"Nothing," she said. "Not even a basic protection spell on the house." She sounded confused and a little worried.
"That's good, right?" Callum asked.
"Yes," she said, her eyes distracted as she stared at the house in the distance.
Only two windows had lights shining through them. The rest were dark. There were blinds over each of them and no shadows moved inside. There were cars in the drive, but the house had an aura of emptiness.
The sensation of wrongness nagged at me again.
"You feel it, too?" I asked Ava.
She didn't look at me but nodded. "Something's off."
"Think they set some booby traps?" Harrison asked.
Ava continued to study the small home. "No. I don't think they're there at all." She glanced at Macgrath. "Do you sense anyone?"
He shook his head.
"There's not even a speck of magic either," she said.
"I'll go take a quick peek," Callum volunteered just before he disappeared from view.
Ava sighed. "Well, I sure hope I'm right about the wards and lack of magic, otherwise he might come back looking like he's been through a food processor."
A few moments later, Callum reappeared, an expression of consternation on his face.
"The house is empty. All the cars are cold." He paused. "And there was a note."
He held it up for us to see.
Thank you for the visit. Please call ahead first next time. It's good manners.
~Andre
Macgrath's face became thunderous and Ava only frowned.
Before anyone could say anything else, panic blossomed in my mind. A short, sharp stab of fear hit me dead center in the chest.
"Merry," I whispered.
The feeling vanished and the terror I felt then was purely my own.
"He went after Merry," I said. I closed my eyes, pulling my power to me. A trace of this distance would be difficult, but I'd managed it easily before.
As soon as I pushed out my power, aiming to propel myself back toward my house in Austin, lines in the shapes of runes flashed on all of the trees, killing my magic.
Oh, that goddamn son of a bitch. I would kill him. I would rip his entrails from him while he screamed for mercy.
He had the woman I loved and I was trapped here with no way to return to her.
I forged my power into a hammer and smashed it against the spell surrounding us. The shock reverberated through the circle like a giant chime and everyone cringed, holding their hands over their ears. I drew back to do it again, but Macgrath tackled me.
"Stop!" he yelled. "You're hurting Ava."
I looked over and saw a small trickle of blood trail from one of her ears. The mindless fury vanished. I quashed it without mercy. In its place was ice-cold anger. My thoughts cleared and I knew the only way we would escape this trap was with Ava's help. If I kept hammering at the spell with brute force, I would only end up hurting my only chance to get to Merry in time.
"I'm okay," I said to Macgrath.
