Chapter Fourteen
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OAKLIE’S HEAD SNAPPEDup from the jigsaw puzzle she was working on.She’d just sensed the stranger appear on the edge of her internal radar.“He’s found me!”she exclaimed, shooting to her feet.The puzzle was spread out on the dining table.She’d solved it several times before, but loved the picture of the colorful autumn forest scene when it was done.
Clamping down on her power again, she raced upstairs to peer out through the windows.“He’s good,” she said when she only caught flickers of movement beneath the trees.“But not good enough,” she added in satisfaction.
Tracking him as he circled her property, Oaklie smirked in pride when he couldn’t break in.The few glimpses she caught of his expression showed his frustration.
“That’s right, I’m safely locked away in here and you’re not getting your thieving hands on my stag again,” she crowed quietly.Her smug glee turned to concern when he came to a stop where she usually exited from the back of the property.“Uh, oh,” she murmured, then sucked in a horrified breath.He’d found her footprints and was now following them through the woods.“Ah, crap!The statue!”she moaned, then sprinted downstairs.
Keeping her distance from the gorgeous squatter, Oaklie ordered the log fence to split open.She squeezed through the gap and raced towards the clearing, giving the trail a wide berth.
Sensing another problem, she cursed beneath her breath when she realized a group of people were heading in her direction.“More idiots are coming to kill me,” she grumbled as she reached the edge of the clearing.“Wait a second,” she said, mind going into overdrive.“This could solve my problem,” she mused.Casting a longing look at the perfectly rendered image of the man who was stalking her, she knew she didn’t have time to save it.
Oaklie pressed her back against a tree she sensed was hollow on the inside.The trunk parted and she stepped inside it as the handsome thief neared the clearing.She made a tiny hole in the trunk to peer through to watch the action.
Her unwanted guest moved closer to the statue, quietly talking to himself.He circled around it then came to a stop facing it.She saw his shock when he saw the sword and wings engraved on its chest.He put a hand on his own chest in the exact same spot.His shock turned to awe when his gaze moved higher and he saw his own face staring back at him.
Oaklie’s pride swelled when the thief circled her creation again, quietly marveling at her art.He touched it reverently, proving he had good taste in wooden sculptures.
“My brothers would either die from envy or laugh themselves stupid if they saw this,” he said just loudly enough for her to hear him.His amusement vanished and his head turned in the direction the townsfolk were coming from.“Humans,” he said in a grim tone, then walked to the edge of the clearing.
He moved through the trees until he was directly beside the trunk where Oaklie was hiding.She could now sense another group, making ten in total.
“They’re going to attack the artist’s house,” he murmured, then looked over his shoulder where the statue stood.“Not on my watch,” he said in determination.
Ten of her former neighbors and people she’d known her whole life were coming to murder her.She’d figured they would wipe out the thief so she wouldn’t need to kill him herself.With him standing so close to her, she felt a strange pang at the thought of him being eradicated.
The two groups had converged and she listened to their whispered conversation.Boring a second hole in the trunk, she saw they were carrying long ladders and thick blankets.They’d come far better prepared this time.She rolled her eyes at being called a pagan witch.Obviously, one of the invaders had escaped during a previous attempt to gain access to her property.They must have been planning this for a while.
Oaklie looked through the other hole just in time to see her stalker move into a crouch.She silently gasped when a sword appeared in his hand.Made from a combination of gold and silver, huge diamonds were embedded in the hilt.He could use magic, too, which confirmed he definitely wasn’t an ordinary man.
Staying put, Oaklie watched the ten unaware idiots sneaking along the trail.To her, they were making enough noise to wake the dead.The man crouching right next to her remained oblivious to her presence.He waited until the ten humans spotted him before he went into action.With a defiant shout, he ran towards them, brandishing his sword.They scattered, dropping the ladders and blankets and reaching for their guns.
Oaklie smothered her snicker with both hands at their instant panic.Shots were fired, but her stalker moved too quickly for them to hit him.He was deliberately drawing them away from the clearing.
