“Oh, well, they didn’t put up any kind of fight,” Edgar said, also pushing to the edge of his seat, looking up at Austin. “Magical people would’ve known what I was right off the bat—I keep forgetting to try to hide it. They wouldn’t have offered to be a snack—they would’ve fought back. Jessie even fought back before she became the chosen.”

Austin walked around the couch and bent. When he stood, he was clutching the gently flailing man’s flannel shirt. The guy’s face came around, and I recognized him immediately. The younger guy who’d been sitting at the bar of the Italian restaurant the night of my botched date with Ron. The one with the young face and those old-soul eyes.

I opened my mouth to say as much, but his eyes snapped open and his body went taut, straightening within Austin’s hold. His hands jerked up as Austin let go, dropping him.

Too late.

A jet of magic exploded out, punching into Austin’s bare chest and flinging him back. He hit the wall, sticking into the plaster, his eyes widening before fluttering closed. He sagged, sliding bonelessly to the ground.

Terror kick-started my heart and adrenaline flooded my body. There wasn’t any blood—maybe it had just knocked him out?

Another jet of magic flew out, catching the edge of the couch and exploding the back. I dropped to the ground in a hail of doilies. The guy popped up, his eyes focused, his movements reeking of confidence and experience.

Edgar dashed forward at incredible speed, but he wasn’t fast enough. Magic slammed into him, tossing him back against one of his barrels. Canisters thumped forward and fell off, drenching him with plant juice.

An invisible weight dropped down over me, covering my body and sticking me to the ground. It shimmered within the afternoon light, hazy gray, similar to the net that had caught me—and then let me go—when I was falling, but translucent.

Clearly this guy was much better at his craft than the others had been. He’d done what they could not.

He’d trapped me.

20

A smile slowly spread across his thin lips. “This is such a backwoods town. Dormant. Anyone at all can walk in here and hang around. If you stay away from that big alpha and don’t cause any trouble, no one bothers you. You even get welcomed into homes with open arms. All you need to do is sustain a little bite and there you go, no one suspects you.” He walked around the couch, his old-soul eyes sparkling. “I didn’t even have to go find you. You came right to me. Is it my birthday?”

“I hope so. Not many people get to exit the world on the same day they came in. It’d be a real treat to make that happen for you.”

Anger raged through me, fueled by fear for my friends who’d just been taken down, and I sent a pulse through the very fiber of Ivy House, rumbling along the ground, flowing through the air, hopping from tree to tree and flower petal to flower petal. Across the expanse of garden, within the house itself, I felt my team stir. I felt them move, first to the windows and then to the stairs, running to get the gargoyles.

“Big words for such a young little thing.” He bent to me, his eyes roaming my face. “A pretty little thing, too.”

“Young? I could be your mother.”

He laughed, delighted, and then made a motion through the air. My translucent cage lifted from the ground, and me with it. “You see? So young and inexperienced.” He continued to lean toward me, his face right in mine, his stinking breath making me cringe. “Magic can give us any kind of face we want. Young, old, male, female? We can be anything at all.”

“Except a good person. Magic can’t make you likable.”

He tsked. “Of course it can. It is human nature to crave power. The more you have, the more everyone wants to be in your company.”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean you’re likable. People might tolerate a dickhead, but it doesn’t make you any less of a dickhead.”

“Well.” He straightened and lifted me a little higher. “Maybe so. Let’s hurry now, before your winged friends try to follow us.”

I laughed, closed my eyes, and reached for the power of Ivy House. “There is a reason those others tried to capture me when I wasn’t on this property.”

All her defenses were at the ready, waiting for me to call out which ones I wanted. Ready to play with him like a cat plays with a mouse. She hungered for it.

Not yet, though. He had information, and the grounds were extensive. I had time.

“Yes, I know,” he said. “Afraid of a house. The actual house, not the people in it.” He laughed and lifted his hands. “They were afraid the house would stop them, and yet here I am. I didn’t burn to ash the moment I set foot on the grounds, and I have the chosen in my possession.”

We passed Austin, who lay unmoving on the floor, and I reached out to him, my heart lodged in my throat. My hand hit somewhat pliant magical bars. The memory of falling through that spidery web flashed through my mind again. The magic felt similar—did that mean this prison was breakable too?

“Many of my colleagues studied the ancient texts about this house and the chosen, and they were naïve enough to take them literally. It didn’t occur to them that history evolves over time, and lore and myth often get confused for fact. A magical house with battle defenses does make for a good story. Not quite a believable story, but a good one. Now…” He opened the front door, peered out, sent a pulse of magic, and then walked out the rest of the way, pulling me behind him in my floating prison. “What I found helpful was the information about the chosen. She is the heir to a wealth of magic, yes, we know, but she doesn’t have access to it all at once. She has to learn it, little by little, until she’s experienced enough to handle the large dumps of magic she is given. You are awarded the magic you can handle. The other night was enough to convince me you can’t handle much, hmm? And thus, here you are.”

“You have got to be, and I don’t mean this kindly, the biggest know-it-all I’ve ever met, and I’ve met a few. You are never invited to parties, are you? All the droning on and on. Is that why you weren’t working with that other group? Do you have to skulk around alone because no one wants to listen to you?”

He sniffed, walking fast now, heading for the trees. I could feel a ripple of magic flowing behind us, magically covering our tracks. Austin had said that a mediocre mage could do that for fifty yards or so. The woods here were much bigger than that, except Austin wasn’t awake to find us. It would be a long walk back if the gargoyles couldn’t figure it out, and given the mess they’d made of things the last time, they might not.

Thinking of Austin made me throb with worry. I closed my eyes, breathing deeply for a moment, seeking out Ivy House.

“Can I heal him? “I asked. “I know I am supposed to find my own way, but in this… Can I heal him? Please help me.”

“You already are. You do not have to touch to heal. It began when you tried to reach out to him. You can use your magical connection to give him energy. Love strengthens the bond and quickens the pace.”

I ripped away the privacy blocks from my connections to Austin and Edgar, annoyed that I hadn’t thought about that myself. Edgar’s strength came through immediately, the blast he’d gotten clearly not as severe. I focused on Austin, thinking about my desperation to help him, to heal him—trying to touch him this way as I’d tried to physically touch him through my magical prison.

“Ah, here we go.” The man walked us into the woods, the trees reaching over us, concealing us from anyone flying overhead. “Gargoyles battle, they don’t search for prey. The big alpha hasn’t been coming to the house much—I didn’t think he’d be here. Lucky stroke for me how it ended up, huh?”

“Where are you taking me?”

“Well, if you must know, to the holding cell where the contract holder will collect you. He put a high price on your head.”

Whoever was behind this had sent out multiple teams of people, not just one group, and he’d clearly set it up like some sort of bounty-hunter situation. That wasn’t ideal.

“Where’s this holding cell? You people have magical prisons?”

“Ah. If I told you that, I’d have to kill you.” He chuckled to himself even though his joke didn’t quite fit the situation.

“Mhm.” I nodded, seeing that I obviously had to switch gears or he’d likely clam up with more off jokes. “Aaaand you never commented about your lack of teammates. You were picked on in magical school, weren’t you? Always the odd man out. I hear this tale a lot. Do you hold a grudge? Is going out on your own, sticking your nose up at the other team, your way of saying nah-nah-nah-nah?”

He looked back at me, annoyed. “A Jane becoming magical. What a strange turn of events. I doubt they’ll mention that in the history books.”

“I doubt they’ll mention you, either.”

He puffed up. “If I bring you in, I will earn a coveted place on one of the most elite magical teams in the nation. I will earn a highly desired spot at a master’s table. The money I earn from bringing you in will allow me to hire a bard, if I want, or marry from within the magical elite.”

I didn’t know what the most elite magical team was, but someone surely would. This guy was just shedding hints, likely because he didn’t think I’d be able to escape.

“Whoever you buy for a wife won’t want to sleep with you. That’s got to be dick shriveling, huh? Remember what I said about being a dickhead…”

His shoulders tightened. Anger crackled in his gaze when he turned around. I was walking a fine line—if I pushed him much further, he’d do something to knock me out. I hadn’t made it this long in life without seeing the signs of a man on the verge of violence.

I tried to pump energy through the connection with Austin, hoping it was happening, and hoping whatever I’d done subconsciously was having an effect. But I didn’t want the mage to get me much closer to the border of the property. Time to act.