“I felt it,” I told Poe. “We were coming back, and it felt like my bones were breaking.”
“That’s because your blood is connected to the ward. You would know if someone is trying to get through,” Poe replies.
“Did you see Dub or Dothur?” I asked.
“I wasn’t looking. As soon as I felt Dian trying to break the ward, I linked with you. I got out of there as fast as I could without being seen.”
“Poe, I need you to go back,” I told him. See if the others are there. Stay out of sight and keep me posted.” Poe flew off with a caw. I turned my attention back to my friends and let them know about ward being broken.
“Are you okay?” Orin asked.
“Better. My muscles are aching, but I’ll be fine.”
Then Orin and Weylyn began taking off their coats and ties, before removing their shirts and peeling off their pants.
“Umm... What’s happening here?” I asked.
“They’re getting ready to shift,” Brann said.
“Don’t want to ruin my new suit,” Orin added.
“It takes a lot of magic to retain our clothes while we are shifted,” Weylyn said. “It’s better to just have our boxers on, so when we shift back our dangly bits aren’t out for everyone to see.” Which brings a smile to my face, as I blush.
“Why Keira? Are you thinking of Orin’s dangly bits?” Brann asked.
I’m totally thinking about them, but that’s my business. “No, and stop saying ‘dangly bits,’ we need to focus.”
“What’s the word from the bird,” Keegan asked. “All three? Or just one of them?” Keegan cracked his knuckles. Always up for a tussle, that one.
I reached down inside, where my little flame app was flaring brightly. There are no words, but somehow the flame connects me to ‘long distance,’ putting the call through to Poe.
“It looks like they have come and gone. There’s nobody home.”
A minute later we turn down the driveway and pull up to the house. As we get out, I feel the air shift around me. Turning, I see Orin and Weylyn, now in their wolf forms. Weylyn’s black wolf presses up against the side of my body, as I run my fingers through his fur. “Orin, check the perimeter,” I said. “See if you can pick up anything.” The large white wolf nodded and took off running.
The front door looked like it was blown open, barely hanging on by its hinges. Edna’s once pristine home was in shambles. A hurricane of Evil had torn through it. Furniture had been thrown across the rooms, plaster from the walls was scattered on the floor, pictures ripped, their frames broken. The farther we moved into the house, the worse the mess. Keegan and I entered the study a few minutes later, where Brann was shuffling through scattered papers on the floor. “They took it all,” he said quietly.
“What did they take?”
Brann ran a hand through his hair, as he stood up and placed the papers onto the desk. “My research. All of it. Everything I was looking at to help us fight them. They even took Patrick’s book on the magical item.”
“Are you sure?” I shuffled through the snow drifts of papers.
“Positive,” Brann said. “Where are the twins?”
“They shifted,” Keegan said. “Checking the perimeter and the rest of the house.”
“Where’s Katie and Patrick?” I asked.
“They just got here,” said Keegan. “I saw his Rolls pull up.”
“Good,” said Brann. “Patrick has a thorough knowledge of the inventory of the house. He’ll know what’s missing.”
“Do you think they know?” I ask Brann, he pushes up the rim of his glasses as he surveys the damage around him.
“I can only assume that they broke in trying to figure out a way to either get you alone or to find out what we’ve been doing the last week.”
“But… How? We fixed the ward, it was stronger than ever.”
“It should have held. Unless, somehow, they had some spell or enchantment that tricked the ward’s magic, made them appear to be kin to you. Otherwise, I don’t see how they could have.”
Then, a horror crept into my mind, so unspeakable it nearly tore my heart out. “It was those… teeth. Goddamn that Dian, I will fucking kill the sadistic bastard if it’s the last thing I do.” As tough as I talked, Brann could see my tears leaking out. He took me into his arms.
“Shhh. There, there, sweet girl.” He rocked me gently for a moment. But Brann was still Brann – which meant it was impossible for him to leave any mystery unexplored. “Keira? What did you mean? About teeth?”
“Don’t you remember the necklace Dian wears?”
“Oh. Right. But how does that—”
“That’s how they got past the ward. You said it would only let someone connected to this land pass through, right?”
“Correct. But…” Brann paused. Then the light dawned for him too. And the darkest fury I’ve ever seen hardened his face, twisted it into pure rage.
I nodded to confirm what we both knew. “Those teeth were Edna’s. That fucking torturer ripped them out one by one.”
“Keira…” Brann seized my hands, and looked me in the eye. “Whatever it costs, I swear to you. He will pay for this. With every ounce of his flesh.”
I looked around at the shambles those bastards left behind. “Why this, though? Were they looking for something?”
“I assume they were looking for you. In any case, now they know what we are looking for.”
“Oh, no. God no.”
“They took everything. From my research to your training schedules, and I hate to say this Keira, but they took your grimoire too.”
“They WHAT?” I yelled.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think to hide it or lock it up.” Brann said.
I plopped down on the nearest chair and scratched my head, trying to think of what to do next. The twins came trotting into the room, and quickly shifted back into their human forms.
“Perimeter of the house is clear,” Orin said.
“Rooms are clear, too.” Weylyn added, with a final
