Page 103 of That Mafioso Magic

“Salino taught me a lot and I know that I am a fear feeder,” she said.

“That sucks,” Sage said.

“On the contrary, I think it comes in handy. I can conjure fear in people and the more terrified they are, the better their blood will taste. Also, it’s a skill that will come in handy when it comes to me helping you defend what is yours, what is ours, from those who would be foolish enough to make themselves your enemy,” Yolanda said.

Sage smiled. “I stand corrected, that ability is awesome.”

I couldn’t help but think about those cells in the lower level of our grand tower. Sage would totally let Yolanda torture people with fear. That was something I thought I’d keep my nose out of. The underworld thing was Sage’s neck of the woods. In any case, as they conversed, it seemed like Yolanda would fit in nicely with the rest of Sage’s pride. The two appeared to be getting along famously. When we arrived at our home, I pulled into the parking space where my name was on the wall with a brass plate in chrome letters. Right next to Sage’s spaces where his favorite cars were. He truly did want to share everything he had with me.

Shi pulled into her space and we four made our way to the elevator, but stopped in our tracks when a man appeared out of nowhere as if he’d teleported. Shi stepped in front of Sage, snarling and reaching for her gun. “Who the fuck are you?” she growled.

The man dressed in a black suit with white shirt and black tie held his hand up as if saying he was no threat. But I didn’t believe that and the way Sage was staring him down, neither did he.

“Answer the fucking question,” Sage snapped.

The man’s hair was as black as a raven’s feathers, bow-shaped lips full and sensual, and his eyes were blue like crystals. To say that he was striking in his appearance at six feet tall was an understatement. He was pretty in a funny looking sort of way, if that made any sense.

“My name is Zendel, ambassador for the Echelon Imperial,” the stranger said, then he extended his hand and a card materialized from his fingers. “The Mage council requests your presence—immediately.”

“Why?” I asked. Okay, this guy being here proved that there was in fact a council of mages, but why did they want us? Oh wait, this couldn’t be good.

His crystal eyes looked at me. “It is not my place to discuss the business they have with you. It will be in your best interest to acquiesce to their request.”

“And if we don’t?” Sage asked.

Zendel looked at him. “You are powerful mages, this is true, but don’t let that go to your head. If I have to return… well… let’s just say that is something you don’t want to happen. You have twenty-four hours to comply.” With that, he vanished as quickly as he had appeared.

Sage picked up the card that fell to the floor when the mage disappeared and flipped it over, reading it. “Fuckers,” he growled.

I plucked the card from his hand to read it. There was an address on it and nothing more. “So, what do we do?” I asked Sage.

He sighed. “We can go and at least see what the fuck they want with us. We leave the grimoire here, protected.”

“Furthermore, how the fuck did he even get in here with the barrier you set up?” Shi asked.

Sage and I both looked around because she was right. I could still feel that the barrier was in place. So, there was only one answer.

“He was more powerful than our barrier, which means we need a stronger fucking barrier,” Sage said, reading my mind.

“I don’t like this, Sage,” Shi said.

“I don’t, either, but that son of a bitch was had magic radiating off him. His threat wasn’t made idly,” Sage said.

“Didn’t you all take out…” Shi stopped talking when she looked at Yolanda. “We’ll talk later.”

I supposed Sage didn’t want Yolanda to know everything we’d been up to just yet. She was still new to the pride and had to earn their trust and her place. That much I had gathered. “We need to prepare for this meeting,” I said, then pushed the button for the elevator. It read my fingerprint and the doors opened. We all climbed on and Sage activated and pushed two buttons. One for several floors under ours and our penthouse condo.

Sage released Yolanda into Shi’s care on the floor Yolanda would be living on and we rode the elevator to our home. “This might be the price of the magic I used,” he said once we were inside.

I came up behind him as he stood by the windows and put my arms around him. “Whatever this is, we will face it like we’ve faced everything else so far. Together.”

“If they want to punish us?” he asked.

“Let them try. I won’t let them take you away from me,” I said.

Sage turned and kissed me. “And I will destroy anyone who tries to take you from me.”

Whatever we were about to walk into in twenty-four hours, one thing was for certain… no one was going to take us out easily.