Free Heart of Darkness by Lauren Dane Page A

demon-possessed line the hate groups had been farming out.”
    She sighed heavily. “So we can assume they know things about us? Things that could hurt?”
    “One of the collaborators was a cat shifter. It’s safe to assume they understand now that shifters have their own kind of magickal energy,” Gage broke in.
    She chewed her lip. Her mother should know of this. At the same time, Meriel had been appointed to this exact position and her mother wouldn’t really want to hear about any of this until they had more specifics. Oh and she didn’t want to face her mother just yet.
    “Gage, I want you and Nell to work on this when she gets back. My mother will need to be briefed.” Responsible and yet still kept her out of her mother’s attention for a while longer. “What do we know about them, Arel? Do they pick witches they knew? Witches who are most vulnerable?”
    “It appears to be a little of both. But … it’s only a matter of time before they figure out the more powerful the witch, the sweeter the reward. Only a matter of time before some turned witch joins them and shares that.”
    Stuck witches were bad enough. A turned witch was one who’d damaged so much of her connection with her inherent magicks she no longer had access to them. No longer a witch, not quite a mage, a turned witch was most dangerous. Still hungry for the pleasure of the initial magickal hit but cut off from a huge part of one’s existence made them all totally crazy.
    “What are they doing with the energy they steal? Just using it themselves? Providing the stolen magic to stuck witches? How do these anti-Other groups feel about that?”
    “I’m under the impression it has not gone far enough to be organized in anything more than a way for the mages to get the power themselves to feed their addiction. But my fear, and my belief, is that they will get more organized. This is drug dealing and manufacturing on a pretty intense scale.”
    “All right. Can we do anything to help?”
    “At the moment, we’ve got it handled.”
    “But? We need some sort of—I don’t know—a conference? Something so we can share intel.”
    “I’m going to leave that to you and Sadira. I have no patience for the bullshit politics.”
    She laughed, but there wasn’t a whole lot of mirth there. She’d have to go to the council to get permission for such a conference. And she would. It had to be done. But she wanted all the information she could get first. This was a break with how things were done and she knew she had a big job ahead of her.
    “Gage, keep open communication between you and Arel. Brief Nell when she returns. I’m going to suggest you might just check in with some of the other hunters as well. This is inter-clan so it’s acceptable.”
    “If they start targeting the most powerful witches, you’re going to be right in the crosshairs. A big target on your back.” Arel’s comments were correct, but they meant she had to think about something she’d been trying to ignore.
    “Yes. I suppose. Good thing being more powerful also means I can kick some ass if I have to.”
    Gage groaned. “Let’s just keep an eye out. Be extra cautious.”
    “Of course.”
    They hung up and she went back to getting ready. She sure as hell wasn’t going to cancel her date. She could be sad for what the future might hold, but she wasn’t going to let these mages steal another moment of her joy that day. Not if she could help it.

    DESPITE how lovely she looked when she answered his knock, it was clear something was wrong.
    Alarmed, he moved her into the apartment and closed the door at his back. “Is everything all right?” He looked around for a threat, ready to do harm if he had to.
    “No. Not like you think. I just had a disturbing phone call. Work related. It’s all right. Come in.”
    He stopped her, his palm at her elbow. “I don’t like shadows in your eyes.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek and she leaned into his touch. It wasn’t