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“We checked. The line was cut. With that particular security system, if there’s a power outage, the alarms won’t go off. Most of the windows are broken. They were able to reach inside through the door window to open the locks.” Daisy’s expression was unreadable, but she escorted me over to the door and stood back. “It’s safe to go in, though watch your step. The floor’s covered with broken glass and…Well, my men are taking prints, so don’t touch anything. I doubt if we’ll find anything but we have to try.”
My heart in my throat, I peeked around the door, Fancypants hovering just above my shoulder. The moment I saw my beautiful shop, I knew I wasn’t prepared.
“Oh no,” Fancypants whispered.
I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t take in what I was seeing. It was as though a tornado had swept through my shop. Shelves were tipped over, their contents scattered everywhere. Someone had smashed the glass cases by the cash register, and the beautiful wands and daggers were either broken or missing. Bags of herbs had been slashed and scattered around. All the books had been destroyed, their pages everywhere. And then I saw the tarot cards I used for my customers, torn and tattered, scattered all over the floor. The shop reeked from the stench of urine, and I noticed wet spots everywhere, and several dubious puddles.
“No,” I whispered, reaching out. But I stopped short of taking hold of the ripped cards. For one, I wasn’t about to touch somebody’s piss. For another, there might be something the cops could figure out from the mess.
“Elphyra?” Fancypants landed on my shoulder, using his tail to gently sweep across my cheek. In the four months he’d joined my household, I’d grown to recognize his attempts to help.
“Yes?” I said, unable to think. I looked around at the rest of the shop. It was easy enough to see that everything had been defiled. I had the feeling that my workshop in the back was just as bad, but I couldn’t handle looking at this point.
“Come on. Go outside now. You need to step away and breathe.” The dragonette directed me and I followed his advice. Fancypants might be young, but he was wise.
I stared blankly at the ground, turning to find Daisy standing by my side.
“I’m so sorry, Elphyra. We’ll do our best to find out who did this. Come on, let’s look at the cash register. Was any money taken?”
I followed Daisy back in and waited until she opened it for me, taking care not to leave or smudge any potential prints. The till was full—no money was missing.
“It’s all there. I don’t know if any merchandise was stolen, but all my bigger crystals are here—though some are…” I teared up as I saw one of my larger amethyst geodes on the floor, in pieces. It wasn’t easy to break crystals, but it was possible if you put enough effort in.
I knelt beside the pieces. I could feel them, they were shrieking as I touched them. Somebody had used magic to break them—a massive bolt of energy that had left them twisted and broken. I’d have to cleanse the pieces for quite awhile to ease their suffering. Even then, I might have to release the pieces into the ocean to clear out the blast of energy that resonated around them.
“I need to tell you something,” I said. “Two incidents happened here yesterday. I don’t know if there’s any connection, but you should know about them.”
As she walked me back to the house, I tried to keep from crying. Trying not to freak out, wondering who was doing this to me. The emotional woman that was in May’s reading? Maybe, but who was she and why was she so upset at me?
As I entered the house, Daisy behind me and Fancypants by my side, my phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID. It was Bree.
“Hey, can I call you back?”
Bree hesitated, then said, “I had a bad feeling and wanted to check on you. Are you all right?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I am, but Daisy’s here. Somebody broke into my shop last night. They cut the alarm and destroyed just about everything in there. Everything’s trashed, Bree.”
“I’m on my way. I’ll close down and come right over. Can I call anybody?”
I closed my eyes, not wanting to make another single decision. “Bran. May. That’s all I can think of right now.” As Bree hung up, I turned back to Daisy. “Is there a way to get DNA from urine? From the…” I winced, picturing the destruction again. “My cards?”
“The chances aren’t nearly as good as they are from blood or saliva, but we can try. I’m worried about you staying here alone. From what you said, somebody has a vendetta against you. They trashed your shop this time. What if they try to torch your house?”
“Oh, that makes me feel so much better,” I said. I shook my head. “I’ll put up some stronger wards. If all they have to do is cut the alarm cord, then the mundane solution isn’t going to do any good. My great-grandmother is coming down this afternoon.”
“Morgance? Definitely enlist her help. The woman could enchant the feathers off a chicken and it would thank her.” Daisy glanced at Fancypants. “You didn’t happen to notice anything, did you?”
He shook his head. “No. I slept pretty heavy…except…”
“Except what?” I asked, sitting still.
“I woke up around two AM. Gem was mewing and running around like crazy. I thought it was just a case of the zoomies, but she kept jumping on the back of the sofa to stare out the window. I didn’t think to look. Maybe she saw someone.”
“Can you ask her?”
Fancypants frowned. “Well, I can try. Time is nebulous to most animals. They understand ‘before’ and some understand the concept of ‘later’ but unless they’re magical, they don’t have any real concept of hours or minutes. But I’ll try.”
He flew down to the floor, where Gem was grooming her butt. He leaned forward, making a few sounds. How he communicated with animals, I had no idea, and Fancypants had no clue how he was able to talk to them, either. After a moment, he flew up to land on the coffee table.
