“Magic.”
A lot of it.
That had Connor tensing as he scrutinized the woods we were driving past. A meadow of wild flowers rambled at the foot of the trees, walking trails meandering along the outskirts.
“Targeted?” Connor asked.
I thought about the question before I shook my head. “More like a byproduct.”
The magic felt aimless, if that made sense. A consequence of some massive working that had imprinted its mark on the land surrounding it.
Think of a house where a mass murder had taken place. You could get rid of the bodies, scrub the floors until you destroyed all evidence of what had happened, but you would never truly free the house of its presence. Every person who walked through its doors would feel that something wrong had taken place there. It would be etched indelibly into the fabric of the residence until time or something else cleansed the memory of that horror from the space.
This was like that, but on a much larger scale. I’d never seen a spell have such an effect on its surroundings before.
Worry ate at me. Our house wasn’t that far from High Banks. Only about five or so miles as the crow flew. It was scary to think of whatever had caused this reaching us. Particularly during the daytime when I was at my most vulnerable.
“If it’s the remnants of a massive spell, the danger should be past,” Connor said with a confidence I envied. “We’ll notify Thomas when we get home. He’ll want to know about this.”
“I hope by ‘we’ you mean ‘you.’”
I’d done it last time.
Connor put the metro park in our rear view as overgrown fields gave way to big box stores and fast-food chains. “You’re the leader of our House. That makes notifying the master of the city of a potential problem in his territory your job.”
I leaned my shoulder against the door and stared at the side of his face. “It’s funny how you always have a reason for why I’m the best choice for communicating with our sire.”
Light played across Connor’s features, creating shadows and highlights that made him seem like he was carved from stone. His silence spoke volumes. It was amazing how stubborn he could be without ever saying a word.
A sigh of defeat slipped free. “One of these days I’m going to pull rank and make you do it. You can’t avoid him forever.”
Connor and our sire had what you could call a fractious relationship. Somehow, I’d managed to end up in the middle.
“Like I said—a soft touch,” Connor murmured.
“Whatever,” I grumbled, deciding to ignore him in favor of staring out the window as we made the turn onto our road.
On one side, dark shapes skulked at the end of long driveways, massive mansions sitting next to more modest sized homes. To our left, a fence framed a large, wooded lot before giving way to a gated community.
I admired the trees lining the street as we followed the hill down toward the river that waited on the flat land below. The house that I’d started referring to as the Bird Cage due to its large number of oversized windows was located halfway down at the end of a long gravel road.
From this vantage the trees obscured its presence except during the dead of winter when the cold stripped the leaves from their branches.
One of the things I liked best about our new home was its isolation. I never had to worry about enemies burning down my house and humans getting caught in the crossfire.
Gravel crunched as we turned down our driveway, starting up the slight incline that led to where our house sat on a hill overlooking the ravines surrounding it.
Something flashed across our bumper, moving too fast to identify.
The car slammed to a stop, the tires sliding on the gravel for a brief moment before gaining traction. The seat belt tightened around my sternum and hips, preventing me from smashing into the dash.
I stayed still, blinking dumbly at the driveway leading up to my house, a little confused and dazed.
We’d nearly run someone over just now. It’d been quick, but I thought it was some kind of Fae. They’d been dressed inblack and carrying weapons that looked like they’d come from a different century. A bow and a quiver full of arrows. Also, some kind of blade at their waist.
“Did that really just happen?” I asked, turning toward Connor to share in my shock.
Only he wasn’t there. His seat was empty, the vehicle door open, and a pale shape was disappearing into the trees after the mysterious trespasser.
