“And what is that?” Emery rocked from side to side, his cheek resting on Penny’s terrifyingly hot head.
“What do you think? Something is up with Penny, and Vlad’s old enough to take a guess at what it is.”
The elevator chimed and they rushed forward. Reagan stepped in front and center and turned toward the doors, the first line of defense if someone followed them in.
“If that godly stuff was legit, I would’ve heard about it,” Emery said, his hands shaking as he pressed the button for the lobby. “I’ve traveled all over the Brink and the Realm. I’ve talked to all sorts of creatures. I’ve heard secrets beyond secrets. Stories about dragons, unicorns, you name it, I’ve heard of it—”
Reagan’s head whipped around. “If I were you, I would never, ever say that last creature again. Not ever. Not even to me. And don’t speak to the person or creature who was talking tall tales. They’ll end up dead, and so will you.”
“Right. So now I believe those stories. Regardless, I’ve never heard of godly magic. Never heard of anything Darius told us last night. If godly magic existed on our plane, it’s long since disappeared.”
“Then what is going on?”
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it isn’t good.”
“Can you sense any difference in her…bubble, or whatever? Her energy?” Reagan asked.
The elevator bumped down. A chime announced the doors opening.
Emery pulled his head back to look down at Penny’s face as he hurried her out of the elevator. A blast of fresh, chilled air hit them. Her eyes didn’t even flutter.
Four vampires waited in the hall, stock-still.
“What are you clowns doing down here?” Reagan gracefully put herself between him and them.
“Helping keep the peace,” Sabrine said in a bored voice.
“With the bigger shifter gone, it will be more comfortable for Roger if we weren’t in the room,” Moss said. “It will help our cause.”
“Right. Fine,” Reagan said. “Moss, I need to take the car. Get— Stop shaking your head. It’ll be fine. I won’t crash it.”
“I’ll take you,” Moss said, his face closed down. “Marie, tell Mr. Durant that I will send another car around to him.”
“I’ve figured out how to drive on the wrong side of the road,” Reagan said as Moss stalked ahead. She waved Emery forward. “It’ll be fine— Well, he’s not listening. How annoying.”
“What happened to the witch?” Sabrine’s gaze tracked Penny.
“She passed out. Too many charming personalities in one place.” Reagan winked. Sabrine gave her a blank stare. “You should go into theater. So expressive.”
“Come on,” Emery said.
“As I was saying,” Reagan said quietly, out near the security desk now. Another large man had taken the place of the first. “Do you feel anything different with her magic?”
“Nothing. Not all night. Her energy rolled and surged, but it was always timed with someone getting pissed. That’s to be expected. With all the power in that room, and with her special gift to sense and use other people’s magic, she must’ve felt their hostility.”
“And that was a lot of hostility.” Reagan hurried to reach the door first and pull it open. “What about her emotions? Anything odd there? Do you feel any new traits?”
Emery stepped out into the cold night. “I forgot our jackets.”
“It’s fine. Here’s Moss. Crap, he’s speeding. He knows something’s wrong. It must be obvious.” Reagan rushed forward and opened the door.
“I’m carrying a limp woman. Of course something’s wrong.” Emery delicately put Penny into the car before running around to the other side and getting in with her. “Darius is great at damage control.”
“Sure, for Roger. But Vlad is the most cunning creature you’ll ever meet. Ever. He already knows a ton. Darius is going to need all his wits to keep Vlad in the dark.”
“Luckily”—Moss’s dark eyes flashed in the rearview mirror—“he has brought all his wits today.”
“Yes, thank you, peanut gallery.” Reagan sat in the front passenger seat. “So?” she asked Emery. The car pulled away from the curb quickly. “Can you feel anything?”
“I don’t have a bond to her other than our energy. When she works magic, everything feels exactly the same. I have no idea what’s going on right now.”
“The natural pairing doesn’t let you feel her emotions?”
“No. We’d have to be a dual-mage pair for that, and then it is only a magical connection. It isn’t like a vampire bond.”
“Well, a magical connection is at least something. Why haven’t you gone down that road yet?”
“Because he is a coward.” Moss flashed accusatory eyes into the rearview mirror.
Reagan pointed at Moss. “There it is.”
Emery gritted his teeth.
“She was not acting herself tonight,” Moss said.
“She did get weird there toward the end,” Reagan said. “And for her, that’s saying something.”
“Could just be the flu…” Emery pulled her head down onto his lap and smoothed her hair away from her burning forehead. “We need to get a temperature gauge.”
“Thermometer, genius.” Reagan tapped the window. “Can’t you go faster, Moss?”
“You are usually unbearable, but when you worry, you are even more so,” Moss said in his deadpan monotone.
Despite the situation, Emery couldn’t help but laugh.
After a quick stop at a corner store, Moss brought them to a swanky hotel. Emery barely noticed the furnishings as they vaulted up the stairs to the third floor. Moss unlocked the door to their suite with the wave of his hand, pushed it open, then stepped aside so Emery could enter. Cradling Penny in his arms, he ran through the sitting area to the room at the back, the blackout curtains open, revealing the cloudy night.
Once he got Penny on the bed, Emery sat beside her, laying his hand on her forehead. Still burning. “Grab the thermometer.”
Moss ripped open the package, not sparing any time.
“Here’s the thing…” Reagan paced in the space between the bedroom area and the sitting room. She put her hands to her hips. “You’re worried for Penny. If you guys bond, and then you die, you think she’d go nuts, right?”
“Do we have to have this conversation now?” Emery took the device from Moss, a wand of sorts with a bead of glass at one end, a screen in the middle, and a button below the screen. “What is this?”
“A thermometer.” Moss tapped it.
“How…” Emery pushed the button. It clicked electronically then beeped, and the screen glowed to life. A number flashed within the green light. “I just hold it to her head? What happened to the kind that you put under the tongue?”
“Technology has advanced.” Moss unfolded the instructions.
“She could be dying,” Reagan continued, “and you have no idea, because you won’t bond her. Or whatever the dual-mage spell thing is called. She could have some seriously crazy magic fighting her right now, and you’re forcing her to fight it alone. All because you’re scared she might…one day get hurt…down the road…maybe.”
“Put that end on her head”—Moss tapped the curved end—“and move it back and forth across her forehead while pushing the button.”
Emery shoved Reagan’s voice out of his head and did as Moss said, hearing the little electronic clicks as he did so.
“Don’t you think, in hindsight, your reasoning is stupid?” Reagan stalked closer, leaning over to peer at the thermometer gliding across Penny’s forehead. “I mean, I would really like to know what the fuck is going on right now. I do not like the thought of crazy goblin magic running rampant in my friend. But I can’t fight what I can’t see, do you see what I mean? Maybe my magic could help, like before, but I can’t possibly know, because we don’t have a guy on the inside. That guy is too much of a coward to do what he needs to do.”