I held her tighter, my own pain forgotten in the face of hers. The pottery could be replaced, as could the kiln. But seeing her blame herself for this violation made my heart ache worse than any material loss.
“It’s just pottery, love. Clay and glaze. I can make more.”
Even as I said the words, they felt like lies. Some of those pieces had taken weeks to perfect, glazes I’d experimented with for months to get exactly right. The kiln alone represented years of careful planning. But looking at Allie’s devastated expression, I meant every word. No art was worth her safety, no creation more precious than her life.
“Just pottery?” She pulled back to stare at me in disbelief, tears still tracking down her cheeks. “Hail, this was your life’s work. Don’t try to minimize this for my sake.”
“You’re my life now,” I said simply, cupping her face. “Everything else is just…just things. Th-things can be replaced. You can’t.”
Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, but she managed a watery smile that made my chest tight with love. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” I kissed her forehead, breathing in her scent to ground myself in what mattered most. “We’ll get through this.”
Tressa whined from the doorway, her ears flattened against her head as she took in the destruction. Even she could sense the wrongness of this, the way our safe haven had been turned into a crime scene.
We joined her, stroking her soft fur, keeping her from stepping inside and potentially hurting herself.
“They were looking for something,” Allie said, gesturing at the systematic way every storage area had been searched. “This wasn’t just random destruction.”
“You’re right.” I forced myself to look at the devastation with analytical eyes instead of emotional ones. “They pulled apart every hiding place, checked inside every container.”
“Is what they think I have truly worth all this?” Her voice carried exhaustion and frustration in equal measure.
“They’re g-g-getting desperate enough to take bigger risks.” I pulled her closer, needing the reassurance of her warmth against me. “Which means we’re winning, even if it doesn’t feel like it.”
I immediately pulled out my phone and called Dungar. “The pot-pot-pottery barn’s been destroyed,” I said the moment he answered. “We need security sweeps around the entire area. N-n-now.”
“On it,” was his crisp reply. “Don’t move from where you are and lock your doors. I’m calling the others.”
Within minutes, the thunder of sorhox hooves approaching from multiple directions echoed around us.
Dungar appeared first, but instead of dismounting, he rode a wide perimeter around the barn while speaking rapidly into his phone.
“Greel, check the plain behind the building,” he called out as my brother arrived. “Ostor, sweep Main Street and the alley. Tark, ride the north approach. Look for anyone watching, fresh tracks, anything out of place. Swing back to the west on your return. Ruugar? Take the east and southern sections.”
“What about us?” Allie asked, her voice tight as we remained by the doorway.
“We stay right here until they cl-clear the area,” I said, my hand moving instinctively toward my sword hilt. “If Will’s people are still around?—”
“They could be watching our reactions,” Allie said with a shake in her voice.
The next twenty minutes felt like hours as my brothers swept the surrounding area.
Finally, Dungar’s phone buzzed, and after a series of short conversations, he dismounted and approached us. “Clear. No signs of anyone nearby, confirmed by Fernandez’s team. Greel found tire tracks on the old logging road. They were fresh, but several hours old. They’re gone, but they were definitely here.”
Only then did we step fully into the ruined barn, Allie close behind me.
“Fates,” Dungar breathed, taking in the systematic destruction. “What a mess.”
“They were searching,” Allie said, her voice hollow. “When they didn’t find what they wanted…”
“They sent a message,” I said.
Dungar was already on his phone again. “Detective Fernandez? We need to accelerate the timeline. They’ve escalated.” He explained, but paused after, listening. “No, but they’ve shown they’re willing to cause problems in the heart of town. We need that trap set up immediately.”
As the other brothers arrived and confirmed the all-clear, Dungar finished the call. He tucked his phone away and turned to us. “We’re moving you both to my place within the hour. This level of boldness means they’re getting desperate, and people like that take bigger risks. We’re not leaving you exposed for another night.”
“How dare they,” Ostor snarled, kicking a piece of shattered pottery. “Who destroys art like this?”
