a school gymnasium, eager to look at Ivy's message. Shelton had partitioned the area into testing grounds, creating a magical gauntlet I hoped to eventually emerge from victorious. At the rate of my learning, that happy occasion probably wouldn't be for another century or so.
On the other side of the testing grounds, we entered a hall and the residential part of his hideout. Shelton had told me he'd carved this entire place out himself with magic. Elyssa and I passed through the hall and found Bella and Shelton lounging at the kitchen table, drinking tea and playing Scrabble.
Shelton groaned as Bella formed the word zygote on the board. "Saved by the bell," he grumbled, standing up.
Bella, a petite Arcane I'd met during my time in Colombia, smiled sweetly at him. "And to think, English isn't even my first language."
"Whatever, woman. You've been playing Scrabble a couple hundred years longer than I have."
Bella's violet eyes widened with hurt. "Harry, you should never call a woman out on her age."
Shelton snorted. "Cry me a river, princess. I give you a place to live so we can teach Junior here how to use fairy dust, and you kick my ass at every board game I own."
"Except Candy Land," she said, grinning.
Shelton seemed to bite back a response with visible effort. He blew out a breath and looked at me. "Candy Land my ass. You got the phone, bucko?"
I showed him Nookli. "Yeppers. But first, I need to watch this." I pulled the ASE from my pocket and held it in the palm of my hand.
"What in blazes are you doing with an all-seeing eye?" he said, taking it and holding it up to the light.
"It's a message from Ivy. Some dude named Bigglesworth gave it to me."
His eyebrows pinched. "What kind of stupid name is that?"
I shrugged. "Get this—the dude melted into some kind of pale goo and went down a sewage drain when I tried to chase him down."
Bella gasped. "Are you quite certain?"
I nodded and gestured at Elyssa. "We both saw him do it. Why?"
"If this creature is what I think it is, then you have witnessed a very rare breed of supernatural."
"Yeah, well what is it?" Shelton said.
She shook her head. "I do not know if they even have a classification."
"He looked like a creepy version of the Pillsbury Doughboy," I said, shuddering at the thought of his rubbery, doughy skin. "Can he morph into any shape?"
"It sounds to me as though he wasn't trying hard to appear authentic," Bella said. "From the little I know about the species, they often assume the appearance of their last victim."
"Victim?" Elyssa said uneasily.
Bella nodded. "They encase their victims with their bodies—the pale goo you mentioned—and consume the poor soul."
I threw up a little in my mouth at the thought. "On another subject," I said, indicating the ASE, "can you operate the thing?"
"I can do that," Elyssa said, taking it from Shelton and setting it on the table. She tapped the marble three quick times. It started to spin, slowly at first, building momentum until it made an audible hum against the wooden top.
A holographic image sprang into the air above it. Ivy's head crowded the scene, a look of fear emblazoned on her face.
"Justin, I need your help." Tears trickled from her eyes.
The loud clang of metal on metal gonged through the air. Ivy shrieked.
"Let us in you little brat!" Someone shouted, sounding as if they were on the other side of a wall or thick door.
Ivy looked back at me. "Vampires attacked us. I don't know what happened to Mom or Grandma and Granddad." She sniffled and wiped her runny nose with a hand. "I'm in the panic room, but they'll break through any minute. Mr. Bigglesworth is the only person who can get this message to you."
"Why don't you let us in, little girl," said a familiar voice.
A chill prickled down my spine. "Maximus," I growled.
"Come on, sweetness," Maximus said in a sugar coated voice. "We're going on a little trip. You'll love it."
"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Ivy screamed. She turned back to the ASE again. "Please, Justin, help. I don't know when you'll get this or where they're taking me, but nobody else can help me now. I think the vampires killed them all."
A shuddering crack rocked the view and Ivy screamed again as chunks of concrete and white dust filled the air. The holograph blinked out. The rotating ASE slowed to a stop and rolled against