Natural Witch Page 20

  “Wow. He turns really ugly when he’s amped up.” I hadn’t meant to say that. I’d meant to breathe. But the vampire’s magic licked at me, knives slicing down my skin. The fire inside me raged. Streams of magic started to weave around the vampire.

  “I’m not doing this,” Emery said urgently, looking down at my hands. Then back up at me. His eyes widened, and his head snapped toward Clyde. “And she is untrained. She’s reacting to your magic in ways I wasn’t taught. You’re out of control, Clyde, and so is she. Fix this!”

  The vampire blinked twice, his brow furrowing and that ghastly hue diminishing slightly.

  Emery bent down to me, his lips by my ear. “Breathe, Penny. Just breathe. Focus on my touch. On my voice. He won’t hurt us here. But you can’t release that spell.”

  “I don’t know how to keep from releasing that spell,” I said through clenched teeth. “I don’t know how I’m making it. I’m just reacting to what I feel.”

  “I know. But remember, if a spell is woven too slowly, it’ll dissipate. Just slow it down. Slow everything down.”

  I closed my eyes, focusing on his hands holding my wrists. On his arm tightly around me. His comforting feeling and smell.

  I remembered how soundly I’d slept the night before, wrapped in a near-stranger’s arms. When I’d finally roused in the morning, Emery’s eyes were already open and staring at the ceiling. He’d lain still for who knew how long because he hadn’t wanted to wake me up.

  My mind shifted to his admissions of not feeling good enough. His belief that he was evil. He’d trusted me enough to tell me all of that. I realized that the trust was mutual. So if he said I could relax and still be safe, I believed him.

  As though a valve had been turned, pressure whooshed out of the situation. The spell fizzled and the energy slowed, no longer boiling around us. The spicy danger was still there, the vampire’s magic, but I ignored it, instead focusing on the positive feeling of Emery’s touch.

  I opened my eyes, taking in the scene—people moving around within the hotel. When Emery shifted a little, I once again caught sight of the vampire, his eyes and skin back to normal, his fangs pulling up into his gums.

  His hard brown eyes studied me before he adopted a disarming smile. “And here we are. Back to normal.”

  I leveled him with a glare. “Don’t try to charm me, bub. I’ve seen you without your makeup. It’s not pretty.”

  To my surprise, his smile spread. “And I have seen you without yours, so to speak. I will take the opposite assertion. You are breathtaking. Please, come with me.” He spared a glance for Emery, a sparkling, excited sort of thing, before leading us toward the bar area. Once there, we continued down the hall, past the dining area, and descended the stairs. “Are you hungry? I can have something brought to us now, or you can order room service later.”

  “We won’t be staying.” Emery released my wrists but not my shoulders.

  My stomach growled and I put a hand over it. “Will he try to drug us? Because I’m starving.”

  “I will not try to drug you… I did not catch your name.” Clyde turned at a crossroads in the hall and bent slightly, as though readying for a bow.

  “Penny.” I gingerly put out my hand. “Penny Bristol.”

  He completed the bow, but didn’t take my hand. “I think we can both agree that holding off on touching is probably the best course of action for us right now.”

  “Thank you,” I said, pulling my hand back. “We also need to speak with your boss.”

  “Yes.” Clyde’s gaze flicked to Emery and back to me. “My lobby administrator said something to that effect. I was surprised. She is new. She did not know to contact me immediately with your message. Nor, it seems, did she know your name. I was intrigued by how a trick such as that was pulled off. I expected one of the Mages’ Guild. Follow me.” He led us to the right and then to a large office at the end of the hall. He flicked a switch, and subdued light rained down on a large wooden desk facing two leather chairs. A bookcase stood against the wall behind the desk, stuffed full. Wooden filing cabinets adorned another wall and a coat rack waited by the door. Watching it all was a lone plant in the corner, scared for its life among all the dead wood.

  “Please, have a seat.” Clyde paused. “This is the most sterile private place available to us on such short notice. As soon as everyone is comfortable, we can move up to my quarters.”

  A smile tickled Emery’s lips. “It’s not often a vampire of your age is this cautious.”

  Clyde stopped next to the chair behind the desk, his hand resting on the back. “Not often, no.” He waited for us to sit before taking his own seat. “I need a little more information before I call Mr. Durant. He doesn’t like surprises. I’m sure you understand.”

  Emery leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands in front of him. “In all honesty, I hadn’t expected to ask for Darius. I thought this would be one of our more typical interactions, with the exception of me asking you about translating a letter. But…”

  I raised my hand, realizing Emery was at a loss for words. He probably worried about how much of my situation to give away. “Going above your head is my doing. I had a premonition to ask for the boss’s boss. Since Emery was coming here to see you, I need your boss. I have no idea why.”

  Clyde steepled his fingers. “I see.”

  “Well, then at least someone does. But your boss needs to come. That is non-negotiable.”

  “You are lying, Miss Bristol.” Clyde’s cunning gaze made my scalp tingle. Fire crept up my middle again. I was having an awful time keeping my cool around this vampire. The guy was mighty dangerous, that was clear. “But I can’t tell about which part.”

  “Then how could you possibly tell I’m lying?”

  “Certain things. Little things. When studied, there are little tells that—”

  “Yeah, I don’t care.” I waved his words away, suddenly impatient. My phone vibrated in my pocket. Urgency overcame me, and I knew what the message would say before I even opened it.

  Time is running out.

  I passed the phone to Emery, my mother’s message pulled up. The phone rang a moment later. It had been agreed upon that she would text us the messages she’d received through her magic, but no one had discussed the best way for her to badger us afterward. She’d want to know what our plans were—basically why our time was running out.

  She would not be pleased that we had no idea. Maybe this Darius person could shed light on something. Or the letter could.

  “Give him the letter,” I told Emery.

  Emery handed the phone back. “Don’t answer it.”

  What did he think I was, insane?

  I silenced the phone and put it in my pocket.

  “Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Clyde said, spreading his hands and smiling patiently.

  Emery pushed the letter across the desk. “I’ll start from what I’m okay with you knowing. I’m in town to hunt down the men responsible for my brother’s death. I wish to claim vengeance, and find the place where my brother died. He needs a proper burial. I will give it to him.”

  Clyde took the letter and dropped it in front of him, not looking at the words.

  Emery pointed at it. “I recovered that letter from the office of my brother’s killer. I’m wondering if the man who sent him that was the one that ordered his death. I need to know what it says.”

  Clyde glanced down. It was unclear if he’d be able to read the letter or not. The man didn’t give much away. “And if this letter is nothing?”

  “I break into the Mages’ Guild and look around.” Emery’s lips turned into a thin line, and shivers rolled over my body, making my small hairs stand on end.

  “You and Penny will break in?” Clyde asked.

  Emery’s expression turned uncomfortable. He didn’t answer.

  “And what is your part in all of this?” Clyde asked me, entirely too patient.

  I took a deep breath, because I didn’t know
how I’d go about hanging him up by his toes and demanding action. “No one knows, least of all Emery and me. I don’t fit into Emery’s plans at all. I don’t have a squabble with the guild—”

  “You are a terrible liar, Miss Bristol. What is your squabble with the guild?”

  I felt my eyebrows slip low. That was an annoying trait he had.

  “It’s best to be relaxed, and just let the lies come,” Emery said nonchalantly.

  “But she hasn’t had practice.” Clyde smiled, oozing charm. “How fortunate for me.”

  “I’ve had practice—it just never goes very well.” I swatted the hair out of my eyes.

  “Honesty. How refreshing.” Clyde’s smile grew.

  “Her squabble,” Emery said, taking over, thankfully, “should be fairly obvious. The guild found out about her when I did. I got past her mother first.”

  Clyde sat back in his chair. His gaze went back and forth between Emery and me. He glanced at the letter in front of him before reaching for the phone on the corner of his desk.

  He was going to call his boss.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  A couple of hours later, Emery looked at the closed door of his adjoining suite with Penny. Clyde had given them one of the vampire suites at the bottom of the hotel to freshen up while he looked at Emery’s letter and pulled any information that might be relevant. On his orders, clothes were brought to them, a hairdresser was sent down to Emery, and they were also encouraged to order whatever they wanted from room service. Everything would be paid for.

  There was nothing to worry about. Penny was undoubtedly alone, and perfectly safe, on the other side of that door. Emery bent forward on the expensive couch and clasped his fingers together, struggling against the urge to knock on the door and ask if she was okay. He’d know if she was in danger. Everyone in the hotel would know. She’d probably blow the place sky high.

  Darius had agreed to head out as soon as could be arranged. The guy had his own jet. That meant he’d be on site in no time, which was probably best. No one would know how to protect Penny better than Darius.

  The problem was that no one would know how to better use her, either. They were putting another layer between themselves and the guild, yes, but they were also delivering themselves into the hands of uncertainty. Emery knew how to fight the guild. He didn’t know how to fight the vampires. And likely wouldn’t know until it was too late and he was outsmarted.

  Now Penny was on her own, completely at the mercy of the one species that could wring every ounce of worth from her person. And sure, she could take care of herself in most situations…but what if she seized up and her magic wouldn’t come? Sometimes that happened to people when they panicked. They turned into a deer in the headlights, freezing until run over.

  He pushed off the couch and stalked over to the door adjoining their rooms. Emery braced his hands on the door frame and bent toward it, not sure what to do. This had to be right. Penny’s mom had directed them on this path, and she was the genuine article. A powerful Seer the likes of which Emery had only met once or twice on his journey.

  So why did it feel like they were wrapping themselves in Death’s cloak?

  A knock sounded at the main door. With a hard stare at the white wood in front of him, Emery pushed off and moved to answer it.

  “Mr. Westbrook.” Clyde stood at the door with papers and a knowing smile. “You are looking worlds better. You’re almost another person. Isn’t it a wonder what a haircut and a little water can do?”

  Emery turned back into the room, sparing a glance for the closed door, and another for the clock. The middle of the night. They’d need to wrap this up and get some sleep so tomorrow wouldn’t be a wasted day. He wanted to check out some of the guild’s compounds and see how things had changed.

  The door closed as he settled on the couch.

  “Miss Bristol has been seen to and food delivered,” Clyde said, taking the chair opposite Emery. His back was to the adjoining door. The vampire’s positioning probably meant something, or was being used to convey a message in some way, but Emery had no idea what. For vampires, subtlety was an art form. “I thought you might want to know.”

  The tight bands around Emery’s chest relaxed a little. What else would Clyde say? That they’d delivered her drink laced with drugs and scurried her away while he was getting his haircut? Emery had left her completely alone in a predator’s nest—he should’ve been by her side, protecting her.

  He was overreacting. He knew he was.

  The vampires would want to keep their business relationship with Emery in good standing, and harming or harassing Penny in any way would severely jeopardize it. Because of Emery, Darius had access to some of the most potent, unique spells in the world. No way would an elder vampire throw that away for an untrained natural.

  No, elders were interested in the long game. Darius would set this up to pay off in the years to come, not right now. Hopefully by then, Penny would be a rock-star mage. She’d be able to look out for herself.

  Emery took a deep breath. His head and his gut were at war with each other.

  “I’ve looked over the letter,” Clyde said, “and checked with as many sources as I could reach.”

  He’d probably also made a copy and kept it for his records.

  Clyde reached forward and placed the paper on the glass table between them. “It is not signed, as you know, but of the three Barons, only two speak Italian. That helps narrow things down. Of course, of the two that speak Italian, only one is proficient.” He paused for dramatic effect. Emery waited. No point playing into the vampire’s sense of theatrics. “This was written by the lesser of the proficient speakers, I am sure of it. But it has been polished up. He must’ve employed a proofreader or cheap translator to catch the larger issues. To an untrained eye, it would pass muster. Given that Nicholas is likely rusty with the language, he wouldn’t notice.”

  “Who is the lesser of the proficient speakers?” Emery asked.

  “Grimshaw.”

  “And the more fluent one?”

  “Happerhust.”

  “Right.” Emery rubbed his chin. “If what you say is true, it sounds like Grimshaw was trying to get Nicholas, a known killer within the guild, to believe Happerhust sent that note. And there are only a couple reasons why that would be. Either Nicholas was already assassinating people for Happerhust and Grimshaw wanted in on it without going through the proper channels, or Grimshaw wanted the finger pointed at Happerhust.”

  Clyde nodded.

  Emery narrowed his eyes at Clyde, who was a vampire and therefore couldn’t be trusted. Hence his issue with leaving Penny alone.

  “From what I know, those two don’t feud or disagree all that often,” Emery said.

  “They certainly do not, but you can never know what is brewing outside of the public eye.”

  Clyde would know that all too well. Vampires were notorious for their secrets.

  “What did the letter say?” Emery asked.

  “It is a vague message with a few lines of code to which I have no cipher. In time, I might be able to turn up something, but it was written four years ago. If they are not currently using this same code, I doubt we’ll find much. As it is, what I can gather is that the creator of the letter was checking up on his instructions. He wants to know if all has been tucked away accordingly.”

  “What are your thoughts on that?”

  “I can’t be sure, of course, but the letter was dated, and it was written at about that time when three high-powered magical members of the guild disappeared. They were never found. A lackluster search and a watered-down investigation was the only effort the guild put into finding out what happened.”

  “You’re sure of that?”

  “Yes. I’ve been keeping track of disappearances and higher-level maneuverings within the guild for some time. Often I am able to get extensive details. If someone outside of the guild commits a crime against a guild member, the killer is usually discovered and
punished. Other crimes go unsolved for no notable reason. This was of the latter variety. As was your brother’s death.”

  “Which reeks of an inside job.”

  “Of course. The mages that disappeared around the date of the letter belonged to the field office fifty miles from the office you ransacked.”

  “You checked up on me.”

  “I should’ve known you were in the area the second you stepped onto our soil. That I didn’t is…troublesome.” A wrinkle formed in Clyde’s forehead. Someone would be punished, Emery had no doubt. A vampire’s whole existence was based on knowledge. They couldn’t play political games without it.

  “Given the unusual jump in the chain of command, the time frame, the deaths, and the fact that Nicholas is a known killer, I have no doubt all of this is connected to my brother’s death.” Emery scratched his temple. The who didn’t really add up. From what he remembered, those two mages generally got along. They were on each other’s sides and didn’t go behind each other’s backs to this degree. Of course, the guild operated on secrets and lies. There was no telling what was going on behind the scenes. And besides, this one instance didn’t give Emery direct proof regarding his brother’s case. He was a tiny bit closer to getting answers, but his next steps hadn’t changed.

  “What about someone that could get access to a Baron’s office?” Emery asked, trying to consider all the possibilities.

  “That is a possibility, though remote. Getting into those offices is not easy. I have tried to infiltrate them in a great many ways. It would have to be someone with a direct relationship to the Baron and a lot of magic. Mages as a whole are solitary and territorial, guarding their power with traps and fail-safes. The guild amplifies those traits in its members.”

  Emery had always thought that too, but Penny had changed his mind. She wasn’t territorial. She worked with others as well as she breathed.