A flash of movement caught my eye, and I realized someone was sitting in one of the booths, his back turned to me. Arms folded across my chest, I crossed the room to investigate. When I reached the booth its occupant turned to face me, and as I recognized him a jolt of power snapped sharply in my gut.

Alexander Duquesne, or Lex as I knew him better, was one of the three guardians charged with enforcing magical law and order in the Chicagoland area. When I’d used magic against the thug who’d attacked me, it was Lex who turned me in and got me cast out by the witches’ council. Before that, Lex had been my boyfriend, but having your significant other hand you over to the firing squad is pretty much the end of the relationship. I wanted him to look terrible, to be a gaunt, pale shell of his former self, like someone who’d suffered four years worth of terrible guilt for arresting an innocent woman, but Lex was a picture of health, still lean and fit like a track star. Even his wardrobe was the same, from his black T-shirt to the scuffed toes of his boots. His long light brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and those gorgeous, ice blue eyes I used to get lost in now watched me warily.

“What the hell do you want?” I snapped.

“Nice to see you too, Cat.” His warm, smooth Southern drawl was a bit thicker than usual, which meant he was either tired or stressed.

“This is why you called me?” I turned to Mac as he joined us. He took the seat across from Lex, and I scowled down at him. “You have lost your damn mind!”

“It’s about Maureen,” Lex said, his voice low and even.

My stomach twisted into a tight knot. Maureen O’Driscoll was one of the few people I trusted in magician society, someone I cared about and owed a great deal to. She was also the only witch who still spoke to me, even though I was an outcast.

“Is she okay?” My voice hitched up a notch, and I cleared my throat.

“No, sugar. She died two nights ago.” The sorrow in Lex’s expression didn’t do much to soften the blow, and I shook my head, feeling numb from head to foot.

“That’s impossible.”

“Cat, she was eighty-four years old,” Mac said. The placating tone only sparked my already raw temper.

“So? That’s not the point. She’s too tough to die.”

Maureen was as strong as a tower. A fortress. A mountain. The woman’s magic was so potent she could practically be a faerie, and faeries are damn near immortal. In another time she would have been the stuff of ballads, epic bard tales. A legend, like Morgan le Fay. She couldn’t be dead.

“She died in the hospital,” Lex informed me. “There were complications after surgery. No one was expecting it. Wasn’t anything they could do about it.”

“Lord and Lady,” I swore, shocked. “What kind of complications?”

“Massive blood loss.”

“Really.” I stared at him with narrowed eyes, instantly suspicious. Someone as strong as Maureen should’ve been able to heal almost any kind of wound, and I’d heard of too many accidental deaths from blood loss to buy that excuse.

“There’s no evidence that necromancers were involved.”

“Is there ever?” My knees went weak and I dropped into a chair across from the booth. Not possible, it just wasn’t possible…and yet it was true. Murdered. Maureen had been murdered by vampires-they wanted her out of the way. Just like your mother, a little voice inside my head reminded, and I swallowed hard. After a few moments I found myself dragging out my smokes, and I noticed the corners of the hard pack were smushed from being in the back pocket of my jeans. My hand shook as I lit my cigarette, and I hated myself a bit for it, but after a few calming drags I felt better.

“Thought you quit,” Lex said, and I shot him another glare.

“Yeah, so did I. So, you came by just to tell me about Maureen?”

“There’s more to it than that. With Maureen gone the region’ll need a new Titania, or Oberon.”

“Obviously. Who’d she name as her heir?”

“She didn’t.”

Frowning, I tapped ashes onto the plate in front of my chair, sprinkling a shower of gray over a few cold French fries. That made no sense to me at all. Maureen was a sensible woman, she was sure to have a few dozen copies of her will stashed around, in case of Armageddon or other hideous, unforeseen disasters. Like all faerie names, the term Titania had little to do with the actual job-being Titania didn’t make you queen of the faeries. Instead, it was a political position, a kind of ambassador that oversaw relations between our realm and the faerie realm. No responsible Titania would leave her region without a designated heir, it was crazy. There were far too many dark things in Faerie just waiting for a chance to get out and wreak havoc, and just as many things waiting to get in.

I shook my head in disbelief. “But she had kids. Grandkids. Hell, she even had great-grandkids. One of them had to inherit her gifts.”

“If they did, no one knows about it. There’s no evidence of it at all.”

“Damn.”

“The faerie council is goin’ to accept candidates for the position tomorrow. I think you should be one of them.” Lex leaned back in his seat, and I blew a stream of annoyed smoke in his direction.

“That’s real fuckin’ funny, coming from you,” I growled. With a vicious stab I ground the cig out and dropped the butt onto the plate.

“I’m serious. You’re one of the few strong enough to take it.”

“Cat, you should listen to him-” Mac started.

Rising to my feet, I glared at both of them. “No. Not even if I were the last magician on Earth. Thanks for the news, now get the hell out of my café,” I said to Lex, pointing in the direction of the front door. “And you,” I continued, turning to Mac. “Go balance your damn books.”

Turning on my heel, I marched out of the dining room and pushed my way through the swinging doors into the back room. It probably would’ve made sense for me to have stormed out and gone home, but this was my turf and I wasn’t about to let the likes of him chase me out of it. The Three Willows is my second home.

Lex pushed his way through the doors. “Cat, would you just listen to me-”

“Go to hell.” My eyes stung and I blinked with stubborn determination. I was not going to let this man affect me. I turned away, looking for a task to focus on, and settled on a bin full of dirty dishes next to the sink.

“Say somebody did go after Maureen. Whoever did it is probably sponsoring a candidate, and we’ll all suffer if the wrong person ends up in the position.”

“Probably. They’d have to be a really rotten crowd of possibilities if you’re scraping the bottom of the outcast barrel to fight for Team Good.” My hands trembled as I started filling the sink with hot, soapy water, and I kept my back to him to hide my unsteadiness.

“C’mon, don’t be like that.” Lex sighed, and I snorted.

“Like what? Bitter? Hurt? Angry? Sorry, can’t help it. Guess you just bring that out in me.”

“This isn’t about us. It’s about what’s best for the entire region.”

“Which is not my problem anymore, guardian. I don’t care about saving the world. Go recruit somewhere else.”

His only answer was a strangled sound of frustration. Silent, I stared down at the rising soap bubbles and didn’t move until I heard the kitchen doors swinging shut again, assuring me Lex had left. I shook my head and started loading dishes in to soak. Wasn’t my problem, I reminded myself. I didn’t have a place in magician society anymore. I couldn’t sign up for a leadership position.

Needing a new distraction, I picked up the empty bin and turned around to head back into the dining room. Mac blocked the doorway, standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

“What?” I asked, raising a brow. “Move so I can bus the tables.” I nudged him in the gut with the side of the bin.

“Hug first,” he countered.

I couldn’t argue with that. I set the bin down and hugged him, letting him comfort me. It lifted some of the weight in my chest, and I took a deep breath. “I’m still mad at you,” I warned him.