Magic Misled (Lizzie Grace #7) - Keri Arthur Page 0,43
on to the spot where I’d last seen the thing. Nothing. No smell, and certainly no tracks. Had it flown away? Just because I hadn’t spotted anything resembling wings, didn’t mean it couldn’t have them. It could also have used a transport spell. I might not have sensed—or even smelled—the creation of one but that didn’t mean anything, especially when the pungent remains of the black blotting spell still stained the air.
Aiden appeared out of the scrub, his silver coat shimmering as he regained human form. “Lost it about half a kilometer in.”
“Did it stop abruptly or just fade?”
“The latter.” He scrubbed a hand across his jaw, frustration evident in his expression. “What is this thing? Its scent is unlike anything I’ve ever come across.”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, I’ve a bad feeling we’d better find out, and quickly.”
“Things definitely aren’t good when you’re getting bad feelings,” Monty commented.
He looked pale; backlash from the spell explosion, I suspected.
Aiden didn’t look amused by the comment. “How likely is it that this thing will come back?”
Monty shrugged. “As you said earlier, it really depends on why this creature came here after John in the first place.”
“We could ring the house with protections,” I said. “But it would probably be better if John simply heads out of the reservation for a few days.”
“Convincing him of that might take some doing. He’s a stubborn bastard.”
Aiden caught my hand and helped me back up the dam’s bank, then kept hold as we moved back toward the house. Part of me couldn’t help but think Samuel’s presence was the main reason for this sudden bit of intimacy—especially given he generally avoided any such contact when he was working.
Maybe, I thought with amusement, it was the alpha’s gentle way of reminding me I was in a relationship with him.
He opened the back door and ushered me inside. I walked through the laundry, then followed the soft sound of voices down a long hallway.
Jaz looked around as we entered. “Did you get it?”
I shook my head. “Whatever this thing is, it’s capable of magic.”
“Light or dark?” Samuel asked.
He was sitting at one end of the leather sofa. At the other was a gray-haired, craggy-faced man—John, I presumed.
“Dark, though how that’s possible given he or she didn’t use blood sacrifice—”
“Not all dark sorcery needs a sacrifice,” Monty commented. “And even when blood is required, sometimes a simple cut across the palm or the arm will suffice.”
“Neither of which is easy to do when on the run.”
“But not impossible if practiced enough.” Monty glanced at Aiden. “Do you want us to run some protections around the place?”
“Unless John is willing to stay indoors twenty-four seven—”
“And he’s bloody well not,” the older man growled.
“Then it’s pretty much useless. Patrick was killed in daylight, remember.”
“Patrick? Dead?” John’s obstinate expression dissolved into shock. “When?”
“A couple of days ago.” Aiden moved past me. “I’m afraid Jackson was killed yesterday.”
John swore and scrubbed a hand across his cheek. “Do you know why?”
“No, but maybe you can help in that regard.”
John’s confusion was evident. “But why? I haven’t seen Patrick for months—and it’s been years since I’ve seen Jackson.”
“We don’t think these kills are related to the present, but rather the past.”
“That still doesn’t make any sense.”
As Aiden sat down near John, Monty touched my arm, drawing my attention from their conversation.
“Why don’t you head home?” he said softly. “It’s pointless us both being here.”
“Except I can smell this thing. You can’t.” A smile twitched my lips. “Or are you just trying to save the council’s coffers some overtime?”
“I don’t care about costs. I do, however, care about you—and the bags under your eyes are large enough to carry a wallet.”
I snorted. “Thanks for that lovely image.”
“Go home.”
“Before you do,” Samuel said, rising. “Do you want to show me where you last saw this creature?”
“Sure, but why?”
He shrugged. “The trees might be able to clarify what was moving around out there.”
“Seriously?” Jaz’s expression was a mix of disbelief and awe. “You’re going to talk to a tree?”
He smiled warmly, and Jaz blinked as something almost primeval crossed her expression. It was nice to know I wasn’t the only attached woman affected by this man’s charms.
“Not talk to them, as such. More … connect to their energy and through it gather impressions of what passed through their resonance.”
“Which sounds even more impressive.”
Samuel laughed. “It’s really not—especially when compared to the forces these two can bring to bear.”
“Jaz,” Aiden said, voice a little clipped, “go with them.”