as he charged through the crowd. Going around would’ve been easier, but whatever. “I’ve never done a bubble against gas!”
“That’ll do, pig.”
I furrowed my brow at her antics as someone foolishly swiped at the basajaun with their sword. The sword dinged off the bubble I’d created, a force field on the outside, and the wall penetrable from within, ensuring he’d be safe from the gas unless he stuck his head out. He grabbed the woman’s arm, wrenched it off, and smacked her across the face with it. Insult to injury.
He continued forward, waving his great arms, throwing people onto the grass. Their shouts of pain turned to wails of agony amid their coughs, whatever Ivy House had cooked up for them not for the faint-hearted.
The basajaun himself stopped just before the grass, eyeing the fog.
“You’re safe.” I motioned him closer. “Come through, you’re safe!”
The battering ram hit the curb, these modern-day issues impeding the usefulness of old-school machines. Even if they got it over, or went across the driveway, they’d have to get around the fully functioning, enormous spears positioned on some sort of javelin machine that had ruined Edgar’s perfectly tended grass. My front door wasn’t going to feel the wrath of that machine today.
“You are protecting me from the poison fog,” the basajaun said as he reached me.
“Yes, hurry. Ivy House can handle these people for now. It’s the people in the back who are going to be the problem.”
“It is good to be on your side.”
“Not really, since we’re vastly outnumbered and the house can’t help us with these guys. Not yet, anyway.”
“This house is amazing.”
I didn’t feel like he was hearing anything I was saying, but I also didn’t feel like there was any point in persisting, so I started to jog, finding Austin and the other shifters at the tree line, smushing the flowers as they peered into the darkness. The host of dolls waited off to the far right, standing because of Ivy House, but immobile since she didn’t know where to direct them.
“Hey.” I stopped beside Austin and put a hand on his furry shoulder, about level with my head, feeling him tense under the touch. I took my hand away. “Anything?” I whispered.
The basajaun leapt over the flowers, directing dirty looks at anyone standing on them, and pressed his large hand to the nearest tree trunk. He bent, crouching down, looking under the trees. “They’re here,” he whispered.
I crouched in my location, frustrated at their magic, and looked into the woods. Lines in the darkness, the trunks of trees standing sentinel. Bushes crawled across the ground, behind ferns. I couldn’t see any movement. Could they see me? Did they know we were waiting?
The cover of darkness was hurting us as much as it was helping us.
I reached up to tear the darkness away on this side of the house, then I spied it. Further back than I’d been looking, about fifty feet, I could see the soft blue glow of the spell keeping Ivy House and me from feeling the second group’s presence. Here to a basajaun had a different interpretation than it did for me.
I bit my lip, watching as they slowly, ever so slowly, worked their way to us. Did they think the intruders up front had distracted us enough for us not to notice them? Probably. For any normal small group of people, that certainly would’ve been the case.
I gestured behind me, not really needing the hand movement to direct the dolls or my magic, but it gave my brain a set place to focus.
The dolls took off right, drifting into the tree line quietly, knives clutched in their little hands, one of them climbing a tree and tootling across a branch to the next tree. I knew from experience that more would do the same.
“Austin.” I stood and put my hand to his shoulder again. “Send some people left to take out whoever they can and push the intruders into the middle. Our end goal is to get them to barrel toward the grass.”
He nodded and looked to his side, and the wolves and snow leopard led the others in keeping with my orders, which basically left Austin. Fine by me.
“Okay. Time to see if I can break this spell.” I jogged forward, the basajaun walking fast to keep pace, Austin behind us. A little ways in and Niamh skittered across a branch at about face height, nearly forcing a scream out of me. Mr. Tom sailed overhead,