The hair on her head and body began to stand on end, crackling. All around her, she could smell a strange, sweet scent permeating the air. The bear sensed the atmospheric changes too. It slowed, casting its eyes about, backing up in fear. Then, refocusing, it took a step in her direction.
A massive bolt of electricity ripped open the world between them in a sheet of white, connecting earth and sky. Lightning sent the bear scrambling back in the direction it had come, thunder loud enough to wake the dead blasting behind it, causing Cordelia to clap both hands over her ears before breaking into a sprint all the way back to the big house, Marvel several paces ahead of her.
Throwing open the solarium door, she let the fox in, and they both dashed for the kitchen. Cordelia had just stumbled inside, panting and clutching her side, when she looked up to see that her sister had done the same from the opposite end. They stood staring at each other across the room, neither able to speak.
“Were you…?” Cordelia finally asked between breaths.
Eustace nodded. “I saw it all.”
The fox hastened across the tile to her sister’s side.
“I saved her,” Cordelia said, just processing what had occurred.
“You savedus,” her sister corrected. “All three of us.”
Cordelia shook her head, leaning a hip against the counter. “What happened?”
“We were out doing our nightly run,” Eustace began. “Marvel likes to forage near the woods northwest of the carriage house.It was getting close to sunup, so we decided to head back. That’s when I spotted him.”
“The bear?”
Eustace shook her head vigorously. “No. The man.”
Cordelia’s heart dropped to her knees. The night of the bats, Gordon’s claim about seeing someone outside the house, drifted back to her. “What man?”
“He was strolling across the grounds like he owned the place. I didn’t get a good look because it was still pretty dark, but I could tell by his size and stature that it was a guy. I mean, not Gordon-sized. You know, more average. And he was dressed all in black except for a bandage or something on his head. He looked like he was coming from here.”
“The house?” Cordelia leaned against the counter, feeling weaker by the second. Gordon had been right that night. It was no animal he saw. Someone very real was watching them, coming and going of their own volition. Someone with an agenda.
“Yep. So, Marvel and I started following him. We were being stealthy, but then this field mouse popped up and I lost control for a minute. Marvel started squawking something fierce. That’s when he realized we were there, and he just took off into the woods!”
“You chased him?”
She nodded. “But it’s like he knew that Marvel wasn’tjusta fox. I mean, who would run from a fox anyway? We tried to keep up, but he was fast. Must be young—he really gave Marvel a run for her money. Anyway, we lost him somewhere in the forest. And then this black bear comes tearing through the trees at us, and we booked it back. That’s when we ran into you, doing your walk of shame.”
Cordelia’s face flooded with heat. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Oh,” Eustace said with a chuckle. “You know exactly what I mean. But that’s neither here nor there. I suspect our early morning guest is the same person who nearly killed Marvel and left all that blood in here. He must have recognized her and that’s why he started running. The bear was just a fluke. But what you did, saving our asses like that with the lightning? That was spectacular!”
Beneath the trouble brewing within her, the fear, Cordelia’s power coursed through her in delicious waves. It had kept someone she loved safe. She wouldn’t doubt herself again. “So, what was that creep doing back here? What does he want? Is he just trying to scare us away?”
Eustace frowned. “Can’t say, but the way he was strolling along, he seemed pretty proud of himself.”
Cordelia reached for a glass on the counter. She filled it with water and took a sip. She was just holding it out to Eustace when something caught her eye. There, on the dining table, where Eustace had left their mother’s urn, was something tan and leathery, small and marked. Around it, a mess of grayish-brown dust fanned out. “What is that?”
“What is what?” Eustace followed Cordelia’s pointing finger to the table. She took a step forward, then another. She put a hand to her mouth. Her face washed green and yellow, like a bruise. “Oh no.”
“What is it?” Cordelia whispered, afraid to get closer. A few steps forward and she could make out the pattern in the leather, its unusual grain, the blurred lines crossing it. A strange sort of tree with three branches. Around it, her ashes had been used to draw out several runes in a radial pattern.
Eustace met her sister’s eyes, her own beading with tears. “It’s Mom’s tattoo.”
“TELL ME AGAINwhat you saw,” Gordon directed.
He’d rushed over as soon as he’d gotten Cordelia’s call, wrapping his strong arms around her for a second so she’d feel safe.She wanted to stay curled against his chest like a fawn, block everything out behind the mountain of him, but she couldn’t. Gently, she’d pulled away.
“Not what—who,” Eustace answered. “I saw someone walking across the property. They were leaving the house, so I followed them. But then the bear came, and that’s when Cordy—well, there was this sudden electrical storm…”
“Uh-huh.” Gordon’s brows crinkled over his eyes.
