“What did you find?” Nori was the first to ask.
“The wards aren’t…” Kylo ran a hand through his hair, his agitation clear as he paused and looked both ways at the stop sign. The roads were busy and the drivers, Duron noted, didn’t appear to follow any rules when it came to giving way or road signs.
“Aren’t what?” Felix prompted when it appeared Kylo wasn’t going to say more.
“What they seem. When Nori said they felt off, different after Selina left this last time with Roiu, I got out the divining rods.”
Confused, Duron looked at Kylo in the rearview mirror. “Aren’t they for finding water?”
Their eyes met briefly. “Yes, but what folks don’t know is that they also have the ability, if used properly, to determine energy changes.” He slowed and hit the indicator to take the next right turn. His gaze scanned the traffic before he drove down a crowded street, causing Duron to hold his breath when motorcycles darted past on both sides of the jeep. “Over the years, I’ve learned to use them when dealing with magic users.”
The small hairs on the back of Duron’s neck rose before Kylo next spoke.
“The energy in the wards is fucked up. And Beaumont is right. The wards are monitoring us, I’d say. There is an odd energy that shifts with any movement of air past the runes. They vibrate in a way that suggests they are sending out signals.” The heaved sigh was all frustration.
“Would they be able to monitor conversations?” Duron balked at the idea that anyone had heard his mate’s frank conversation the evening before. They’d gotten carried away, not considering the prospect of someone listening in.
It’s fine. They can’t use something that is long in the past.
No, but they could give false leads to cause more pain.Duron kept that thought to himself because he’d use every bit of his training and his animals to prevent anyone from hurting his mate again.
Kylo shook his head. “I spent the night going through the house with the rods. After my initial suspicions, there was nothing to suggest that the wards could transmit conversations. Although I can’t rule it out. I feel, though, they geared them to movement. Which also suggests that we are being stalked when we leave the house. Has to be a predator. A bird of prey would be my bet.”
In the middle seat, Duron couldn’t look directly out the side windows. His eagle side, though, agreed with Kylo. A prey bird would easily keep track of a moving vehicle or person on the streets. Fuck, even in a building, if they could make themselves small enough.
“Can you hazard a guess on how long? ‘Cause with everything that’s gone on since Beaumont, then Duron and Wyatt’s arrival, I’d say it’s a fairly new thing,” Nori asked, frowning as he edged forward from his cramped position next to Duron after looking out the window.
“Why do you say that?” Duron asked, trying not to look directly at the other traffic skirting around their vehicle at stupid speeds.
“Selina came to check the wardsafterthe situation with Ben. I’m wondering if we upset someone when we blew up the house and got rid of the place they were using to keep and experiment on shifters. Maybe it pushed whoever it is to take drastic action to find out what we are up to.”
“Are you sure it’s this Selina girl?” Beaumont questioned, keeping whatever was on his mind to himself.
“What? You think it could be Roiu? That he’s somehow using Selina or figured out how to do magic?” Kylo didn’t sound like he was discounting the idea. He drew to a stop in a parking lot outside a Hipermaxi store.
Nori didn’t move to get out, instead he came forward enough to look at them face on. “I don’t think we can actually discount anyone. Only friends we trust, and family visit our home. If someone has taken advantage of that, it should be really easy to identify who it is. And to my mind, that would stop Roiu or Selina from trying something, surely? They have known us for decades.”
“People do awful things for many reasons,” Beaumont stated simply.
He wasn’t wrong. “Then where does that leave us?” Duron asked as quiet descended in the jeep.
Kylo, who had turned in his seat, met Duron’s stare. “With a list of suspects who have been in the house recently.” He held Duron’s gaze. “That I created last night when you two went to…talk.”
Muffled laughter came from Nori and broke a little of the tension in the jeep at the emphasis Kylo put on the word talk.
“Yes, sorry about that,” Beaumont muttered, his shoulder shifting against Duron’s.
Duron brought the focus from what they’d done last night back to the subject at hand. Aware that someone was probably watching the jeep. “What is the plan?”
Kylo pulled out four sheets of paper and handed one to each of them. They each held a list of six names. “Here. Beaumont and Duron, you don’t know these people.” Kylo was back to looking at Duron. “What do your senses say?”
Duron felt this was a big deal to Kylo, asking for someone else’s input. However, with how Beaumont had reacted the night before, Duron turned his attention to his mate. “What do you think? Selina and Roiu, or someone else on the list?”
Chapter Fourteen
Beaumont
It was fascinating, watching Duron study the paper. Beaumont was proud they had even asked his mate. He’d been around Kylo for a while and the man had pride with a capital P. He took a lot of things personally—with good reason—but he also felt as though it was him, and only him that could fix things. The fact that Kylo asked Duron, recognizing the man had more training than he’d ever have, and even the level of trust that simple inclusion showed, was huge.
