He still wasn’t super at heading them off, though. Not when Reagan was enabling me, at any rate. Hence the bar fight.

The magic pulsed once, a shock wave that blasted into my core and crawled up my spine, dragging out my survival magic. I wrapped it around myself like armor, strong and hot and ready to do battle.

“Nope. Don’t do that,” Emery said, using his own survival magic to layer mine, calming me down.

It was another thing we’d been practicing: how to use our survival magic in new ways, often together.

“She has to be baiting you,” Emery said in a low whisper, making sure the vampires, with their excellent hearing, couldn’t catch his words. “Don’t give her a reason to react.”

“Forcing Penny to take the high road, is that it?” My mother asked, not at all worried about vampires overhearing. That, and she lacked volume control at the best of times. “Weak, that. Very weak.”

Moss appeared in the doorway with thinned lips and wary eyes. His bow was furrowed a little deeper, his posture a little stiffer.

Maybe it wasn’t Reagan who would cause problems for us tonight.

“Please.” Moss held out his hand for us to enter.

“I still think this is a terrible idea,” my mother said. “In fact, I ate at a fabulous place in the Garden District the other day. Let’s go there. I made friends with the barman. I’m sure we could get a seat.”

“Come on, Mother,” I said through clenched teeth, this close to taking her up on it.

Emery stepped aside so my mother and I could enter first. The table was set with delicate china and crystal. Candles flickered in gilded candleholders down the center of the table and along the walls, a serious fire hazard that probably didn’t matter, given that Reagan was on scene.

Darius and Reagan stood from their chairs on one side of the table. The three empty chairs next to them had presumably been left for us. The Bankses sat on the other side, with Marie next to them, and the final member of the group—a familiar woman with a beautiful face, slight frame, dark tan skin, and liquid black, wide-spaced, beguiling eyes that held the wisdom of centuries—sat the farthest from the door, directly across from Darius’s seat.

Those dark eyes sparkled as they beheld me, and a tiny pulse of her viciously entrancing magic pushed against my heart, letting me know she was completely in control…and she knew that I was not.

“Hello, everyone,” Reagan said with a serene smile, wearing a striking deep blue dress that plunged down her chest and flowed around her legs. She took Darius’s hand as they made their way to us, playing the part of host perfectly and surprising the heck out of me.

Darius wore a tux, perfectly molded to his muscular body and probably as expensive as the GDP of a small country. When they stopped in front of us, he bowed deeply. “Thank you for joining us.”

“Thank you for having us,” Emery said, sticking out his hand to shake Darius’s.

We took our seats, the chairs held out by vampire servers who showed up at the exact right moment. After they poured our wine, they zipped out again, faster than a human, but not so fast that it looked strange.

“That dress looks lovely,” Marie said to me with a gorgeous smile, her curves showcased in a purple and black lace dress that really got the heart pumping—and I wasn’t even into that sort of thing. “And Ms. Bristol, what a lovely…ensemble.”

My mother nodded and reached for her wine. “Thank you. It was one of the few I packed, just in case.”

Marie’s smile tightened, and I knew she was annoyed my mother hadn’t accepted her help with fashion.

“Hello,” Dizzy said, beaming. Callie nodded in hello as well.

“May I introduce Ja.” Darius motioned to the extreme elder before holding the chair for Reagan to sit. “Ja, please meet Penny, Emery, and Penny’s mother, Karen.”

“Is it Penny, or Penelope?” Ja asked, her voice deep and sultry.

“My real name is Penelope, but people call me Penny,” I said, taking the seat next to Reagan that Emery held out for me.

“Penelope suits her better,” Marie said.

“It does.” Ja nodded minutely. “I shall use that. It is good to see you again, Penelope. I owe you a debt.”

“No,” my mother said. She made a slash across her neck as Callie and Dizzy shook their heads. “You don’t.”

“You do not,” Callie mimicked. When the two agreed, people tended to just get out of the way. When they didn’t…well, the cops had been called a few times from neighbors worried about domestic violence.

Ja’s eyes sparkled, still on mine. “They are wise, not wanting you to have a connection with a vampire.” Her gaze slowly made its way to Darius. “I would press the point, but doing so would impose on the merriment of the gathering.”

“You are free to speak your mind, I am sure,” he said. “They will let you know when they no longer welcome a particular topic.” He glanced down at us, and Reagan reached over and took his hand, twining her fingers in his.

In that moment, I saw it. His eyes flicked to her and softened, the deep light of emotion shining within them. A small smile curved her lips. While she always tried to make his life hell, and he tried to manipulate hers, they were doing it out of mutual adoration.

Their relationship was still weird. Strong and deep, sure, but still weird.

“Yes.” Ja smiled and followed my eyes, her gaze flicking back and forth between Reagan and Darius. “Quite a surprise, isn’t it? An elder with emotion. I would not have believed it if I hadn’t witnessed it myself.”

“I can scarcely believe it myself, I can assure you.” He bowed his head a mere fraction. “As we’ve discussed.”

“Of course.” She refocused on me, and I got the impression something had just passed between them in a subtle exchange I’d probably never understand. “Penelope, I would like to apologize for our meeting. I was not in a place to appreciate it. It took me by surprise, I must admit.”

“She is truly exceptional, is she not?” Darius asked.

“Truly. One of only a handful I have met throughout my many long years to capture my notice. Capable of great things. And discovered by…”

“Reagan,” Darius said.

“I found her in a closet.” Reagan took a sip of her wine as servers filed in with the soup course. “She’s mine.”

I frowned at them and opened my mouth to interject, but Marie flashed me a hard stare and Callie lightly shook her head. Emery took my hand, and I could tell something was at work that I didn’t understand.

As usual. I’d be surprised the day I did understand everything.

“And Emery,” Marie said softly. “It was he who showed her the way, isn’t that right, Penelope?”

Callie huffed. I didn’t need to ask why—she’d wanted to be the one to take that mantle.

“He was the first to show me what it was to be a mage, yes,” I said. “Then Callie and Dizzy showed me what it was to be part of a community.”

The dual-mages beamed, and I felt my heart squish. It was true, and I would always value everything they had done for me.

But it was Emery’s turn to feel the force of Ja’s beguiling stare. Heat kindled deep in her dark eyes. “A handsome young natural. And your choice is made, I see.”

“Yes.” He squeezed my hand as Reagan bristled. She was still hell-bent on beating people away from Emery for me. Even a passing glance from another woman was enough to set her off. Where was she when I got hit on, though? Laughing and nudging Emery to start a fight, that was where.

“Pity.” Ja’s smile said she was joking. Or maybe hungry. It was hard to tell. “I sense a natural pairing. How extremely rare. My goodness. If only I had been awake to have discovered you two. The things we could do.” She dipped her head and smiled coyly, and I realized I was staring at her in rapture, hanging on her every word. It wasn’t even that interesting, what she was saying, but her musical voice lulled me. That was probably part of her magic. She was even more wily and dangerous than Darius. “Forgive me, please,” she continued. “How crass of me.”