“It’s got to be a local,” he mused, examining the pieces that were left.“Someone knew I’d taken the stag and they knew where I was staying.They feel I don’t deserve something as beautiful as that work of art.”
Moving closer to the giraffe in the window, Arkas saw a card taped to one of its legs.“Oaklie Woods,” he read out loud.“Local artist,” he added.He now had the name of the person who’d created the sculptures, but that wasn’t going to help him.Oaklie Woods was probably dead or had been raptured.Whoever the burglar was, it wasn’t going to be easy to find them.
“What now?”he asked, putting his hands on his hips and thinking hard.He’d already searched every home in town.There were plenty of other properties like the one he’d chosen to be his base further away from town.“I guess I’ll have to visit them all until I find the culprit,” he said in growing anticipation.The thrill of the hunt was already getting to him.This would be an entertaining way to kill time until Amaros finally turned up.
“I need a map,” he decided.Knowing where the properties were and how many he would need to search would be a big help.
He’d passed a gas station on his way to town and backtracked to it.The small store had been ransacked for food and beverages.Arkas spotted a shelf behind the counter that contained books and maps.“I hope they’re local maps,” he said as he rounded the counter to take a closer look at them.
Sorting through the maps, Arkas found one of the town and surrounding area.“This will do,” he said in satisfaction and studied it.Picking up a pen from the counter, he crossed off every building in town.He’d already ascertained that the thief wasn’t in any of them.“Where should I begin my search?”he mused, trying to decide.“To the south,” he said at last, figuring he would work his way through the properties closest to his lair.The footprints could have been strategically placed there to lead him astray.
Arkas took the map and pen with him and began his search.Like all experienced hunters, he approached the properties from behind cover.Getting close to the first house, he couldn’t sense or hear anyone inside.
“I knew that would be too easy,” he said after sneaking up to the back door to listen intently.
Crossing the house off on the map, he moved on to the next home.It would take him at least a few days to search all of the nearby residences.Strangely, Arkas almost hoped Amaros wouldn’t turn up yet to retrieve him.He wanted to find the burglar and discover how they could hide their presence from him.Humans rarely possessed supernatural abilities.Maybe some had evolved since the last era.If so, then he wondered what other abilities their kind could now use.
“It can’t be a cambion,” Arkas said as he crossed to the next property.“We wiped them all out during our last war.”Five millennia had passed since then, so it was doubtful any of the evil spawn of their enemies could still be alive.“If so, they won’t be for long,” he said grimly.He would personally ensure the creature wouldn’t be able to cause more misery to the already beleaguered survivors of this world.
Chapter Eleven
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HIDDEN BY A DENSE SHRUB, Oaklie watched the gorgeous stranger from a distance.He was sitting on a swing, whittling.So far, he’d given her no indication that he was aware he was being spied on.She couldn’t see what he was working on from this angle, but it held his attention captive.
“Now would be a good time to break in, find my stag and steal it back,” she said in a bare murmur.
It was stupid and risky, but she’d already made her decision.She’d also decided it was too dangerous to approach him and ask him about their origins.If they both existed, then there had to be others like them as well.If so, then they’d done an excellent job of staying under the radar just like she had.
Oaklie silently ghosted to the back of the house and approached the door.She could sense the squatter hadn’t moved from the swing yet.The back door was locked, but her magic got around that easily.Following her command, the doorframe around the lock narrowed until the door swung inwards.She left it open and did a quick search of the first floor.
“Rats,” she mouthed without noise when the only stags she saw were heads mounted on the walls.
Working her way upwards, she hurriedly checked each room on the second floor.Again, she came up empty.“It’s got to be in the attic,” she figured, then took the final set of stairs upwards.
Unlike the rest of the huge house, the attic felt occupied as soon as she entered it.She could see the indentation of a large body on the sectional.That was where the stranger had been sitting while he’d whittled.
