“We will wait until the Wizard Council has been informed of this vicious attack before we agree to go to the Cloisters,” Adept Tellier butted in.
Of course, they’ll try to hide behind the Wizard Council.
Sarge lowered his chin. “Blood.”
I straightened, my fingers hovering over the pouch as I waited for the orders.
“Go,” Sarge said.
Go was an attack order, so instead of grabbing the potion I pulled a dagger from my thigh bandolier and a set of cuffs from my belt—I would have gone for the gun, but that undoubtedly would have freaked out the humans and probably the House.
Internally bracing, I stepped onto the first paver that marked House Tellier’s property line and walked towards the Adepts and their son without hesitation, even as I waited for retaliation.
“House Tellier!” Gideon shouted. “Stop her!”
The House was still.
“Gideon, stop,” his father said.
“We’ve got nothing to worry about—youknowwe don’t, or we would have been warned!” Gideon shouted back to his father before puffing up in anger. “House Tellier, didn’t you hear me—stop her!”
A board on the porch creaked, but that was it.
I was curious why Gideon was so confident they had nothing to worry about, but it was even more interesting that the House still wasn’t listening to him.
That’s not good for the Telliers.
Gideon growled. Orange flames erupted around his fist and his spikey wizard tattoo emerged on his cheek as magic flowed through him.
I dodged when he flung the ball of flames at me, side stepping it and simultaneously moving closer to him.
I slapped one of the cuffs on his outstretched hand, which immediately snuffed out the flames that crackled on his palms.
“How dare you—” Gideon started.
A knee to his gut and he folded in half with a wheeze. Needing both hands for the task, I had to toss my dagger into the air with my free hand so I could grab his other hand and yank it up behind his back. I had just enough time to slap the other cuff on him, completely cutting off his contact with magic, before catching my dagger.
Gideon sucked more air in. His tattoo was gone, but his face was red with rage. “You can’t treat me like this!”
“You’re being taken in for questioning,” I said. “I can do whatever is necessary to get you there.”
“I’m a wizard—and an Heir!”
Gideon tried to stagger away, so I applied a kick to the back of his knees to make him faceplant. “Humans have been harmed.”
“So?” Gideon peeled his head off the ground—a wet, yellow leaf was stuck to his cheek.
“Heir!” His father roared. “Shut your mouth!”
“Gideon!” His mother shrieked, her voice so high pitched it made Brody and Binx flinch. She was markedly more upset about my handling of Gideon than his father, which was interesting. “You’ll pay for that!” Her wizard tattoo surfacedon her cheek as she gathered sizzling orange electricity in her hands.
I pivoted to face her, calculating how to limit potential magical damage.
“No—no!” Adept Tellier shouted, waving his hands in the air. “Stop it!”
“Group up!” The other House Tellier wizards who had been dawdling on the porch ran down the steps, hustling in our direction.
Reinforcements?
