5
Faye walked over to Karin and managed not to stare at the hottie sharing space with her. "Are you stalking me?"
Most adults would have taken offense, but Karin merely grinned. "Do you want me to?"
"That would be so much fun, but seriously, why are you here?"
Karin's grin widened. "To steal your power."
Faye frowned. "That's so not funny."
"But it's what you're thinking..." Karin let her voice trail off as she took a long sip of wine.
"Is it?" Faye cocked her head. "Am I supposed to believe you read minds too?"
Karin's companion suddenly said, "She does, actually."
"And you are?" Faye folded her arms and eyed him suspiciously.
"Rob." He sat back in his chair, his icy blue gaze skating across her face imperiously.
"So Rob with no last name, care to enlighten me?"
His lips almost quivered into a smile. "I don't."
Karin smacked his arm. "Don't be such a curmudgeon, Robbie."
Faye looked between them and suddenly noticed the resemblance. "You two related or something?"
"Or something," Rob said, ducking slightly when Karin swatted at him.
"Don't mind my little brother, Faye. He's always been a grinch."
She sat down uninvited. "Do tell."
"There's more than enough time for that. We're actually here to help your friend."
"Really? Who?" And how come she didn't know about this?
Karin smiled faintly. "The head of your circle."
Faye was nonplussed. "That can't be. She would never..."
"I don't mean Diana."
If not Diana, then that meant only one person. "Cassie?"
"That's right."
Faye huffed out her breath in frustration. "Wrong, she's the new girl, and she's certainly not in charge of anything."
"Not yet, but soon," Karen said quietly.
She stood up abruptly. "That won't happen. I won't let it happen."
"You're no match for her," Rob said, his comment rankling her to the bone.
"You wanna bet?"
Karin sighed. "She's a Blackwell, Faye."
"Who cares? That's just some old name that nobody cares about anymore."
"Except us."
"Us?"
Karin handed her a card and Faye felt faint when she read the lettering. "Professor Karin Balcoin? Oh my God, are you saying..."
"Exactly so," Rob said. "Descended from one of Balcoin's other brothers."
She gulped a few times. "So these powers run in the family?"
Karin nodded. "More or less. Only Rob broke the tradition. He's a grey mage."
What did that even mean?
"He practices both light and dark magic."
That sounded wrong on so many levels. "You can't have it both ways."
"Can't you?" Rob flashed her a quirky smile which thawed her only slightly.
"But how can it be? Anything you send out comes back threefold."
"Ah, yes, the Rule of Three. Strike lightly and hope for the best," Karin said, touching Faye's hand lightly and zapping her with a blast of energy.
Faye snatched her hand back. "I thought you were a fortune teller."
"Among other things," Rob said quietly. "Librarian, writer, artist, cat lover, and sister."
"And don't forget witch." Faye smiled broadly at the dismay on Karen's face.
"I don't practice."
"Could have fooled me." Her skin still tingled from the jolt Karin had given her.
"That was nothing." Rob extended his hand. "Try me on for size."
Now there was a loaded statement. With extreme reluctance, Faye took his hand and felt her insides light up. Her eyes widened as she felt his presence in her mind, laughing in that slightly mocking tone that his sister had turned into an art form. "God, what are you doing?" It felt like the top of her head was ripped open and her entire life was hanging before her, and then it all zipped past as she saw flashes of Rob performing dark, scary rituals with midnight shapes swirling about him. That last part scared her so much she jerked her hand back and jumped to her feet. "I get the picture." With a swift movement of her head, she motioned for Melissa to follow her out of there. When they got to the car, Faye was still shaking.
"What the hell happened in there?"
She clenched her hands on the steering wheel. "I have no fucking clue. Let's get out of here."