I yanked John forward. “Don’t talk,act!”
He didn’t delay, running after me to the front door. Before we got there, another gnome popped out, holding a weeder pike like a sword, and charged.
“Oh, crap!” I blasted it with a spell. The spell bounced off somehow and ricocheted back. “Watch out!”
I barely put up a shield in time to cover me and John. The force of the spell knocked me into him. He was off-balance, and we tumbled into the grasses at the other side.
“Go, go, go!” I scrambled to my feet.
“Hurry!” Nessa was there, yanking me to standing. “Get out of there. They’re ambushing us!”
Of all the times for Patty to have taken the long way home to visit friends. She was the only one, besides Cyra and her fire, who could make these little suckers run.
Garden shears chopped at the grass next to John’s leg. He received a nick and jerked away. Leaping to his feet, he moved so fast his limbs practically blurred.
He grabbed me and Nessa around the waist and took off running. Clearly, this alpha had some serious protective instincts, and the gnomes had just put him into survival mode.
“I got it!” Cyra erupted through burning grasses to fire-bomb the place we’d just vacated. “C’mere, you little bastards.”
We reached the porch at a sprint. John half-dropped Nessa, making her stagger to the side, so he could grab the door handle. He turned and pushed to run inside. The door acted like it was unlocked, but did not open, and he slammed into the hard surface. Ivy House was messing with him.
I overrode her, feeling her laughter, and made the door swing open. Fire raged behind me, and I let it. Ivy House could handle that. She’s the one that kept hiding the gnomes from my detection. I needed to find a way to override that, too.
The cool interior greeted me like a long-lost friend. I sighed in relief, but the moment was short-lived.
“Damn it, Ivy House!”
Dolls teetered down the steps wearing horrible plastic smiles. “Mama,” one repeated, over and over.
“What in all that is holy—?” John uttered behind me.
The mural on the arch changed to a lion running through the countryside, chased by an army of gnomes and dolls.
“That’s not funny.” I frowned at it and directed John to the large sitting room on the right. “She’s just messing with you.”
“She?”
“The house. Don’t show a reaction, and she’ll get bored.”
“Probably not,” Ivy House said.
I rolled my eyes. “We can get you a room at the hotel or try to find a room someone is renting in town. We’re low on housing right now, unfortunately, but there’s bound to be something. We’re working on the housing issue, too. But we have plenty of space here.”
Fred walked in, ashen-faced and wearing a lopsided smile. “I don’t know what was scarier, the gnome attack or the fire.” She plopped down next to John on the couch. “We made it, though.” She smiled at John. “Cool house, right? There is so much cool stuff in here. Ivy House lets me wander around because I’m helping all of you. Come on, I’ll show you some stuff. I saw you checking out the buildings in that cairn. You’ll love this. Come on.”
She plucked at his arm, and surprisingly, he slowly rose and followed her like a lost lamb.
38
Austin
The small sittingroom at the back of the house felt like a welcome relief after all the traveling and tension from the road. He sank into the couch with a tired sigh.
“There you are, sir.” Mr. Tom came in with a plate holding two sandwiches and a bag of chips. “This’ll tide you over for now. We’ll have a big roast tonight with all the fixings now that I have a proper kitchen with space and appliances that actually work.” He eyed the scotch. “Do you need me to bring you the bottle?”
Usually, Austin hated when the gargoyle waited on him, but right now, he welcomed it.
“It’s fine, Mr. Tom, I can manage. Thanks.”
