I felt something move in the air. I checked her hands, and saw that she’d just tugged rather hard on her string bracelet. “If you’re trying to imply that any of my witches—” she began, her chest puffing up with importance.
“Slow down, Tally,” Beau said sharply. “No one is making accusations.”
Yet, I thought. “Who has access to the grounds during the day?” I asked him.
He sighed. “Any number of people. Landscapers, maids, grooms for the stables.”
Okay, that wasn’t going to get us anywhere. And then a horrible new thought struck me. I looked at Beau. “The Unsettled vanished from four locations, right?” He nodded. “You saw how that spirit bottle shattered; it’s a one-time-use thing.”
“Which means there are at least three more bombs out there,” Beau concluded.
We all fell silent. The possibilities were overwhelming. We didn’t know what kind of range the spirit bottles had, or how much damage they could inflict. The first bomb had killed one vampire and hurt a second, not to mention a werewolf, but humans weren’t as durable. How many people would die if a spirit bottle were released in public?
My eyes wandered to the bookshelf on the opposite wall. It was two stories high, with a ladder that swung around on rails. A small glass vase sat on one of the top shelves, and I blinked at it for several seconds.
“Beau,” I said slowly, pointing, and the vampire followed my eyes. “How long has that vase been there?”
He started, then relaxed. “Years. Many years.”
“Whoever is doing this has had access to the grounds. Would you notice if that vase disappeared for a night and then returned?”
“I take your point.” Vampire-fast, Beau flew to the bookshelf, retrieved the vase without the use of a ladder, and crushed it underfoot. Both Tallulah and I let out a breath when nothing happened.
“This house is full of relics,” Beau said, staring fixedly at the broken remains. “For all we know, a spirit bottle has already been planted here.”
“You’ll have to gather anything that could work as a container,” I said, hoping my voice was calmer than I felt.
“Yes.” He rubbed his forehead for a second, thinking. “I’ll get the night grooms to help. If it’s valuable, I’ll put it in storage off-site; anything else can be destroyed. Meanwhile, I will consider the question of whether I have grievously wronged any witches in my long life.” He glanced up, giving me a sharp look. “Your necklace, the one that protected you. How can we get more of those?”
I turned to Tallulah. “Do any of your witches use crystals?”
A look of distaste came over her face, but she knew better than to disparage other kinds of magic just then. “I can make some calls,” she said, “if you tell me what you need.” She checked her watch and I automatically did the same. It was after 1:00 a.m. “I might not be able to actually get them until morning, though.”
“Make the calls,” Beau told her. “Money is no object, but make sure they’re of the highest quality. Then do the wards. I’ll get started on the house.” He paused, then added, “Right after I call the other Horsemen and have them check their own homes. And incinerate those godforsaken plants.”
“That’s all wonderful as far as damage control,” Tallulah said, “but it doesn’t get us any closer to learning more about these spirit bottles.”
“She’s right. We need more information,” I said. “We need to know the limits of these spirit bottles and how we can stop this from happening again.”
Tallulah gave me a shrewd look. “You’re the boundary witch. Don’t you have someone you can ask these things?”
I opened my mouth to tell her to fuck off, but then I remembered what Sam had said. There are other ways to find information. She wouldn’t have said that unless those other ways were available to me. I sighed and thought about it.
Aside from Katia, who I’d already spoken to, the only other boundary witch I knew was Nellie, and she was a ghost back in Colorado. More importantly, if she knew anything about spirit bottles, I was certain she would have already brought it up in one of our many trade negotiations.
Then I understood what Sam must have been getting at, and grimaced. I did know one other living boundary witch. It’s just that she hated my guts.
Chapter 29
More than two years ago, my biological half brother, Emil Jasper, had tracked me down in Boulder. He’d tried to trick me into coming