I’d fucked up and yet again I was dragging others down with me.
“They’ll hurt her.” It was a statement this time, not a question.
“Mack, they’ll just do what needs to be done. You have to realise how dangerous rogue mages can be. There’s a reason the Ministry exists.”
Out-fucking-standing. First I was labeled a rogue shifter and now I was apparently being advertised as a rogue mage too. I wondered if Maggie fully realised just what she’d done. That stupid woman. My blood was already boiling when I heard the snap of the telephone’s outer plastic casing cracking under the weight of the pressure of my grip. I took a deep breath. Time to stay calm, Mack, I told myself.
Alex must have sensed my seething emotions from across the line. “I’m sorry, Mack.”
“Alex, I’ve come to you for help. To help her. There must be something.”
“She’s beyond help now, Mack. The only people who can remove the spell are from the Ministry’s Council. You need to get out of there before they decide that you’re mixed up in this somehow too.”
But I was already mixed up in it. In fact, I was IT. I exploded at him, instead. “For fuck’s sake, Alex! She’s just a harmless old lady!”
“Who you yourself admitted to having serious suspicions about! There’s no other way. You have to see how dangerous this is.”
“She’s not dangerous. And I like her.” I was aware how stupid that sounded, and how true it was. I was going to have to do something.
Alex, for his part, was silent.
I took in a deep breath. “I have to go, Alex.”
“Wait, Mack, you can’t do anything stupid.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I understand that my friend has been put into this trance by some fucking jumped up mage. Because she’s dangerous. Except I know that she’s no danger to anyone. And I also know that the Ministry is going to hurt her to find out just what kind of threat she actually is. Which will also probably reveal in the meantime what I am too. What stupid thing would I do?”
“You can’t save her. You’re strong, Mack Attack, and god alone knows what powers all that Draco Wyr blood has, but you can’t fight the Ministry. It’s too dangerous, and not just for you. And they’ll focus on the threat of her, anyway, not some harmless employee she happened to have.”
Except this harmless employee was the reason she was in this state in the first place. “I completely understand, Alex. “ My voice was distant and I started to hung up.
“Mack!” His voice burst through the phone. It was too late though – I slammed it down on the counter and moved to Plan B.
Chapter Ten
As soon as I put the phone down, I took a deep shaky breath. Things were most definitely not particularly hunky dory in the land of Mackenzie Smith. My mind raced, considering the options. There was absolutely no way that I was going to leave Mrs Alcoon to be dealt with by the Ministry – and hurt, or worse, in the process. I briefly wondered if I could get hold of Maggie and convince her to call off the dogs. After all, I could leave right now if I so chose. It was Mrs Alcoon – June, her friend – who was going to end up getting hurt. I quickly discarded that idea, however. Maggie must have known what implications calling the Ministry in the first place would have, which meant that she put the threat that I posed higher than the relative safety of her friend. Besides, I figured, with a quick glance down at my fingers, Maggie clearly had some power at her disposal that I would probably be wise to stay away from.
What I had to do was to get Mrs Alcoon somewhere safe, somewhere no mage hell bent on terrorising and torturing a harmless old lady could get to her. That meant that pretty much anywhere in the UK was out. From what I little I knew from my time with the Pack, the tentacles of the Ministry of Mages were
Adam Dreece
Toby Bennett
Nadia Nichols
Brian Rathbone
Declan Conner
Laura Wolf
Shan, David Weaver
ANTON CHEKHOV
Melissa Schroeder
Rochelle Paige