to babysit you? It’s a book. Search in ze bookcase.”
I eased up and peered over the windowsill. Veronique shuffled through a stack of books on the coffee table. Baron came out of the bushes and meowed. I slipped back down as he thumped up onto the sill and went inside.
Veronique gasped. “Oh kitty, you frightened me.” She picked him up. “Poor kitty, I bet you’re ’ungry.”
Wow, the bitch had a heart, even if it was the size of a cherry pit.
The can opener squealed in the kitchen, and then a can clanked onto the floor. “I bet you ’ave been eating ze scrapes out of ze garbage. Go on, eat.”
Duh, it’s scraps…French girl.
I peeked through the window again. Odil was tossing books onto the floor.
“Good little kitty.” Veronique’s heels clicked across the tiles, and she returned to the sitting room.
Odil was waiting for her. He wrapped his arms around her and brought his mouth to her ear. “You know we’re alone in a house with bedrooms.”
“Quit it,” she ordered. “That’s all you think about. We must find ze book.”
“I’ve looked at every book in the bookcase and it’s not there.” He kissed her ear. “Shall we check the bedrooms for it?”
Veronique let out a deep sigh. “All right. But afterward we make a clean sweep of ze place.”
“Whatever you wish,” Odil said, leading her down the hall.
A door slammed somewhere in the back of the house, and I listened to make sure they were preoccupied before I crawled through the window.
Gross. I so don’t want to know what they’re doing back there.
Lorelle’s scrying lobotomy revealed that the ancient book of charms was hidden behind the jacket cover for Don’t Knit the Small Stuff, a book on how to knit big throw blankets. I shuffled through the knitting books on the end table by Nana’s favorite chair and ottoman. The book was close to the bottom of the stack.
I peeled back the jacket. Underneath was a leather-bound book. The title was in a language I didn’t know. After re-covering the book with the jacket, I formed a pink globe and dropped it onto the book, releasing Nana’s charm.
A creak came from the hallway, and I dropped to my knees, hiding behind the loveseat.
“Do you want water?” Veronique called down the hall. She buttoned up her shirt as she walked past me. “Magnifique,” she said. “Ze zings I ’ave to do for that man.”
That was fast.
I was thankful she didn’t see me as she passed. A glass clinked, and then the water faucet turned on in the kitchen. Veronique headed back to the bedroom, carrying two glasses.
When she was gone, I grabbed the book and stood.
“What are you doing here?” a startled Odil blurted from the hallway.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Veronique came running up behind him.
I skidded across the floor, twisted the doorknob, and pulled. Locked. A fire globe hit the wall just above my head.
I shifted the book to one arm and raised my palm to form my globe. Another ball of fire whizzed by my head and I ducked. Shit. I formed my globe and tossed it, hitting Odil in the chest. He rolled to the floor and crawled behind the couch.
Veronique readied another fireball as I fumbled to unbolt the door. The lock slid back, and I jerked open the door. Nick stood there with electric currents dancing on his fingertips, and just behind him was Afton.
“Move,” Nick ordered.
I flung myself against the wall.
Blue currents shot through the open door and hit Veronique before she threw her next fire globe. The globe landed on the floor, and the carpet ignited into flames. Odil crawled to Veronique’s side and dragged her away from the fire.
“Run!” Afton yelled.
Nick grabbed my hand and hauled me down the steps after Afton. We ran down the street, around corners, and through alleys before we stopped and rested behind a large tree.
“Why are you guys here?” I asked between pants. “You got a death wish or something?”
“Are you complaining? I just saved your life,” Nick protested. “If it weren’t for me, you’d have been fried. You should thank me.”
“I know, thanks,” I said. “But seriously, you surprised me. I was supposed to do this alone. Who told you I was coming here?”
Afton held her side. “I overheard you and Carrig in the hall. How could he send you alone? What was he thinking? Anyway, I told Jaran and he told the Sentinels. We decided Nick and I should help you search for the book because we’d go undetected