This is the Fifth Part of Maggie’s Point of View of the latest scheme from Luna and Maggie.

If you’re trying to keep track, the first part was Newfound Depths by Luna,

The Second was Unusual Depths by Maggie.

The Third was Newfound Desires by Luna.

The Fourth was Unusual Desires by Maggie.

The fifth was Newfound Strength by Luna.

The sixth was Unusual Strength by Maggie.

The seventh was Newfound Determination by Luna.

The eighth was Unusual Determination by Maggie.

The ninth was Newfound Dangers by Luna.

Now comes Unusual Dangers from this corner…notice a theme? LOL.

Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton and the Berkley Publishing Group do not authorize this author. All characters that you recognize belong to Laurell K. Hamilton except for the ones created by the people in this group. This is solely for entertainment purposes.

Rating: PG-13 to be safe…..

Thanks: To Luna for being an awesome beta and always encouraging me to write. *hugs* Also thanks to anyone out there that takes the time to read my humble efforts. I appreciate that and any feedback you want to send my way.

I hope you’re all enjoying reading this as much as we are writing it.

Hugs!
Maggie

Unusual Dangers

Alone, it’s amazing how very alone one can feel. Here I was at Jean Claude’s lair, surrounded by more vampires and weres than I could count. Yet, I felt more alone than I ever had before. Thinking about it, it was a stronger emotion than loneliness. It was abandonment. I felt set adrift in a sea of danger with no lifeline in sight.

Logically, I knew that wasn’t true. Elijah had gone to Ireland on business because he had to, not because he didn’t want to be with me. In fact he had sent me long stemmed roses, a dozen each of red, yellow and pink, just days before this crazy mess started. It was a sweet reminder of how very much he loved me. Luna was trapped goddess knows where because she had been trying to find a way to ensure my safety. She hadn’t meant to leave me either. Noah, well he wasn’t far away but he was keeping his distance at the moment. We were trying to catch JC off guard and that would be easier if he thought I still wasn’t speaking to my ex-boyfriend.

Truthfully no one had abandoned me. Yet, being accustomed to their presence, the temporary separation seemed worse than my past. I thought nothing could be worse than the largely friendless years I spent afraid to trust anyone. Now I knew there was something that hurt more. Knowing the joy of closeness and then having it stripped away was so much harder than I ever dreamed it would be.

Hugging a pillow in the spacious room that served as my temporary prison, I was near tears when I heard a familiar voice inside my head. “Hey Doll. Don’t give up now. We’re going to get you out of here and find Wonder Woman. Then you can go find the Tore and tell him what a bad kitty I was.”

I couldn’t help grinning despite the seriousness of the situation. I knew my anger at Noah for giving out our home security code was nothing compared to the eventual wrath he would face from Elijah. That he would joke about the possible fight he faced showed me how much he wanted to make me feel better. I wasn’t really alone.

We had been working on getting better at speaking to each other telepathically through our connection. To date, both of us had an easier time connecting to Luna than to each other. But since he came in to find me the day before, it was easier to connect. I didn’t know if that was due to my increased powers or to Luna’s absence. Necessity is the mother of invention after all. Whatever the reason, I was just glad that we were connecting.

I started to ask him where he was but stopped as I heard the click of the door bolt signaling someone was about to enter the room. Sending out my senses, I could tell it was a powerful vampire, most likely Jean Claude. I shut down the active link to Noah from my end. My ex could still monitor what was going on from his end if Luna had taught him how.

I just didn’t want any active flairs of power coming off me that the master vampire might notice. Our current plan was for me to look as non-threatening as possible, cute harmless Maggie. No trouble here. I only hoped my earlier altercation with Jason would be forgotten. That little scene might make it difficult to pull off sweet and innocent.

Jean Claude walked into the room. The first thing I noticed was the way his midnight black curls fell against the blue velvet coat he was wearing. The coat seemed to be the same color as his eyes. At least they matched my memory of those eyes. I was so NOT looking at them now. Could I look him in the eye without being rolled due to my increased powers? Possibly I could but I wasn’t going to make the mistake of showing my hand now.

It must have been my fascination with his appearance that kept me from noticing the tray in his hands when he came in. Focusing on that, I tried to see what it contained but he was holding it too high for me to see from the bed. All I could tell was there was a purple cup and perhaps a covered dish or two. I looked up into his amused gaze. What the master vampire found so humorous I didn’t know.

Setting the tray down on the bedside table, he handed me the cup and began uncovering the plates. I could smell fruit, and something baked and sugary, a pastry perhaps? While I waited to see if my nose was right, I cautiously watched him, sniffing the contents of my cup. It smelled like lemon tea but was there an under smell hinting at something else? How could I be sure?

Jean Claude laughed as he set plates with fruit and cheese Danish within reach. “You are a suspicious kitten, Mademoiselle. It’s only tea. I do not wish to anger you further by resorting to unnecessary sedation. However, you and I need to have a talk, Non?”

I sipped the tea, still eyeing the food warily. It looked good but looking back at JC, I reminded myself that looks could be all too deceiving. My stomach grumbled, betraying my hunger. Jean Claude nudged the plate closer to me.

“Maggie, I give you my word, the food is not drugged. You barely ate often enough to keep going before this…. Change. Since your powers have obviously increased, you will need to eat more often. Magic takes a lot of energy.”

“What makes you such an expert on my problems?” I couldn’t help it. Even I could only do submissive for so long and he had held me prisoner for days for nothing more than one accidental throw involving Jason.

“I’m not an expert on your situation. Indeed I’m anxious to learn more about what has happened to you. But Anita had a similar problem when she increased her power base. Ma Petit and you share an unfortunate disregard for good nutrition I’m afraid.”

Smiling at him, the challenge in my eyes, “Oh really. So should we ask Anita to sit in on this little Pow-Wow?”

His face became the cold mask he got when he was hiding something. “Non. That will not be necessary.”

Grinning, I knew I’d struck pay dirt. Anita didn’t know what he’d done to me, which meant she probably wouldn’t approve of his actions. I filed that away for later use. Taking a Danish to nibble on, I asked him as innocently as I could, “So, what would you like to talk about Jean Claude?”

He reached out to brush some stray hairs away from my face as he sat down near me on the bed. “Why you of course Maggie, and your sister. I am most curious about what the two of you have been up to of late. You are still human as far as we can tell. Yet you are obviously changed. What changes have you noticed? Don’t try telling me none. I don’t think you could have thrown Jason into a wall before now.”

Taking a deep breath, I debated what to tell him. The real question was how much truth could I give him? I knew there was a fine line between enough truth to satisfy his curiosity and the amount that would keep me locked up indefinitely or worse. You kill that which you cannot control. Isn’t that the vampire way?

Finishing the Danish, I took a sip of my tea and sat it down on the nightstand. I took one more calming breath before looking up into his face. Speaking softly and slowly, I began, “I didn’t mean to throw Jason into the wall. I took an oath to heal not hurt. He caught me at a bad moment. I freaked and the power seemed to flair. I had no idea I could physically throw him so far.”

What I didn’t add was that metaphysically I had been working on my powers and might have been able to do it without ever touching him. He so did not need to know that little fact.

Running over what little I could remember since the night Luna disappeared, I continued, “Nothing major seems different. I mean I seem stronger.” Grimacing, I vaguely recalled a lot of things bothering me. “I seem to be bothered more by things, sounds, smells, lights. I never realized how much sensory input Luna and Lija have to filter out all the time.” Looking up, I realized I’d said too much.

“So, you know you have somehow transferred some of Luna’s abilities to yourself. Is that what the spell you were doing at the house was all about? What does Lija have to do with this? When did you start dabbling in magic Margaret?”

Shit, he had switched from Maggie back to Margaret. He was on the defensive. What was I supposed to do now? Panicking I reached for my druid lover. I had shut him out psychically when all this had started. I wanted to find out what was happening before I had to deal with his anger at the danger I faced.

Opening up to him, I felt warm, comforted, but there was another voice like a bee buzzing in my head. When I focused on it, I knew whom it was, my leopard ex. “Wonder Woman first, then Lija, Doll. You don’t want your Druid and Killian coming after JC with you as the hostage.”

Damn it. He was right. If Lija came after JC for attacking me, it could start a vampire war between the Master of St Louis and the Master of Dublin. Lija had a unique relationship to the Irish vamp to say the least.

Sending a quick I love you, I shut down the link before Lija could see what was going on. Still, it had been enough to stave off the panic and boost my energy for the situation at hand. Lija was a thought away if I needed him. I had my ex close at hand keeping an eye on things as well. I wasn’t without resources if I needed them.

I looked up to see Jean Claude watching me curiously, as if I were an insect under his microscope. Had he sensed the power from my mental communications? Shutting down my fearful thoughts, I tried to answer his questions with a firm voice. It still sounded shaky to me, but that could have just been my nervous perceptions.

“Lija came to mind because he’s a lycanthrope that I am obviously very close to. The changes I mentioned are ones I’ve heard bother a lot of new weres. He doesn’t know what is going on because he is back in Ireland. He has obligations to the Master of Dublin that he is there to fulfill.”

I waited a moment for that to sink in. I was hoping that the fact that Lija was closely associated with Killian would give JC pause about involving my lover in this mess. I also held out a small hope that he might think that hurting me might be bad business in dealing with Killian since I was tied to Lija. It was a slim chance. I was one of Jean Claude’s employees long before I met Lija but I was pulling in all the cards I had.

When he nodded at me to continue, “That spell I did was simply to try to bring Luna home from wherever she is, as I’m sure you know if you truly have the whole ritual on tape. Whatever Luna did to enhance my abilities was done without my knowledge or consent. As for the rest, as we’ve discussed before, I think you were aware of my connections to the magical realm when you hired me, so that’s nothing new.”

Standing, he moved near the door, before turning to look back at me. “I was aware of your natural talent. I could feel the power flowing off of you the first time we met. But there is a difference between natural talent and active ability. I strongly suspect you have been spending considerable time fostering the latter. Doing your own experiments in between lab work for me? Perhaps we need to re-evaluate how your assets might be best utilized by JC Corporation.”

A quiet growl startled me when I realized it had come from my own mouth. I was betting my eyes were bleeding over to silver but I couldn’t help it. He was not going to make me a pawn in some power game. “You can’t make me use my gifts as a Gate for you Jean Claude. My contract with you gives me lab space and supplies in exchange for care and other projects related to the medical needs of your people.”

Smiling, Jean Claude replied, “Oh I’m sure we can find a way to make your other abilities fall under the heading of caring for my people. After all, who knows what healers you could channel from the other side. I’ll give you a few days to think about your options Mademoiselle.”

With that, he was out the door and I heard the lock close back into place behind him. Screaming, I threw one of the dish covers at the door. It didn’t do any real damage, but it made a loud clanging noise that accompanied my scream. I hoped I was driving that damned vampire half as nuts as he was driving me. So much for pulling off sweet and innocent, I belated scolded myself.

Reaching out, I screamed in my head, “NOAH!”

He came in the door, shutting it behind him. “Hey Angel. Quit sending off so much power. You’re going have everyone in the lair ready to the charge the door in a minute.”

Glaring at him, “Well I wouldn’t be sending off so much power if you hadn’t helped your master kidnap me so you could sit idly by while he threatens me, now would I?” I grabbed the other plate cover and threw it at him. He just barely dogged it, looking rather surprised.

Walking over, he picked up the covers before sitting down in a chair across the room from me. “Okay Doll. I’m just going sit here until you are either willing to talk to me like a reasonable person or you run out of things to throw.”

Sitting across from one another, if Jean Claude was watching us on the security camera, I don’t think even he would suspect. Our angry looks were actually being overdone to cover the fact we were concentrating on our mental link. I just hoped that any flairs of power would be attributed to our heated exchange.

Mentally I asked, “So what’s the word Superman?”

Looking me in the eye, I drew the thoughts from his head. “There’s good news and bad news. The good news is I know where they have the tape. The bad news is if I try to get it, our game is going to be up and I won’t be able to get you out of here. They’ll know I was involved.”

“Then the key is to do both at once.”

“Doll I can’t be two places at once. How am I going to manage that?”

“Get me some street clothes and one of my lab coats and I’ll show you.”

I could feel the hesitation in him. He wasn’t sure what I was up to and that clearly made him nervous. Still he stood up, gave me an angry look and shouted all nice for the cameras, “Fine, if you want to sit there and pout, go for it. I’ll come back later. Maybe by then, you’ll realize you shouldn’t throw away one of the few friends you have left in town.”

As he left, slamming the door behind him, I sent him on last mental thought, “I’d never throw you away Superman but for all our sakes, hurry back.”