He sprang forward a split-second before the man spat the word he himself had uttered over and over in his attic as he pummeled shielding spells with explosive force—the word that meant he was going to die.
“Fordest!”
The spell burst from the wizard’s palm—and inexplicably, miraculously rebounded, sending the man flying backward out of the greenhouse with a terribleboomand a shower of shattered glass.
Peter slammed into an invisible barrier the next instant and sprawled to the floor, head spinning more from the situation than the impact. A magical shield stood between him and his attacker. That was why the spell had ricocheted. How had it come to be there?
No sign of Beatrix. No sign of anyone except the wizard, lying still on the grass, a tangled and bloody mess. Peter winced—partly with reflexive pity, partly because it almost had been him.
Then came a sound, soft but unmistakable. Thepopof teleportation.
Before his eyes, the mangled body disappeared.
Peter scrambled to his feet, staring at the empty lawn in bewildered shock. He put out a hand to steady himself on the barrier. But it, too, was now gone.
The local police took photos,swabbed samples of the blood and had Peter recite the details of what had happened over and over, each retelling making Beatrix more upset. He’d almost died. He’d been watering plants in his greenhouse, and he’d almostdied.
Then Detective Tanner rushed in and went over all the same ground, literally and figuratively. Finally, sitting in thekitchen with hot chocolate, Tanner asked a question that had not yet come up.
“This other wizard you think was there under an invisibility spell, Omnimancer—could it have been Garrett?”
Beatrix closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about Garrett. She was far past her limit already.
“I sincerely doubt it,” Rosemarie said tartly, answering the detective.
“I can’t think of a single reason Garrett would protect me,” Peter said.
“If he wanted to kill you himself—” Tanner stopped. “No, you’re right. He’d have done it immediately afterward, in that case. And I suppose he’d have no reason to teleport away with that other wizard.”
That was when it hit her like a physical jolt: There was someone whowouldhave a reason to protect Peter. Someone who’d disposed of a dead body once already.
Ella.
If she’d been caught in the throes of temporary madness when she’d attacked him before—if she wanted nothing more than to atone—then wasn’t it possible that Ella might shadow them under an invisibility spell? Wasn’t it likely, even, that she would have seen the stories about the death threats and wanted to do something?
“Mrs. Blackwell?”
She blinked and refocused on Tanner. “Yes?”
“Haveyoureceived any threats?”
“Well,” she began, thinking of the letters, but not entirely sure what sort of threats they’d all contained.
“Yes,” Rosemarie said heavily. “Fourteen in all.”
Beatrix sighed—the number had gone up. Peter looked thunderstruck.“What?”
“Wizards or typics?” the detective asked.
“They didn’t specify. I’ve assumed typics, because they’re all focused on the false idea that Beatrix was playing Peter and Wizard Garrett off each other.”
Tanner stood. “Copy them and mail them to me, please.”
Beatrix nodded.
“And be careful, both of you,” Tanner said.
They drove Lydia and Rosemarie home and waited in the yard, away from the house and its ever-watching cameras, as Rosemarie went inside to gather up the letters.
