“You don’t think the vampire is still alive and wanted it back?” Nick asked.
Elias’s brown eyes widened. “I hadn’t considered that.”
“I don’t think so,” Gray said. “If he’s as brutal as you say, he wouldn’t break in and steal it. He’d have killed Elias for having it and drank his blood from it before leaving.”
Elias swallowed hard. “Maybe not the vampire then.”
“I noticed footprints outside that aren’t giant-sized,” Nick said. “I’ll go have a closer look.” The werejaguar left the foyer.
“I know it’ll be tough, but leave the glass where it is until we’ve combed the area,” Gray said.
“I like a neat house,” Elias objected.
“Were you home when the burglary took place?” I asked.
“No,” Elias said. “It happened when I was visiting my friend, Yancy. He lives about half an hour away.”
“So the thief likely watched the house and waited for you to leave,” Gray said.
“Probably watched longer than that,” Nick said, striding back into the foyer. “Had to make sure you didn’t have security. You were probably under surveillance for a solid week.”
Elias shivered. “I don’t like thinking about being watched. It’s creepy.”
“If you could provide us with a picture of the horn to take back to the agency, that would be helpful,” Nick said.
“What about the footprints?” I asked.
“Male, about one hundred ninety pounds,” Nick said. “Spends time near a beach, I think.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“The smell of salt,” Nick said.
“What would a beachcomber want with an ancient drinking horn?” I asked.
“Why does anyone steal items of value?” Nick said. “Money. Maybe he gambles and owes someone money. Someone who likes to break the legs of those who can’t pay.”
Elias’s expression turned grim. “If that’s the case, I wish he would’ve knocked on the door. I would have loaned him the money. I don’t care for violence or those who inflict it.”
Gray clapped him on the back. “We’ll be in touch, Elias.”
“Thanks,” Elias said. “Try not to take too long. I’m worried my grandmother will hear about this and her shade’ll come back to haunt me.”
“Maybe that’s not such a bad thing,” Nick said. “If she comes from one of the underworlds, she might be able to tell us the identity of the thief.” The werejaguar looked at me. “Sometimes the shades see more from down there than we do up here.”
I glanced at Gray, remembering our adventure in the underworld to rescue Cerys from a demon, the same demon that owned Rudolph. The vampire seemed to have the same thought because he gave me a fleeting smile.
“I’ll get you that picture before you leave,” Elias said. “Give me one minute.” He walked through the foyer and disappeared into an adjacent room.
“A missing horn is a nice change of pace,” Nick remarked. “Nobody’s losing a brain with it.”
“I don’t know,” Gray said. “It can easily be used to scoop.” He made a scooping motion with his hand.
I closed my eyes. “Thanks for the visual, guys.” I’d only successfully blocked the image of the murder scene from my mind, but now it was back in full force.
Elias returned with a sheet of paper and I swiped it before Nick or Gray could reach it. I stared at the image of the horn, using it to replace the current memory.
“We’ll take another look outside for evidence before we go, if that’s okay,” Nick said.
“You do whatever you need to do,” Elias said. “You have my full cooperation.”
We left the house and Nick and Gray used their preternatural abilities to check the grounds for evidence. I stood on the front step and examined the picture more closely. There were marks too small to see, so I conjured a magnification spell and noticed a rune carved into the horn. The same one I noted in the circle at the murder scene.
“It’s the power rune,” I said, as Gray and Nick completed their sweep.
Gray glanced over my shoulder. “That’s not surprising based on the story Elias told us.”
“You don’t think it’s connected to the murders?” I asked.
Nick put a hand on my shoulder. “You investigate enough crimes, you see a lot of similarities. Power runes aren’t uncommon, especially when you consider that power is a strong motive for criminal activity.”
“What about the connection to blood?” I asked. “The horn was used for drinking blood and gaining power. The sacrifice…”
Nick’s mouth quirked. “Involved a lot of blood? Yeah, that tends to happen when you cut out body parts against someone’s will.”
He made sense, and yet…I couldn’t shake the feeling that the case of the missing horn was more complicated than it appeared.
“I know you feel invested in the murder investigation,” Gray said. “We all do, but part of being a good agent is knowing when to let go. It’s a lesson we all have to learn.”
I nodded. “You’re right. I’d love nothing more than to let go of that crime scene.” I handed the picture to Nick. “Find any evidence aside from the footprints?”
“As a matter of fact, Gray did,” Nick said.
The vampire grinned. “Someone cut himself on the glass, it seems. I found a drop of blood near one of the shoe imprints. We’ll take it for analysis.”
“That’s great news,” I said.
“Save the celebration for when we’ve caught the thief,” Nick said.
“Want a ride home?” Gray asked.
I inclined my head toward the broomstick propped up against the side of the house. “I’ll fly, thanks.” Any excuse to be in the air.
“Okay, we’ll let you know when we have a match with the blood sample,” Gray said.
I gave a wave before climbing on my broomstick and taking to the air. Between Folsom Falls and the academy, I deliberately got lost in the clouds. I forgot about the murders, and organ trafficking, and horns full of blood. I let the wind tousle my hair and just let myself be.
Chapter Six
Light filtered through thin gaps in the trees. With their straight trunks and tall branches, the trees reminded me of the wooded area where we discovered the murder victims. My instinct was to flee, until a breeze came along and wrapped around my skin. I briefly closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation. Exposure to the elements not only reenergized me, it fed my soul.
A noise ahead startled me out of my reverie. A red hind pranced into a view. The deer was a beauty, with a reddish-brown coat and graceful legs. Her ears flicked back and forth. I knew that fairies sometimes took the form of red deer, but I didn’t sense any fairy magic.
“Hello,” I said, and her deep brown eyes met mine.
Instead of moving closer, the deer turned away and walked deeper into the forest. Her gait was languid, as though she expected me to follow and didn’t want me to get lost.
I hurried forward, unconcerned with my surroundings. Like my elemental friends, I was perfectly at home in the forest. I used logs as springboards and maneuvered around the grasping branches. The deer continued on, pausing every so often to make sure I was behind her. Soon, I heard the sound of a babbling brook ahead.
“You’ve brought me to water,” I said.
The deer stood on the bank and bowed her head. She appeared to take a drink before lifting her head to gaze at me with those large, soulful eyes.
I edged closer, moving slowly so as not to frighten her. The sweet smell of honeysuckle filled the air. One of my favorite scents. I joined her on the bank and she turned her head back to the water.
“What is it?” I asked. “Something you want me to see?” I bent over and peered into the clear water, wondering whether I would see a vision. Without warning, the deer sunk her head into water and emerged with a fish in her mouth. She dropped the squirming creature on a nearby rock.
“A salmon, you clever girl,” I said. “
Are you hungry?” Did deer eat salmon? I wasn’t sure.
I glanced around for a way to gut and cook the fish. The deer nudged my arm with her head and I felt a hard object in my pocket. I reached in and removed a small knife.
“How did that get there?” I mused. Cerys preferred to keep a dagger in her boot, but I didn’t tend to carry knives.
I held the fish still on the rock and sliced it open. Something spilled out and dropped to the muddy ground. At first I thought it was a drop of blood and I remembered the drop of blood discovered by Gray. I crouched down to examine it closer and realized it wasn’t blood, but a stone. I picked it up and held it in the light for a better view. It was a black stone with multicolored specks and a red belly. Unusual but very pretty.
“You shouldn’t eat stones,” I cautioned the dead fish. “You can’t digest them.” I glanced over for the deer’s approval, but she was gone.
Then I noticed the brook. The rising water splashed onto the bank and dozens of fish appeared on the surface.
Dead fish.
The smell was nauseating, quickly replacing the fragrant honeysuckle. As more fish appeared, the pristine water turned red. I stared at the stone in the palm of my hand. Somehow, I knew the two things were related. The stone and death. My feet sank into the mud. I called to the wind, but it didn’t come. The mud devoured my legs and I began to panic when my magic refused my call.
“Help!” I yelled, but the deer was gone and the fish were all dead.
I pulled and prodded the air around me, but it remained perfectly still as the earth claimed me.
“Mia!” Cerys shook me awake. “Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”
My eyes snapped open. Cerys hovered over me, her features etched with motherly concern. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. “Sorry,” I mumbled.
“Don’t be sorry,” Cerys said. “I only woke you because I was worried.”
“Did I scream?” I asked.
“You cried,” Bryn said from her place on the floor. She still wore pajamas and had a grimoire open on her lap.
“We’ve all been there,” Cerys said. She smoothed back my hair.
“Not me,” Dani said. She was still on the top bunk, stroking Clementine.
“Sorry, we’ve all been there except Miss Perfect,” Bryn said. “What was the dream?”
“A red deer in the woods,” I said. “She led me to a brook full of dead fish.”
“Hmm,” Cerys said. “I don’t know about the dead fish, but red deer are meant to be good luck.”
“No, I think they symbolize happiness,” Dani said.
Bryn looked up at her. “I’d say happiness is a stroke of good luck, wouldn’t you?”
“Nobody can be happy with that many dead fish around,” I said. “Though I seem to have triggered it when I gutted a salmon with a knife I found in my pocket.”
“I can’t see you gutting a fish,” Bryn said. “That seems far too aggressive.”
Cerys laughed. “Not if you’re starving and lost in the woods.”
“I wasn’t lost,” I said. “Anyway, the salmon had digested a stone.”
Cerys lifted her brow, intrigued. “One of mine?” she asked. “Was it marked with a rune?”
I tried to conjure a memory of the stone. “No, I don’t think there was a rune.”
“I think the fish was the salmon of wisdom,” Cerys said. “It often serves as a message.”
“Mia murdered the salmon of wisdom?” Bryn said. “Are you sure that deer was red? Maybe there’s a brown deer that signifies bad luck.”
“The deer was definitely red,” I replied. “And I don’t understand the salmon part. I cut him open, found the stone, and then the brook turned red with blood and all the fish died. Not exactly a fairytale.”
“Did the stone look like any on the windowsill?” Dani asked. “Even if it didn’t have a rune, it could still be one of these.”
“Dani’s right,” Cerys said. “You see these every day. It wouldn’t be surprising if you dreamed about one of them.”
“The stone was mostly black with multicolored specks,” I said. “It had a spot of red on it, too.”
“Like the blood in the brook,” Bryn said. She closed her grimoire and rose to her feet. “Sounds like one of my father’s healing stones.” She opened her desk drawer and felt around inside for the secret compartment where she stored the one she’d acquired from the vampire, Anton Harrington. She retrieved the small red stone and brought it over to me. “Did it look like this?”
I examined the stone. “The colors of mine were different, except for the red. The shade of red was identical to this one.”
“Hmm. A healing stone that causes death,” Bryn said. “I think we might be missing something in the translation.”
“If the red is important, maybe the dream was trying to tell you something about blood magic,” Dani suggested. “That has a strong connection to death.”
“Hey, watch it,” Bryn warned. “Some of us happen to possess the power of blood magic and manage not to kill anyone with it.”
Dani climbed down from her bed for a better look at the stone. “I’m not insulting you. I’m just stating a fact.”
I slid my knees up to my chest. “Ominous dreams are the worst.”
“Sure beats dreaming about five guys’ missing body parts,” Bryn said.
“Your bright side is very dark,” Dani told her.
Cerys rubbed my back. “We’ll let it simmer for a bit. Sometimes distance makes things clearer.”
“Sometimes food makes things clearer,” Bryn said. “Who wants breakfast?”
I peeled back the covers, ready to face the day. “I’ll go. I could use a little clarity.” I felt more confused now than when I first opened my eyes and realized it was a dream.
“Great,” Bryn said, as she returned the stone to her drawer. “But might I suggest avoiding the eggs and salmon?”
Breakfast was cut short by a message from Gray. The blood matched a wizard in the AMF database named Luca Pendale. He’d served three years in prison for burglary and had been released last year. The image Gray sent showed an average looking male with thinning hair and glasses. He didn’t look like a criminal, not that they always did.
“I guess old habits die hard,” Bryn said, when I shared the news.
“Where is he now?” Dani asked.
“Snuggling up to his new drinking horn, I imagine,” Bryn replied.
“Or trying to sell it,” Cerys said.
“They did a locator spell with his blood,” I told them. “He’s not far from here. Nick and Gray want me to meet them there in an hour.” According to Gray, Nick was in the middle of a heated call with Vera Ashdown. Apparently, she wanted compensation for the tainted dagger and seemed to think it should come from the agency that recovered it for her.
Bryn’s eyes sparkled. “We can get there first.”
I squinted at her. “So?”
“So let’s not wait,” Bryn said. “If you want to impress them, you should take care of Luca without their help.”
“Mia saved the world,” Cerys reminded her. “She doesn’t have to impress them.”
“Okay, fine,” Bryn said, crossing her arms. “My assignment is boring and yours has potential to be interesting today. I want to go with you.”
Dani pushed away her tray of unfinished food. “Then I’m going, too.”
“What are we going to do?” Cerys asked. “Arrest him and hold him until the wardens get there?”
“Sure,” Bryn said with a shrug. “Maybe he has the horn on him and we can recover it. Come on, it’ll be fun.”
Cerys shook her blond head. “You really have weird ideas about what’s fun.”
We passed Luca Pendale walking along the side of the road on the way to the location I’d been given. He’d walked a couple miles on foot since the locator spell was performed.
Dani pulled over the pickup truck that we borrowed from William Fonthill, the academy groundskeeper. “Need a
ride?” she asked, adopting a friendly tone.
Luca blinked through his glasses. “I have a ride coming, thank you.”
Dani looked up and down the road. “Are you sure? It’s not a busy road and I haven’t seen anyone for miles.”
“Where are you coming from?” Bryn asked, peeking around Dani from the passenger seat.
“A portal,” Luca said. “I had business in another quadrant. My friend is late to retrieve me, so I decided to start walking. It’s a beautiful day.”
There was no sign of the horn. Maybe he’d sold it in another quadrant and had just returned.
Dani tried again. “It’s beautiful but kind of chilly. Why don’t you get in and I’ll take you to your friend?”
Luca seemed to reconsider. “I’ll ride in the back.”
“I’ll keep him company,” I said. I offered Luca a smile. “Otherwise, it’ll be dull back there.”
“I don’t wish to inconvenience you,” Luca said.
“Not at all,” I said. “I’m partial to the outdoors anyway.” I left the cab and climbed into the open back with Luca.
I waited until Dani was back on the road to take action. I whipped out my wand and took aim. “Where’s the drinking horn, Luca?”
The wizard reeled back, his face registering shock. “Who are you?”
“I’m the witch who’s been asked to recover the horn for its owner,” I replied. “Now where is it? Did you already sell it?”
“Sell it,” he repeated, as though confused.
“Where’ve you come from?” I asked. “Who’s supposed to pick you up?”
Luca pinned my wand with a hard stare. “You wish to threaten me with your paltry magic? I assure you, you’ll have to try much harder than this.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said. “I only want the horn. I have friends coming to meet me, too, and trust me when I tell you that you’re better off dealing with me.”
Luca studied me intently. “More girls?” I detected a note of disdain in his voice.
“Did he seriously just say girls like someone offered him cauliflower without cheese?” Bryn called through the open window.
Outgrow: Spellslingers Academy of Magic (Keeper of the North Book 2) Page 6
