Page 20 of Mystery of Magic

Daryn glanced at Sphinx. “Caleb, a female hunter has to learn to deal with unwanted male attention. It sucks, but she will be working in the real world and our women are in top physical shape. The mundane men notice. She will never be chastised for defending herself both verbally or physically if needed, but Tara is quite capable of defending herself or she wouldn’t be here.”

Caleb stepped closer to Daryn. “So, you would let a man put his hands on Indy. On my mother? Treat her like garbage?”

Daryn went nose to nose with Caleb as Sphinx began to growl. “If anyone touched your mother, they would be dead. She is bonded to me. If anyone so much as looked at Indy sideways, she would kill them. If she heard you insinuate she couldn’t take care of herself, she might decide to prove it to you, and trust me, you don’t want that. The last rookie to challenge Indy was in recovery for a week.”

Caleb blinked. “Jesus. I’m sorry Daryn.” He stepped back as if he had been released. He seemed shocked by his outburst and that concerned me more than his overactive hormones.

Several hunters moved behind Caleb, and I glanced at Daryn as several more moved to stand behind Aiden. While my son had backed down, it appeared that the hunters had their own opinion of the events and were taking sides.

One of the men on Aiden’s side pointed at Sphinx. “That thing should be put down. It just growled at our leader.”

I realized the rookies not on Caleb’s team were unaware that killing Sphinx could kill my son in the process. A ripple of power wavered over me, garnering the attention of the entire room. “You touch Sphinx and not even your mother will be able to recognize the body.”

The boy’s jaw dropped. “You can’t threaten a fellow hunter like that.”

Daryn stared at the rude young man. “Sure, she can. Sphinx is a shadow cat. Tied to her hunter. You kill her, you kill Caleb. You just suggested we kill her son.”

The boy held up his hands. “I didn’t know. I thought it was just a cat with powers.”

Daryn grunted. “If you don’t take the time to learn about your fellow hunters, at least learn what can kill them. We are a family. If anyone tries to remove one of your powers, it is a death sentence. Or at the very least diminishes you to the point you can’t be a hunter. Ask Marty what that feels like.”

The hunters all looked down. Marty had saved the entire base with his obsidian magic, but it had been dormant for a long time. He said it was like losing part of your soul and no hunter would torture another like that.

The boy shook his head. “I would never have said that if I knew. I don’t want that for Caleb, for anyone.”

Daryn held up both his hands. “We are all hunters. While we have several squads, we are family.”

“Understood,” Aiden said.

Daryn glanced at Caleb. “Sphinx will be confined to your quarters for two days. It is you who is losing control of his emotions. Not her.”

Caleb nodded. “I know.”

Daryn turned to Aiden. “You have been warned. Unless Tara approaches you about a personal relationship. You drop it.”

Aiden nodded. “Of course.” His anger seethed beneath his eyes, but he kept it controlled.

I staggered as my breach magic reached for me. “Shit.”

Daryn was at my side in seconds. “What is it?”

“There has been another explosion.”

We exited the elevator to find the council members staring at the map. Amalie pointed at a blip.

“Something has happened, but it isn’t a gate breach.”

“It’s another explosion,” I whispered.

Amalie stared at me. “How can you tell?”

I shook my head. “Whatever is happening, I am connected to it in some way. So is Caleb. The perpetrator has necro magic.”

Daryn stared at the breach map. “What location is that?”

Reginald pursed his lips. “It’s a pawnshop. It used to belong to Calder Steros. His wife sold it after his death. It is more popular with the mundane community than ours. I have no idea why it would be targeted.”

Daryn stared at the map. “We won’t figure it out here. Shannon, does it feel the same as the museum? Magnus may have set another trap when he and Calder were alive.”

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