“Now you’re thinking like a sorceress.”
“Too bad I can’t do magic like a sorceress.”
“Yet.”
I backed away from the window. “Let’s get Ulric. He can follow it—”
“No time. Look!” Mr. Tom pointed.
The deer, still munching, lifted its head, looking over the gardens. It paused as if in contemplation before walking a few steps, every bit as graceful as a natural deer. It didn’t bow back to the flowers, though its hesitation said it was thinking about it.
“It’s not eating as much as it wants to,” I whispered, watching in fascination, not sure if I was studying it or I was just too torn to act. Go get Ulric, or go down there and try to blast it with magic?
“It’s holding back. Why, I wonder?” I paused for another moment, considering, then forced myself into action. I wouldn’t get any answers sitting here. “I’ll get Jasper, actually. If anyone is good at silence, it’s that guy. Keep watching it, Mr. Tom. Try to figure out what it’s after.”
Jasper opened the door after the second soft rap, his room two doors down from my parents’. Even though I was in a hurry, I didn’t want them coming out and asking questions. They’d just slow everything down.
The door swung open, Jasper’s eyes puffy with sleep and his unruly light brown hair in a halo around his head. He didn’t respond, just waited for me to speak.
“I need your help. Hurry!” I waved him down the hall after me, breaking into a jog. Back at my room, easing in beside Mr. Tom, still crouched at the window, I pointed to the deer. It was working away from Edgar’s position, staring at the house all the while. “Can you get into the air and follow it without being detected?” I whispered.
He bent beside me and then leaned forward, bracing his large hand against the windowsill. Both of us were far enough back and low enough that the darkness of the room would mask what little of us might be visible from the deer’s vantage point. “Is it glowing?”
“Yeah. Looks like a shifter, too. Ivy House can’t feel it. That’s what’s been eating Mr. Tom’s flowers.”
“Edgar’s,” Mr. Tom said.
“Sorry, yeah. Edgar’s. Can you follow it, Jasper? Without being noticed?”
“For how long?” Jasper asked.
“I don’t know, until…you have something to report, I guess. But it can’t know you’re there.”
He stripped off his shirt and jogged out of the room. I felt him heading for the stairs. He’d use one of the third-floor openings in the floor or wall and take to the sky.
“Now what, miss?” Mr. Tom asked, a buzz sounding from his pocket.
I shook my head, needing to do something more. This creature was on my property, and Ivy House couldn’t defend herself. It was on me to pick up the slack. Everything in me wanted to run out there and teach the shifter a lesson. Teach it—mostly likely a him—to invade my space and mess with Edgar’s flowers. Logic had to reign supreme, though. That deer would be back. Haste without planning caused mistakes. Right now we had the upper hand—we needed to keep it.
Mr. Tom swore under his breath. The light from his phone screen highlighted his cheekbones and eyes. “It’s Niamh. The house across from hers has a prowler. She just caught a glimpse before the figure slipped behind the bushes. She’s wondering if she should engage.”
“What is it? Is it a shifter?”
Mr. Tom bent to his phone, typing out a message. I wondered why he didn’t just call, but was thankful for it. Text was quieter and there was less room to insult each other. It would be quicker.
I clutched the windowsill, my mind whirling. I couldn’t be sure the entity at the front was a danger to me, not yet. Could just be a burglar. I had to get ready to move, though, just in case.
“Not a shifter,” Mr. Tom said as his phone vibrated with a new message. “A human form. She doesn’t know what magic it is.”
I paused. “Tell her to keep watching, but not engage. If it is a powerful mage, she’ll be on the losing end of that battle. We need information before we combat this. If it comes on Ivy House’s property, have her text, just in case it has the same spell as the shifter out back.” I pushed away from the window and crouch-crawled to the center of the room. “Come on, let’s get ready to fly in case something kicks off.”
I stood and made my way downstairs, pausing again at the bottom of the stairs. Did we head to the front, or back? Austin would likely approach from the rear through the woods, and if he caught sight of that shifter, he’d give chase. If the entity at the front joined in the battle, we’d need to intercept. If not, and we went to the back to help Austin, we’d leave the front vulnerable.
“Mr. Tom, go get Ulric and Cedric. Have them watch the front in case that prowler heads this way.”
With him dispatched, I made it to the back of the house. Once there, I stripped off my clothes and changed form. Mr. Tom joined me not long after and followed suit.
Minutes ticked by. I felt Jasper invade the airspace, high overhead. The fact that I could sense him in the air made it that much stranger that I couldn’t feel the deer whose hooves were in Ivy House dirt.
“Wee ’aft oo fiiiin du schpell—” I sighed and stopped trying to talk. I was getting better at working around the enlarged teeth and prominent canines in this form, but it was an ongoing struggle. I’d wait to tell Mr. Tom that we needed to find the spell that might allow a creature to walk past magical surveillance undetected.
Although…he had set off my magical tripwire, so there was substance to him. It actually didn’t get past magical surveillance. It was just Ivy House that was blind to it. But why?
“Ook.” Mr. Tom pointed, his long claw tapping the window.
The deer worked around the side of the house as if tracking the flowers. We followed its progress from within the house, moving from window to window, staying well back or within the shadows.
Mr. Tom glanced at his phone, the screen somewhat obscured by his long nails, not lit up. No text message from Niamh. The prowler at the front wasn’t an issue. Not yet.
The deer shifter didn’t eat any more flowers or do much of anything but look. It moved its head like a person might, checking each window, pausing for a long time with its snout slightly raised, looking at the second or third floors. Given my room spanned the back corner of the house, I had a sinking suspicion that it had a special interest in my room.
Edgar’s movements registered. He was creeping along at a snail’s pace, the vampire who’d once been great at stalking prey having lost his edge many, many decades ago. Adrenaline coursed through me. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be the piece that upset this whole night.
Jasper circled the house, far overhead, his eyesight clearly amazing. I hoped that deer’s wasn’t so good, though even if it was, spotting a dark-skinned gargoyle within the dark sky would be a feat. Jasper wouldn’t blow it.
The deer jerked and my heart stopped. Its head swung toward the front of the house. Its body tensed, and then it exploded into movement, bounding away through the trees. Jasper soared in that direction a moment later.
“Oh ’rap,” I said, the breath leaking out of me, my swear muddled.
The deer shifter must’ve seen the prowler at the front. It would have had a clear vantage point from its last location. Given it had run, they probably weren’t on the same team. One threat was bad enough, but two opposing threats? At the same time?
Or maybe it was just a shifter that had lost its way, with a rare magic that hid it from Ivy House, and a burglar that got unlucky with timing? Totally unrelated. Maybe the shifter spooked because it saw someone, not because it saw an enemy that might not know it wasn’t just a deer.
My gut pinched and then swam. Not even wishful thinking helped me swallow that one down. Danger was coming this way, and it was happening when my parents were here.
I jogged to the front of the house, where Ulric and Cedric waited in the sitting room near the window, wanting a look at that prowler, only belatedly re
gistering my dad coming down the stairs. Having emerged from the seldom-used sitting room attached to the dining room, I slid to a stop just before the entryway. My wings snapped out, not in control, punching a vase on a stand. It flew across the room and smashed into the wall, the pieces tinkling as they rained down onto the floor.
My dad startled, pausing with one foot on the ground floor and the other still on the step, holding the banister for support.
“Ennnnd innn…” Mr. Tom prompted.
Blend in.
It should have been in my wheelhouse, but other facets of my magic had taken precedence in my training. I was now seeing the flaw in that thinking.
“Heeeey, Daad,” I said, super nonchalant, my wings still stretched out behind me, my body covered in tough, light purple, luminescent skin that shed streaks of light whenever I moved. Although I had smaller teeth and a more reasonable jaw than the creature form of the male of the species, I still did not look in any way human. Hiding my long fingers ending in claws behind my back would do nothing to detract from the effect. Even hiding in shadows would not make this in any way normal. Not even remotely. The only thing that could be worse, I figured, was changing back right in front of him and standing around in human form while naked. Not sure if that would be worse for him or for me, but I was definitely not going to do it.
I hope he doesn’t have a heart attack, I thought without meaning to. Reducing the stress of this moment for my dad was a lot more important than seeing the prowler with my own eyes. Niamh and hopefully the guys could tell me what they saw. No one would be able to help my dad cope with this situation if it went off the rails.
Further off the rails.
He stared at me for a very long moment, the only sound the ticking of the grandfather clock behind me. Austin surged onto the property at the edge of the wood—not the rear, like I’d thought he might—still a distance away but coming fast. He’d made incredible time. He was still too late for the deer, although not too late to give my dad another polar bear peep show that hopefully wouldn’t drive him over the edge.
“Dooooin’ ‘ood?” I tried the last again. “Guh-ood?”
“Jacinta, how many times have I told you to enunciate when you speak to someone.” My dad’s foot slowly left the step and joined the other on the ground floor. He didn’t remove his hand from the banister. “Your mother has me taking something called melatonin. She claims it’s to help me sleep, but I don’t know. I’m starting to see things.” He shook his head, turning down the hallway. “Doesn’t cure my midnight hunger, either. Is there any clam dip left?”
He didn’t wait for me to catch up. Austin was nearly at the house.
I darted into the sitting room and to the guys hiding behind the curtains.
“Sheee anneee’tang?” I would’ve grimaced, if my face could contort that way, and then I changed form.
“See anything?” I asked, slipping to the side of the window and quickly looking out. I had precious little time with Austin coming closer and my dad in the middle of the whole thing. It was clear my dad would not handle the idea of magic well, I needed to keep it away from him.
“Shhom une.” Ulric pointed.
Someone.
Shadows draped and pooled across the front and side yards of the house across the street from Niamh’s, still and quiet. No movement caught my eye. No glowing form.
“Gooone,” Cedric grunted out.
“Mr. Tom, see if Niamh saw it leave,” I said, getting one last look, squinting into the darkness. “If not, we’ll need to check it out. Cedric and Ulric, stay here until we call you. Don’t let my dad see you. I need clothes.”
So as not to dart past my father in the kitchen while naked, I ran upstairs, threw on some house sweats and a t-shirt, and tore back down and out the back door.
“No running in the house,” my father called after me, clearly on autopilot. Or else not caring that this was my house and he technically didn’t have the right to enforce rules.
Austin stopped at the edge of the flowers to shift before beelining for the back door. I hurried to meet him.
“Hey.” Austin grabbed my arms and raked his gaze down my body, clearly assessing me for damage. “You okay?”
Jasper flew directly overhead. He must’ve lost the trail.
“Yeah. I didn’t leave the house.” I nudged Austin to turn toward the munched flowers, but my dad’s voice stopped me short.
“Young lady, you’ll catch the death of cold out here at night with just a T-shirt.” He stood in the back door, a bag of bread dangling from one hand, a half-eaten cookie in the other, and his cheek puffed out like a chipmunk’s. His eyes narrowed at Austin. “Son, now…I understand the need to let the begonias air out—it is very good for circulation, no matter what doctors or my wife will tell you—but that is my daughter there, and calling on her at this time of the night without a stitch of clothing on is pushing it.”
“Yes, sir. I apologize. I keep late hours.” Austin turned, providing an opening for me to pass him. Jasper touched down somewhere within the trees, something I only felt, thankfully. None of us could see him.
“Here we go.” Mr. Tom scooted past my father in his house sweats. He carried more in his hands. “I was just bringing some sweats now.”
“So the cape isn’t just for suits, you wear it with leisurewear too, huh?” My dad shook his head at Mr. Tom. “We all like the idea of superheroes, but even Superman took his off once in a while…”
“Superman is just a—”
“Never mind,” I said, stopping Mr. Tom. We didn’t need to get into it.
Tight-lipped, Mr. Tom held out sweatpants for Austin. “Here, Mr. Steele. And miss, you can wear the sweatshirt so you don’t look cold.”
My dad nodded once. “That’s more like it.” Mr. Tom’s word choice, thankfully, hadn’t registered. “Don’t stay out too late.” He headed back to the kitchen.
“Thank God it wasn’t your dad that I had to convince about magic,” Austin murmured. “I don’t know if it could be done.” He ushered me toward Jasper. Edgar darted out from the bushes.
“Your tripwire worked, Jessie, congratulations,” Edgar said, smiling at me. “Job well done.” He turned somber. “I owe you an apology, though. It was not the basajaun after all. I have egg on my face.”
I waved that away. “What’d you see?”
“A larger deer, probably a shifter, snapped me out of a doze,” Edgar said. I glanced back at the house, really hoping my dad wasn’t looking out. Thankfully, I didn’t see a face in the lit kitchen windows. “It approached like any deer might, wandering through the wood and looking for food. After that—”
“I was watching. What about the magic? Did you notice anything about that strange glow around it?”
Austin slipped on the sweats before stalking across the grass, his stride long and purposeful. I followed, trailed by everyone else.
“Just the color, density, and reach of the glow,” Edgar said. “I was a bit too far away to get a more detailed look.”
“How good of a mage is the woman in town?” I asked as Austin tramped through the flowers. Edgar issued a soft squeal. “The one who makes the flower elixir. Would she know much about different spells?”
“No,” Mr. Tom said as Austin bent to the munched section, studying the ground. “She’s low level, which is why she’s in a small town making magical Miracle-Gro for a vampire so he can cheat at local gardening shows.”
“For the last time, it is not cheating,” Edgar said. “That sneak, Marg, could use the same elixir—”
“Grab me a light, Edgar,” Austin said.
Edgar let out a breath, like a tire losing air, before puffing into a swarm of insects and buzzing away.
“Miss,” Mr. Tom said softly. “Your father is back. He’s apparently as nosy as your mother…”
My dad stuck his head out of the back doorway. “What are you all up to out here? It’s a bit late for a garden party.”
“He needs double
the dose of melatonin,” Mr. Tom murmured. “Or maybe a sleeping draft. That is something Agnes can help with.”
“Nothing, Dad,” I called. “It’s fine. Just head to bed.”
My dad stepped farther out. “Well, it can’t be nothing, what with all you gathering around in the middle of the night. You having some animal problems? I noticed something was getting at your flowers over there. First rats, now critters—this house is overrun!” He took a few more steps, clearly intending to join our huddle.
Jasper finished the transition into his human form, thankfully in the shadows of the trees. Likely my dad wouldn’t have noticed him from such a distance; not that it would’ve really mattered at this point. The cat had gotten out of the bag a few times over. It was amazing that he wasn’t giving in to it.
“Just saw an animal prowling and trying to figure out what it was,” I said. “It’s nothing. Probably a deer.”
“I followed it through the woods,” Jasper said quietly, talking quickly, clearly trying to get this out before my dad got within hearing range. “About halfway to the property line, the illumination wore off. I dropped in altitude enough to continue tracking it, the low light making things difficult. It stopped for a moment, and then vanished. I saw the image of the deer wink out.”
“It isn’t a mage, so it must’ve taken a magical elixir of some kind,” Austin said. “How close did it get to me?”
Jasper shook his head. “I didn’t see you running in, so it couldn’t have been very close. Then again, my focus was acute.”
“And you’re sure the witch in town wouldn’t know about that kind of elixir?” I whispered to Mr. Tom.
He shrugged. “She might know, but she wouldn’t be able to make it. Illumination and invisibility are master-craft potions. Tricking this house would take the very best.”
My stomach churned, and Austin looked up at me, the weak moonlight falling across his face. His eyes smoldered with determination. I knew what he was thinking. Only the very best could make a potion powerful enough to trick Ivy House, and there was one mage who’d continually shown interest in me.
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