Magic Misled (Lizzie Grace #7) - Keri Arthur Page 0,77
hadn’t yet told him what she’d done? That not only sucked, it put me in a rather dicey position. As tempting as it was to tell him all the gritty details, I honestly didn’t want to get in the middle of any argument between mother and son.
“Then perhaps you’d better talk to her first.”
“Liz,” he growled. “Stop playing games—”
“I’ve never considered our relationship a game, Aiden.”
“Implying I have?”
“That’s not what I meant, but let’s be honest here—you’ve never treated it as permanent, either.”
“Guys,” Monty cut in, a hint of steel in his voice. “That sort of discussion is better had in private.”
I twisted around in the seat to look at him. “You’re right. Let’s talk about you and Belle going out Friday instead. Does this mean your big plans for a momentous evening are about to happen?”
“I would certainly hope so.” He smiled, but there was sympathy in his eyes. For me, and for the situation I was now in. “But I don’t want to count my horses and all that.”
“Says the man who has told all and sundry he’s going to marry that girl.” The magic around the bag stirred, whispering its secrets. “Turn right at the next street, then slow down. We’re close.”
“She certainly has some balls,” Monty said. “We really are in the middle of goddamn Castle Rock.”
“It could be her ancestral home.” Aiden’s voice held only a vague vibration of the anger that swirled through his aura. I might have changed the subject, but a discussion would be had later. “A lot of the houses along this section of Doveton Street have been in the same family for generations.”
“So most are werewolf owned?”
He nodded. “There’re only two that are human owned. The brick one down the other end of the road close to the church and—”
“That rather overgrown-looking one up ahead on our right?” I guessed.
His gaze shot to mine. “Is that the place?”
“It certainly is.” I studied it for a second, uneasiness stirring even though I wasn’t immediately sensing anything or anyone. “Do you know who it belongs to?”
“Not these days.” He halted on the other side of the road, just down from the house. “I do know it’s been abandoned for quite a while. The neighbors were complaining about rats recently.”
“It looks the sort of place rats would love.” Monty leaned forward. “I’m not seeing any sort of major protective spells, though.”
“You probably wouldn’t, thanks to the thickness of those tea trees on the nature strip.” I glanced down at the evidence bag. The pulse was little more than a vague flutter now; while it had led me here, it wasn’t giving me any further information. “The signal’s now too faint to say whether she’s inside or not.”
“Then we find out the old-fashioned way.” Aiden opened the truck’s door and climbed out.
I tucked the evidence bag into the glove compartment and then scrambled out after the two men. It had at least stopped raining, although the scent in the air suggested another thunderstorm wasn’t far away.
Aiden retrieved his gun from the weapons locker in the back of his truck and quickly strapped it on.
“I’m not entirely sure you’re going to be faster at drawing that thing than she’s able to move,” I said.
His smile held little in the way of humor. “There’s only one way to find that out, too.”
“I’d really prefer it if we didn’t.”
“So would I. But nothing else so far has stopped this bitch, so maybe a bullet will. Monty?”
He immediately strode across the road. Beyond the tea trees, on the other side of the footpath, was a thick hedge. It was unkempt and uncut, which meant all that was visible of the house were its moss-ridden red roof tiles. The property had no driveway; the only entry point was via the very old metal gate barely visible in the middle of the hedge.
Monty stopped and peered through the greenery. “You smelling anything untoward, Ranger?”
“Only neglect.”
“Might be worth trying a probe spell,” I said. “If you use a low-grade one, she may not sense it, especially if she used most of her magical strength earlier.”
“The only problem with that being if she does sense it, she’ll run.”
“I’ll head around the back,” Aiden said. “If anything moves, I’ll shoot first and ask questions later.”
“I’ll go with you—just in case the shoot first plan fails.” I glanced at Monty. “Remember what Belle said.”
He grinned. “Stop worrying, Liz. I’m going to be around to annoy you for a very long time yet.”