“That’s odd.” I twisted around until I faced the steps. “Another hit in the same spot?”
Last time, when vampires had been at fault, they had tested her wards methodically. This was a battering ram approach, blunt and obvious. No real harm was being done, so what was the purpose? Testing the strength of the new wards? How had they known about them to check them? Unless they assumed, rightfully so, that after Volkov, measures would be taken to protect me and my property.
The timing of the second attack cleared Eloise’s name. She had been across town at Mallow with me when it happened. Sigils could be activated after a countdown, but that felt like reaching. Time-delayed magic was complex, and therefore, rarely used. More than likely, this was the fumbling work of vampire goons the Master had set on my trail.
“Did you see anyone this time?”
A sigh moved through the decking as she flashed the same set of images at me: a fallen limb, a radiant starburst, two English peas.
“Thanks, girl.” I patted the nearest wall. “You did good. Those new wards have you snug as a bug in a rug.”
A swell of light was her answer, pride in her ability to defend us both.
Following the wraparound porch to the side, I found Amelie sitting with her back against the house, legs extended in front of her while she stared at the yard.
“How are you doing?” I mimicked her position. “Linus said you didn’t black out this time.”
“I wish I had some of those soft peppermints to crunch.” Her hands went to her middle. “I haven’t been this queasy in…” She inhaled then whipped her head toward me. “Mallow?”
“I thought you might—” I released her drink and bag before she ripped them from my hand, “—be hungry.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She gulped several times before smacking her lips. “That’s the good stuff.”
“What about your stomach?” I inched away to escape the splatter zone. “Can you hold it down?”
“I don’t care how sick I am.” She tipped her drink toward me. “I’m not wasting this.”
Laughing, I got to my feet. “I have to start packing. Want to keep me company?”
“Nah.” Her gaze slid past me to the yard that might as well have been on another planet for how far away it was for her. “I want to sit out here a while longer if it’s okay. Come get me before bed?”
“Sure.” I left her to enjoy the fresh night air and entered the living room. Dipping my fingers into my shirt, I fished out my necklace and rubbed my thumb across the raised emblem. “We’re home, kid.” I pulled the cord over my head and placed it on the mantle next to the silver box holding Maud’s heart. “Scat.”
Oscar materialized inches from my nose and yelled, “Boo.”
Clutching at my chest, I staggered backward until my knees hit the couch and pretended to faint dead away from sheer terror.
“Grier?” His small voice squeaked. “Grier?”
A prickle of energy along my arms told me he was within reach. I couldn’t stop my smile as I popped my eyes open, shot up, and grabbed an armful of wriggling, giggling ghost boy. “You scared me half to death.” I tickled him until he was gasping. “Is that any way to behave?”
“I’m a ghost,” he squealed. “I’m supposed to scare people.”
“Oh, sure.” I hugged him close then released him to float in the air. “That’s what they all say.”
The register beside us ticked as Woolly scolded us both, but her lights brightened, making it impossible to hide her pleasure. She was thrilled having guests in the house and on the grounds. Those early days hadn’t been full of fear only on my behalf. Without me, Woolworth House had no heir. I was the last. The best she could hope for was Linus moving in, but he was a Lawson. Maud’s blood or not, it wasn’t the same to her. Her whole existence was wrapped up in the family legacy, and that meant me.
“Float with me.” I gestured that he should follow me up to my room. “I’m going on a trip tomorrow. I’ll be in Atlanta for three days. Amelie will be here, and so will my friend, Odette. You’re welcome to stay here with Woolly, or you can come with me. Your choice.”
“I don’t sleep good in new places.” He trailed me so close I shivered. “I want to stay with Woolly.” He bumped into me when I stopped at the landing to open my door. “You promise to come back?”
Heart in my throat, I glanced over my shoulder at the desolate certainty he was being abandoned again.
“This is my home, and you’re part of the family.” I tweaked his nose. “You’ve got nothing to be scared of. I promise.” Still skeptical, Oscar hovered over the threshold. “All right, all right. I wasn’t going to do this, you’re too young to have a cellphone, but let me show you how mine works.”
Though his appearance had frozen as the six-year-old boy he had been when he died, that sad day had occurred more than a century ago.
And yes, I was rationalizing.
Ten minutes later, Oscar was wide-eyed and mesmerized by the phone. All those years of haunting the dining room on the Cora Ann had given him only a partial education. Most folks tried to behave during meals and kept their phones muted or in their pockets or purses. Thanks to the hardcore addicts, he had seen enough of them to know what they did, but he had never gotten to play with one.
I might have created a monster.
But at least he knew how to call me if he was ever in danger.
Thank Hecate, it required so much energy for him to go corporeal, he exhausted himself quickly.
Once Oscar scampered off to tell Woolly all about his adventures, I flopped on the bed and made a packing list. Thirty minutes later, I stood over my choices where they covered the bed in mismatched outfits. I wasn’t impressed with the selection.
Society training was kicking in, the urge to look my best, to look my part, when in the presence of peers.
Ugh.
Jeans and T-shirts were fine when I was at home, so they would have to be fine where I was going.
Money might not be an object these days, but I wasn’t going to buy a new wardrobe just to walk the grounds at Strophalos. Who would do that? That would be insane.
I was insane.
In a moment of total weakness, I texted Neely and invited him to join us. As my unofficial fashion consultant, I wasn’t comfortable shopping without him. He would stay with his husband, which spared us the awkwardness of explaining why he couldn’t bunk in Linus’s building. It was a Society holding, and humans weren’t allowed.
The discrimination might have bugged me another time, but it was for their own good. Non-predatory species had no place in a building that housed necromancers, vampires, and various other supernaturals. Animal instincts were at their highest in their dens.
“You ready to go?” Amelie asked from the doorway of my room. “Linus is waiting in the driveway.”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I turned another circle, ticking off my mental checklist. “I always feel like I’m forgetting something.”
“Whatever it is, you can buy another one when you get to Atlanta.” She hefted my suitcase in one hand and linked her other arm through mine. “Try to have fun, okay? Don’t let Linus keep your nose stuck in a book the whole time.”
Fiddlesticks.
Linus hadn’t mentioned if we would continue our lessons on the trip or not. I was hoping for field exercises instead of classroom busywork. But I had packed Eileen, ink, brushes, my modified pen, and a few other things that ought to get me over the hump if he assigned homework.
“It’s only three days,” I reminded her, and myself. The more often I said it, the less anxious I felt leaving her and Woolly. “That’s not much time to go sightseeing.”
“Forget sightseeing.” She dragged me down the stairs. “Hit the clubs. Drink in the bars. Live.”
“I’ll think about it.” I hadn’t been to a bar (except to pick up takeout) or a club since I turned legal. I wasn’t keen on doing it the first time alone, and I would be alone. Linus was not the kind of guy who club hopped or bar crawled. Neely might go out on the town with me, but if he was missing his husband, he would drag Cruz along, and Cruz was not a big fan of mine. “You can text me a list of your favorite spots. Maybe I’ll hit one.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” She deposited my luggage at the front door then cupped my shoulders. “Everything is going to be fine. The house, me, Odette. Everyone and everything. Fine.”
I wavered in my belief. “What if there’s another—?”
“Neither attack has done any damage. I doubt the third time will be the charm.” She held up her phone. “I’ve got Heinz on speed dial in case I kiss the floor again, and Boaz will be checking in with me at regular intervals.”
Trying not to think about how I hadn’t heard a peep from him since bumping into Eloise at Mallow, I smiled rather than show my hurt.
A knock on the door brought our heads up as Odette strolled in with a small bag over her shoulder. “Thank you for your hospitality, Woolly.”
“Odette.” I launched myself at her, wrapping her in my arms. “Thank you for doing this.”
“It’s no hardship, bébé. I will keep myself busy in the garden.” After a moment, she pushed me back to see my face. “That is, as long as it’s all right with you. I don’t want to overstep.”
“I would appreciate any help I can get out there.” I had trouble meeting her eyes. “I keep meaning to clean up, and I do tiny chores, but it’s like…”
“Everything is as she left it.” Odette nodded in understanding. “Only nature has changed things since she passed.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, voice hoarse. “That.”
“I will honor her memory.” She kissed both my cheeks. “I promise.”