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“Only in that they’re generally roughly constructed from earth, and used for storage of vegetables, fruits, nuts, or otherfoods,” Ashworth said as he, Eli, and Jaz came around the corner. “They weren’t used much here in Australia, though. They’re more an English and American thing. I take it you’ve found one?”

“Our ghost confirms its presence,” Belle said.

“And so does the wild magic,” I said.” Or rather, our Fenna whisperers.”

Eli squatted beside us. “Have you tried taking out that pin? It should dismantle the shadows.”

“Having only read about pins rather than having dealt with them, no I have not,” Monty said, then added with a grin, “Thought it best to wait for the more ancient members of this investigative team to dispense their wisdom.”

“That would be Eli you’re talking about, then,” Ashworth said, with a grin at his partner.

“Oh, he definitely was.” Eli’s voice was droll. “He did, after all, mention wisdom.”

“Rather than simply knocking the pin out of alignment,” I said, rolling my eyes at the two of them, “can you retrieve it? I might be able to track the current location of whoever it belongs to.”

“The last time you tried that,” Ashworth commented, “Jaqueline attacked you through the connection and then set the basilisk after us.”

“She caught me unawares that time.” I squinted up at him. “And this might be our only chance to ferret out the location of Marie and her crew.”

“Of which there are now far less, thanks to Maelle’s actions,” Monty said.

“Indeed, but that’s likely to have only made them angrier, laddie.”

“And an angry vampire might be more prone to make a mistake,” Monty replied. “Right now, we’ve nothing much else to work with.”

Ashworth made an “indeed” sort of movement with his hand, and Eli got down to business. After studying the shadow wall through narrowed eyes for a moment, he rose and moved closer to the front stairs. Squatting once again, he started to spell. Magic rolled around his fingers, forming a glittering thread of ever-increasing length. Then, with a short, sharp flick of his fingers, he sent the thread whipping through the baseboards into the darkness. There was a brief flash of purplish light, then the shadows fell away, revealing a solid wall of stone around five feet in length that ran from the ground to the floor joists.

A heartbeat later, the whip curled back and dropped a rounded black stone into Eli’s hand. Even from where I was, I could feel the residual pulse of darker magics emanating from it, but I had no idea whether it belonged to Jaqueline or Marie.

“Well,” he said, “the stone certainly has the deep stain of blood magic on it, but I’m not sensing anything active.”

“It’s still worth trying to maintain the pulse that remains,” Monty said.

Eli nodded in agreement, wrapped the stone in a protective spell, then glanced up at Jaz. “You got a glove on you?”

“I do indeed,” she replied, handing him one. “It might be an idea if I held it while you lot concentrate on whatever else lies under the house.”

“Thatappears to be a stone wall built between joists,” Monty said.

“According to our ghost, that’s a stairwell link between the house and the cellar,” Belle said.

I glanced up at the building. “So, we’re looking at the kitchen? At the front of the house?”

“Given the positioning of the wall,” Eli said, “I think it more likely we have a small living or bedroom at the front, then the cellar stairs—which usually have their own entrance—and then the kitchen at the back.”

He rose, jumped up onto the steps, and walked across to the door.

“He also says there’s another iron bar across the door,” Belle said.

“Easy enough to deal with.” He pressed his fingers against the door, and his magic rose again. After a brief moment, there was a heavy thump. Eli twisted the handle and opened the door. Air brushed past me. Our ghost, rushing back into his home.

He’s missing his favorite soap,Belle said, her amusement running down the mental lines.Which is, in case you’re curious,The Young and the Restless.

Meaning his mom or whoever handles her legal affairs must have ensured electricity remains connected to at least the TV room. But the bigger question is, how on earth is that soapy still running after all these years?

Belle’s amusement increased.There’s a surprising number of people who love that show. Apparently, he got hooked when he brought lunch home for himself and his mom. They used to sit down to watch it together, and it’s a ritual he likes to continue now that she’s not here.

That’s lovely.