I considered the way he had checked the alley again.“Also, if there might have been people looking out their apartment windows, I think he would have been more nervous and cautious.”I shrugged.“Just impressions, though.”
“No names this time?”Hernández asked.
When the attendant tried to sneakily film me, I held up a hand to block him, but Kaknu was already there, ripping the phone from his hand, snapping the badge off his lab coat, and telling him to take a break.
He handed both to Osso.“He’s one of yours.You write him up.”
Osso gave a long-suffering sigh and slipped the items into his pocket.
“We’re going to try to get out of here again,” Declan said, ushering me down the hall.“No one stop us or talk to us.”
I held up my hand in a wave, but I was right there with him.I was done.
Once we were in the car and driving away, the tension in my body finally drained away and my mind began to wander.“Hey, we have a bunch of people coming over tomorrow night.What are we serving?”
“Tilt your seat back and relax.”He tapped the screen on the dash and quiet classical music filled the SUV.“I have a tri-tip I can barbeque.”
Using the buttons on the side, I lowered the seat back and reached over my head for his coat to use as a blanket again.“This smells like you.It’s nice.”On a long sigh, I closed my eyes and settled in for the ride.“You can barbeque zucchini again.That was really good.I can make a balsamic glaze for them.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket.I pulled it out and saw Mom’s name.“Hey, Mom.Good timing.I’ve been meaning to call you all day.”
“Did something happen to you too?”
“Too?Why?What happened to you?”There was something I was supposed to call Mom about besides dinner.What the heck was it?
“Someone tried to bypass the wards on the yellow house.I felt it when it happened.I wasn’t sure which wards had been tripped, but I felt it.I got a call a few minutes later from our neighbor, Mrs.Rasul.She said the trees in front of the house had been set on fire.She’d called the fire department, then me.”
“Oh, no,” I groaned.“Those trees were beautiful.What kind of a psycho burns down trees for no reason?”
Declan whispered, “The Swans may not know that your mom doesn’t live there anymore.”With his werewolf hearing, he always got both sides of a telephone conversation.
“Declan brings up a good point, Mom.If it was the Swans, they may not know you don’t live there anymore.As far as Catherine is concerned, Coreys have always lived in that house.”
I remembered what I needed to ask.“Wait.Before I forget.Two things: Can you come over to our new place tomorrow for dinner?We need to discuss all things Swan.Elizabeth’s family will be there, Bracken, Hester, and hopefully you.”
“I remember.We discussed it at the gallery,” Mom said.
I shook my tired head.“Right.Forgot.”
Declan reached over and rubbed my hip.
“Second thing: When you contacted the Wicches’ Council, did you give them the names of the Corey Council members?”
Mom paused.“I did.Why?”
“Someone—we think the same Swan who tried to curse the gallery and our new place two nights ago—went for Elizabeth’s family last night.We couldn’t figure out how they would even know to target them.You haven’t announced Faith’s induction to the Corey Council yet.Bracken was the one who wondered if the information got to the Swans by way of the Wicches’ Council.”
“Oh, dear.I think he could be right,” she said.“And now the Swans have attacked the Pacific Grove house.”She sighed audibly.“I was hoping with the end of sorcery in our family, we’d have a little peace.Tomorrow, I’ll do some digging and see what I can discover.We’ll discuss it at your place.”
“Thanks, Mom.”When I disconnected, Declan was pulling around his workshop to park by the back steps.
As we climbed the stairs, I asked, “Potatoes, pasta, or rice?”
“Hmm, they all sound good, but I’m going to go with potatoes.”He lifted his head to the wind, scenting his property.
“Anything?”I asked as I flicked my fingers, unlocking the door.
He shook his head.“We’re fine.They’re going to start construction on the new fence tomorrow.”He put my backpack down by the umbrella stand, locked the door, and followed me into the kitchen.“I believe they’re starting work on Bracken’s addition tomorrow as well.Different crew, of course.”
