But the sooner I could get some breathing room, and start making some dreams come true so I can sow my seed, the better. A little more power wouldn’t go amiss either.

  Regardless, it’s obvious my inherent abilities are good in a pinch, but not good enough to completely depend on in a fight. I got back to the book and started trying to learn spells, starting with defensive and offensive combat spells. I could look at the others later…

  Chapter 12

  Karen looked down at the floor. Not in respect, but so that Clarissa wouldn’t see the anger and contempt in her eyes. Clarissa had been questioning her for fifteen minutes, it was not only her fault that Brandon almost died, but also the four of the security mages killed in his ill-advised attempt to take on the most magically fortified mansion in the city, with only a circle of six mages. It was so stupid to blame her for that it didn’t even make sense.

  Even with a newbie Warlock, it had been suicidal. She was also disappointed he’d managed to screw that up as well, and live. He couldn’t even kill himself right. She knew why Clarissa was doing it of course, she was surrounded by the rest of the mage leadership, and one of her major backers was Brandon’s father. If Clarissa couldn’t blame someone else, she might lose that backing, and possibly risk her cronies turning on her.

  Politics and deals, it all came down to that.

  Karen said carefully, “With all due respect ma’am, you have the records of our planning. I urged him to reconsider his plan, call in reinforcements, and not to leave me behind. I couldn’t disobey his orders. Brandon is a very capable mage, but he underestimated Moore’s ability to control his home’s wards despite his new status.”

  She’d almost choked on those words, calling Brandon capable, but she supposed he was. His spell work was never the problem though, he was an arrogant pervert, and a complete moron. That was the problem she had with having him as her boss and partner, he was a cretin.

  Clarissa scowled, and it seemed she’d agree with her, but she couldn’t.

  The whole mage world is corrupt. Clarissa is a powerful mage, but when she’d taken power she surrounded herself with safe supporters, other mage families that weren’t nearly the strongest. Clarissa had also made new laws thirty years ago, preventing challenges to rise in station, even ones without death. It had changed everything, now it wasn’t the cleverest, or strongest that held the power in mage society, it was the most underhanded boot lickers.

  Karen was pretty sure Clarissa was a coward. That’s how the mages wound up with a weak and sometimes stupid council that constantly backstabbed each other, and created stupid rules to keep the more powerful mages, such as herself, from attaining any real power. If Clarissa herself hadn’t been so strong, Karen was sure she’d have been overthrown by now.

  She was tempted to do it herself. But she wasn’t ready, not yet.

  Clarissa shook her head, “You are his partner, you should have tried harder to caution him. Regardless, I want the last Moore dead. You will go back, with two squads. Perhaps with twenty other mages under your command you can manage the attack well enough? Dismissed.”

  Karen clenched her teeth. She was taking the blame, and now Clarissa was trying to have her killed? Twenty was a decent amount, but to assault a warlock’s home that was just going to be even stronger was stupid. She considered objecting, and trying to talk Clarissa out of her vendetta, one that she didn’t really understand to begin with. Although, the rumors were that Clarissa was a hairs breath from death at the end of that battle…

  It didn’t matter, it would be a waste of words to try, and just lower her even further on the path to power. Not that it would matter any, if she died.

  She nodded sharply to acknowledge the order, and turned and left the room. She headed downstairs to the mage barracks for the security mages. It took her a few minutes to track down a couple of squad leads.

  “Jerrold, Tina, we have an assault in four hours. No, make that six, I’m dead on my feet. Have your squads ready to go at that time.”

  Tina asked, “Target?”

  She held in a sigh and said in a confident tone, “Moore mansion.”

  Jerrold’s eyes widened, “Are you serious?”

  She replied sharply, “Clarissa’s orders. Pack some conventional weapons, it will give us a chance, on my authority.”

  Maybe a few grenades could get through the wall, and destroy the wards, where her spells couldn’t. Mages didn’t usually use conventional human weapons, it was easier to cover up magic, and the last thing they needed would be the cops coming around. After all, she was pretty sure grenades were against the law for civilian use in Chicago’s city limits.

  Shit, the truth was Clarissa was off her rocker, they were probably all dead, they just didn’t know it yet. Still, it would be their best chance, their only chance.

  She needed to get some sleep though, if she and her teams would have any chance at all in the coming conflict she would need to be sharp, and awake. Jerrold and Tina were pretty solid, and she was sure they’d have everything ready. She didn’t want to waste sleep time going home either. She found an empty bunk and passed out on it…

  She felt groggy when she woke, and went in search of the restroom. She looked like a mess in the mirror, but that was easily fixed with a minor spell and some visualization. A moment later, and she looked freshly showered and her clothes looked crisp and wrinkle free. She even felt and smelled fresh as she continued her search for coffee, slightly more awake.

  The stuff down here was free, but nasty. Still, it was a requirement for her at this point. She took a long sip and made a face, yup, she was awake. She wasn’t sure though if it was the bitter taste, or the caffeine, and supposed it didn’t matter. She went downstairs and outside, the two teams were waiting for her, along with two large vans.

  She chose to get in Tina’s van, and sat in the passenger seat.

  “We ready?” she asked lightly, as if they had all the time in the world.

  She wasn’t in such a rush to die after all, although she let none of that reach her face, she was the picture of confidence.

  Of course, Tina wasn’t that stupid.

  “As we’ll ever be. We weren’t able to get more than one grenade, just some guns, which are worthless, and two smoke grenades.”

  She considered that, maybe they could smoke them out? Probably not, he’d be in the basement and there were no windows, even if they smoked the whole first floor, he’d be fine. Unless, the air conditioning sent the smoke down there. Doubtful but worth a shot.

  Desperate too, dispersing smoke was a simple air spell.

  They showed up at the house and approached it, stopping at a distance. She used her mage sight to look at the warded house, and the open spot they’d used successfully before was now laced with hidden traps. Hidden to most anyway, she was powerful enough to sense them there.

  “Ideas?” she asked.

  Someone cleared their throat behind them, and she spun around with a hand up, lit on fire.

  Dion smiled at her, “Hold your fire young mage. Nice to see you too on this wonderful night. Or is it morning?”

  She sighed and lowered her hand. She recognized Dion, coven leader of the vampires, ancient, and on the joint supernatural council.

  “I think it’s morning, but until dawn it doesn’t feel like it.”

  Dion nodded, “I have a suggestion. Clarissa’s vendetta ends now.”

  She gaped, “Alright, I’ll just call her and tell her that,” she said sarcastically.

  “What a splendid idea,” another low voice came from further away. Her eyes almost bugged out of her head as the shifter alpha, Darren, walked up. She decided she wasn’t awake enough for this.

  Darren nodded to Dion, “I see you had the same idea. Another of my pack died, if I can’t persuade our new warlock to track rogue down, things are going to get ugly my friend.”

  Dion said musingly, “I agree, I also came to him for that purpose, I’m ashamed my coven has not yet been able to track this miscreant down. The rogue is very… adept at hiding and not leaving a scent trail. Which is disturbing, it means he or she is old enough to use vampire magic.”

  Darren turned to her and said, “Go ahead… Karen isn’t it?” she nodded in surprise and he continued, “Call Clarissa, and we’ll talk to her.”

  She pulled out her phone, and dialed Clarissa before putting it on speaker phone.

  Clarissa answered, “What is it, is he dead?”

  She frowned, “You are on speaker, I have Dion and Darren with me. No, he isn’t dead, we just got here.”

  Clarissa snarled, “What do you mean you just got there, I sent you six hours ago! Never mind, I’ll deal with you later.”

  Clarissa took a big breath, she could hear it over the line, “Dion, Darren, what can I do for you?”

  Dion spoke, “This vendetta has gone far enough. I know we agreed with you at first, we were angry at being betrayed, but it has to end.”

  Darren grunted, “I agree too, eradicating a whole family from one warlock’s actions is not only wrong, but it’s leaving a vacuum of power that’s already causing problems in the city. We also have need of his abilities; our city will be weaker without him. Call off your mages, we no longer support you in this matter, it was ill-advised from the start.”

  Clarissa sounded enraged, and she winced and held the phone further away, as if to distance herself, “You can’t trust him, that whole family is unstable and needs to be put down.”

  Dion said in a deadly calm voice, “Careful Clarissa, we are not your stooges to be spoken to so harshly. We will deal with him, Darren and I, and if he turns out to be unstable, or not amenable, I’ll kill him myself. But you need to back off, or it won’t only be the warlock you have a fight with. Do we understand each other?”

  Clarissa cursed, “Very well. But on your heads be it,” she paused for a moment, “Karen, you’re released from all your duties for your failure, pending an inquiry, send the teams back, but don’t bother coming back yourself until I’ve contacted you,” and the old mage hung up the phone.

  Dion grunted, “Did you just get fired for taking a nap?”

  She laughed a little uncertainly, “It looks like it.”

  Darren shook his head, “That’s… really fucked up.”

  She turned to Tina and Jerrold who looked relieved, as if they’d been granted a pardon from death, “Well, you heard her, head on back.”

  They both searched for something to say, but just acknowledged her orders and left awkwardly. She could tell they both knew she was getting shafted. She shook her head and wondered if she should just give up now, maybe seek opportunities elsewhere. Her family name was not part of the inner circle, she’d been fooling herself to think she’d have a chance at rising in mage society and taking Clarissa’s seat no matter how powerful she truly was.

  Opportunities elsewhere…

  She shrugged and looked toward the mansion, “Well guys, shall we go knock on the door?”

  Chapter 13

  I felt like a chew toy as I flew five feet back, my back slammed into the wall, quickly followed by the back of my head. I groaned in pain and protest as I tried to get up, and failed to.

  Lilliana looked down on me without pity, “You need to do better. If I was an enemy vampire you’d be a meal right now, and a werewolf would have torn your limbs off.”

  We’d been sparring for a while, and this was only the latest time I’d flown into a wall, or been grounded into the floor, or hit with a practice sword. I was pretty sure I’d even hit the ceiling once or twice.

  What was the point of this exactly? This last time I’d managed to hold on to pulling power from Malina for a whole two minutes. It was too much to keep track of without losing my concentration, and she was way too damned fast.

  “Can’t I just use magic?” I asked a little plaintively.

  Lilliana shook her head, “You need to fight with all your inherent magic abilities, spells, and learn how to wield Krystal in a fight, all while pulling power from your demoness. Vampires and shifters can carry protections from magic, the only way to kill them sometimes is with Krystal through their innards, or through their neck.

  “You need to also get used to detecting magic all the time, which is one of your abilities, it could give you the crucial second or two to react when your attacked in surprise. All it takes is a second for a fast vampire to close the distance and kill you. Now get up, and try again.”

  When I’d asked her to train me, I hadn’t expected such a harsh taskmaster. But then she wanted me alive so I knew she was doing the best she could. I pulled infernal power through Malina, who was watching from the other side of the room, and my aches and pains were subsumed as I felt almost invulnerable.

  I knew from experience, that feeling was a lie.

  As I jumped up to once again try to take down Lilliana, and no doubt get schooled once more, I felt the wards warn me and held up a hand. Then they knocked on the door, huh.

  “I know this sounds like the beginning of a joke, but a shifter, vampire, and mage just knocked on my door.”

  Lilliana lowered the weapon, and I saw her eyes turn red as her teeth dropped. I was alarmed for a moment, but she bit her finger, and then put in my mouth.

  “Suck,” she ordered.

  I did what she said, and felt the aches and pains just fade away, as her couple of drops of blood healed them in moments.

  She looked at me critically, “You should change, I’ll answer the door and see what they want.”

  Malina nodded, “I’ll stay with him, and help him get dressed.”

  I headed upstairs, and found myself in a large walk-in closet. Malina started handing me clothes.

  “Lina, I’ve never worn a suit in my life,” I objected.

  Malina kissed my cheek, “You’ll get used to it. You are the warlock of Chicago, one of the most powerful supernaturals in the city. Or you will be, when you grow up. You can’t meet the heads of the other races dressed in a pair of jeans and a tee.”

  Now they were both bossing me around, and I wondered exactly who was in charge here. Obviously not me, since I was already pulling on the clothes, which fit perfectly.

  “Umm, heads of the races?”

  Malina nodded, “I recognize their auras. You have Darren, the alpha wolf shifter, and Dion, the vampire that heads the Chicago coven down there. The mage is also very powerful, but is not Clarissa, the bitch that started all this, but be cautious anyway. They must want something badly to enter your house instead of seeking neutral ground. They are potential allies, but never friends. Remember that.”

  “Yes Lina, I will,” I said offhand.

  She kissed me, hard and fast, and passionately, when the kiss broke she held my head between her small hands like a vice, and her eyes were glowing red. Her voice wasn’t its usual innocent tone, it was harsh, and a little scary to be honest.

  “I know what you were thinking before Shawn. And believe it or not, I do care for you, I’m even capable of love, but you were also right about the other things as well. Failing to maintain your responsibilities to the pact would be a huge mistake, not just for you either, but for the entire Moore line under my care.

  “Take my advice or not, believe I want you to succeed or not, but do not patronize me again. In the bedroom, I’m happy to be your little sex toy, mistress, slut, whore, or anything your imagination can come up with, but when we talk business? I will have respect, don’t ever forget who and what I am.”

  I nodded, or tried to, “I’m just nervous. Everyone was trying to kill me earlier, now they want to talk?”

  She smiled brightly and caressed my face softly, her voice was back to innocent seduction, “Well, nerves is it? I can help with that, later though, when our guests are gone.”

  She gave my cock a quick squeeze through my pants, just in case I’d missed the obvious reference, and then helped me finish getting dressed.

  I did my best to try and detect the magic around me as Lilliana had suggested, and it worked, but it took too much of my concentration. I figured with a lot of practice, having it going in the back of my mind all the time would be easy, but not in the next five minutes.

  I looked in the mirror, and didn’t recognize myself. I looked good, really good actually, but I wasn’t comfortable with the look.

  Malina leaned up and kissed my cheek almost lovingly, “You will be in time.”

  I paused for a moment, getting whiplash with her mood changes, and then nodded. I supposed I would be at some point. I was reinventing myself. I wasn’t who I was a day ago either, but I was still somewhere in the middle. It would take time to make the transition, to truly belong in these clothes, and in this house.

  I held out my arm, and Malina smiled girlishly as she took it. One thing was for sure, she’d keep me on my toes, and I’d never be bored. When I got downstairs, I felt Lilliana with my detection magic in the study on the first floor, the one that was for appearances only, along with our three guests. We walked in and I took a quick moment to measure the people before me.

  Dion, the head vampire, was over six feet tall, had black hair and gray eyes that bespoke intelligence and cunning. He looked calm, but very alert for any kind of treachery. Darren the wolf alpha, was even taller, and had blond hair and vivid blue eyes. He looked, restrained, as if the wolf always wanted to get out and challenge those around him. He was in a word, intense.

  The third, the woman mage who I didn’t have a name for yet, was striking. She wasn’t beautiful in the classic sense, but at the same time she was very attractive. She did have stunning blue black hair that shone with the overhead light, and piercing green eyes that returned my regard with equal curiosity. She had a cute almost pixie-like face, and her body was lithe and willowy.

  She was cute enough, but what made her stand out was the way she held herself, I wanted to say graceful and she wasn’t even moving, and her confidence was almost palpable. It was that which pushed her over merely cutely attractive, and into strikingly sexy and alluring. I had to firmly remind myself she was my enemy, of sorts.