“Would you wait?” the man said, his anger flaring again. It seemed to be his way of counteracting the woman’s badgering. It was clearly the way they balanced as a dual-mage pair.

“He’s tearing down our spell! We can’t wait,” she said.

“It’s gone,” Emery said. “I do not treat the act of tearing down a ward as an invitation to come inside. The Guild and I differ in that, somewhat.”

“He asked if Penny was happy,” the man said, lowering the satchel.

“So?” the woman said.

“I know how a man acts if he actually cares about a woman. This man didn’t ask about her magic, or her fighting prowess, or where exactly she is—he asked if she was happy. Which means he actually cares about her.”

She lowered her hands, the wheels turning.

“That wouldn’t be a question the Guild would think to ask,” the man went on. “If they were pretending to care, they’d ask if she was safe or something.”

“I can tell you about our breaking into the Guild, or my experiences with her mother, or our first meeting,” Emery said. “Or you can just take a picture with your phone and have Penny verify. Whatever you choose, please hurry. I do not like standing out here, flaunting myself to the Guild. They might get antsy and come for me. They’re all around us.”

The woman stepped forward while tucking her herbs back into her satchel. “So you’re Emery.” She nodded slowly. “Even more handsome than I’d heard. Penny has good taste. Hi.” She put out her hand to shake. “I’m Callie Banks.” He shook it before she stepped back and nudged the man next to her. “This is Desmond.”

“Dizzy.” The man put out his hand. “People call me Dizzy. We thought you were in the wilds.”

“Did the vampire send for you when he proclaimed us unfit?” Callie asked.

Anxiety bled through Emery again. “He declared you unfit?”

“See? There.” Dizzy pointed at Emery’s face. “Concern. He is worried about Penny. Yes, this is our guy. I’m certain. Come in, come in.”

“We were already certain.” Callie waved him in before turning. The word “Savage” was etched into the seat of her pants in pink sparkles. Emery couldn’t argue with it.

“We tried to train her how we’d been trained, you know?” Dizzy stared out for a minute, his eyes tightening, before he shut the door a little harder than was necessary.

“Did you want me to put up another ward really quick?” Emery asked, hesitating.

Dizzy hesitated as well, wariness crossing his features as his gaze returned to the door. “It can wait for a moment. Adding you, we have a lot of power in this house right now. They won’t come in. I don’t think they have the resources. Not yet.” Dizzy’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Anyway, we tried to train her the usual way. We walked her through the theory of the spells, gave her the ingredients, as Penny called them—”

“Ingredients and recipes,” Callie said, leading them through a large foyer. “And she made each spell as easily as she could make spaghetti, let me tell you. All she needed was the recipe.”

“But they didn’t stick,” Dizzy said. “The spells.”

“They stuck, all right,” Callie said, turning into a living room filled with people sitting at tables and talking quietly. They looked up when Callie came into the room. “But whenever she needed to use them in a practice battle, she drew a blank. She was left standing defenseless. Well, until she reacted in blind terror.”

“Oh yes. Best to steer clear of her whenever she reaches the stage of blind terror,” Dizzy said with a smile. “She is a force unto herself, but horribly unpredictable.”

All eyes in the room stuck to Emery, the mages’ expressions assessing.

He increased his swagger, owning the room and everyone in it. These mages might be necessary allies at some point, so it was best to place himself at the top of their hierarchy. His brother had drilled that necessity into him, harping on about how much time and effort it would save.

Thinking on what Dizzy was saying, he frowned. That didn’t sound right. Penny had excellent recall, and was a force to be reckoned with in real battles. She should’ve been in her element. He said as much.

“That’s what we thought. But no, she choked. Big time.” Callie stopped in the center of the room. “Everyone, meet Emery Westbrook, the Rogue Natural.”

Gasps replaced the soft murmurs. Eyes widened and mouths dropped open. A woman with a red face and delighted smile fanned herself, her eyes taking on a gleam Emery knew would eventually turn into a handsy sort of invitation. He’d need to steer clear of her.

“He’s resurfaced for our Penny,” Dizzy said joyfully.

“I just came to check on her,” Emery said quickly, noticing the glower of a gangly man with slicked-back hair. He didn’t want to step on any toes before he fully understood the situation.

“She froze up, and it wasn’t until a newbie vampire charged her that she came out of her shell.” Callie started through the tables. “Dizzy, get this meeting wrapped up and get them out of here. We need to have a powwow with our new friend.”

“We should put up the wards first, hon,” Dizzy replied.

She hesitated and worry filled her expression, making Emery’s stomach flip over. The Bankses were not comfortable with what was going on around them. It seemed like they were trying to barricade themselves in. But surely they had to know that such a strategy would only work until the Guild came after them.

And the Guild would come in after them.

“Fine,” Callie said. “Give them some liquor until we can get everything into place.”

“Hi.” A woman stood up quickly from a table as Emery passed it. “Hi, I’m—”

“He doesn’t care who you are, Cheryl, hack that you are.” Callie yanked Emery along behind her.

“Is Penny here?” Emery asked as Cheryl called out, “She’s just bitter that she doesn’t also have Seer abilities, like I do. We’ll chat later.”

“If you had Seer abilities, you’d already know you’re going home alone to your twelve cats,” Callie yelled back.

More people stood up, their expressions eager and hands outstretched.

“We’re so privileged you would visit,” a woman said.

“Penny is one lucky girl,” another said.

“So great to meet you,” a man said.

“Let him through,” Callie roared. “He has important business here. Do you not remember the meeting we just had?”

No one seemed to hear her. Instead, they fawned over Emery like he was a celebrity. Had his brother felt like this all the time when working with other mages?

“Don’t worry about all of them.” Callie led him through a dining room where an older man was filling a plate. She hooked a thumb over her shoulder at Emery. “This is the Rogue Natural.”

“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.”