” Emery went back to looking at the pictures. He wasn’t having much luck, from what I could see.

Reagan nodded and glanced out the window. I pointed again.

“Roger is expecting us, right?” she asked. “Roger doesn’t have a sense of humor when it comes to surprises.”

Emery glanced at her. “Does Darius not talk to you about these things?”

“He does, but lately he’s been forgetting to shield his thoughts, which are basically cyclical scenarios about how we can all get into the Mages’ Guild unharmed. I have to tune him out or I’ll go crazy.”

“Roger knows, and I’m sure he passed it down. They have to be ready for the woman who chases shifters around the French Quarter with a snarl and a breadstick,” Emery said, laughing.

“Why won’t you guys let that go?” Reagan asked in exasperation.

“Besides,” Emery said, “do you think Darius would trust Penny to go waltzing in there if the shifters didn’t expect visitors?”

“She doesn’t have any more control, huh?” Reagan asked.

“A dual-mage connection doesn’t do anything to help the mages control their magic, it just increases their power level. And the”—he paused—“unity of using it.”

“I heard your unity last night,” Reagan said dryly. “So she’s more dangerous?”

“I like to think of it as…more exciting.” Emery turned back to me and winked.

“So we’re just supposed to check in with their mages and make sure the shifters’ wards and everything are up to speed?” I asked, looking out the window.

“I know this one.” Emery waved a photo while shaking his head. He huffed. “He is as old… Still there, though, obviously. He’s a real piece of work.” Emery flung it onto the dash. “He’s powerful, but he’s—”

“Write it on the back of the photo. I won’t be able to remember everything.” Reagan grabbed a pen from the console and held it up for Emery.

A smile spread across Emery’s face. “You have excellent memory from bonding the vampire. You can remember everything just fine.”

“Right. Good catch.” Reagan slammed on the gas as she pulled onto the freeway on-ramp. “Let me rephrase. Write it down, because it makes no difference to me. Strategy is Darius’s department.”

Emery laughed and continued going through the pictures. “Yes, Fast Fingers,” he said, finally returning to my question. “Our mission is to make sure Roger’s hideout is fortified. At least, that’s why Roger finally relented and handed over the location of his hideout. He thinks someone is getting through their mages’ wards.”