by K. F. Breene
“She doesn’t know anything about all that,” Red said, turning me toward the bar door.
Broad Face stepped into our path. “Now wait a minute. I got a few questions first.”
“Would you get out of the way?” Red waved him off. “Roger has an interest in this young lady. I’d hate to tell the Alpha of the North American Pack that you guys gave her a hard time when she came to us for help.”
Broad Face gave me a hard look before finally stepping aside. “Fine. But you better mind your manners, little mage, is that clear?”
Red shook his head in exasperation and ushered me toward the door, releasing my shoulders so he could open it for me.
“I’ll be watching,” Broad Face said as I stepped through.
“From where, outside the door?” Red mumbled to himself, filing in behind me.
Dim light greeted me, splashing across the bar and highlighting two guys at the far end having a drink. Another group was tucked behind a divider at the other side of the door. Soft music played in the background, weaving in and out of the murmuring of conversation. My hunch had held water—legally the bar was closed, but drinks were still being poured for magic people who were quiet.
Red tried to usher me to a seat at the bar, but I hesitated. “I just wondered if I could use your phone. I left mine behind. And maybe borrow a few dollars for a cab?”
“Yeah, sure. Do you want a drink?” Red offered, scooting in front of me. “It’s safe in here. I meant what I said about Roger. He knows you’re not part of the Guild. No one in their right mind would lay a finger on you in here.”
The murmuring died down as we approached the bar. The two guys sitting at the end of the wood counter turned my way. They looked to be in their forties, each of them nursing a bottle of beer. I could see the table behind the divider now, three guys and a couple of girls.
“What’s this, Red?” The bartender sauntered over and the light glinted off the ring in her nose. Tattoos ran down her arms and across her breastplate, dipping into her low V-neck shirt.
“That mage snuck up on us.” Broad Face had opened the door and stood dramatically in the frame. “She was invisible. Said she came from that elder vampire’s house.”
All murmuring stopped and a tense hostility clouded the air. Great.
“She was teamed with the Rogue Natural in Seattle,” Red said. “If you’re worried about it, call Roger. I’m sure he has nothing better to do than corroborate my story.”
“She was with the Rogue Natural?” one of the guys at the bar said, turning in his seat so he could see better. “I’ve heard all about the Rogue Natural. There’s no way she could keep up with him. Look at her.”
“This was literally the last place I would’ve thought he’d be mentioned,” I mumbled. “The last place.”
“She didn’t say nothing about the Rogue Natural,” Broad Face said, taking a step back.
“I hear that guy is the best there is.” Smells-a-Stink stepped into the doorway to replace his buddy. “He works alone, though. Everyone knows that.”
“Wait, was she the chick involved in that huge Guild takedown in Seattle?” someone from the table in the corner asked. “Because there was a chick in all that. The vampires own her...”
I was too mystified for a rebuttal.
Smells-a-Stink pushed in farther so he could look around the divider. “I don’t know about a chick, but I know about the Rogue Natural. He’s a real cowboy. A renegade. But he works alone. He’s stronger that way. I mean, rogue? What does that mean to you? Works well in groups?” He huffed incredulously.
“Honestly, I just need a phone,” I said. “A phone and cab money.”
“I thought about going rogue,” Smells-a-Stink continued, and I wasn’t sure who he was talking to at that point. “No bosses, no one bothering you—”
“Here.” The bartended handed over a cordless phone. “By the time anything gets through their thick heads, you’ll be frozen to death.” She pointed at the back of the bar. “The bathroom’s back there if you want to freshen up.” She eyed Red. “Or some alone time.”
“I’m just trying to help her out,” Red said, taking a step back and raising his hands. “She doesn’t know anything about this life. She grew up human. She’s out here getting trained by the dual-mage pair in the Garden District, but something went wrong with last night’s training and she’s been handed over to the vamps. Now look at her. Clearly something went wrong again.”
I blinked at him for a few seconds. He certainly knew a lot about my life. And if he did, the Guild certainly would.
Time to go.
I reached for my hip and my phone, but grasped empty air for the second time that night.
The numbers were in my phone. Which meant I didn’t have them. The only person whose number I knew by heart was my mother, and I wasn’t desperate enough to call her. Yet.
“What do you mean, they handed her over to the vamps?” one of the guys at the table said, bristling. “What kind of shit is that?” He shot up and headed for the bar, although I wasn’t sure what, exactly, he planned to do. The guy was dressed like some sort of hipster lumberjack—carefully groomed beard, plaid shirt, and seriously tight jeans.
“She’s too powerful for anyone else to train,” Red said.
“What about that Rogue Natural?” one of the girls at the table asked, standing to get a better view of me. “She can’t be more powerful than him. I saw him, once. I’d take training with him any day.”
“Not cool, Gail,” the guy next to her said.
“What?” she shot back. “You don’t think I see you looking at other chicks? I see you looking. What’s good for the goose, as they say.”
“Please, can you give me Reagan’s number, Red?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“Reagan?” one of the guys at the end of the bar murmured. “Did she say Reagan?”
“I knew she was bad news.” Smells-a-Stink huffed and backed out.
“Just perfect,” I said to myself. These people practically deified Emery.
“Listen, honey,” Hipster Lumberjack said, “you gotta stay away from that vamp-banger. Anyone that messes with those filthy creatures has got a screw loose.”
My smile was tight. “Red, the number, please. Now.”
“Red,” the bartender barked, leaning over the bar. “Get her that number. This is getting ridiculous.”
The others kept piping up, offering to train me themselves, telling stories about Emery, but I blanked it all out.
“What’d they do to you?” Hipster Lumberjack leaned toward me, resting his elbow on the bar. “We can protect you. I’m sure Roger can find training for you somewhere else. We got plenty of mages on the payroll. Let us handle it.”
“That’s a neat trick.” The bartender nodded at me. “That soft and vulnerable look really suits you. Don’t let them know what you really are until it’s too late.”
It felt like I’d walked into a circus and was currently stuck on a rotating stile. What in God’s goosebumps was she talking about?
“Look at her,” Hipster Lumberjack said, straightening and scowling at the bartender. “Clearly she’s had a rough night. She wouldn’t be asking for help if she could help herself.”
The bartender threw up her hands and took a step back. “Just saying. There’s more to her than you think.” She winked at me and sauntered down the bar.
“Here. You can use my phone. Her number is pulled up.” Red handed it over. The number on the screen was labeled “She-Devil.”
“That’s not very nice,” I said, taking the phone.
“You’re a lovely girl, don’t get me wrong, Penny,” Red said. “But you would change your tune if Reagan were the one beating up on you.”
“I’d rather her than vampires.”
Before I could call, someone shouted, “Hey!” outside.
Broad Face spun around. He had time to brace himself, bringing up his hands, before two arms came into view, grabbed his shirt, and yank
ed him through the door.
“Whoa,” we heard, and the door started to swing shut behind him.
The whole bar jumped to their feet. A loud bang had me flinching. The door swung open wildly and slapped the edge of the frame. The top hinge tore loose and the whole thing teetered.
“Oh no,” Red groaned, and tried to slink away.
She-Devil had arrived.
17
The street lamp behind Reagan outlined the curve of her hips, interrupted by the bulge of her fanny pack. Leather covered her legs, leading down into thick-soled boots. Only a tank top covered her upper body, but she didn’t hug her arms against the chill.
I’d never been so glad to see someone.
“Red, where are you running off to? Aren’t you glad to see me?” she asked, watching him skitter to the back.
Her gaze swung to the two guys at the end of the bar, both larger than her, and both ready for battle.
She didn’t even flinch. “What are you two lug nuts looking at? Sit down before you hurt yourselves. Hey, have any of you— Oh, Penny. There you are.” She sauntered in like she belonged, when she most certainly, without even a question, did not.
Hipster Lumberjack stepped in front of me like we were besties. “We know the vampires did something to her,” he said, refusing to move. “The last thing she needs is help from your kind.”
“Oh yeah?” Reagan said as Broad Face filled the doorway behind her. He wiped blood off his chin, but didn’t advance. He probably didn’t want to be thrown again. “And. What. Kind. Is. That?” Each word was its own threat.
“Blood junkie.”
The bartender reached under the bar for something.
“Trixie, no need to jump to conclusions. I’m just here to pick up my friend,” Reagan said, giving a thumbs-up to the bartender.
“I’m not tryin’ to hate on you, Reagan, but I gotta do my job,” Trixie said. “We both know you have a reputation for ruining bars.”
“That was one time, and it wasn’t even my fault. A Mages’ Guild wannabe started it.” Reagan didn’t elaborate as she turned back to Hipster Lumberjack. “Blood junkie is a derogatory term for a vampire, actually. I’m not the one after the blood, so therefore, I am not a junkie.”
“Trixie, do you need someone to take out the trash?” one of the guys from the corner asked.
“He means me, Trix.” Reagan raised her hand. “I am the trash in this scenario.”
“You’ve got five minutes to settle down, Reagan, and then I gotta throw you out,” Trixie said, shaking her head with a small smile still on her lips.
Reagan nodded. “Sounds good to me. Like I said, I’m just here to pick up my friend. And hopefully have a little libation as I do so.”
“We know the vampires did something to her,” Hipster Lumberjack said, refusing to back off.
“Five minutes, you said?” Reagan asked Trixie.
“Four, now,” Trixie answered.
“Right.” Reagan leveled her gaze at Hipster Lumberjack. “You know what the vampires did to her, do you?”
“Yeah. Look at her.”
“Yes, look at her. Look at the untrained mage who killed four newbie vampires, scared the fifth so badly it cowered from her, and protected a mid-level vamp from one of the oldest vampires who walks the earth. A vampire so old and powerful that she very nearly killed my boyfriend—who is a blood junkie, by the way—and the higher mid-level vampire fighting by his side. If I hadn’t given him my blood just now—which is legal, since I’m magical and also willing—he would’ve perished, I would’ve gone crazy, and you’d all likely be dead. All because no one has ever documented what happens when you force an untrained natural into a life-or-death situation.”
“If she did all that,” Broad Face said, his hands on his hips and his expression sour, “then how come she is in here looking for help?”
“I said she was extremely talented and powerful.” Reagan stepped closer to Hipster Lumberjack, their faces now a foot apart and neither one backing down. “I didn’t say anything about her intelligence level. I mean, seriously. Who runs for their lives in this day and age without at least taking their phone? Wallet-schmallet, you can steal what you need. But a phone? Yeah. You need that. Or, at the very least, a good set of running shoes. Penny, you fail that test, I don’t mind telling you.”
“You got one minute left,” Trixie warned her, pulling out her shotgun.
“I just called Roger,” Red said, emerging from the back. He stayed on that side of the bar. “He’s not too far away. He’s thinking about paying us a visit.”
Reagan stiffened and turned her head, her focus no longer on Hipster Lumberjack. She narrowed her eyes at Red, who flinched before lifting his phone up like a shield.
“I can’t tell if he’s bluffing,” Reagan said softly.
Trixie lowered the gun to the bar, her eyes on Red, too.
Reagan noticed and took a step back. “Come on, Penny, let’s get moving.”
“Afraid of a little muscle, are ya?” someone from the corner table said.
Another one of them snickered. “That’s right, run away, little vamp maggot.”
Reagan swung her gaze in that direction and the taunting cut off.
“Tell Roger that Darius took a beating to keep Penny alive,” Reagan said, and it was clear she was talking to Red. “He’s in this all the way. I’ll be taking over Penny’s training for now, but that means I can’t keep my eye on the city. The Guild is already slipping in. If we don’t start hunting them down soon, we’ll be overrun. The blood junkies have the nights mostly covered, but we could sure use some help during the day.”
“Roger won’t help some vamp lover,” Hipster Lumberjack said with a sneer.
“Congratulations,” Reagan replied. “You’re as dumb as you look.”
“Wait just a minute—”
Hipster Lumberjack didn’t get time to finish his sentence. Reagan spun and grabbed him so fast that even my flinch was delayed. She threw him like an empty trash can, ramming him into Broad Face. The two of them tumbled out of the bar.
“I didn’t see what happened. I was putting the shotgun away,” Trixie said, straightening up.
“I did. She—”
“Awesome,” Trixie said over Red. “Reagan, you’d best be leaving.”
“Ten-four.” Reagan gave her a salute and stalked from the bar.
I stared after her for a beat before starting. All eyes were glued on me.
“Sorry. She’s…” I had no excuses. She just was, and they likely knew it. “I’ll just…” I hurried after her. “Thank you,” I yelled over my shoulder.
“Don’t lose that trick, Penny,” Trixie called after me. “That is the best weapon in your arsenal.”
“What trick?” Reagan asked as we turned down the sidewalk. Hipster Lumberjack was fighting Broad Face’s limbs to stand on his own. “What’d you do?”
“She thinks my looking forlorn and vulnerable is a trick of some sort.”
“Oh. Yeah, it totally is. Not to mention your whole Snow White vibe with that pretty face and those batting eyelashes. You had that hipster dude ready to change his whole world to fit you in it. You need to use that whenever it suits you. Catching an enemy off guard is the easiest way to defeat him.”
“I’m out of my element,” I admitted, feeling the sting of failure from my time in this city.
“You’ve been extremely sheltered all your life. And now you’re in the thick of things in the wildest magical city in the nation. It would be weird if you weren’t in culture shock, to be honest. But we’ll get there.” She nudged me with her shoulder in camaraderie.
I took a shaky breath and let slip a smile, feeling the heavy weight on my shoulders lighten a little. She couldn’t have known how much I needed to hear those words.
She turned left suddenly, and I hurried to catch up.
“Where are we going?” I asked, glancing behind us, thankful I didn’t feel the furious itch between my shoulder blades
anymore.
“This is going to cause a massive fight, but Darius and I agree that you shouldn’t stay with the Bankses. They’re jamming you up.” She stared into my eyes as if she was looking for something. “The only time mages usually pair up is if they form a dual-mage pair. But you want to work with everyone willy-nilly. You don’t even care if it’s someone from the same magical species. You’re so desperate for team sports that when you can’t pair up with anyone humanish, you give personalities to rocks and work with them. You leeched off my power in the warehouse, without asking, and used me to help you do that spell. That power is unheard of, as far as I know. And it is massive. You’re the sneakiest type of thief. I’m not even mad about it. I’m too jealous to be mad.”
She turned right at the next corner.
“So where are we going?” I asked again.
“To get my car. I had to get to Darius in a hurry, so I took the fast one that I borrowed without asking the other day.”
“Did he really almost die?”
“No. I was being dramatic. But he was in a bad way. She broke his back, then each limb, and tossed him to the side. She wasn’t trying to kill him, just get him out of the way. Which she did. With quick economy.”
Agony welled up inside of me. “I’m so sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault. He’s the ape that challenged you while he had a very old vampire hanging out in his house. Granted, no one could’ve known how your magic would affect her, but for a guy who is a master at overthinking the smallest detail, this is definitely his fault. Moss is still blaming you, though. He’ll always blame you. Unless there is even a remote possibility that he can blame me.”
“Is he okay?”
“He has a lot of broken bones from getting his ass kicked, but he’ll mend.”
“So you got there in time?”
“I was already on the way. I can feel when Darius is in pain and…various other things through the bond. That guy is very rarely worked up. I know when shenanigans are going down. Here we are.”
A shiny midnight-blue Lamborghini sat around the corner from Darius’s house. Red and blue flashing lights from police cars lit up our surroundings.
