Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“She’s hiding in a cloche that—”
“A what?” Lorne chimed in.
“A pocket dimension,” Declan replied.
“That’s what you call them?” I asked him.
“Yes. What do you call them?”
“My grandfather called them slips.”
Declan thought a moment. “Because one slip and you’re in.” He smiled. “That’s very clever.”
“Thanks. He was.”
“So a place like the one you were in today?” Lorne asked me.
“Yes, though I doubt it’s the same one.”
“One of her many forms is a half-beast, half-human creature that’s far taller than she is, with antlers and—”
“I stand corrected,” I told Lorne. “I was in her dimension earlier today. She’s brought a lot of vargrs with her,” I said to Declan.
“What?”
“That’s another of my grandfather’s words, but faewolves. She brought a ton of them.”
He nodded emphatically. “Yes, yes. Without question. So many.”
“Okay, so she’s hiding in this pocket dimension, trying to kill me, yeah?”
“Yes,” Declan confirmed.
Lorne summed up, “And she’s going to kill more girls and put one on every side of his land so that when Xander calls to the corners of whatever, he basically won’t be able to.”
“That was the plan, yes.”
“Was the plan?” Lorne sighed deeply. “It’s not the plan anymore?”
“No,” Declan told him. “It can’t be.”
He explained that because one side of the land ended at the ocean, it wasn’t possible to place a body there. It would move with the tide, might be pushed too close onto the land or be pulled too far out to sea for the exact boundary of the land.
“So then, there won’t be more dead girls?” Lorne asked him.
“Not for that reason,” Declan affirmed. “But it doesn’t mean the people in your town are safe while she’s here.”
“I understand,” Lorne said sadly.
“You know,” Declan began, his gaze on me, “whoever put the wording in the deed to your land, about the boundaries, was very smart.”
“Witches are cagey that way.” I winked at him.
“And even if they hadn’t, your land is, as Rulaine said, locked with those on both sides of you. Your neighbors were included with the secondary warding. Why is that?”
“Neighbors are important to protect, don’t you think?”
He threw up his hands in defeat. “You don’t have to answer, of course you don’t, but I’m compelled to ask—how far down are those wards buried, and what were they wrought with?”
He’d never believe me if I told him about the chthonia, the rare, primordial, bled for, birthed for, earth magic that once was known to many but over the centuries changed first into superstition, then eventually became forgotten lore.
“It’s ancient, isn’t it, whatever you tap into?”
“Yes,” I conceded. “In my family, the old ways were passed down.”
“You’re fortunate. Because it’s all well and good to know the wards are there, but another thing altogether to be powerful enough to reach them.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“That’s protection, banishment, and clearing magic all tied to what? Blood? Bone?”
“Sacred midnight things,” I answered, smiling at him.
“I understand. You won’t tell me, and let’s face it, I had a bit of magic as a faun, but it never served me in the least. I’m thrilled to be done with all of it.”
“Well, I’m glad, because the change is irreversible.”
“Not to worry. I’m overjoyed to never lay eyes on Rulaine again. Her true form is terrifying.”
“She won’t be able to detect you,” I promised him. “That’s elemental magic she doesn’t have.”
“I know, and thank you again.”
“Last thing,” I said, crossing my arms. “Can you tell me who Rulaine is trying to bring through the rift on my land?”
He sighed deeply. “I wish I knew, but I honestly don’t know. Rulaine didn’t trust me enough to say. I know she told Sola. If you know a necromancer, Sola could be resurrected and made to answer your questions.”
“You can do that?” Lorne asked him.
“Well, not me, of course. I don’t know any necromancers, and I certainly didn’t possess that power. But I would think a branded witch would.”
Both Lorne and Declan were waiting on me.
I grimaced. “Sola was consumed and, I’m betting, excreted by now, so…resurrection is not possible.”
It took them a moment to process that.
“Wait, what?” Lorne looked flummoxed.
“Eaten?” Declan shouted, going pale. “Sola was eaten?”
“By what?” Lorne sounded disgusted. “One of those wolves?”
“Why would Sola have been devoured by something he brought with him?” Declan seemed bothered by even the suggestion.
“I don’t know,” Lorne said. “I just learned about magic today, all right? Gimme a break.”
“Eaten?” Declan shouted again, clearly having trouble wrapping his brain around the information. “Are you certain?”
“What ate him, then?” Lorne seemed terribly concerned.
I chuckled. “Remember when I told you the cat was dangerous?”
“Your cat ate him? How small was this Sola?”
“That’s not the right question.” Declan was incredulous. “How big is your cat?”
“You know how it is with daemons,” I told him.
Declan clutched his chest, looking utterly terrified. “On your land?”
“In my house.” I clarified for him.