by Viola Grace
She inclined her head and sipped at the water. “It is fine, Captain.”
“Linmoss. Captain Linmoss, Ms. Morrigan.”
“Captain Linmoss. I want to know who killed my aunt.”
He frowned and checked his report. “The preliminary report indicates it was suicide. Your aunt used a blade to cut her wrists.”
Adrea’s shock was a bolt of ice through her. “She didn’t. She was stabbed three times in the torso. What did you say she cut herself with?”
He scowled, but Mr. Grant nodded. He slid the file over, and Adrea took a look.
She didn’t have any history in law enforcement. She couldn’t tell what was legal and what was medical, but she did know her aunt. “Impossible. That can’t be the weapon if she was supposed to have killed herself.”
The detailed icons on the hilt of the knife looked like they would fit right into Neadra’s collection, but there was one little problem, it was steel. Neadra couldn’t use steel as anything other than a paperweight.
She slid the file back to the captain and smiled tightly. “Neadra couldn’t use steel. Nothing in her home was steel. Even her ornamental athame were made out of everything but steel. In her hands, steel wouldn’t cut.”
He frowned and looked like he was considering something. “How do you know that the killing blows were to the torso?”
“I felt them. The first one was to the left breast, the second just below and the third to the abdomen.” She touched her body as she mentioned it.
He nodded and made a call. Whoever it was on the other end got the directions to make a complete search of Neadra Yoder for signs of magical or extranatural interference.
Mr. Grant smiled slightly. “Now, as my client is the rightful owner of the property, she will take up residence immediately, allowing your officers to examine the grounds for clues as to who killed Madam Yoder. They will need to accompany her as the moment she introduces herself to the property, it will begin to alter itself to her nature in place of her aunt’s.”
The captain frowned. “Can’t we delay the possession?”
Adrea nodded. “Sure. If you don’t mind anything that can work a magic portal coming through the property and ripping through the weakened gates. My light connection with the walls is holding the power in check and keeping anyone from entering, but anything inside already could break right through the barrier. Ask the officers who brought us here. Something had already broken loose and is now scampering around the woods.”
The captain was alarmed. “What is it?”
Adrea shrugged. “How would I know? My aunt had been dead for four hours or so by that point, and something large enough to freak the driver out is loose and running around. There is a lot of magic in there, and it wants to have an effect on the world.”
Mr. Grant nodded. “My company has represented the owners of Ritual Space since this continent was settled. There can be no waiting in this case. She must get to the property as swiftly as possible to avoid any further leakage of magic into the surrounding area.”
The captain rubbed his face. “You are right; it is just so odd to be given an inheritance before the paperwork is ratified.”
Mr. Grant grinned, showing fangs as steely grey as the rest of his body. “I have all the paperwork. That is what took me so long. If I didn’t have to get the judges to sign the documents, I would have met Ms. Morrigan at the property. She was very quick.”
Captain Linmoss nodded. “That brings me to a technical question. Ms. Morrigan, where were you six hours ago?”
“I was two hours into my shift at Foxes Tea and Herb Shop. I had just prepared a pot of tea for a customer, and then, the pain struck. Apparently, a few hours were wasted in hospital and then I was on my way here.”
He nodded and made notes. “You had no idea that anything would happen? No premonition or any kind of magical notification?”
Adrea smirked. “I am not extranormal or extranatural. I have no magic. I want to study to be an herbalist, but as the shop owner said, it is better to leave magic to the magical. Even my aunt lived that way. She could allow doorways to Ritual Space, but she preferred folks to come through the gates.”
Mr. Grant nodded. “Now, if you assemble your investigative team, they can meet us at the property. We will all go in together. As my client was definitely not at the property and has no magical abilities, she is not the killer you are looking for.”
Adrea followed Mr. Grant’s example and got to her feet. They left the Mage Guild’s offices, and the lawyer held open the door of the passenger side of his customized vehicle. He tucked her in, closed the door and walked around to settle in the seat with a single narrow strut as the back. His wings moved gracefully to either side.
“I apologize for the wait, Ms. Morrigan. Judges are difficult to convince when the deceased person in question is of high station but low profile. They didn’t want to just hand over the property. They didn’t realize that all their secrets would be on display if they didn’t.”
She chuckled. “They realize it now?”
“Oh, yes. They will all be at the funeral. Neadra was a respected member of the community, even if few actually knew her.”
He put the vehicle in gear, and they were on the way to what was about to become her new home. She just wished she knew what the hell she was doing.
Chapter Three
They sat in Mr. Grant’s car for twenty minutes before the crime-scene team arrived.
Adrea got out, walked to the gate and noted that her bike was missing. She wasn’t too worried about it; she had other things to focus on.
She ran her hands along the stone until she snagged her finger again. When the blood touched the rock, she smiled slightly and the main gate swung wide.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please be welcome in my home.”
Adrea stepped into Ritual Space, and she felt surrounded by every blade of grass and each leaf on the property. They weren’t minds or thoughts; it was simply a presence, a comforting sensation of familiarity.
She hadn’t stayed over at Neadra’s home in the last ten years, but before that moment fourteen years ago, she had spent every summer in Ritual Space.
Fourteen years ago, Neadra had taken her deep into the forest and drawn blood from her pinky, letting the soil taste her for the first time. It had also been the last time. Her father had forbidden her to return after that summer. It had had to wait until she had moved out, and then, she had to work for a living. The time to spend visiting her aunt had gotten shorter as she got older.
She shook herself out of her reverie as the team descended on the house and a few officers arrived to examine the surrounding space.
Mr. Grant touched her arm. “Ms. Morrigan, I have a few things for you to sign to make this formal. Where shall we...”
“Oh, the meditation house. There are tables inside, and it is nice and quiet.”
He nodded and summoned one of the officers with a motion from his elegant grey hand. “We are adjourning to the meditation house; would you care to have someone clear it for us?”
The officer smiled slowly. “I will do it myself.”
He moved gracefully, and to Adrea’s eyes, it appeared that he didn’t actually tread on the gravel. He moved so precisely that the stones didn’t turn.
He was in plain clothes, so she guessed he was a detective, but she didn’t know what the ranking system was in the Mage Guild.
It appeared that going through life blissfully ignorant was going to bite her in the ass. There were things in this world that she needed to know.
The man who was following the signs to the meditation house was a combination of at least nine different genetic donors. Her time in retail had taught her that much. He was a blend of all that was lovely and elegant and probably magical.
Mr. Grant’s head came up, and his hooked nostrils flared. “There is blood.”
The officer pulled two batons from holsters on his thighs, an
d he moved forward toward the door of the meditation house. The door refused to open for him. He thumped the lock, but his batons rebounded off.
Adrea stepped forward. “I can open it.”
The officer marked an area. “Can you do it by touching here?”
She opened the tiny wound from earlier and tapped her pinky to the wood. The door shuddered and slowly opened.
She stepped back and remained on the deck alone while Mr. Grant took a look. He came out and put his hands on her shoulders. “You have found the primary crime scene. She was killed here and carried to her home.”
Adrea swallowed. “Okay. Um, if you still wanted me to sign stuff, we can use the table overlooking the gardens. I doubt that it was compromised.”
“Good, it is best that you not see this place.”
She didn’t need to see it. The bloodstains were marks of grief in the landscape. Her tenuous link to the property was already showing her things around her that she didn’t want to see.
She numbly led the gargoyle back toward the main house and around back. As they left, she heard the officer use his phone to call the techs to come in and examine their actual crime scene.
Adrea didn’t want to see it. She had known what had happened since the moment the knife struck.
As they walked away from the building, her heart lightened. She walked around the house and to the back, entering the expansive gardens to the small table with two chairs in the centre.
The peace and tranquility of the gardens belied what had happened. Everything looked perfectly fine.
Mr. Grant sat and looked around. “I have never met with my client out here. It is definitely a different look for the space.”
Adrea smiled tightly. “I only wish I could serve some tea. I think it would calm me.”
“You are doing very well. Just hold on a little bit longer.”
Adrea nodded. “Right. Well, what do I need to sign?”
The three inches of documents—some of which were even on parchment—were dropped between them. It was time to lose herself in paperwork.
Half an hour into the outlining of the banking structure for Ritual Space, a small squeaking came to her attention.
Adrea looked and grinned. “I had forgotten about them.”
Four bunnies were drawing a tiny wagon toward her. There was a tea set and warmer on the wagon.
When they pulled up next to her, she lifted the set up and smiled. “Thank you. It is definitely appreciated.”
The bunnies bowed and scampered off, leaving the wagon behind.
Mr. Grant blinked. “Do they normally do that?”
Adrea chuckled. “They are the remains of dozens of incomplete sacrifices. They eat herbs steeped in magic and have developed their own society. Neadra doesn’t bother them, and they don’t bother her.”
She paused. “Didn’t. Didn’t bother them.”
She busied herself with the tea, and while it was steeping, she signed the account cards for seventeen different banks. The amount of money that the property had accumulated was staggering. “What am I supposed to do with all of this?”
Mr. Grant smiled, showing his deadly teeth. “Whatever you wish. The funds of the renters of the space are accumulated in these accounts. They are now yours to do with as you will.”
When the banking was complete, she looked at the next form and tears welled up. After Neadra’s body was released, she had requested that it be interred in the private graveyard in Ritual Space.
She brushed the tears from her cheeks and signed the document. She would bring her aunt home to lie next to her family when the guild had finished its examination.
Mr. Grant offered her a handkerchief, and she blotted at her tears. “I am sorry.”
“Don’t be. It has been a lot to take in for you. Time moves slowly for my kind, and this amount of change would have caused my head to crack. You are holding up very well.”
She chuckled softly. “Thanks. I am trying. There is an odd feeling inside me, like something is trying to get out.”
“That is the property. You are linked to the wall, but you haven’t taken control of the land itself. You will need to take care of that, but I am guessing that you are aware of it.”
She nodded. “As soon as I do, the house will change. I have to hold off as long as I can so that they can examine everything.”
“You are doing very well. When Neadra came to me and made these arrangements, I had my doubts that you would be a suitable replacement. Now, I am not so sure I was correct. You seem to have an inner strength that I was unaware of. You will do well in your new home.”
Adrea smiled slightly. “Thanks for that. I will launder this, and get it back to you.”
“Keep it. I always bring a few when wills are in the offing. There will still be an official reading of the will on the day of the funeral, but we have handled the portion that involves the corporation of Ritual Space.”
She exhaled, and he tucked the paperwork away.
“I will provide you with your copies on the day of the funeral. I will also handle the arrangements in the manner your aunt desired.”
Adrea quirked her lips. “You do know she wasn’t really my aunt.”
“Great aunt twice removed. Her lifespan was far longer than she admitted, but that is the bonus to this place. Your life mixes with the land and your body given its power of renewal. You can’t go far from it, but it will keep you alive and healthy.”
“Once I complete the ritual.”
“Indeed.”
She sighed and picked up her teacup, getting to her feet to look out at the gardens. “This was always my favourite part of the grounds.”
She looked around, and if she focused on the slight movements, she could see the rabbits tending the plants. Adrea took a few steps toward the wild roses, and she spun as if struck.
Pain ripped through her shoulder, and she went down on one knee.
“Ms. Morrigan, what is it?”
“Something else just hit the wall. It is trying to get out.”
Mr. Grant got to his feet. “I think that now is a good time for you to complete your link to the property.”
She gritted her teeth as the pain moved across her back. “Are they done with the crime-scene stuff?”
“It doesn’t matter. You must do this or the gates will start to feel pressure and you will be torn apart.”
Adrea grunted as the pain continued to travel, seeking a means of escape. “I think you are right. Please let them know to get moving.”
She stood up, set her teacup down and ran through the gardens, into the forest.
She was running to find the centre with someone trying to punch their way out of her skin. Thank goodness she was wearing the right clothing for the job. There was nothing worse than being overdressed when you opened your mind and body to join with a few hundred acres of land.
Chapter Four
The centre was surprisingly subtle. A light growth of new trees in a circle and lush green grass in the centre.
As she passed the circle, she could feel something weird. Those trees were hers. They looked to be about six months old, but those trees were hers.
Sighing, she knelt in the centre of the ring and clawed at the ground. She had heard Neadra say dozens of times, the earth provides for us, and as she dug and tiny shards of stone pricked her hands, she finally understood.
She kept digging until she found a wide blue stone, the same colour as her eyes. Tiny smears of her blood covered the stone.
Adrea lay on her belly and breathed into the hole she had dug. She whispered the words that Neadra had said in front of her. “I trust you, I guard you, I watch those who walk your path. Bound by body, bound by blood.”
She repeated it over and over as the light began to flicker in the blue stone. She pressed her hands to it and kept chanting as the power built to a crescendo and bright blue light cascaded over her, flowing outward from the
centre.
Adrea breathed in the green around her, felt the stone in her bones, the soil under her skin and the grass in her hair. She inhaled and exhaled in a slow rhythm as the wave moved outward until the wall was encompassed and she was complete.
She knew every inch of the property like she knew herself.
Relaxed and confident that she could subdue anything that tried to break out or in, she covered her digging site and got to her feet. A sprout shot up through the ground and rapidly turned into a young oak.
Her mark on the property was sealed with that oak.
Adrea Morrigan straightened her shoulders and went to find the intruders in her territory. Eleven mages, one gargoyle and a half-elf were in her space. She was going to meet and greet every one.
She walked with a determined air and headed through the woods and back to where Mr. Grant was still going over his paperwork.
“So, Ms. Morrigan. Did you catch the creature you were after?”
“No, but I now know where it is, and I will subdue it if it becomes a problem.”
He gave her a respectful nod. “Neadra told me that you were perfect to be her successor. I am beginning to think she was right. You are definitely up to this challenge.”
“I do hope so, because Ritual Space is now mine.”
“Excellent. There is one more thing. Neadra provided you with this starter’s manual. It will tell you how to proceed in the business of providing magical property for temporary use.”
He hauled a heavy book out of his bag and placed it on the table in front of her. The manual was huge, at least a foot square and encrusted with gems, petrified wood and bits of freshly mined metals. When Adrea opened the book, each page held a pressed flower or leaf.
Without asking, she knew that everything in that book had come from the property around her.
Mr. Grant scowled. “I am sorry. She said she had written it for you.”
