“Maura?” I called as I picked Sal up again. “Girls?”
“In the kitchen,” Dagrun called back. She was leaning over a map on the table when I came in. “Maura went up to the Geroux place to augment the protection spells.”
I looked out over the gray sky reflected in the lake. “Where are the girls?” I asked. They weren’t in the kitchen. “Ed allowed Sophia out of his sight?”
“Isabella okayed her staying with Akeyla as long as they are supervised at all times.” Dag nodded toward the deck. “Akeyla wished to stay here long enough to set a simple spell for your dog. She wants to keep your hound’s food and water fresh during the storm. She’s practicing with undergrowth off to the side of the deck.” She waved at the door. “They’re under a protection spell. I felt it best for them to learn and to feel confident rather than cower under a threat.”
Dag didn’t look up from the map.
“That’s kind of her,” I said. The girls weren’t going to find my dog, but it was nice they were trying. I tilted my head and listened. Sure enough, faint kid chatter filtered in from outside.
“We are waiting for Axlam.”
“Axlam’s driving around?”
Dag looked up. “I warded her car, Frank.” She looked as if she was about to roll her eyes at me. “Gerard and Remy are busy preparing the pack.”
I’d obviously missed most of the logistics of the day.
Dag returned to looking at the map. “Akeyla refuses to go to The Great Hall. She says that as an elf who isn’t running with the pack, it’s her duty to protect the other kids tonight.”
“That’s…” Admirable? Problematic? I didn’t know.
Dag stared at the lake. “We cannot argue with her magic.” Then she shook her head and returned to looking at the map.
Sometimes the elves could be fatalistic. And right now, Akeyla’s newfound need to exercise her elf-ness was more of a distraction than anything else.
Dagrun leaned against the table. “Akeyla will help augment the alarm spells. She is showing signs of her power. It’s good for the children to hear from another child about the extra wards and the magicks involved.” She flicked her hand at me. “Plus you will be there, as will Sal.”
She said it as if we’d long ago set my agenda for the run—which we hadn’t—and that my presence made all of Akeyla’s proclamations just fine.
What if Ed needed help? Or what if … someone … called. I looked over my shoulder at the front of the house, as if I’d missed something when I was parking—just as someone else pulled into my driveway.
I rubbed at my forehead. All this with St. Martin, and the storm, and Akeyla—the whole thing was as confusing and frustrating as my time in Las Vegas trying to find Portia Elizabeth. Too many individuals asking for too much too fast.
For a second, I wondered if this was the new normal. How had my life gotten so complicated so quickly? But I knew the answer. When Brother cracked the wall between the Lands of the Living and the Dead, fissures spread from his points of impact in a fine, weakening web.
And webs draw flies.
It was a weak explanation and basically amounted to yelling at the universe for being mean.
“This pathetic little mundane will not hurt the pack.” Dag ran her finger across the map. “He will not harm Axlam.” She looked up. “I will deal with him personally tomorrow, after we finish the run. No one vandalizes my town and threatens my citizens.”
Our Queen's matter-of-fact proclamation did not leave a lot of room for disagreement.
“Ed is right to be worried, Dag,” I said.
She tapped her finger along one of the roads on the map. “Perhaps.” Then she looked toward the front door. “Axlam’s here,” Dag said. She lifted her phone off the corner of the map roll and dialed. “Hey, honey, Uncle Frank is home and the snow’s starting.”
“Okay, Grandma,” I heard. “Time to go in!” she yelled, loudly enough that I heard her through the glass door. I leaned into the table and looked out the side of the doors, and sure enough, two pink jackets moved toward the deck.
Dagrun pulled the phone away from her ear. “Time to go to the Geroux’s,” she said. Akeyla acknowledged, and Dag hung up. “I’ll be setting up extra protection spells around their house, and I’ll need to wait until their guard arrives, but we should check another farm after—”
My phone rang.
Ellie, it said.
“I need to take this,” I said, but I couldn’t answer. My finger wouldn’t move.
It rang again. What was wrong with me? I was frozen.
Dag stepped around the table and toward the door…
And I could think. Damned concealment enchantments.
I jogged toward the front of the house in hopes I could catch Ellie’s call before it went to voicemail.
Chapter 20
“Hello?” Nothing. I’d missed her call.
Damned enchantments. I smacked the front door, then swung it open and jogged toward the driveway. Maybe I’d catch her if I called back right away.
Axlam’s headlights burned two bright white beams through the gloom and the gray. Huge snowflakes danced in the light as the increasingly-cold wind tossed them sideways.
The snowflakes would shrink in size but grow in volume as the storm rolled in. The wind, too, would go from its current brisk to a raging death wall of white.
The wolves would be out in this. Hopefully Ellie wouldn’t.
Axlam cut the lights and stepped through the bright, swirling sigils surrounding her car.
Sif stepped out of the passenger side. “Hi, Frank!” She waved.
She must still be on guard duty. “The wards match the paint,” I called.
Axlam stepped out and tossed me a you’re a smartass look, then opened the rear door of her car. She leaned in, then stood up once again.
The saddest little wolf on Earth slowly exited from the backseat.
“He’s here to apologize. We can’t be worrying about the kids before the run.” She looked around as if doing an Ed-like security
