Someone has figured out how to make themselves invisible while on this property.”
“Yeah, and we need to find out who that someone is, not to mention how to prevent it from happening again. If magic can get them in here, there has to be some kind of reverse spell to strip it away.”
“Now you’re thinking like a sorceress.”
“Too bad I can’t do magic like a sorceress.”
“Yet.”
I backed away from the window. “Let’s get Ulric. He can follow it—”
“No time. Look!” Mr. Tom pointed.
The deer, still munching, lifted its head, looking over the gardens. It paused as if in contemplation before walking a few steps, every bit as graceful as a natural deer. It didn’t bow back to the flowers, though its hesitation said it was thinking about it.
“It’s not eating as much as it wants to,” I whispered, watching in fascination, not sure if I was studying it or I was just too torn to act. Go get Ulric, or go down there and try to blast it with magic?
“It’s holding back. Why, I wonder?” I paused for another moment, considering, then forced myself into action. I wouldn’t get any answers sitting here. “I’ll get Jasper, actually. If anyone is good at silence, it’s that guy. Keep watching it, Mr. Tom. Try to figure out what it’s after.”
Jasper opened the door after the second soft rap, his room two doors down from my parents’. Even though I was in a hurry, I didn’t want them coming out and asking questions. They’d just slow everything down.
The door swung open, Jasper’s eyes puffy with sleep and his unruly light brown hair in a halo around his head. He didn’t respond, just waited for me to speak.
“I need your help. Hurry!” I waved him down the hall after me, breaking into a jog. Back at my room, easing in beside Mr. Tom, still crouched at the window, I pointed to the deer. It was working away from Edgar’s position, staring at the house all the while. “Can you get into the air and follow it without being detected?” I whispered.
He bent beside me and then leaned forward, bracing his large hand against the windowsill. Both of us were far enough back and low enough that the darkness of the room would mask what little of us might be visible from the deer’s vantage point. “Is it glowing?”
“Yeah. Looks like a shifter, too. Ivy House can’t feel it. That’s what’s been eating Mr. Tom’s flowers.”
“Edgar’s,” Mr. Tom said.
“Sorry, yeah. Edgar’s. Can you follow it, Jasper? Without being noticed?”
“For how long?” Jasper asked.
“I don’t know, until…you have something to report, I guess. But it can’t know you’re there.”
He stripped off his shirt and jogged out of the room. I felt him heading for the stairs. He’d use one of the third-floor openings in the floor or wall and take to the sky.
“Now what, miss?” Mr. Tom asked, a buzz sounding from his pocket.
I shook my head, needing to do something more. This creature was on my property, and Ivy House couldn’t defend herself. It was on me to pick up the slack. Everything in me wanted to run out there and teach the shifter a lesson. Teach it—mostly likely a him—to invade my space and mess with Edgar’s flowers. Logic had to reign supreme, though. That deer would be back. Haste without planning caused mistakes. Right now we had the upper hand—we needed to keep it.
Mr. Tom swore under his breath. The light from his phone screen highlighted his cheekbones and eyes. “It’s Niamh. The house across from hers has a prowler. She just caught a glimpse before the figure slipped behind the bushes. She’s wondering if she should engage.”
“What is it? Is it a shifter?”
Mr. Tom bent to his phone, typing out a message. I wondered why he didn’t just call, but was thankful for it. Text was quieter and there was less room to insult each other. It would be quicker.
I clutched the windowsill, my mind whirling. I couldn’t be sure the entity at the front was a danger to me, not yet. Could just be a burglar. I had to get ready to move, though, just in case.
“Not a shifter,” Mr. Tom said as his phone vibrated with a new message. “A human form. She doesn’t know what magic it is.”
I paused. “Tell her to keep watching, but not engage. If it is a powerful mage, she’ll be on the losing end of that battle. We need information before we combat this.