I stumbled back another step, leaning into the railing, praying the ward would hold the lidérc.
It hit an invisible wall at the threshold, pressing flat against it before curling backward. I let out a breath of relief. It rushed at me again, hitting the invisible wall. I could see the silvery swirling center as it tried to push through the ward’s barricade, but Dominick’s cage held.
Doc grabbed his gloves and pushed to his feet, backing away from the doorway. “Did you see anything else escape?”
I watched it, mesmerized by that silvery center. “No, only the lidérc.”
To be honest, I’d gotten a little distracted after the shadowy devil was freed.
Doc put his arm around me, pulling me close, and kissed the top of my head. “I think we did it.”
“You did it, Oracle. I just stood here and watched.” I smiled up at him, going on my toes to kiss his cheek. “We fulfilled my side of the deal. Aunt Zoe is safe.”
“Yeah.” He frowned toward the lidérc. “But how are we going to get your family mirror back?”
Oh, crud. I stared at where it lay on the floor. “I’ll talk to Dominick later and see if he has any ideas.”
“You realize that means he’ll know about your magic mirror.”
“I know, but I’m not going in there to get it now, and neither are you.” I looked down at where Cooper still leaned against his car. “Hey, law dog, you feel like playing fetch?”
He flipped me off.
Chuckling, I turned back to the doorway. Inside, the lidérc was pacing now, smoke and shadow swirling violently as it clomped on its hidden hoof-like feet. “It’s really pissed off,” I said as much to myself as Doc.
“Good. It tried to kill you twice. I hope the bastard rots in this building for at least another century.”
“Me, too.” But I had another plan for it. “Let’s get out of here.” I closed the door.
While Doc locked up after us, I called Dominick on my cell phone and got his voice mail. “Your pet is back in its cage,” I told him. “My part of the deal is fulfilled. Aunt Zoe is no longer available—ever.” I ended the call with, “I’ll be in touch.”
Down on the ground, we shared the good news with Cooper and Harvey and then parted ways with them. Cooper was going to drop Harvey off at Aunt Zoe’s so he could get supper started. The detective needed to head back to work for a bit to take care of a few things, but he agreed to try to join us later for supper.
I climbed behind the steering wheel this time, giving Doc a break, and followed Cooper down to the main road. As I waited at the stop sign for another snowplow to pass, I thought about the last couple of days and all that I’d put Doc through thanks to the lidérc. The anguish on his face when I was crying out in pain back in the courthouse basement room tugged at my heart.
Instead of trailing Cooper back to Deadwood, I pulled out my cell phone and sent a quick text to Harvey: Be home in a bit. Need to check on Rosy’s house.
I turned right, heading for Lead.
“Where are we going?” Doc asked. He looked more rugged than usual thanks to the ripple of shadows and orange streetlights on his face.
“I told Rosy I’d keep an eye on her place this week while she’s on the other side of the state.” I drove up into Lead, feeling like humming now that the huge lidérc yoke had been lifted from my shoulders. With the Hungarian devil back in its cage, my family was safe.
Well, kind of. At least for now.
“Are you humming ‘Good Vibrations’?” Doc asked as we climbed Mill Street.
“Yes.”
Addy had been playing Aunt Zoe’s Beach Boys tapes lately on the old boombox in the basement. She claimed Elvis was depressed and losing more feathers than usual. It turned out the Beach Boys put a high-step in the chicken’s strut, and they made me dance around, too, which gave Addy the giggles.
Doc grinned. “Are you feeling depressed, like Elvis?”
I smiled back at him, loving that he knew the details of my family life—or rather our family life. “I’m feeling as happy as a cat on a tuna boat.” I focused on the road as we rolled over what looked like a patch of black ice. “How are you feeling?”
“Confused.” He looked out at the old filling station on the corner as I turned down the street leading to Rosy’s place. “And hungry.”
I was hungry, too, but for something else.
Rosy lived in what used to be Cooper’s blue, 1940s-era bungalow-style house. In the daylight, the front walk offered sweeping views of the Open Cut and half of Lead. I pulled in front of the detached garage and parked, leaving the engine running.
“I’ll be right back,” I told Doc and hopped out, hurrying over to the two barn-like doors. My headlights lit the keys as I picked the one with the flames on it—a leftover from when Cooper owned the place. I unlocked one of the barn-like doors. Rosy hadn’t done anything yet with the garage besides hang up a snow shovel on the front wall. She’d mentioned making the building into a video editing studio eventually, but I didn’t know how she’d get that old oil smell out of the place. I opened the other door and swung it wide like the first.
Doc stared at me with raised brows as I crawled back inside and pulled as far into the garage as possible. “This is going to be tight.”
“I thought you were going to check on the house?”
“I am.”
“This is the garage.”
“Technically, it’s part of the house package.” I killed the engine but left the radio playing before slipping out through the narrow door opening. I was right about the tight fit, but the barn doors closed with a few inches to
