She gave him the ‘don’t be stupid’ look, which only made him laugh. “In all honesty, I didn’t have much to do with him. He was the studious type.”
“Which is probably why he ended up working for the High Council,” I said, “and you ended up in the dusty bowels of cataloguing.”
“Possibly,” he said, “but being ensconced in said dusty bowels has at least had one payoff—I think I’ve found a book that might tell us more about the wild magic and your connection to it. I’ve put in a request for its retrieval.”
I raised my eyebrows. “How did you find it?”
“It was referenced on some old data cards being transferred to the main database. They catalogue out-of-date or superseded reference manuals.”
“Will you have to fly up to Canberra to view it?”
He shook his head. “It’s an obsolete manual, so there’s no restrictions on loaning or viewing. Jamie will sign it out for me and then express post it down.”
Jamie was his professor friend, if I remembered correctly. “Did he say how detailed the book was?”
“No, but it’s titled Earth Magic: its Uses and Dangers, so that suggests a fair bit of detail.”
Belle frowned. “Earth magic isn’t wild magic, though.”
“Actually, it is. Earth became wild after a few cataclysmic events in the eleventh century.”
“And you know this how?” she said.
“Because I have a good memory for that sort of rubbish,” he said. “And because I sometimes did pay attention at school. When’s the High Council’s team getting here?”
“Sometime in the next twenty-four hours.”
Concern flitted through his expression. “Why are they taking so long? Why didn’t the council move the minute Clayton disappeared?”
“Probably because it wasn’t until my father was shot that they believed Clayton was actually a threat.”
Monty blinked. “When did that happen?”
“A few days ago. He’s out of surgery and recovering, though.”
“Fuck.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Despite what happened in Wodonga, I didn’t think Clayton would resort to a physical attack.”
“No one did, which is no doubt why he resorted to hiring a hit man—or woman, as it apparently was.” My voice was grim. “It does mean that you and Aiden could both be in danger.”
He frowned. “Aiden, I understand, given he’s your current partner, but why me? It’s not like I had anything to do with your family when this whole crooked deal went down.”
“No,” Belle said, “but you’ve stood up to him twice now, and while I certainly appreciated the punch that broke the bastard’s nose, I doubt he did.”
“There’s not much I can do to counter a bullet.”
“The ghoul was protected against them,” I said. “So there obviously is a spell out there capable of doing just that.”
“No doubt, but it’s not one I currently know.”
“Then go over to the ranger station when you’re finished here and put on the bulletproof vest Aiden’s pulling out of storage.”
“Do you really think that’s necessary? I mean, they’re not exactly hard to spot, and a good enough shooter would have no trouble with a head shot.”
“Some protection is better than no protection,” Belle said. “And as annoying as I find you, I’d hate to see you dead.”
“It warms my cockles to hear you say that.”
She rolled her eyes. “Just go over and grab that vest—and don’t get shot between here and there or I will be displeased.”
“That makes two of us.” He glanced at me. “What are we planning to do about Clayton?”
I grimaced. “There’s not much we can do at this point. There’s a seeker on Samuel’s team, and Mom’s sending down one of Clayton’s watches. I’m hoping that between the seeker and my psychometry skills, we can track Clayton down before he attempts anything.”
“And the shooter? Do we know where she is?”
“She flew into Melbourne this morning. Her current whereabouts are unknown.”
“Is Aiden checking hotel registrations?”
“He probably will when I mention it, but I can’t see it being of much use. There’s a hell of a lot of hotels and private guest accommodation within the reservation. It’s a needle in a haystack.”
“Needles can sometimes be found.” He hesitated. “I know Aiden is already staying here, but if you need additional spell power, I’m more than happy to bunk down for a few days.”
I reached out and squeezed his arm. “Thanks, but I’d rather not make it easy for the bastard by having all his targets neatly collected in the one spot.”
He hesitated and then nodded. “I’ll head over to the ranger station now. Ring me as soon as you hear or see anything.”
“I will.”
“You won’t,” Belle said the minute he was out the door. “And for the same reason you won’t ring Ashworth or Eli—you don’t want them caught in the crossfire.”
“It’s more because of what I saw in my dreams last night.” Visions of blood and broken body bits rose once again, and I shuddered. “People are going to die, Belle. I just don’t want it to be anyone I care about.”
“In the end,” she said, voice resolute, “it’s not about what we do, but rather what he does.”
“I know.” And that’s what made this whole thing so nerve-wracking. Until he made his move, there was nothing more we could really do—nothing other than take what precautions we could and hope like hell my worst fears didn’t eventuate.
We spent the rest of the evening making cakes and doing prep for the following day. Aiden arrived around eight, and the three of us sat around drinking coffee and chatting about everything and anything other than the situation that was no doubt forefront in all of our minds.
At eleven, Belle sighed and rose. “I’d better head over.”
“We’ll escort you,” I said, rising with her.
She frowned. “Why? It’s not far to Émigré—”
“That’s where you’re staying?” Aiden cut in, surprise evident. “Why?”
“For the very reason you’re surprised,” I replied. “It’s a location few would think to look.”
“But there’s no accommodation—”
“Maelle lives there,” Belle said. “I’m using one of her rooms to bunk in.”
His gaze ran between the two of us. “There’s something more to this than
