Of course, she thought, the damn thing had to be in the last place they checked. She moved into the study and watched Brandon finish his spellcasting, and cursed under her breath when the secret passage was revealed. She looked down it with her mage sight, her eyes were stinging now, and she cursed again, this time much louder.

  “Damnit, Brandon that passage is a deathtrap.”

  Brandon scoffed in his arrogant manner, “So we should let them get away?”

  She shook her head and resisted the urge to smack him as she walked to the entrance, “Of course not,” and she started to cast a simple spell to measure the size of a room, and sent it into the tunnel. The walls would have absorbed any magic, but it wasn’t magic, it was high frequency sound beyond the range of even wolf shifter hearing, it took a few moments, but the sound eventually returned to her and the spell which had never left her body processed it.

  She said, “It’s a few miles long, I think it would be wiser to find the other end from above.”

  She casted another spell with the results of the last one in mind. It should lead her straight to them, if they were still there.

  Brandon frowned, “Are you sure you can find it.”

  She nodded sharply.

  Brandon said, “Very well, let’s go.”

  They made their way back upstairs, retracing their steps, and left the mansion with another shadow spell at the same spot on the wall. They raced for their cars, it wouldn’t be long now, and she could go home and get away from Brandon for a while. It only took a couple of minutes, the tunnel was almost a straight shot down the street into a less affluent area. When they pulled up she jumped out of the car, the garage door was coming up. She couldn’t believe her luck, she recognized a Moore when she saw one, and drew in her natural fire magic and blasted the garage with fire…

  Chapter 9

  “Shit, what now?” I’d been shielded, so it might not have killed me, but I was glad Lilliana had grabbed me.

  Lilliana said, “Tunnel, back to the mansion. Can you control the wards yet?”

  I hadn’t learned as much as I should have, but I thought so. I gasped a yes as Lilliana and Malina both grabbed an arm and pulled me back to the basement under the house, and into the tunnel. We didn’t walk this time, we ran. I was in pretty good shape, but I only made it about a mile before I started to slow.

  Lilliana said, “Sorry,” and picked me up and tossed me over her shoulder, and then we really started to move.

  Malina looked amused, “You can pull infernal power from me, don’t forget warlock.”

  Shit, I didn’t forget exactly. But I didn’t realize that would let me run faster either. I had so much to learn, and it’d only been hours so there was a steep curve. We were back in the study, and she put me down. I walked around to the desk and opened up Sal back to the wards page, and started to absorb the examples of what had been done before as fast as I could read them.

  Lilliana growled, “I thought you said…”

  “Shush,” I frowned at her when she shushed, I’d have to be careful with my orders apparently, “I read all about wards and understand them, I’m just absorbing some more tactics before they get here. Umm, you can talk now Lil.”

  I expected her to be pissed for shutting her up like that, but she looked ashamed instead, and a little turned on. This was going to take a while to get used to.

  I reached out through the pendant and Malina at the same time, and started to charge the wards even more than they already were. I found the damaged section they’d used to get in, closed it up and tightened it, and then I used some concealment wards to hide that I’d fixed it. It would depend on their power and the strength of their mage sight to determine if they’d fall for it or not.

  Then I maximized the containment wards everywhere else. The offensive wards I would activate and direct as needed. That seemed like the best way according to the book, at least for someone with my limited experience.

  A few hours ago I was on the street looking for a place to stay. Now I was preparing to fight my first magical battle, and had a succubus and vampire on my side. I still wasn’t sure what to make of it all.

  Malina touched Lilliana and kissed her softly, “He’s as ready as he can be considering the circumstances.”

  She turned to me, “This is important lover, never risk your life for mine. I can’t die, even if they destroy my body, as long as you live, I can return just twenty-four hours later. If you die doing something stupid, I’ll be stuck down in hell with you, and in a very bad mood. I can tell you’re a bit of a hero, so don’t give into it.”

  I froze for a second, had that been a threat? I nodded to her before I got back to the book. I’d have liked the time to review spells, but it seemed wards and my intrinsic powers as a warlock would have to do for this first battle. I wouldn’t even need the latter if I could keep them out of the house. I could look up spells and pacts later. After all, I still needed to be alive to make pacts.

  “Lina, Lil, what about the tunnel, they could come at us from two directions,” I noted.

  Malina tilted her head, “Why don’t you look at those wards closer?”

  I sighed and sat down in the chair behind the desk, “Lil, would you get me a water?” I was feeling a little dehydrated from our sexual Olympics earlier.

  Malina chuckled and sounded sultry doing it. Honestly it was damned distracting, but at the same time I wouldn’t change her for anything. Not that I could.

  Lilliana zipped out and up the stairs as I closed my eyes and connected to those wards and traced them. Oh. About halfway through there were traps, if the wards were overpowered, drained, or simply dispelled, the entire tunnel would collapse. The wards themselves were intricately entwined with the tunnels existence. Hopefully the enemy wouldn’t do that, the idea of building another tunnel like that was exhausting. They still weren’t here, which means I was wasting time. I should be back to reading the book.

  Lilliana came back in a blur, and handed me the water, “Thanks Lil.”

  I turned back to the book, and kept reading. Sal seemed to have endless accounts of what was done, and I wondered if they were automatically recorded through the amulet or something. I couldn’t imagine writing all of this history down myself. The page changed and I read a paragraph that indicated that was indeed the case, for just the history though, if I ever made new spells I’d need to write them in myself.

  It was also obvious I needed to focus while studying, if I let my thoughts wander even a little, Sal would bring up information on that. I thought about fighting with the wards again, and Sal brought me back to the same page I was on before. That was handy. I looked up at Lil and Malina.

  “This is great and all, but eventually I’ll have to go out, which means I need to learn how to fight without wards, will you two help me? I’m good in a scrap, but magic… I have a lot to learn.”

  Malina smiled at me and nodded and I instantly hardened. Damn, she was distracting. Back to the book, I could fuck them more later, which was more than enough incentive to live through the coming battle...

  Chapter 10

  Karen sighed angrily.

  Brandon was being a bigger dick than usual, and he was blaming her for attacking prematurely, before they could surround the house. He hadn’t even hit on her for a whole ten minutes, which meant that he was probably really angry with her for some reason. Maybe because she didn’t let him give the order and had just attacked with fire on her own? She didn’t want to believe that, but he probably was that petty. Him being in charge was probably more important to him than results.

  She grimaced, not that the results had accomplished their mission.

  Either that, or he thinks we might fail now, and he’s making sure she takes the fall for it. She didn’t like that idea at all, fucking politics. She was ten times the mage he was. He was good, excellent even in control, spell craft, and knowledge, but his power was lacking compared to hers by a wide margin, and she was still growing in power.

  She tried one more time to be reasonable.

  “Brandon, they didn’t run out the back, I’m sure of it. We would have felt it, even through the entire house itself we couldn’t have failed to pick up a demon, a vampire, and a warlock’s magic. They went downstairs to the basement, and no doubt back through the tunnel. We need to split up now, send half the team to watch the mansion so they don’t run from there, and call in for another team to back us up. Otherwise we’ll be chasing them back and forth for days.” You stupid jackass.

  Of course, she left those last three words unspoken.

  Brandon shook his head stubbornly and not a little arrogantly, “We can handle it on our own. You stay here, get in that house and guard the tunnel from the basement with five others. I’ll go back to the house myself and take care of this.”

  She gaped at him a moment, he wanted to split up? No doubt so he could take all the credit. Where was all the bullshit about them being an amazing team now? Well, it wasn’t all bad, if he died now no one could blame her for it, not if she’s back here sitting on her hands.

  They’d probably still try though.

  She turned to the team about to pick hers, but hesitated, “Alright, we’ll do that, do you want to pick the teams?”

  Brandon sniffed, “Certainly,” and the blowhard picked all men. Unbelievable, some of the best on this team were women. Not all of them, but his choice was… illuminating.

  She waved to her team, “Let’s go set up in the basement,” she turned to Brandon, “Good luck, and be careful.”

  She turned and marched through the garage and into the house, she hadn’t mean that last, but their mission was being recorded, and it seemed prudent to say. She took a deep sniff and wrinkled her nose. Damn, this house stunk of sex, it should have disgusted her, but truthfully she was a little jealous. She’d worked for power and influence so long she’d forgotten what it felt like to have a good romp.

  She shook off her thoughts and went down into the basement, her half of the squad of security mages to the basement. She hated being sidelined, but it could be worse, she could be the one going back to that fortified mansion…

  Dion entered the building and headed straight for the stairs down. He took them two at a time with his personal guards, who also happened to be his turns and couldn’t betray him, down to his coven’s lair. Lair sounded impressive, but really it was just some sub-basements that looked more like posh suites in a hotel, and as the leader his looked more like a penthouse.

  “Has there been any word on the rogue that’s killing shifters? I want him dead, now. Darren won’t let things pass for long and the last thing we need is war.”

  Dion’s guards, who also performed as his second in command, Christabel and Neil shook their head no.

  Dion sighed, “Fucking Moore, what a time for him to lose it, he’d have been perfect for tracking one of us. Do we have any leads at all?”

  The guards both exchanged looks, and Christabel cleared her throat, “Well, it seems that so far Shawn Derring, the last Moore, has so far been eluding the mages after him. Maybe…” she trailed off.

  Dion smiled grimly, “You’re suggest we ask him for help? I do think we all overreacted allowing the mages to go after the whole Moore line, but I’ll have to think about it. Maybe if he survives a bit longer we can ask for his help, and consider making a treaty with him. If he doesn’t survive, well he isn’t worth our time. That is of course, if we still need him, I want the rogue found now, make sure no one rests until it’s done.”

  Christabel got her phone out and started making phone calls, and plans. Dion listened for a while, but eventually his mind wandered, Christabel was one of his best, she knew what to do. If the rogue couldn’t be found, he would consider this new Moore. The only problem was, he had a treaty with the old one, a treaty that had held for hundreds of years, only to be betrayed in the end.

  If he was to do this, he needed to ensure it wouldn’t be broken in such a way again…

  Darren grunted in annoyance and looked down on his mate. She looked stunning, as usual, and he found his annoyance slipping away under her tender and heated regard. He looked away before she could distract him into taking her again, this was a serious problem.

  “I don’t want to war with the vampires any more than you do, but I can’t afford to show weakness either. The pack is getting restless, if this rogue vampire isn’t taken down, and the death isn’t solved quickly, I’ll be challenged, and rightly so.”

  He chafed at the restraint he was forced to hold. He was an alpha, not just responsible for protecting his pack, but the head alpha of all the shifter species. He reminded himself again that Dion wasn’t at fault, but he was unsatisfied at the idea of waiting for that old vampire to protect his pack, only he had no idea where to look.

  Damned Moore asshole, had to go and do something stupid. Being possessed by a minor demon, a warlock would be perfect for tracking down a rogue vampire. He growled and heard his mate shift off of their bed and come near, and then she wrapped her arms around him from behind.

  She said reasonably, “You sent out warnings, everyone knows to be careful, especially in the city by our bars, and the club. What’s got you so on edge?”

  He growled as her hands roamed his chest and then dipped lower on his stomach. It took an act of will to keep his thoughts straight. He loved his mate, but he could hardly think about anything but ravaging her when she was in his presence.

  “Moore. It’s hard to swallow, but we owe him despite what he did. It was his actions and treaties that kept us at peace with the vampires for all these years. In most cities, the alphas and head of vampire coven are at each other’s throats constantly.”

  He gasped as she purred playfully in his ear, and nipped his shoulder as her hand got even lower. He knew it was just pride, but he didn’t like the idea that it was a damned warlock that’d kept his pack safer than he could have himself, as the alpha. Yet, what could he do?

  She said sultrily, her warm breath on his neck, “So what about this new Moore, can’t we make a treaty with him?”

  Maybe, if the kid survives Clarissa, which will be no mean feat. He didn’t answer though, since his mate was driving him crazy. He turned, picked her up, and tossed her on the bed. She looked up at him with a mix of pure lust, love, and excitement as he stalked toward the bed. He could consider the issue again. Later. Perhaps much later…

  Elissa of the fae was reclined back and trying to relax on her day bed. She was ancient beyond reckoning, and surrounded by human servants. She didn’t often regret her actions, but she was having second thoughts now. At her age, there wasn’t anything more fun than a little bit of chaos, every once in a while things needed to be shaken up. She felt a pinch below, and unpleasant one, and looked down at the servant with his head between her legs.

  She slapped him hard, and he went flying off of her and onto the floor, he didn’t get up. He hadn’t been doing a very good job before that anyway, and she had no use for a slave that didn’t know how to use their tongue right. She pointed at one of the others against the wall, one she hadn’t tried out yet. He was muscular, large, and flawless. Hopefully he’d have a better clue than the last one.

  She ordered, “Please me, and I will bring you more pleasure than you’ve ever known.”

  She ignored him after he took the last servant’s place between her legs, and got back to her thoughts.

  It wasn’t her fault, Chicago had been… too peaceful, and boring. Even the damned vampires and shifters hardly ever spilled each other’s blood. It hadn’t been hard to figure out why, the Moore warlock, by all accounts a being who should be evil, yet he manipulated those around him into treaties, and had kept the peace.

  She’d decided to shake things up. She closed her eyes and sighed, her body relaxing into the new servant’s tongue. It was about time she found a man who knew how to eat her out right.

  Regardless, she knew humans couldn’t resist her seductions or looks, it had been almost easy to seduce Moore, and she even got him to start leaving his vampire and succubus behind so they could fuck, and plot, in secret. That was a second regret, she’d rarely met such a talented lover in her very long lifetime.

  It’d been time to shake things up, perhaps enjoy a little spilled blood and chaos. A shakeup on the council, a new clueless warlock with no treaties would work just great. So she’d convinced him that they could rule the city together while they were in bed, that the others were just too violent and they could make the city better, together.

  It had been so simple; warlocks were already power hungry as it was. After fucking him insensible and appealing to his nature it had been easy to seduce him into the plan. A succubus had nothing on a female fae, much less the common vampire whore who shared his bed.

  Then when the time came, she turned on him in council and joined the others to put down the uprising of the power mad warlock. Even Moore didn’t remember that she was supposed to be a part of it there at the end, when her magic that she’d placed while they shared a bed took effect, and cleansed her out of his mind. No one would find out about her involvement. Not even from his spirit.

  It had been a good plan, really.

  Things had soured, and become way too boring in Chicago. She’d just wanted to shake things up, make another moment in this long life interesting. But she did have one regret, she’d miscalculated.

  That old bitch Clarissa had decided to declare the whole Moore line unstable, and that they should be eradicated. She’d meant for a shakeup, new blood on the council, and maybe some time in the future, a new toy in her bed, once the succubus trained him up a bit. Thanks to that bitch, her little shakeup had turned into an earthquake that may cause a war, and quite possibly cause her an inconvenience, and that would be annoying.