I stared at Sam in stunned disbelief. A Binder? There hadn’t been one of those in what? Decades? If this was true, we were in serious shit.
Sunlight reflected off the glass cabinet behind me and hit Sienna’s face, making her citrine eyes look like yellow flames.
“What’s a Binder?” she asked, confusion blowing across her beautiful features.
“Someone who can bind other people’s magic,” I answered slowly.
Grant’s gaze shot to Malcolm. “What about the artifact?”
“It’s still secure,” he replied. “But it doesn’t matter. We don’t know what this Lance Carmichael looks like, so he could hide in a crowd when they attack, and all he needs is one touch and we’re done.”
“Exactly,” Sam picked up. “And my contact in the parliament told me that they’re planning to launch a full-scale attack on us all, with this Lance guy leading the charge. They are going to bind all of our magic and then drag us back before undoing the binding so that they can force us to complete the ceremony, effectively wiping out dark mages in Eldar.”
Malcolm dragged a hand over his face. “Bloody hell.”
“Yeah. And I don’t know about you, but I like being a dark mage.” He flashed us an unapologetic grin and spread his arms. “Because I like freedom… and money.”
“Okay.” Malcolm swept brown eyes dripping with authority over all of us. “Our internal fighting is hereby finished. Now, how do we stop them from sending a Binder after us?”
I hated when that bastard tried to give us orders, and besides, Audrey was still due a lesson in humility so I was about to argue that I would not be ending any wars with her. But the awful truth was that the threat of a Binder was too great to dismiss, so in the end, I only gave him a curt nod in acknowledgement. The others did the same.
Grant scratched his chin. “When are they launching this attack?”
“In about two weeks,” Sam answered. “So what we need to do, or rather what you need to do, because this isn’t exactly my area of expertise… is to get into the city and abduct this Lance Carmichael so that we can use him against the heroes instead.”
“That’s a sound plan,” Malcolm said while drumming his fingers against the tabletop. “There’s only one problem. The moment I set foot inside the city, I’ll be arrested. I waged a rather bloody war on the Chief Constable about ten years ago.”
“I know. I actually had someone else in mind.” Sam’s gray eyes shifted between Audrey and me. “I think the people most suited for this mission would be Callan and Audrey.”
“What?” I challenged.
“You’re the only ones who can openly walk the city because no one knows what you look like.”
“He’s right,” Sienna added. “My face is plastered across wanted posters too.”
“How is it my problem that you burned down two whole city blocks?” Audrey sniped back at her.
Sienna Hall was a fire mage, and two years ago, she had apparently set a portion of the city on fire when she escaped the academy at her graduation.
“Because we can’t send people who are instantly recognizable,” Malcolm reasoned. “You and Callan are not on any wanted posters. They don’t know what you look like.”
“Neither is Grant,” I pointed out while cocking an eyebrow in challenge.
“No,” Sam said. “But Grant’s power is not lethal enough for this kind of mission.” His gray eyes darted to the mage across the table. “No offense, Grant.”
Harvey Grant, whose magic gave him the power to manipulate people’s emotions, raised his hands in a casual gesture. “None taken.”
“Between you and Audrey, you have both powerful in-your-face magic and sneaky poison magic,” Sam said as he turned hopeful eyes on me. “Which is why you are the best people for this job.”
“I agree,” Malcolm said with a nod.
Anger flashed in Audrey’s green eyes as she snapped, “I think I missed the part where this was a fucking democracy.”
For once, I actually agreed with the infuriating poison mage. However, before I could say as much, Sam spoke up again.
“Please.” He shifted his pleading gaze between me and Audrey. “I don’t want to give up this life, and I don’t think you want to either. So if you don’t want to do it for me or for us, then do it for yourselves. To save yourselves. Please.”
For a while, the only sound to break the silence was the faint ticking of a large clock somewhere on the other side of the wall. Both Audrey and I were looking at Sam, while the rest of them watched us.
Blowing out a breath, I raked a hand through my hair and leaned back in my seat. “Fine.”
A smile lit Sam’s face. He turned to the scowling poison mage. “Audrey?”
Her sharp eyes slid to me. I raised my eyebrows and shot her a challenging smirk that dared her to say no. To show the others that she was too afraid of me to agree. A vicious smile curled her lips.
“Alright,” she said at last.
“Fantastic.” Sam clapped his hands together. “Then you will go into the city and figure out a way to kidnap Lance. I’ll send over all the information my contact gave me. And in the meantime, the rest of us will get this mansion ready so that we can imprison Lance here and break him until he does our bidding instead.”
The other five of us nodded in agreement of the plan.
Wood scraped against wood as we pushed our chairs back and stood up, ending this unprecedented dark mage meeting. While the others filed out to start making arrangements, I stalked after Audrey. She moved with confident steps, but I knew that she was trying to get out of the house and its oppressive wards before I could catch up with her. In here, she was completely at my mercy. And she knew it.
A wicked grin spread across my mouth as I picked up the pace. My longer legs ate up the distance between us and I reached her before she could enter the final hallway. Grabbing her by the shoulder from behind, I spun her around and slammed her up against the dark wooden wall. Her back hit the worn panels with a thud, but she only glared up at me in silent defiance as I took a step closer.
“So, looks like you and I will have to work together,” I said as I pushed farther into her space, forcing her to press herself against the wall. Reaching out, I traced my fingers over her jaw. “But as long as you do as I say, we won’t have a problem.”
She slapped my hand away while a cold laugh ripped from her throat. “Follow your orders?” Cocking her head, she lifted her hand and patted my cheek. “I don’t think so, pretty boy.”
Pretty boy? My hand shot up and wrapped around her wrist. Forcing her hand away, I leaned down until our faces were so close that I could feel her breath on my skin. “What was that?”
“You heard me. You might be used to people begging at your feet, but let me burst your bubble right now. That is not something you will ever get from me.”
I slanted my lips over hers, just shy of touching. “We’ll see about that.”
Audrey only glared up at me. I kept her trapped like that against the wall for another few seconds, just to really drive the point home that I held all the power right now. Then I let go of her wrist and took a step back.
“We need to meet up and make a plan before we ride to the city,” I said and threw her a grin dripping with challenge. “Come to my mansion at sundown tomorrow, if you dare.”
She scoffed. Her shining black hair fluttered behind her as she swept past me. It smelled faintly of jasmine.
Standing there in the hallway, I watched as she made her way to the front door. The armor bodice of her dress clung to her figure while the black and green skirt flowed around her legs as she swished her hips. A malicious grin decorated my face as I studied her.
This was the perfect opportunity.
We would go into Eldar and get this Lance boy. And if Audrey just so happened to be captured by the heroes in the process, then, well… that wouldn’t be my fault, now would it?
