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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
K.F. Breene
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September 21 - September 22, 2023
“Ja was not after him. She should’ve been happy with disabling him.”
Your power is sensational, as I said, but not always in the best ways.” “That was a backhanded compliment if ever I heard one,”
“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.”
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.”
“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.
“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
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“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.
“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.”
“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,”
“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
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“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.”
“You stole his Lamborghini?” I asked with awe. “Can’t you hear? I said I borrowed it.” “Yeah. Without asking. That means stole. He’s going to be pissed.” “Probably, but he’s in the doghouse for keeping secrets lately, so I don’t really care.”
“Is there a point in there somewhere, or are you uncomfortable with silences?” She turned and smiled at me, her eyes glimmering in the red dash lights. “Aren’t you fun when you’re at your wit’s end?”
Marie got the blood and locked Ja into a vampire chamber with two guys that really should evaluate their life choices.”
“And we’re positive I can’t stay with Callie and Dizzy?” “You’ll be fine. Promise. C’mon.” Reagan gestured me in. “As I was saying, it makes me nervous that Darius was blindsided by Ja’s power. Hell, it makes me nervous that a vampire can be that powerful. An elder is no joke. Ja is clearly far beyond that.”
“Marie said your magic acted as a catalyst. It pumped out a sort of aggression that said, in essence, get lost or I’ll kill you.”
The problem is, elders are the scary ones, not the ones who are scared. Darius thinks Ja felt your intention, and it stripped away all the layers of dust collected on her personality. You, in essence, woke up the beast.”
I took a sip of my drink, then sputtered and shook, immediately putting it back down again. “That’s straight tequila.” “No! It has a lime and a little sugar. I said it was my version of a margarita.”
Tomorrow we’re going to hit the books. You have the power to be great. I’m going to help you blindly stumble into actually being great. It’s a foolproof plan.”
Bottom line: we’re in unknown territory, and if anything makes vampires itchy, it is unknown territory. So we’ll avoid them for now, especially the old one you drove crazy, hole up here, and do some magic. Easy.” If there were any certainties in life, one was that Reagan’s and my versions of easy were vastly different.
Trust Penny to engage in something that made very little sense.
It had only belatedly occurred to him that she might not want his help. He’d left her in the lurch, after all. He’d walked away with a “Good luck, I traded my monetary freedom to an elder vampire so he’d watch over you, which will probably shackle you to him for life. Bye-bye, you’re welcome!”
There’s no way I want Darius on my case about doing something stupid. And that’s the problem with boyfriends—they’re always on your ass about jeopardizing your future and committing yourself to an eternity of servitude.”
“That’s great. But how are you supposed to fight when you’re using your hands to do magic?” “Right. I’ve asked that so many times it isn’t funny. But Reagan is convinced that knowing my body, and feeling less physically helpless, will improve my confidence.” “Oh. Well that’s true enough.”
“Well…Dizzy says it was nothing, but you know how he is? Everything is nothing until he’s knee deep in blood.”
“Well, keep your eyes out. If you saw one, you’ll probably see more. Information can be just as important as spell work.” Reagan had said that to me once, and it seemed to fit my life pretty well lately.
“Wholeness. Unity. Nature. Everything that is good and right with the world. It’s really hard to explain—” “That must be the Ladies of the Light. They’re the nice witches.
A human…warning me not to talk about magic…to another human. What a strange neighborhood. Then again, Reagan chose to live here—of course it was strange.
“Should you help him up?” I asked Smokey. “Reagan told everyone to stay off her lawn. He shoulda known better,” Smokey said without remorse. “I mean…” I looked down at the little manicured patch of grass, the only one on the block. “Grass is made to be walked on.” “When it comes to Reagan, you do what she says, or you get an awful surprise. Mince just got an awful surprise. He should’ve known better.” Mince stiffly pushed up to his hands and knees, groaning. “She…looks…innocent. Uuuugh.” “The most dangerous ones always do.”
Smokey caught up with me. “Can I just call you Penny? What do your people call you?” “Naive, mostly.” I made it to the other side of the street
“My mother would batter me senseless if she knew I was getting tips from a person who lurks around in the shadows.” “I like to know what’s going on without being seen.” “Yes. I caught that.”
“Many hands make light work,” he said. “Yeah, right? I’m not crazy for thinking this way is better, am I?” “No you are not. Working together usually gets the job done faster. Even salesmen do better in a unit.”
This was what I had been missing. Emery had been right those many months ago. He’d said I was more like a witch. A deep connection with others and the world around me was necessary to my magic working. I did think like a witch. The joy and love of this community buffeted me. It made me long for deep roots of my own.
nature was the light and the dark, and everything in between. The magical world was rough. Wild. The calm and the storm. It required balance.
The happier strands added balance, which actually made the spells stronger.
“They call him No Good Mikey for a reason,” Smokey said, back to watching the street. “He’s rough by nature. Don’t let it get to you.” “Oh.” I shrugged. “It’s fine. He’s more normal than the other people I’ve met these past few months.” Smokey glanced at me. “Pardon me for saying so, Penny, but that tells me you should really meet some new friends.”
an idiot for trying.” A grin twisted her lips. “You’re trying to swear your way into my heart, aren’t you.” I totally was.
“I love the attempt at blackmail, but it’ll be a hard secret to keep if you die.” “I won’t die.”
“We’re working side by side. I’m learning as much as you are. You’re making me stronger at understanding spell work and unraveling it. As far as I’m concerned, you’re a peer. I have no more power over you than you have over me. Beyond that, I’m the absolute last person on this green earth who’s in a position to tell anyone the best approach for sticking to a low-key life.
“Let a vamp suck on your neck and get paid like a painted lady, is that it?”
Reagan got out of the dented, recently scratched Lamborghini. She’d tried to slide across the hood like in a cop movie, without remembering the buckle on her fanny pack and her lack of finesse. She’d ended up scratching the car then tumbling onto her head.
“You’re a mage; you know how it works. You need to constantly prove your place in the power and prestige pyramid.” “I’ve never really taken an active role in that. I left that to my brother.”
That was the thing about Penny: no one could ever predict the outcome of a situation when she was stuck in the middle of it. He loved that about her. The innocent volatility.
“Trust me, Penny is nothing compared to Reagan.”
You’re not a hugger anyway, right?” “I’m socially awkward.” “Excellent. See?
“Training exists to commit spells and combat into your muscle memory,”
“Are you doing the balance thing?” Reagan asked again, her tone like a spring day near a tranquil pond. “It pisses me off that you are so damn calm.” “Yikes. So that’s a no. Listen, getting worked up isn’t going to help anything. In fact, it’ll slow you down in the long run. It’ll lead you to bad decisions. You need to relax and take in the night. Open up that intuition that I know you have in spades and listen to it.”
“Never do what they want you to do. We don’t follow the rules.”
Of course she hadn’t shoved me behind her so she could protect me. She was looking at me as an equal, not a damsel in distress. I felt a little sheepish, and a lot empowered, as I about-faced.
So we’re going to dangle the bait.” My stomach twisted. “I’m the bait, aren’t I?”
