I clicked into my voice messages. The first one was from Veronica. “Penny…I’m sorry. They—” A man’s voice sounded in the background. Veronica sobbed into the phone. “I’m sorry, but they want you to come here. They say that they’ll”—more sobbing—“k-kill me and my family if you don’t.”

My eyes snapped open fully. Adrenaline rushed in to replace the fatigue from a moment before. I hopped off the bed, seeing two trays of food waiting by the door and a couple of sets of clothes beside it. Emery must’ve lifted the spell he’d used to keep people out the night before, probably for just that reason. Pulling on the new leathers, I spared a hand to call my mother, then trapped the phone between my ear and my shoulder.

“It’s about time you called,” my mother said by way of answering the phone. “I was worried sick. What have you been doing?”

“I was storming the guild with a bunch of vampires last night.” I couldn’t help the sullen teenager approach, even now. Some things were hard-wired. “But I’m up. I’m getting ready.”

“They are not to be trusted, Penny, no matter what pretty lies they might tell you.”

“Yes, I’ve been told—”

“But they do have their uses. Where are you?”

“I’m at one of their houses. Have you talked to Veronica?”

“Yes. Briefly. She snuck a phone call to me when they weren’t paying attention. They have her phone now, though. She’s cut off.”

“What is it?” Emery asked, sitting up with bleary eyes.

My mother’s tone took on a hard edge. “Is that boy sleeping in the same room— Never mind. It doesn’t matter right now. We can deal with that later.” She took a deep breath, and I knew she was pinching the bridge of her nose like she did when she was trying not to get worked up about something. “From what I understand, there is a group of them working on our house, trying to get in, and another group guarding Veronica and her family. Since the houses are so close, they essentially have a large host waiting for us.”

“Waiting for us, Mother? No. You don’t know what they can do.”

Emery swung his feet out of the sheets and dropped them to the floor. He stood stiffly, his body clearly as tired and sore as mine. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

“You had better believe that I know exactly what that crooked institution is capable of,” my mother said. “I will enjoy getting a little revenge. I’m sitting down the street right now, watching their movements. The arrogance is staggering. They puff out their chests like a bunch of turkeys when they walk down the street. And that’s exactly what they are. Turkeys.”

“It’s Veronica,” I said to Emery. “They have her.” Worry choked me, threatening to derail the anger and determination. “They made her leave a message on my phone saying that if I don’t come, they’ll kill her. I haven’t called her back yet.”

Emery’s movements sped up and he hurried for his leathers. “Has your mother foretold anything?”

I put the phone on speaker and repeated the question to my mother.

“I’ve got nothing,” she said. “All is appearing blank. I have a feeling it’s because of you. The images will come in a flurry once you choose a path. That’s what’s happened in the past, based on the things I was seeing.”

Emery nodded, pulling on his pants. “Call them back. Let’s see how long we have.”

“Call me right after,” my mother said. “Did you hear what I said? Right. After.”

I hesitated. “Right now, they’re on the defensive, trying to regain the upper hand.” I thought it through. “They will know what we did to the guild, they’ll know we’re together, and they’ll know we’re working with vampires. They fear us, Darius said.”

“Darius Durant? The elder vampire?” my mother said breathlessly. “He’s extremely high up in their hierarchy, not to mention powerful. He’s the one helping you?”

“Yes,” I answered distractedly. “The people that have Veronica will know what to expect. They’ll be able to prepare. If I call them, they’ll demand that I come alone.”

“What are you thinking?” Emery asked.

I met his steady gaze. He was game for anything. He would put off his vengeance and help me save my friend without batting an eye.

“By now, they’ll guess we have vampires working with us,” I said slowly, thinking it out. “A large host means they’re worried about a fight. They’ll look for us as the sun sets.”

“Yes,” Emery said softly. “And by then, they’ll be dead.”

“Wait a minute,” my mother said. “They have a lot of power waiting here. A Sheriff, some high-level mages—even with Emery, they’ll easily out-power us.”

“What about all those spells we made?” I asked Emery. “Is it too much to hope they’re still in the warehouse?”

His eyes sparkled. “Darius and I didn’t get a chance to barter about the price. Since money hasn’t exchanged hands, those spells are still ours. They’ll be in that warehouse, along with the ingredients. Maybe with the addition of a guard.”

“A human guard.” I nodded, hopeful. “That won’t be a problem for you. What about the locked door?”

“That also won’t be a problem for me.” He smiled ruefully. “It seems a misspent couple of years will come in handy this once.”

“It has come in handy repeatedly.” I stepped forward and put my hand in his.

“Don’t encourage him,” my mother said.

She could sure spoil a moment.

“Mother, hang tight. We’ll be there as soon as we can, and we’ll have a world of firepower with us.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

We got out of the black SUV at the end of the block, back far enough that we were hidden behind the corner of the last house. My utility belt was stuffed with herbs, power stones, and powerful spells contained in color-coded casings. Various spells rolled through my head, some that I’d learned the day before, and some my imagination was cooking up.

A cloud of evil intent thrummed, even from this distance, and I knew they were working up some nastiness, preparing for the battle they were sure was coming. I only hoped they expected it a bit later.

Emery looked at the darkening blue sky.

“What?” I asked, shaking out my hands. My body trembled with adrenaline, fear, and anxiety. I needed to get going, or I might not go at all.

“A nasty storm would be better so everyone would go inside. I don’t like fighting where innocent people might get hit in the crossfire.”

“Says the evilest man in the whole world.” I sniffed at him. “See? I hadn’t even thought of that. I was too busy wondering if I could do that vampire spell without the vampire. But don’t worry. The neighbors across the street are the worst. That jerk Billy Timmons deserves whatever he gets. Although watch. He’ll be the only one left unscathed.”

Emery took my hand and started forward, the flaps up on his utility belt. We crossed the street like a couple walking to the store, strolling along casually. I glanced down the street, seeing someone on the sidewalk outside my house, looking the other way. A moment later, his gaze switched direction, and he took notice of us.

“Look away and keep walking forward,” Emery murmured, and I recognized the spell he was using with his other hand—my concealment spell from the previous day.

“All those spells in your head, and you use the one I made up.” I smiled to mask the tremor in my voice, but he looked at me, his eyes filled with regret.

“We’ll make it out of this,” he said, continuing down the street. “We can handle this.”

My phone buzzed and I took it out. I saw you cross at the other end of the street. You’ll need a better disguise than hand holding.

“What’d she say?” Emery asked.

I sighed and shook my head. “Nothing relevant.” We hurried along the block and turned at the next corner. “Are we going to go in the back way?” I asked.