Apparently the explanation was enough for Richard, whom I’d yet to hear a last name for. I made a mental note to ask Braden later.
“Just tell us what you have,” Cormack instructed.
Richard bobbed his head and then held out his hands. “It’s not good news. We managed to get inside about ten minutes ago, after the fire department cleared the scene. They weren’t keen on handing it over but the corporate office placed a call and smoothed things over.”
“I’m sure that’s a delicate way of putting it,” Braden muttered.
“What’s inside?” Cormack queried.
“They’re all dead.” Richard didn’t hold back. “All three guards have been killed. It looks like it happened fast because none of them had time to get on the phone. Their bodies are ... mangled. They were essentially ripped apart.”
A chill ran up my spine. “Revenants.”
Richard held out his hands and shrugged. “That seems a likely possibility but I have no way to confirm it.”
“Right.” Cormack’s demeanor never slipped. “And my mother?”
“She’s gone, too.”
Irrational anger clawed through my chest and I had to fight the urge to slap Richard across the face. For him to just blurt it out like that — well, it felt cruel.
Cormack didn’t so much as blink. “Was she killed in the same manner?”
“Actually, no. She’s just dead. We’re not sure if it was smoke or maybe something to do with her illness. We checked, though. She’s just ... I’m sorry.”
He didn’t sound sincere, at least to me. Of course, the anger I felt when looking at him was heightened.
“We need to see inside,” Cormack said. “I’m sure you can clear the way.”
“Of course.” Richard’s gaze landed back on Aric and Zoe. “Are you sure you want to take everybody inside?”
“I am.”
“Okay then.” Richard led the way up the sidewalk, pausing at the front door and pushing it open with his foot. “I’ve already seen what’s in there. I’m sure you understand that I prefer not to see it again.”
“Of course.” Cormack stepped through the opening. “Keep people out of the house for now, okay? I’d like to get a feel for what happened.”
“Don’t we know what happened?”
“Not in the least.”
Cormack didn’t speak again until we were all in the living room. Two of the guards had fallen at either end of the couch, making me believe they’d likely dropped where they slept. Perhaps they’d never even woken up. Given how the bodies looked, that would be a small blessing.
“We need to figure out what happened here, and we need to be quick about it,” Cormack said in a low voice. “I don’t fully trust anyone in the home office right now.”
“Even Richard?” I queried, my earlier anger with the man resurfacing.
“Richard would not be my first choice as a turncoat,” he countered. “He’s too ... unemotional to get involved with something like that. I believe that to my core.”
“And yet?” I prodded.
“And yet I would never have believed my parents were capable of turning on us the way they did either. I only trust those in my inner circle.”
“Including your new family members?” Zoe asked dryly.
“Aric looks enough like my family to pass.” Cormack wasn’t apologetic. “I don’t want people digging too deep on you guys. From what I understand, you’re famous in certain circles. I don’t want to tip off the wrong person that we have help.”
“It makes sense,” Zoe agreed, moving to the nearest body and dropping to her knees. She extended a hand to the man’s forehead and brushed her fingertips against his bloodied skin. “I can’t get a reading on what happened here. It’s almost as if someone cast a spell to make sure there was no echo.”
I was intrigued by the suggestion. “Do you think that’s possible?”
She shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I kind of wish Sami hadn’t blown up that revenant so quickly earlier. I would’ve liked a chance to get up close and personal with it, if only to see if I could read inside its head. I mean, it’s possible that I simply can’t read these creatures.
“They’re from another plane, right?” she continued, waiting for me to nod. “I can’t always read creatures from other planes, at least not as well as I can read creatures from this plane.”
I was officially intrigued. “You’ve had run-ins with creatures from other planes?”
“Fairies.”
I was taken aback. “Fairies? Wait ... are you saying fairies are real?” Even as I asked the question I realized it was ridiculous on the face of things. Only a few months before, a circus had come to town and there were two women there who I’d figured were from another plane. Were they fairies? Now that I’d heard the word, it seemed to make sense.
She laughed at my reaction. “They are, although they don’t look how you’re probably envisioning. It’s likely you’ve seen them. They look human, although a bit colorful personality-wise.”
“Well, that’s ... all kinds of weird.” Braden shook his head. “Do they have wings?”
Zoe hesitated and then shrugged. “According to the one I know best, they do. However, you can only see them when on the other plane. He could totally be messing with me for all I know. I tend to believe him, though.”
“That’s just surreal,” I said as Cormack started down the hallway. I knew exactly where he was going and my heart clenched at the prospect.
Braden’s gaze shifted to his father’s back and he automatically got to his feet. The Grimlocks enjoyed messing with one another — actually, they thrived on it — but they were all there for one another emotionally when the stakes got high. There was no way Braden would allow his father to stand over Mary’s body without him.
I cast a worried look toward Zoe, earning an understanding nod in response, and then moved to follow.
Mary’s room was almost exactly how I remembered it from earlier in the day. Nothing in this part of the house had burned, although the acrid scent of smoke was overwhelming and I had to breathe through my mouth to keep
