Page 28

Chapter 28

‘There’s been another attack.’ Charlize’s tone was brisk in my ear but even so my heart thundered.

My grip tightened on the phone. ‘Is Mum okay?’

‘She’s fine.’ Her voice turned rueful. ‘It turns out all these paintings she’s been doodling are rife with runes. That’s why she was so prescriptive about where they were placed. She had thoroughly warded the property and the paintings lit up like a Christmas tree. The assailants couldn’t get in – more’s the pity.’ She muttered the last part under her breath; she was clearly fixing for a fight.

‘Thank the Goddess,’ I breathed. ‘Who tried to attack her?’

‘Vampyrs controlled by a necromancer. They threw themselves against the walls, trying to phase in, and an earth elemental triggered a local earthquake. Nothing we couldn’t handle. ’

Fury bubbled up inside me. First the fire elemental and now this. Unfortunately there are mercenary rogues in every species. Still, it gave us something new to look into. This necro witch was beginning to test my patience.

‘How did they locate my mum?’ I demanded.

‘Unknown, but items belonging to her were left in the care home. I suspect her location was scryed.’

I shook my head. Realising Charlize couldn’t see me, I spoke aloud. ‘No. Mum wouldn’t have painted wards and not included an anti-scrying rune for privacy.’ Dementia or time displacement or whatever it was, if she had the wherewithal to paint ward runes I doubted she would forget the basics. They were instinctive, like breathing.

I frowned. ‘She didn’t have any protective potions to paint the wards with!’

‘No. She used her blood.’

My mouth dropped open. After all her dire warnings about blood work, she’d opened a vein or two to paint her runes. Mother, thou art a hypocrite.

‘If she wasn’t scryed then maybe there’s a mole?’ Charlize’s tone was grim.

‘A mole,’ I confirmed. ‘The simplest explanation is often the right one.’ I sighed. I had emailed the Coven Council after the attack on Mum’s care home. Obviously, I hadn’t said where she’d been moved to, but maybe it had been enough for someone to start to track her down. ‘Are you moving my mother to another location?’ I asked.

‘Yes, we are moving imminently.’

‘I’ll come and rune the car you’re travelling in,’ I said, even though metal holds runes about as well as a sieve holds water.

‘Not necessary,’ she responded briskly. ‘She’s flying in the sun via Griffin Air.’ She used the same term her father had. ‘No shadows up there. I’ll confirm once we’re safely settled in the new venue.’

She rang off before I could point out that there could be other airborne dangers. Being a griffin, though, I guessed she knew all about aerial risks and she wouldn’t appreciate me teaching a snake how to slither. I turned to Bastion. ‘Mum was attacked.’

He nodded grimly. ‘I heard the call. Do you want to go and see her?’

I did, desperately, but she was in the middle of her relocation and I had an appointment with Krieg. ‘No, it’s fine. Charlize is moving her. We’ll go when she’s settled. I don’t want to upset her even more.’

As promised, John had placed my shopping in the front footwell of the car and Oscar was sitting in the driver’s seat with the engine running. I’d have to tell him what had happened and give him the same option Bastion had just given me.

I slid into the car. ‘Mum’s been attacked. She’s fine, but they’re moving her. It turns out she’d painted wards into all of her paintings.’ The words spilled out of me hastily so I could reassure Oscar quickly before panic set in.

Oscar gave a faint smile. ‘That’s my Luna. Even when she’s down she’s not out.’

‘Do you want to go and see her?’

He turned to look at me. ‘And where would I go to?’

I had no idea where they were relocating her. Ever-practical Oscar had a good point. ‘I don’t know,’ I admitted.

Oscar’s jaw was working. ‘We have to trust the griffins to keep her safe,’ he said finally. ‘You have an appointment with Krieg and I’m not letting you stroll into the vipers’ nest without me.’

The ‘again’ was unspoken but I heard it clearly. I nodded, like I had expected no less. ‘To Krieg’s, then.’

I buckled my seatbelt and the car moved off smoothly. As we drove, Bastion reached out and linked his fingers through mine, drawing a smile from me despite my anxiety. I let him feel how happy that simple touch made me, even with everything else in the world going to heck in a handcart. His answering wash of emotion took my breath away.

I was too much of a coward to disentangle all my confused feelings, save for acknowledging that they were pleasant ones. He cared, and that was enough.

It would have to be because I was too broken to offer more.