Xander shuffled into the room, moaning incoherently. It appeared that one of his arms had fallen off and he held it out to Lexi imploringly.
Lexi smiled. “Oh, poor boy. Let me fix that right up for you.” And she went about healing him so that it fit back into his shoulder. He flexed it for her to show that all was well before he walked into the door frame again on his way out of the room.
“You seem to do more for him than he does for you,” I pointed out.
Lexi tittered. “No, no. Xander’s been wonderful. He helped me make the eggs today. He has his own secret recipe. They’re just divine.”
“To die for,” Freya agreed, and her wording left me a little unsettled.
I surveyed my companions. “Auggie is still asleep as well?”
Lexi shrugged. “It’s no wonder with that head injury. The magic likely made him groggy for a while. He’ll need his strength though. Should I take up a plate?”
“I will,” I said, grabbing a breakfast tray. I loaded it with scones, sausages, toast, and a variety of condiments. I skipped the eggs.
Therese leapt onto the plate. “I’ll join you if you don’t mind. I’m still full from that feast of flies last night.”
I frowned. “Just don’t spook him by speaking in front of him. Narcissa, you too. Quiet in front of the human.”
“Such delicate creatures,” Narcissa acknowledged with a shake of the head.
I ascended the stairs to the guest room Auggie had taken and pushed the door open ahead of me. I paused for a moment, wondering if I had the wrong room, for it was empty. Frowning, I stepped inside and set the tray down, looking inside the closet and even under the bed.
“Perhaps he needed to relieve himself outside,” Therese suggested. I felt panic take over.
No, he couldn’t have gone. He hadn’t the strength yet, had he? And why would he go without a word? He’d been keen on joining my party just yesterday.
My eyes fell upon a sheet of paper on the desk. I stomped over and stared down at the words:
Callum,
Thank you for your hospitality. I overheard your conversation about Kingsbury last night, and if you are unwilling to help those poor souls, I feel obliged to do so myself. Please don’t trouble yourself to await my return before continuing on to America.
Wishing you well on your journey,
Augustus
I reread the letter twice more before I crumpled it in my fist, seething at the boy’s audacity. His thankless, pigheaded, cocky stubbornness was going to get him chest-deep into the worst sort of trouble. Did he think himself invincible? Or perhaps he knew his time was growing short, and he was making as much amends as possible before the Devil claimed his soul. That seemed more likely for a human. Still, this was just blindly putting himself in danger. There were demon-hounds! And a witch who wielded fire magic! Did he not have even an ounce of self-preservation in his bones?
“Mr. Witch?” Therese prodded softly. “Is everything … all right?”
I clenched my jaw. “No, it is not all right. We’ll have to ready ourselves at once and go after this horrible little troublemaking human.” I barely tamped down the rage in my voice as I bounded down the stairs, Therese hopping after me as quickly as her little frog legs would allow. It was actually impressive how nimble and quick she had become. She was adapting to life as an amphibian much better than I would have thought.
I burst into the kitchen, pointing at Freya, who had marmalade all over her mouth. “Time to earn your keep. We’ll need to use that location rune to find Auggie.”
Freya wiped her lips with a napkin. “Already? Very well. But it’s more a tracking rune than something that will just give up his location. We’ll have to follow his trail to find him.”
“Whatever it takes,” I said. I turned to Lexi. “Thank you for taking us in, Lexi. And for healing the boy.”
She waved a hand dismissively as she leaned against the counter. “It was nothing. It was nice to have some company.” She looked at me knowingly. “Don’t be too rough on the boy. He’s only doing what he thinks is right.”
I paused. “You knew he left to help those fools in Kingsbury?”
Lexi’s lips curved into a small smile. “I may have heard him sneak out this morning.”
“And you didn’t feel the need to let me know?”
“As far as I can tell, Kingsbury is now tangled up with your task of seeing Auggie to America. Such a shame that you’ll do some good along the way, isn’t it?”
