Considine turned in a circle when we got to the front lawn. “I don’t see any wizards, but we should still be careful as we cross the lawn—”
Glass shattered.
I pulled my handgun from its holster and whirled toward the source of the noise, looking up in time to watch three House Tellier wizards ejected through second story windows.
The front door banged open, and a red-carpet runner unfolded. A crowd of wizards were tossed out of the house—the Adept being the first, followed by Gideon and Mrs. Tellier, the other Adept.
The wizards hit the frozen ground with oomphs and rolled until they sank deep into the snow.
The cellar windows broke, and the house shoved the two wizards that had been guarding the oracle out of the basement.
Soon, every member of House Tellier was tossed out, stranded on the lawn.
“House,” the Adept staggered to his feet. “What are you doing?” He started to climb the porch stairs, but the wooden structure folded underneath him, dropping him to the ground.
He fell on his back, and the Housewallopedhim with a board from the deconstructed steps.
Gideon and Mrs. Tellier raced to support him.
While Mrs. Tellier cried over her husband, Gideon tried to jump onto the half-degraded porch.
The House threw a lawn chair at him, hitting the Heir so hard he was knocked backwards and rolled.
“That’s gotta hurt,” Considine speculatively said.
“Time to get off the lawn.” I nudged Iris like a dog attempting to herd a child. “Now.”
Iris moved as if she was made of rusted metal—which made me wonder how often the Telliers let her out of her room.
Continuing the front-lawn spectacle, Mrs. Tellier tried to throw a fireball at the House, but the magical building turned on an outside water nozzle and hit the woman with a jet of water that blasted her off her feet.
Considine—protecting our flank—laughed openly as we hurried as fast as Iris could manage past the downed wizards.
We made it to the pathway of pavers, and April and three other House Medeis wizards waited for us on the sidewalk.
I pushed Iris ahead of me so she was the first to set foot on the sidewalk, but Considine and I were on her heels.
The rest of the House Tellier wizards staggered to their feet and successfully dragged their leaders away from the house, but they were only about halfway down the lawn.
The front door banged open again, and the giant, decorative flag that hung in the front hallway was pushed along the floor—which curved and crested like a wave of water.
The flag rolled across the porch, half spilling over the side so the House Tellier symbol was visible before it snagged on nails.
There was a moment of stillness, and then the flag erupted into flames.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-EIGHT
Jade
“Well. That’s something even I’ve never seen before,” Considine said.
A crunching noise split the air, and it took me a moment to realize it was the mailbox by the driveway. The mailbox was painted in Tellier colors and had the Tellier crest on it.
I holstered my gun as I watched, and the mailbox crumpled, ruining the crest beyond recognition.
Orange and yellow paint peeled off the House’s trim, leaving the building bland and uncolored.
